Top 10 Satellite Phone Tech TIPS Provided by MGLSAT
1. Getting Connected
TIP: Only open the antenna outside, after you have turned it on and can see the blue screen. Always be outside with a clear view to the sky and as much of the blue stuff as you can get. Stay clear of objects like towers etc that may block and interfere with the signal getting to the satellite. After all its 37,000 km’s away so give the signal the best change possible by being patient and clear of objects. Again, only open the antenna after you have a fixed standing position and the handset is powered up and the screen message is “deploy antenna for use”.
2. Staying Connected
TIP: Keep clear of objects and with the antenna pointed towards the satellite (look for white bars on screen) and keep it pointed towards it, DONT WALK AND TALK! The satellite cant move so give it the best chance to see your antenna by staying fixed in a single spot.
3. Checking Prepaid Airtime Balances
TIP: Its free to check your balance, make sure you are outside, a clear view of the sky and connected and “ready for use” on screen. Go to MENU-TOOLS-PREPAY-BALANCE ENQUIRY Make sure you do this before you set off on your trip. Allow time for airtime to be applied if you purchased some.
4. Buying Airtime On-Line
TIP: Before you head off, go to www.mglsat.com and buy some airtime to keep you and your family covered. Always allow more airtime than you will need. Better to have and not need, than need and not have!! Allow 24-48 Hours beforehand for airtime application to the SIM card.
5. Emergency Services 000
TIP: Before travelling look up on the internet for some local emergency contacts in the locations you are heading to and save the direct numbers for these into your phones contacts. 000 wont be much help in the middle of the outback so ensure you have the Royal Flying Doctors numbers loaded. See www.mglsat.com for details.
6. Making Phone Calls
TIP: When making phone calls to family and friends in Australia, dial +61 then drop any zero and dial the remaining number. Example. (07) 8211 8000 becomes +617 8211 8000. Calling a mobile is the same. Example 0407 006 711 becomes +61 407 006 711.
7. Call Costs Calling a Sat Phone
TIP: DONT!!! Please refrain from using landline services to call international satellite handsets. The call costs are extremely high and has been quoted at $19 (Telstra) per minute!! Simply get family and friends to text you from their mobile at a low cost or free on the home page at www.mglsat.com
8. Message Bank
TIP: Don’t use message bank on your satellite phone. It is better to turn this feature off. The reason being, your friends and family wont appreciate the expensive bill they will get for leaving a message, and also you get charged more per minute to contact the satellite and retrieve the messages also.
9. Firmware Update 5.3
TIP: If you have an older Satphone, check to see what Firmware update has been installed. As of the 31st of December 2013, if you haven’t upgraded your satellite firmware (Inmarsat handsets only) which is the brain of the phone, your handset will fail to connect to the Inmarsat network. You can go to the Inmarsat website or as even most of our staff have done, simply pay the engineer fee and get a satellite technician to do it for you. Go to www.mglsat.com and look at the firmware section for details or call 1300 645 000 to make a book to get this done.
10. How to’s
TIP: Whilst we do as much as we can to assist here at MGLSAT, we cant offer full user tips as detailed as the people who made the handset, Inmarsat. Be sure to take a look at the CD provided in your box at time of purchase, or the how to’s under Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) at www.mglsat.com We will be doing a revamp of the website including some small videos on how to use the handset in the very near future.
Please ensure you keep your address details up to date and use the website as much as possible. Let us know if there is anything you feel we can do better as we constantly strive to improve our services to our customers. A loyalty card system is expected in 2014 that will give discounts on our products and services which is growing monthly.
For more great information on Satphone services click here for MGLSAT.