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Frequently asked questions
· What is telna Mobile service?
· Can telna Mobile be used for cellular service inside the USA?
· Will telna Mobile service work in every country?
· Why not just use a rental cellphone?
· How can I make inexpensive international calls from an american cellphone while in USA?
· What do I get when I subscribe to telna Mobile service?
· Do I need a new cellphone? Can I use any cellphone for telna Mobile service?
· What does simlocked mean?
· Do I need to change my cellphone number?
· Should I give out my telna Mobile number for people to call me?
· Can I enable call forwarding on my existing American cellphone after I travel out of the country?
· How do I enable call forwarding on my existing American cellphone?
· How do I receive a call on a telna Mobile phone?
· How do I place a call from a telna Mobile phone?
· How do I contact the telna Mobile customer service from my telna Mobile phone?
· How long will it take before I can use telna Mobile from the time I place an order?
· What shall I do once I receive my telna Mobile SIM card?
· What is the billing increment used to charge my calls?
· What is the rate to call the telna Mobile customer service from a telna Mobile phone?
· What happens in the event my telna Mobile card is lost or stolen?
· How can I turn on and off my voicemail?
· How can I listen to my voicemail mesages?
· Will I receive a notification for each new voicemail message?
· How can I record my own greeting message for my voicemail box?
· What about SMS (text messages) via telna Mobile?
· Does telna Mobile offer GPRS or Mobile Internet service?
· Test your telna Mobile service long enough before your trip
· Make sure your telna Mobile service is enabled in the countries you will be visiting
· How will I be able to charge my cellphone in a foreign country?
· Will the contacts that I see in my American cellphone be available when I am using telna Mobile?
· I received my telna Mobile SIM card, inserted it into my phone, but the phone does not display "telna".
· The telna Mobile SIM card is recognized, but the phone does not find a network.
· The phone is registered onto a network, but I am unable to place outgoing calls.
· Who is Telecom North America?
· I've recently heard stories about telecommunication providers going out of business. What about Telecom North America?
· Why would Telecom North America be able to offer lower roaming rates than anybody else?
· Does Telecom North America use "telemarketing" techniques to prospect new customers?
General questions about telna Mobile
What is telna Mobile service?telna Mobile is a new cellular service from Telecom North America for international travelers. No matter how often you travel or whether you travel for pleasure or business, telna Mobile is bound to save you money on making and receiving calls while abroad, with the convenience of always being reachable on an American telephone number.
Can telna Mobile be used for cellular service inside the USA?
While telna Mobile technically works in most areas of the USA, the service is not meant to be used for placing or receiving calls inside USA, as those calls will be charged at very high rates. For your protection calls from within the US are forbidden by default on your telna Mobile SIM card. Please ensure that you remove your telna Mobile SIM card from your telephone immediately upon your return to the US to avoid accidental charges. Other countries such as Canada or Mexico have very high usage rates due to restrictive roaming agreements. Please make sure to always confirm the rate prior to using telna Mobile in any country.
Will telna Mobile service work in every country?
telna Mobile will only work on certain networks in 174 countries. Please read our coverage information for more details.
Why not just use a rental cellphone?
Not only are rental cellphones more expensive, when counting the rental fee and per minute fee, but they are also less convenient as you need to plan for them in advance of every trip. With telna Mobile, you only pay a low annual fee, and the service is ready to use whenever you need it, even on short notice.
How can I make inexpensive international calls from an American cellphone while in the US?
To make inexpensive international calls from an American cellphone while in USA, you can use telna's cellular dialaround service. This service has been offered by Telecom North America for many years, has no monthly fee or minimum, and allows you to place international calls for as little as 3.8¢/min.
What do I get when I subscribe to telna Mobile service?
You will receive a new telna Mobile SIM card which will not be active. You will need to activate the SIM card by logging into your mytelna account, or by contacting customer service. Once the card has been activated, you may place it into any supported phone, and the service is ready to go. Please note that your phone must not be simlocked in order to accept the telna Mobile SIM card. This is very important.
Do I need a new cellphone? Can I use any cellphone for telna Mobile service?
You can use any GSM phone that is not simlocked for telna Mobile service, however you need to ensure that your phone supports the frequency bands used by the networks in the countries you will be travelling to. This page contains coverage and frequency band information. You will need at least a "tri band" GSM phone, to receive service in a large number of countries. Please note that only supported phones are guaranteed to offer outbound calls via direct dialing. If you happen to own an older phone, you may still be able to use telna Mobile service, but will need to dial a special prefix when making outbound calls. The most important part is that your cellphone must not be simlocked in order to recognize the telna Mobile SIM card.
If you do not currently own such a phone, auction sites can be great resources for aquiring new or used cellphones without service contracts for under $50.
What does simlocked mean?
When you purchase a new cellphone together with cellphone service from an American cellphone carrier, the cellphone is usually subsidized by the cellphone carrier, because cellphones do not really cost $1 or even $49.99, but much more. The cellphone carrier is planning on amortizing the cost of the phone with the revenues generated by your monthly service fee and usage in the future, since you are usually required to sign a contract for 1 or 2 years. "Simlocked" means that the phone will only accept the SIM card of the carrier who originately subsidized the phone. This ensures that you cannot take a phone subsidized by carrier A to carrier B.
Most cellphone carriers will give you a secret code to remove the simlocking on your phone simply by contacting their customer service, and explaining that you are planning to take the phone to a foreign country and use a different SIM card to receive service there. Actually, the law requires the cellphone carrier to provide you with this de-simlocking code after the commitment period of your contract is over, or sometimes even sooner.
If you do not know whether your phone is simlocked, we urge you to contact your cellphone carrier to find out, and ask if you can get the code to remove this protection. telna Mobile requires that your phone not be simlocked in order to recognize the telna Mobile SIM card that will be provided to you.
Do I need to change my cellphone number?
No. Although telna Mobile will assign you a new American or Canadian phone number pointing to your telna Mobile service, we recommend that you use call forwarding, so that callers may keep calling the numbers they know, and not even be aware that you are currently out of the country.
Receiving and placing calls with telna Mobile
Should I give out my telna Mobile number for people to call me?This depends on your goal. If you are a business traveler who needs to stay reachable, you should forward your existing cellphone or office number to your telna Mobile number, and callers will be able to reach you as usual, without even knowing that you are currently traveling out of the country. However, if you are more concerned about limiting the cost of received calls, you could give out your telna Mobile number only to a small circle of friends and family, and instruct them to only call you in case of an emergency. The choice is yours.
Can I enable call forwarding on my existing American cellphone after I travel out of the country?
Since your American cellphone will most likely not have coverage in the foreign country that you are traveling to, it may become impossible to enable call forwarding after boarding the plane. Most American cellphone providers will not allow you to change call forwarding by calling their customer service center. Some carriers charge you roaming fees if you activate your call forwarding while abroad. Therefore, you are advised to setup your call forwarding on your American cellphone just prior to boarding your plane.
How do I enable call forwaring on my existing American cellphone?
Here are instructions to setup call forwarding with various American cellular carriers. Please note that the exact method may vary in different areas within the same network, depending on network equipment. Therefore we urge you to test the call forwarding a few days prior to your trip, and call your cellular carrier for assistance if needed.
Alltel, Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, Nextel, Cricket Wireless and AT&T Wireless TDMA phones
To activate Call Forwarding:
Press *72 on your cellular phone.
Enter your ten-digit telna Mobile phone number (area code + telephone number).
Press OK/Send (a tone will confirm that Call Forwarding is active).
To deactivate Call Forwarding:
Press *720 on your cellular phone.
Press OK/Send (a tone will confirm the deactivation).
T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless GSM phones
To activate Call Forwarding:
Press *21* on your cellular phone.
Enter your ten-digit telna Mobile phone number (area code + telephone number).
Press #.
Press OK/Send.
To deactivate Call Forwarding:
Press #21# on your cellular phone.
Press OK/Send.
Please note that Sprint and Nextel may charge an extra 20¢/min on forwarded calls.
How do I receive a call on a telna Mobile phone?
Calls received on your telna Mobile phone will ring through just like regular calls. You can decide to pick them up, or let them ring through to voicemail. Every call answered on your telna Mobile phone is charged per minute at a rate depending on the country where the phone is located. You can lookup the rates for various countries here.
How do I place a call from a telna Mobile phone?
If you are using a supported phone, you may place calls by dialing directly, using the North American dialing plan that you are used to: calls to USA, Canada or other NANPA countries are dialed with 1 + the area code. Calls to other countries are dialed with 011 + the country code + the number.
If you are using an older phone that does not support telna Mobile's direct dialing feature, you will need to enter your calls as *600* + 1 + area code + number + #, then hit "send" for the US or *600*011 + country code + number + # then hit send, for international numbers.
For example to call (702) 555 1234 in USA, you would enter *600*17025551234# and hit send.
In both cases, when you are finished sending your call, the phone will display "Calling". At that time, the cellular network starts communicating with the telna Mobile network to establish your call. Within a few seconds, you will receive a call back on your telna Mobile phone. You need to pick up that call and you will be connected to the number that you have dialed. When finished with your call, simply hangup.
You can call USA or any other country in the world from your telna Mobile phone. Applicable rates can be found here.
How do I contact the telna Mobile customer service from my telna Mobile phone?
Please locate the telna Mobile menu in your phone and select "Customer Service". This menu is sometimes hidden inside an "Applications" or "Office tools" menu, depending on your phone. You can also dial 611 from your phone.
You will be connected with a Telecom North America customer service representative who will be happy to assist you. Please note the hours of operation of the customer service and remember about time differences. Customer service calls will be charged at the regular rate for incoming calls to the country you are calling from. You may also contact customer service online and request a callback.
Questions about orders and billing
How long will it take before I can use telna Mobile from the time I place an order?You can use telna Mobile service as soon as you receive your telna Mobile SIM card, activate it online or by contacting customer service, and place it into an approved phone that is not simlocked. Upon approval of your telna Mobile order, your card will ship out via USPS Priority Mail and will be delivered in up to 3 business days. You can upgrade to overnight delivery for an extra $30 when placing your order. Please note that waiting for your cellphone carrier to provide you a de-simlocking code may cause additional delays. We urge you to test your telna Mobile service long before leaving on your trip, to ensure that there will be no last-minutes surprises.
What shall I do once I receive my telna Mobile SIM card?
| Once you receive your card you first need to activate it. In order to do so you need to login into your mytelna account, the choose the "Activate" icon and follow the instructions. |  |
Once your phone is configured, it will display the name of the host network to which you are connected (AT&T or T-Mobile in USA), together with the word "telna".
In order to verify that your phone is properly configured for telna Mobile, please dial 300 from your cellular phone. After pushing send, your phone should display "Calling...". Within 1 minute, you should receive a text message confirming that the service is working properly.
After completing the activation, please check the different settings for your telna Mobile SIM card in your mytelna account, including voicemail settings, caller ID settings, and country based blockings...
What is the billing increment used to charge my calls?
Due to the billing standards used on foreign cellular networks, all calls are being billed in 1 minute increments.
What is the rate to call the telna Mobile customer service from a telna Mobile phone?
Calls to the telna Mobile customer service are billed at the same rate than incoming calls to the country you are calling from. You may always contact customer service by calling our USA customer service center number from a local landline, at applicable rates, which may be a less expensive alternative.
What happens in the event my telna Mobile card is lost or stolen?
As soon as possible, you should de-activate your telna Mobile card from within your mytelna account, which you can do in real-time. You may also contact the telna Mobile customer service during business hours. You are reponsible for all charges incurred on your account until the compromised SIM card has been de-activated. Lost or stolen SIM cards will be replaced at your request for a charge of $10. International express delivery is available for $100, to receive a replacement card at your travel destination within 2 to 3 days.
Questions about voicemail
How can I turn on and off my voicemail?Voicemail on no-answer is enabled by default when you receive your telna Mobile SIM card. To disable your voicemail or change the delay after which your voicemail will pickup on no answer, you may login into your mytelna account and select the "Settings" menu under telna Mobile services.
How can I listen to my voicemail mesages?
There are several ways to listen to your voicemail messages:
| - you may login to mytelna and listen to your voicemail messages for free. You can also archive messages, and store them into various folders, as well as download messages as files to your computer. |  |
| - in mytelna, under "Settings" in the "telna Mobile services" section, you may select to receive voicemails as file attachements sent to your email address |  |
- finally, you can dial 605, or select "Voicemail" from the telna menu in your telna Mobile phone (this meny may be hidden in the "Applications" or "Office tools" menu, depending on your phone). Your phone will display "Calling", and you will receive a call back from the voicemail system to your handset which you will need to pickup. You will not be prompted for your voicemail PIN code when calling the voicemail system from your handset. Calls to the voicemail system from your handset are charged at the regular rate for incoming calls to the country you are calling from. Some phones have a button to access voicemail, and you may be able to save the access number of 605 to that button via your phone's menu to make voicemail access more convenient.
Will I receive a notification for each new voicemail message?
Our network will try to alert you via SMS (text message) each time a new voicemail is received. However, since we do not directly control the many cellular networks that you may use when traveling with telna Mobile, it is sometimes possible that text messages do not get delivered by the local networks, or that you will receive 2 text messages for the same voicemail left in your mailbox.
You can also setup email alerts for new messages in mytelna, under "Settings" in the "telna Mobile services" section.
You can always check new messages for free online at mytelna.
How can I record my own greeting message for my voicemail box?
When you receive your telna Mobile SIM card, the greeting message on your voicemail box is a default recording. To configure your personal message, call your telna Mobile number from a landline. When the voicemail picks up, quickly press * to access the voicemail menu. You will then be prompted for your voicemail PIN code (this is set by default to your mytelna account PIN code). Press option 0, then option 1, to record your unavailable message. telna will not charge you anything to access your voicemail menu from a landline in this manner, but regular call charges may apply for the line you are calling from.
If you need to set your voicemail greeting message from your handset, you can dial 605, or select "Voicemail" from the telna menu in your telna Mobile phone (this meny may be hidden in the "Applications" or "Office tools" menu, depending on your phone). Your phone will display "Calling", and you will receive a call back from the voicemail system to your handset which you will need to pickup. You will then be prompted for your voicemail PIN code (this is set by default to your mytelna account PIN code). Calls to the voicemail system from your handset are charged at the regular rate for incoming calls to the country you are calling from.
Questions about SMS (text messages) and GPRS (Mobile Internet)
What about SMS (text messages) via telna Mobile?During the beta period of our service, text messages are not available. We are working on adding this feature as soon as possible.
Does telna Mobile offer GPRS or Mobile Internet service?
During the beta period of our service, GPRS is not available. We are working on adding this feature as soon as possible.
What else do I need to know before leaving on a trip outside the USA?
Test your telna Mobile service long enough before your tripWe urge you to test your telna Mobile service long before leaving on your trip, to avoid any last minute surprises and leave enough time to resolve possible problems or incompatibilities.
A test may consist of the following steps: place your telna Mobile SIM card into the cellphone that you intend to use during your trip. Power on the cellphone, and make sure that telna Mobile is displayed in the display. Wait for the phone to find network coverage. Call your telna Mobile number, and verify that the phone rings, but do not pick up to avoid incurring any minute charges (which are very high inside the USA). Then, try dialing your home number from your telna Mobile cellphone, and make sure that the call goes through and that your home phone starts ringing. Cancel the call immediately after your home phone starts ringing without picking up, to avoid incurring any minute charges.
Once the above has been verified, the only possible problem may be that your cellphone does not support the frequency band used by the networks in the country that you are travelling to. Please check our coverage information and the user's manual of your cellular phone. You may need to manually "switch bands" on your cellular phone to get coverage upon arrival in the foreign country. Please feel free to contact customer service for assistance.
Make sure your telna Mobile service is enabled in the countries you will be visiting
Even though our service works from 174 countries, for your financial safety we block service in a few countries by default, including for example the USA. However it is very easy for you to allow service in the countries you will be visiting.
| In order to do so, please login into your mytelna account, and choose the option "Country Blocking" icon |  . |
How will I be able to charge my cellphone in a foreign country?
Please note that power and plugs used in foreign countries are different from the power and plug used in USA. You will need to verify that your phone charger supports the power used in the foreign country, and you will probably need an adapter to fit your charger into a local plug. It is important that you research this information before your trip, or you may be left without battery power after a few days. Always ensure that your phone is fully charged when leaving for your trip, and power off the phone during air travel to save on battery power.
When traveling to Western Europe for example, the local power is 220V (ensure that your charger supports this) and you will need a plug adapter costing a few dollars online or in stores, to fit your charger into local power outlets.
Will the contacts that I see in my American cellphone be available when I am using telna Mobile?
It depends. In most cases, your contacts (names, phone numbers...) are stored on your American SIM card. This means that when you remove your American SIM card from your phone, and insert your telna Mobile SIM card, you will no longer have access to your contacts.
In cases where contacts are stored in the phone itself, they will still be available even after you switch the SIM card.
We recommend that you test this before your trip, and find out if your contacts will be available after switching the SIM card. If not, make sure to add important contacts to your telna Mobile SIM card before your departure.
If possible, store contacts in your phone instead of storing them in your SIM card, that way they will always be available no matter which SIM card is being used. This is a setting available in many phones. Please consult your user's manual for more information.
Troubleshooting tips
I received my telna Mobile SIM card, inserted it into my phone, but the phone does not display "telna".If the phone does not recognize the telna Mobile SIM card, it is likely that your phone is simlocked. Please follow these instructions or try the card in a different phone if possible. Some phones will clearly say that the phone is "restricted" or that the card is "not allowed".
The telna Mobile SIM card is recognized, but the phone does not find a network.
Please verify that there is network coverage in your area. Then please check which frequency bands or non-GSM technology is being used by networks covering that area, and verify that your phone supports them. If your phone does support the frequency bands used, but does not find a network, you may need to either manualy "switch bands" on your cellphone, to set the cellphone to the proper frequency band, and/or enable "automatic network selection", to allow the phone to select any available network.
The phone is registered onto a network, but I am unable to place outgoing calls.
When dialing an outbound call, if the phone does not display "Calling", then your phone may be a model not supporting telna Mobile's direct dialing feature. In this case, you can still place outbound calls by following these instructions.
In some rare cases the network on which you are currently roaming might have some difficulties. Since in many countries telna Mobile has agreements with several carriers, you can try to change the network your phone is using by accessing the network settings of your phone, checking the available networks and trying to connect to another network. Once connected to the new network you can trying placing phone calls.
Questions about Telecom North America, provider of telna Mobile
Who is Telecom North America?telna Mobile is operated by Telecom North America, who has been offering long distance service to US customers with international calling needs since 2002, providing dependable high quality service with no hidden fees and fair rates. It is only logical for Telecom North America to accompany these customers when they travel to foreign countries, and continue to provide them with an inexpensive communications solution during their trips.
I've recently heard stories about telecommunication providers going out of business. What about Telecom North America?
Telecom North America has always been a profitable company since its first day in business back in 2002.
Why would Telecom North America be able to offer lower roaming rates than anybody else?
telna Mobile uses a combination of aggresively negotiated roaming agreements for inbound calls, callback technology for outbound calls, and Telecom North America's international network with connections to many of the largest telecommunications providers in countries worldwide. While the service is not as inexpensive as international calling from landlines, it is built to provide international travelers with an alternative to traditional cellphones, at a much lower cost than that charged by American cellphone carriers for roaming in foreign countries.
Does Telecom North America use "telemarketing" techniques to prospect new customers?
No, Telecom North America does not use any telemarketing techniques. We are as annoyed as you are, when telemarketers call us in the middle of our dinner. Plus, why would you believe someone who calls you to tell you that you can save on your long distance? Isn't that what they always tell you?
We think customers should realise for themselves the savings they can achieve by using Telecom North America's long distance service or mobile roaming service, and therefore we only use non-invasive marketing methods.
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Copyright 2002-2010 Telecom North America. |
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