Isatphone pro and 000

BB.
We have the Isatphone and whilst it has been perfect on voice calls/email and sms we have not used it for an emergency call.

Whilst the call from the Isatphone is being made from Au., the call is originating from outside Au. so the international access code to call an Au. number is required.

If the number one wishes to call is 02 67324898 then the procedure is 61 2 67324898.
Perhaps to dial 000 one would dial 61 000? not sure, and not prepared to risk it without an excuse!

However the phone is pre programmed with all the RFDS numbers, so a call to the appropriate RFDS location would be (I think) as good as calling 000 particularly when one reads about the confusion of addresses emergency service is occasionaly dispatched to.

Incidentaly, whilst we have not used it for an o/s voice call (if it works?) we have emailed/received from UK and NZ.
mike

The only reason, and I mean that, THE ONLY REASON that we kept our Inmarsat Isatphone Pro is because they have a prepaid plan without monthly fees etc that lasts three years. The phone has been used once only when setting it up as a test. I called myself on the home line. It sits in the car and doesn't cost a penny.

If we have an emergency the idea is to call one of the non 000 numbers and ask them to call back. Or call one of our sons and get them to talk to 000.

Phil

Boobook,

There was a stand in the hall that was covering Inmarsat and their Isatphone Pro as well as most other popular brands. They were called MGLSat.

While I always enjoy a look around these exhibitions, I must admit that I was very disappointed to hear some of the advice that was being peddled by some of the sellers there in regards to many products (I'm not talking about the satphones here). There are so many people wandering around there with a little knowledge and a bulging wallet. It was a shame to see people being steered in an unnecessary direction for the sake of the seller reaping more bucks (or just being plain lied to in some cases). Certainly brings home to you the value of a site such as EO where you can tap into a vast pool of knowledge and past experience.

Cheers Mick

On the big loop now and only 6 weeks ago leaving Kakadu we used our Iridium to call 000 when two guys rolled their wicked camper!! Looked long and hard at Iridium vs the rest but you know what when its an emergency I dont want to think about who to call I want to call 000 and I did and was able to help a fellow traveller very quickly and efficiently. I knew where we were and could give the ammos that info myself.
We are able to cancel our monthly contract with Tr Telecom after 4 months so its as good as prepaid for us!! A bit tired of misinformation as well but I guess when it comes to selling products some people will stop at nothing.

We have a Iridium phone with Pivotel and we can dial "000" direct..... just tried it and it connects. Our phone also has a standard local 10 digit mobile phone number making it the same price to phone our sat phone as it is to dial a standard mobile phone....

The Optus Mobile Sat system we also have; you can dial direct.

Most sat phones you can not dial a "13, 1300 or 1800" either and I think this is due to to calls originating from out side Australia.... even that your in Australia.

With the Optus Mobile Sat and Pivotel Iridium we can dial these number direct.

Plus we don't have to place the international direct dialling prefixes before and numbers unless overseas.... just dial the mobile number as normal and hit send or the fixed line number with the area code (03, 07, 02 etc.)

A lot of companies are going the 13, 1300 or 1800 path for there incoming call making it imposable for most sat phone customers to call them.

The other thing is look at how much it cost for someone making an incoming call to your sat phone ($10.00, $14.00 and in some cases upto $25.00 per minute)

We went to the Pivotel Iridium system due to the fact it's a cost of a standard mobile call to our sat phone.... the guys who work for use can call us anytime from their work mobile at a cost of 7 cents per 30 seconds.... cheap ha!

Pivotel call rates are coming down and you can buy a 9555 for $749 on a 3 year $25.oo per month plan. (I think but check first)

If you need to be ringing 000 from a sat phone then I think you would be better off ringing RFDS. As you would be in a remote part of the Australia, otherwise use your mobile, and police, fire and ambulance could get you. Who do you expect to help you out their. I mean if you are broken down or bogged don't expect the police to come and get you. So for what reason do you need to call 000.
The plans are great, you can buy per paid and their last for 15 years, before you have to activate them, giving you another 2 years to use the credit. The phone itself works fine, no problem's with it.
Oh just another thing, don't listen to people at shows as they are all casual staff and know nothing about the product. Best get at card and ring the company direct, as you will be speaking to people who know their product.

I have just returned 5 Isatphone Pro's and exchanged them for Iridium 9555's. They were sold to us as emergency use only phones however the sales people failed to tell us that no matter what you do with the Isatphone you CANNOT DIAL OOO or 112. It doesn't matter what you do, the international dial codes etc before OOO it will not work. You must dial a police station or the RFDS direct and you must have all of those numbers with you. A very CRAP system in my opinion, especially if you are the one lying half dead and cannot explain to mr good samaritan that has come to your rescue that he cannot dial 000 from your phone. What the??????

I have now replaced the 5 Icrapphone Pro with Iridium 9555's and I can CONFIRM that 000 gets you straight through to the emergency operator. They accept calls from these phones all of the time and will direct you to the appropriate emergency service when you call as is normal. It also works when you dial 112. I have made these calls personally so can verify this.

If you have an Iridium 9555 I suggest you call 000 yourself and just tell the operator it is a test call from a sat phone, as I did they were more than happy to provide this service.


Regards


Jas

Definately can ring 000 from an Iridian. And the whole point of 000 is that they connect you through to the local operators, because when your in unfamiliar country, how are you to know the direct land line number for the appropriate RFDS, ambulance, or police.

Most of us carry the sat phones so that if someone is seriously injured we can call for the RFDS or ambulance to come and help us out. Time is of the essence, you don't want to have to find the phone numbers first. 000 or 112 is vitally important, and it is available as of 2 months ago when we needed to ring them.

If the car has broken down, then I'd just be ringing family and ask them to help me out making the phone calls and tracking down the numbers. Totally different situation.

There are many resellers of this product so I don't think you can blame the whole system due to the experience you have had with one reseller.