Roaming bill shock solution

Vodacom has announced Roaming Tariff Information, a service that sends an SMS to people abroad, informing them of the roaming rates they will incur while in that country. This will help customers avoid roaming bill shocks when they return home.

Vodacom has announced the launch of a service that is going to proactively inform customers via SMS while abroad, about the roaming rates that are applicable in the foreign countries they travel into. The service, known as Roaming Tariff Information (RTI) SMS, is going to help customers avoid roaming bill shock.

The RTI SMS service will notify customers on arrival at their international destination that they are in the coverage area of a foreign network: and it will specify the exact roaming rates customers are going to pay on a particular foreign network.

Commenting on this new offering, Portia Maurice, Chief Officer, Corporate Affairs at Vodacom says, ‚This service augments our ongoing consumer educational campaign on how to help prevent roaming bill shocks. By proactively informing customers about the roaming rates, this will enable customers to manage their roaming use carefully.‚

Customers should take note of the rates in the RTI SMS, and be aware that roaming is more expensive than using the same services back home.

When travelling internationally, Vodacom suggests the following tips to help customers manage their roaming bill.

Data Roaming tips:

§ If a customer uses a smartphone or a tablet, they must ensure that only essential data related activities on their device are enabled to avoid using large volumes of data. Receiving email, browsing the web, using instant messaging services and other applications should only be activated when necessary to avoid using large volumes of data and accumulating a high bill.

§ It is also important to note that using a handset to check email, browse the web, use instant messaging or other applications, is not free when roamingregardless of whether these are available for free in South Africa: and will be billed at the applicable Vodafone world rate for data roaming.

§ Accessing Vodafone Live! is also not free when roaming as it is in South Africa and will also be billed at the applicable Vodafone World rate for data roaming.

§ Customers should set up their email client to download the header of new emails only. Once they receive the headers of new emails, they can then manually select which emails should be downloaded in full to prevent large downloads. Try to avoid downloading emails with large attachments to prevent high bills.

§ Streaming video, person to person file sharing or any other type of file download is extremely data intensive and can result in extremely high bills.

§ When using data roaming on the laptop abroad, customers must remember to disable all automatic download activity which happens in the background, like operating system updates or software/app updates.

§ Customers should disable their smartphone or tablet from performing automatic app refreshes or automatic software updates when abroad to prevent large data downloads.

§ When using data roaming, where possible customers must always roam on selected partner networks to qualify for the Super Saver data rate which is lower than the standard data roaming rates in a specific country. Devices should be manually set to only roam on networks which qualify for the Super Saver data rate.

¬ß If customers do not want to use data roaming at all, they must turn Data Roaming off on their device: select ‚Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Network’ > ‘Data Roaming’ or consult your device manual for more information.

Voice roaming tips:

§ Contract customers, who make calls of long duration, can activate Vodafone Passport to save costs. Vodafone Passport allows customers to use their home rate, allowing them to talk longer for less. For example, a customer who is roaming on the Vodafone UK network with Vodafone Passport activated on a Talk 130 tariff plan can save up to 83% of what he or she would have had to pay normally without Passport.

¬ß Retrieving voicemail messages, by dialling 121 and calling Vodacom’s dedicated Customer Contact Centre on 111 from a Vodacom cellphone attracts the applicable roaming rate as a call back to South Africa based on the roaming option a customer has chosen (either Vodafone World or Vodafone Passport).

§ Receiving a call while travelling internationally is not free Рcustomers will be charged at the applicable roaming rate based on the roaming option they have chosen either Vodafone World or Vodafone Passport.

¬ß Divert incoming calls unconditionally to voicemail prior to leaving South Africa to control costs. All incoming calls are diverted to customer’s voicemail service, but they will still be able to make calls. To activate unconditional diverts: Dial **21*08214 and the last nine digits of their cellphone number, followed by the # key and press the send / dial button.

NOTE: If you are abroad and wish to activate your unconditional diverts, then the number to dial is **21*+278214. Since Vodacom customers can have cellphone numbers with prefixes 082, 072, 076, 079 and 071, should your cellphone number have a prefix other than 082, please ensure that the appropriate prefix is used.

Customer must remember to cancel call diverts on their return to South Africa by dialling ##002# from their cellphone to receive calls again when they are home

SMS roaming tips

¬∑ SMS Roamer is the most cost effective way to stay in touch. SMS Roamer disables customer’s voice and data capabilities and only allows them to send and receive SMSs only. It is available to all Vodacom Contract, Top Up and Prepaid customers.

· Activate SMS Roamer and only pay R2.75 per SMS sent.

The Roaming Tariff Information SMS message service will apply to Vodacom Contract, Top Up and Prepaid customers.

‚To introduce solutions that enhance the protection of our customers, is a critical priority for Vodacom and we believe this new offering will not only offer incredible added value, but more convenience and information too,‚ concluded Maurice.

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