Click below to
find interesting
information from our
December 2009
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Access
codes
At vRoam a
large proportion
of our technical
support
questions are
"what number do
I dial?".
One common
problem are the
prefixes (or
"international
access codes")
you dial to tell
the phone
network you want
to make an
international
call (rather
than a local
call). In
Australia, most
of us are used
to dialling
"0011" before
the country-code
for
international
calls.
However that
doesn't work
overseas. That's
right, the
prefix is
different
everywhere else
(Australia is
the only country
to use "0011").
Regular vRoam
travellers will
be familiar with
using "+" as a
prefix on their
mobile instead -
mobile networks
translate this
automatically
into the correct
local prefix.
This works when
roaming and when
home (so it's a
good idea to
enter numbers in
your contacts
list or address
book in this
international
format).
But sometimes
you may have to
tell a contact
how to call you
(for instance
you may want to
tell a friend in
the USA how to
call your
Australian
number). Our
advice would be
first of all to
give the "+"
format (so for
instance our
Sydney office
number would be
"+61 2 9519
2258"). If they
then ask "how do
I dial the '+'
from my
landline?", you
may need to find
out the overseas
access code.
Many
countries use
"00" as a prefix
(this may become
an international
standard), but
there are many,
many other
variants. For
instance, North
America uses
"011", Japan
uses "010", much
of east Africa
uses "000". Some
require you to
insert a desired
carrier (e.g.
Brazil "00xx" or
Israel "01x"
where "x" is a
carrier
selection code).
Some even have
two-stage
dialling e.g.
"8-wait-for-tone-10"
for many central
Asian countries.
So it's
probably best to
answer the
question by
saying "use
'+' on a mobile
from anywhere,
0011 from an
Australian fixed
line, and for
other countries
check with your
carrier/phonebook".
Travel
Cutting
corporate
travel
costs
In the
current
uncertain
economic
environment,
many
organisations
are looking at
their travel
costs as a way
to save money.
Generally that
involves either
a reduction in
demand, or a
reduction in the
cost of the
service. A
recent global
survey of
corporate travel
departments
shows the
following
top-four
initiatives to
reduce travel
spend:
·
Advanced
booking of
airline
tickets (57%
or
organisations,
up from 55%
in late
2008).
·
Rigorous
enforcement
of travel
policy (52%,
up from
44%).
·
Active
tracking of
unused
tickets
(45%, up
from 44%).
·
Requiring
pre-trip
approval
(44%, up
from 43%).
To those,
we'd add the
suggestion of
using
vRoam to
save 40% or more
on their
third-biggest
international
travel cost -
global roaming.
Mobile phones
Consumer
BlackBerries
The
smartphone wars
are well and
truly underway.
For consumers,
Apple's iPhone
rules for now,
however RIM's
BlackBerry
series of
handsets is
making inroads
from its
mainly-corporate
base.
A good
example of this
is the new
BlackBerry Curve
8520. Sporting a
touch-sensitive
trackpad instead
of the normal
roller-ball
navigation,
enhanced media
access (music
controls,
Facebook/IM/Flickr
etc access), and
at a low price
point, it is an
example of a
push into
non-corporate
markets.
Other
smartphone
developments to
watch for in
2010 are
Android-based
handsets. A few
are available
now, but many
more models are
in development
by several
manufacturers.
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