Give me a home, where my iphone may roam...
November 2, 2010 7:13 AM Subscribe
iPhone 4, visual voicemail, and roaming. Questions inside:
I've researched what I could on google, but I don't see anything that is updated and specific to my case. I did look at this thread.
I am on AT&T, and I'd like to take my iPhone with me overseas and be able to receive emergency calls and listen to my voicemails as needed, all the while keeping costs to a minimum. I can handle the voice roaming fees, but I've noticed that I can't hear my voicemails with data turned off (and I don't want to turn data on). I am not interested in Skype, as I really won't be using the phone much, and don't want things to be too complicated.
Question 1: How can I hear my VMs without turning data on?
Question 2: Is there a better strategy that I'm not considering, with the emergence of Google voice and such?
Thanks much!
I've researched what I could on google, but I don't see anything that is updated and specific to my case. I did look at this thread.
I am on AT&T, and I'd like to take my iPhone with me overseas and be able to receive emergency calls and listen to my voicemails as needed, all the while keeping costs to a minimum. I can handle the voice roaming fees, but I've noticed that I can't hear my voicemails with data turned off (and I don't want to turn data on). I am not interested in Skype, as I really won't be using the phone much, and don't want things to be too complicated.
Question 1: How can I hear my VMs without turning data on?
Question 2: Is there a better strategy that I'm not considering, with the emergence of Google voice and such?
Thanks much!
Best answer: Well, visual voicemail is not going to work without data, because it downloads your messages. But you should still be able to hear your messages the old fashioned way, by calling the AT&T voicemail number (if a long press of 1 in the dialer doesn't do it, call AT&T and ask what it is), or calling your own number and pressing star when your incoming message starts to play.
Google Voice can take over the voicemail duties from AT&T if you want; follow the instructions in your GV account to set it up. The limitations on listening to voicemail with GV will be the same as for the native AT&T system -- no visual/online listening without a data connection, but you can call in -- but GV can do a useful thing that AT&T's system doesn't: it transcribes your voicemails to text and you can read them online or have them emailed. I'm not sure that that would actually help much in this case but it's something to consider if you can manage to work it in through, say, wifi at your hotel.
posted by robt at 8:09 AM on November 2, 2010
Google Voice can take over the voicemail duties from AT&T if you want; follow the instructions in your GV account to set it up. The limitations on listening to voicemail with GV will be the same as for the native AT&T system -- no visual/online listening without a data connection, but you can call in -- but GV can do a useful thing that AT&T's system doesn't: it transcribes your voicemails to text and you can read them online or have them emailed. I'm not sure that that would actually help much in this case but it's something to consider if you can manage to work it in through, say, wifi at your hotel.
posted by robt at 8:09 AM on November 2, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the great ideas. I had never used GV, but I've now set up a VM-only account, and it seems to be working. I will have access to internet cafes, so I'll go and check my VMs on gmail as needed.
reddot, I will be in Brazil.
Anything else I should be aware of?
posted by eas98 at 8:27 AM on November 2, 2010
reddot, I will be in Brazil.
Anything else I should be aware of?
posted by eas98 at 8:27 AM on November 2, 2010
Just warning you about the trickiness of checking voicemails and etc. using your iPhone for overseas. I thought I had a handle on it but when I returned from England, I ended up with a (gulp!) $900 bill.
posted by Kitteh at 10:19 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by Kitteh at 10:19 AM on November 2, 2010
Hey Kitteh,
There's now a feature to shut off "cellular data" which should alleviate all such concerns, even if you leave your phone on.
eas98, before you leave, check out the various wifi location finders and see if any of them have good converage in Brazil. You should also check out fonolo and boingo to see if they are big there.
Good luck.
posted by reddot at 6:37 AM on November 3, 2010
There's now a feature to shut off "cellular data" which should alleviate all such concerns, even if you leave your phone on.
eas98, before you leave, check out the various wifi location finders and see if any of them have good converage in Brazil. You should also check out fonolo and boingo to see if they are big there.
Good luck.
posted by reddot at 6:37 AM on November 3, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
You could hear your VMs by calling your number and logging into the old fashioned voicemail system.
When I travel overseas, I forward my phone to google voice and just get my voicemails that way. Then you get the sometimes crappy transcriptions for free. Of course, this relys on getting free / paid wifi.
Data rates can get expensive really quickly. My wife went to Canada for a few days and used the data judiciously, even though I warned her against it and racked up a $200 bill. Ouch.
If you want to receive your real-time emergency calls via 2G / 3G phone and want access to voicemail, you could try forwarding only your voicemail to google voice. I did that. So, I don't ever access visual voicemail. My phone rings normally, but if I miss a call, it gets sent to google voice. But that will also rely on you having access to a data source, whether wifi or "cellular".
If you don't want to have to rely on data at all, the only way to get your voicemail will be to call your own number and get pegged by the international roaming fees.
Where are you going?
posted by reddot at 7:58 AM on November 2, 2010