Voice Communication
Most of us are so used to using mobile phones when away from
home, that we tend to forget that
Australia still has some “black holes” in the mobile service coverage. Although this is not apparent if you are sticking to the blacktop, the desert regions are still without full mobile service. This fact is particularly concerning because remote travel is unpredictable and situations can arise where the time taken between communicating your distress for help and receiving assistance may make the difference between life and death. For this reason, you must not rely on mobile phones as your only source of voice communication when travelling in the outback. Please refer to our Outback
Communications article – which covers the use of UHF radios, HF radios, and Satellite Phones.
With that said however, don’t leave your mobile at
home because you'll make good use of it when you're in built up areas such as cities and towns. As we’ll discuss in the sections below your mobile phone can also be useful for accessing various internet services such as sending email, browsing the web, and activating online tracking services so your family and friends can view your position on an online map.
Online Communication
In our busy modern lives, it seems online communication seems to have almost taken over from voice communication, so many travellers want the ease of being able to send email or write
blogs as their method of staying in touch with family and friends.
The advantage of sending emails or other online communication options when travelling is much the same as when you are at
home – the person you are sending your message to doesn’t have to be there when you send it, they can read it at a time that suits them. You can also prepare your emails when you are out of service to queue up to be sent from your outback when you are back in service range.
So what are your options? In recent years, travellers have utilised telecentres, then with the advent of mobile broadband services we took to taking a laptop with us on holiday, and now we also have the advent of smart phones like iPhone, Blackberry etc.
Here’s an overview of your choices:
Internet Cafes
If you do not have a computer, you can either use a town library, airport, or a telecentre where you can sit down at a booth and “rent” the use of their computer and internet network. Some outlets will often also provide you with access to a fax, printer, and photocopier.
Internet Networks
If you carry a laptop computer on your travels, there are many
places where you can plug into a network to gain access to the internet. McDonalds, some caravan parks, motels/hotels, visitor centres etc are some of the more common
places that offer internet access via their network, but you can also do this if you are visiting friends (upon request of course!). Some are free services, others may charge a small time-based fee. These services generally utilise WiFi technology or you will plug in an external network cable into your laptop.
Tethering to the Internet
If you carry both a laptop/computer and a 3G mobile phone with an inbuilt modem you can use a tethering application (this will vary from device to device). When you tether to the internet through your phone you do not need to have any special internet plan, however you will need to check that your phone plan includes a data plan. Some of the latest phone plans include a data usage plan in the monthly charges – and if you wish to upgrade your data plan you can usually request a month to month upgrade. This is one of the most effective, and cheapest methods for people that do not require tethering via their phone when at home/working etc but require consistent, reliable internet usage over a period of a few weeks to a few months when away from home/work.
Smart Phones
Smart Phones (eg. iPhone, Blackberry etc), have inbuilt web browsers and modems providing the ability to send/receive emails, browse the internet and use any online application.
And yes, if you carry a smart phone and a laptop you may wish to tether your laptop to the internet to take advantage of the bigger screen size and functionality of using a mouse and keyboard.
Of course, functionally for all the above is restricted to areas that receive 3G coverage.
Mobile Broadband
Fixed line broadband is something that many businesses and households in
Australia have been using for years, but an increasing number of people are now turning to a new type of technology known as mobile broadband to complement or even replace their fixed line access. With mobile broadband users are able to enjoy high speed access to the Internet whilst they are actually on the move, and this technology therefore offers total flexibility, ease, and convenience.
The USB modem that you receive when you sign up to mobile broadband is small, compact, and easy to carry around, and this modem will allow you to access the Internet via the 3G technology that is used. All you have to do is plug the USB modem into the USB socket on the laptop and away you go with access to the Internet no matter where you are, providing there is mobile phone coverage in the area.
There are three main modem options available for use with mobile broadband, and these are described below.
- USB dongles are easy to use, as they simply plug into the USB connection on the laptop or computer, and being the size of a mobile phone are very easy to carry around.
- USB sticks are smaller than dongles, making them even easier to transport around, and like the dongle they simply plug into the USB connection on the computer and provide you with Internet access.
- Mobile data cards are a third option, but these cannot be used by all mobile broadband users, as they can only be used on computers that have plug and go software installed.
Mobile Broadband Pricing varies between carriers - this is based upon your usage, modem choice, download limits and contract times. There is also the option of Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband, however be aware that if you are unsure of your regular download usage that this service may not be suitable for your needs as you pay on a per MB usage, rather than an allowance per month. It is easy to underestimate your expected usage and you may end up paying a lot more than you would if you chose a contract plan. The majority of internet and telecommunications companies offer Mobile Broadband, so it is suggested you research the plan that suits you best. As a general guide, expect to pay somewhere between $20 and $50 a month.
Online Tracking
A somewhat passive method of keeping in touch whilst travelling is that of Online Tracking. Whilst this service is useful to advise others of where you are, without you needing to make phone calls or send emails, it is particularly useful when you anticipate you will be travelling into regions without mobile phone coverage – putting you into that “black hole”. This is often the issue that concerns most outback travellers. Knowing that someone in your family can log into a service that is keeping track of you can be great peace of mind, but importantly there is also the concern of how and who you can communicate with in the event of an emergency.
Currently there are two robust, popular forms of Online Tracking. These are:
SPOT
The
SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger is a device that you can purchase from any
Spot distributer. We are a major distributer through the
ExplorOz online
shop.
The uniqueness of the
Spot device is that it is has a number of emergency, and peace of mind messaging functions, coupled with an optional online tracking service.
Before you can use any
SPOT device for the first time, you need to activate a satellite service subscription. There are 2 levels of subscriptions available and are payable direct to
SPOT/ Inc. Fees apply depending upon the features you select, with the 1 year Basic Service Plan currently listed at US $115, however this does not include tracking. Tracking, although an additional US $50, allows your device to send and save your location and allow contacts to track your progress in near real time using Google Maps. You can then set up a
SPOT Shared Page which allows you to show your
SPOT GPS locations to others on a Google Map (published as a page on the
Spot website that can only be viewed by people that have been given your
Spot link). Position updates are tracked approximately every 10 minutes.
You can also link your
SPOT Messenger to our
EOTrackMe service if you are an
ExplorOz Member (see
About Membership) – see section below.
EOTrackMe
EOTrackMe is a dedicated online tracking service developed by I.T Beyond Pty Ltd for
ExplorOz Members. Unlike
Spot, you do not purchase a device to use the service, as it has been developed for people that already own a device capable of sending satellite position data via a data network. This means most mobile phones, a
Spot device, or a PC/PDA with a GPS plug in simply becomes your tracking device. See the
EOTrackMe page for more information on compatible devices.
By registering your device to the
EOTrackMe service (free for
ExplorOz Members), you can activate the tracking service to capture and plot your movements in real-time on 250K topo maps, which provide better detail for outback regions than Google maps, however people viewing your tracking log can also switch to other map views if desired, including Google streets, and satellite maps.
With
EOTrackMe, there is no need for the traveller to do anything to activate position logging – this is done automatically based on custom settings that you activate in your setup.
EOTrackMe shows the full trip route, connecting the lines between your previous positions giving your friends and family a highly informative overview of the path you have travelled. The track path accuracy depends on the device used and the timing between position data sent to the
EOTrackMe server.
For a detailed overview of how to get started, and the settings to suit your device, see the
EOTrackMe page.
Subscribers to the
EOTrackMe service using the Blackberry, iPhone, or Symbian devices rely on using the mobile phone network to automatically send position data to your tracking page so your position will not update when you are in regions that are outside mobile service range. For subscribers with
Spot devices however, the position data is sent via a satellite network so it will never stop updating your position to your tracking page and for extended time in non-mobile service range provides a better position logging service if you want people to know where you are in near real-time.
However, the Blackberry or Symbian devices actually have an added advantage over the
Spot and iPhone devices in terms of the tracking path that is published as they will create the truest path line of your journey – eventually. This is because the
Spot system only updates position data every 10-20 minutes, whereas the Blackberry and Symbian phone updates are live and ongoing, even when out of service (they simply store the logs and forward when back in service). The iPhone actually does not have the store and forward feature either. Therefore, track lines between points will be straight lines if you use a
Spot device, and completely missing all updates in non-service areas for iPhone users, creating straight lines between the last position in service, then the first position when back in service.
Privacy settings are included with
EOTrackMe, including “geofencing”. This enables you to mask your exact position at times when you don’t want to publish precise positions of where you are, such as
home, work, friends etc.
The
EOTrackMe home page shows a map of
Australia with current position icons for all active subscribers in the network. This offers the
ExplorOz community the opportunity to view one another’s travels at a glance and if desired, you can click into each Member’s profile, read their
blogs, see their photos, and of course send them a message!
Email Services for ExplorOz Members
If you are an
ExplorOz Member, you will be able to “email” certain updates to the
ExplorOz website whilst you are travelling and without using a web browser to open the website. These are currently available for Blog and Place updates.
Blog Updates
Whilst your family and friends (and the
ExplorOz community) are watching your journey via your tracking on
EOTrackMe, why not also write & publish your trip diary and photos so they can follow your whole adventure in vivid detail? With our new email services, you can now do just that without actually visiting the
ExplorOz website.
All mobile phones today are capable of sending email, so you simply type the text of your blog (including photos if you wish) on your phone into the body of an email message and send it to
blogs@
exploroz.com If you prefer, you can send the email from your laptop. Sounds too easy? It is meant to be!
Place Updates
A little more restricted, this service requires a camera that captures GPS position data. Many mobile phones actually have this feature – certainly all iPhones and other smart phones, so check your model’s features or give it a test.
Simply take a photo of a great place you have visited, enter a bit of information to describe it and send by email to
places@
exploroz.com Again, it’s that easy!
Each of your emailed Place updates will be stored within your Member Profile page on
ExplorOz in your ‘My
Places” section. This is so that as you travel, you are effectively creating your very own log of all the
places you’ve been. This happens automatically because our system will match your email to your Member Profile. The idea of having your “My
Places” is that that you can use this as a guide to help you write your trip diary blog, or your family/friends can look at it to see the great
places you are visiting.
Here’s the full instructions on using our new email update services for both
Blogs and
Places - but check through the instructions first by reading the help page
HEREForum Posts
Coming soon, you’ll also be able to send posts to the
Forum directly via these email services, again without the need to use a web-browser.
Postal Mail
Australia Post - Post Restante
Any person (Australian citizen or visitor) can use
Australia Post's Post Restante system where you can nominate a specific Australian
post office as your "temporary address". You do not need to register for this service and there are no charges. Simply advise people to address all mail to you as follows:
Your Name
Post Restante
Post Office Town, State and Postcode.
Mail will be held for up to a month and ID such as passport will be needed when you arrive to collect your mail. Get the sender to put your surname first because it should then be filed in the right place and more easily found.
If you are travelling to an itinerary, you could list the Post Restante post offices you will be using in your itinerary before your trip departure and leave with family/friends so they can simply check which
post office you will be likely to be collecting from based on the dates in your itinerary.
Australia Post - Mail Redirection
For Australian's who wish to have their usual mail redirected as they travel, you can nominate temporary or permanent redirection of all mail you would normally receive through the
Australia Post network.
This is a simple process which can be lodged at any
Australia Post office with a relatively small fee. Check with
Australia Post for latest pricing. At time of writing, the charges were $9 per month with discounts for longer periods. Note - Pensioners, (ie. holders of Pensioner Concession Cards (PCC, DVA-PCC) or Health Care Card Type SA) the service is free.
Using this system you can redirect your mail to a Post Restante
post office, to a friend/relative, hotel/caravan park or to one of the commercial mail collection services.
The only problem of course, is that unexpected delays within the
Australia Post service are a reality and with this service you never know if someone has sent mail to you until you turn up to check your mail at the nominated
Post Office. It is possible that you might move onto the next town only to find that you missed a parcel because your friend/family didn't expect it to take so long to reach you. The problem here is that the mail may be difficult or impossible to retrieve.
More information can be found on
Australia Posts dedicated moving/travelling website -
http://www.movingservices.com.au/ Other Services
A number of businesses specifically aide travellers who may not be working to a fixed itinerary and who do not have any addresses in
Australia to use for mail forwarding.
These organizations will, for a fee, provide you with a fixed address, which you provide to all the organisations or people from whom you expect to receive mail. Using their services all your incoming mail is readdressed to them and when you want to collect, you simply advise them of where you will be in a few days time and it all gets posted on, as per your request.
