Voice Mail

How much does NodePhone Voice Mail cost?

A Voice Mail service is included with every NodePhone2 service - there is no additional charge for establishment or rental of Voice Mail.

There are also no additional voice mail usage charges.

How do I use the Voice Mail feature of NodePhone2?

The Voice Portal and Voice Mail systems can be accessed by dialing 111 on your NodePhone2 service (assuming that you are using the correct equipment dial plan configuration, see the NodePhone support section for more information). Important note, if you are using a Billion router with NodePhone click here

You can also access your NodePhone2 Voice Mail from any other telephone service by simply dialing your NodePhone2 number and pressing the * (star) key.

The menu structure for the Voice Portal & Voice Mail system has two menu options that are available on almost all menus in the system:

'*' = 'Return to the Previous Menu (if possible)'

'#' = 'Repeat the options available on the current menu'

Voice Portal Menu

The top level menu is the Voice Portal Menu - from here you can choose from:

1 -> Access your Voice Mailbox

2 -> Record your mailbox name

3 -> Change your call forwarding options

5 -> Change your Voice Portal PIN (aka pass code)

9 -> Exit the Voice Portal

1. Voice Mailbox Menu

In the Voice Mailbox Menu you can choose from:

1 -> Listen to your messages (only if you have messages)

2 -> Change your mailbox "busy" greeting

3 -> Change your mailbox "no answer" greeting

7 -> Delete all Messages (only if you have messages)

1.1 Listening to Messages

When listening to your messages, you can:

1 -> Repeat the current message

2 -> Save the current message

3 -> Erase the current message

4 -> Go to the previous message

5 -> Play the message envelope (details about the message itself)

6 -> Go to the next message

7 -> Call back the person who left the message

1.2 & 1.3 Changing your Greeting

When changing your busy or no answer greeting, you can:

1 -> Record a new greeting

2 -> Play the current greeting

3 -> Revert to the default system greeting

2. Recording your Name

When recording your name, you can:

1 -> Record your name

2 -> Play the current name recording

3. Call Forwarding Options

When changing your call forward options, you can:

1 -> Activate (turn on) call forwarding

2 -> Deactivate (turn off) call forwarding

3 -> Change your forwarding destination

4 -> Listen to your call forwarding status

Note that when using this feature for the first time you may be prompted to enter the destination for call forwarding, then the menu will present itself after you have entered a valid destination.

What happens when Voice Mail is turned off?

Pretty well exactly what you'd expect - when Voice Mail is turned off, it will never answer your calls. You are still able to dial 111 and configure your Voice Mail service, but you won't have access to the Voice Mailbox functions.

What effect does Call Forward All have?

Call Forward All (CFA) does what it says, and forwards all calls to a specified number. This effectively bypasses Voice Mail, so that it will never answer any inbound calls.

The exception to this is if you set CFA to '111'. This has the effect of immediately diverting all your inbound calls to Voice Mail.

What happens when your NodePhone line is busy?

If your NodePhone line is busy, then Voice Mail will answer any incoming calls, unless CFA or CFB is set - in which case the call will be diverted as specified.

The standard busy greeting is "_Your Name_ is busy and cannot take your call. Please leave a message after the tone". You also have the option of recording your own Busy greeting.

If however, you have Call Waiting set, and your NodePhone service is busy, then the caller hears ring tone, and the call is handled as per the unanswered call scenario, below.

What happens when an inbound NodePhone call isn't answered?

If someone calls your NodePhone service, and it isn't answered within the number of rings specified in the Toolbox, Voice Mail will answer the call, unless CFNA is set (in which case the call will be diverted as specified).

The standard greeting for unanswered calls is "_Your Name_ is not available to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone". You also have the option of recording your own No Answer greeting.

How does Do Not Disturb interact with Voice Mail?

DND in effect 'busies out' your NodePhone. Incoming calls to your NodePhone behave exactly as if your service was busy and Call Waiting was disabled.

What happens when your NodePhone service isn't registered?

Calls to an unregistered NodePhone service (for example, where the phone is not connected to the network) are normally treated by Voice Mail the same as an unanswered call - the difference being that Voice Mail answers immediately, rather than waiting for the specified number of rings.

The exception to this is that if 'Do Not Disturb' is set, then inbound calls are treated as if the service is busy and Call Waiting is disabled (see above)

You can of course, forward all your calls (CFA), forward calls on busy (CFB) or forward on No Answer (CFNA)

Numbers on my Keypad are not registering with the Voice Mail system

To use the Voice Mail system, your Voice over IP device needs to support the sending of RFC2833 DTMF tones.

If you are using a Billion 6404 or 7404 series router, click here for instructions on how to ensure this is enabled.

Can Voice Mail provide a personalised Answering Service?

You can personalise your voice mail with your own name, and Busy and No Answer greetings. Just follow the prompts when you set up your Voice mail service.

NodePhone Numbering

What happens to my existing NodePhone number if I upgrade from 1 to 2?

If you choose to upgrade from NodePhone1 to NodePhone2, your number will not change.

What numbers can I have with NodePhone?

NodePhone numbers are available in all Australian capital cities as well as a number of South Australian regional centers. During the online signup process, you will be prompted to enter your existing telephone number so that we can provide you with a choice of NodePhone numbers available in your local area. Alternatively, you may select a capital city if we don't yet cover your local area.

More numbering areas are being added to our network and will be available for use as soon as they are ready.

Can I 'port' my existing telephone number in to NodePhone?

This feature is not currently available for NodePhone, although it may be offered in future. Presently, when you order a NodePhone service, you will be allocated a new number.

Can I have more than one telephone number associated with my NodePhone service?

This feature is not currently available for NodePhone, although it is likely to be offered in future.

Can I have a 13, 1300 or 1800 number attached to my NodePhone2 service?

This feature is not currently available for NodePhone, although it is likely to be offered in future.

Can I change my number when I upgrade to NodePhone2?

Existing NodePhone1 customers who were provisioned prior to 24 April, 2007, when upgrading to NodePhone2, can have their NodePhone number changed at no charge to one from their local area (if available).

Customers who are eligible for a number change are advised to upgrade their account to NodePhone2 first (via the NodePhone online plan changer) and then contact our Sales department via email with their account details and preferred numbering area.

When I signed up for NodePhone1, Internode did not offer numbers in my area. Can I change my NodePhone number now, to one in my local geography?

Please see the FAQ entry above.

NodePhone Service Offerings

Products

For details of the options available, please see the NodePhone Plans Page.

Changes

These changes can be effected through the NodePhone online plan changer :

• You can change from NodePhone1 to either NodePhone2 plan, with immediate effect.
• You can change from either NodePhone2 plan to NodePhone1 plan, with effect at the end of your billing month.
• You can change between NodePhone2 plans, with effect at the end of your billing month.

There arre no once-off charges to make a plan change on NodePhone.

Integrated Public Number Database

What is the IPND?

The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) is an industry-wide repository of key information about Australian phone services - primarily number, name and address.

IPND data is used for the following:

• Emergency Services (for example, when you dial 000);
• Directory Publishers;
• Location Dependent Services (for example, so you can dial for pizza, and be connected to your local store).

The provision of accurate IPND data is a mandated requirement of carriers under the Telecommunications Act, and access to the data is strictly regulated.

What is stored to the IPND database?

In essence, the IPND stores the following:

• Your name;
• Phone number;
• Address details;
• and your preference for directory listing (listed, suppressed address or unlisted).

Details of every phone service in Australia (fixed, mobile and others) are stored in the IPND.

Is my NodePhone service listed in the IPND database?

Internode has uploaded all NodePhone services into the IPND database, except for a proportion that have invalid or missing data (and we are in the process of correcting those). We have used the name and address details that we already hold in your NodePhone Service record.

Will IPND listing cause me to get more unsolicited phone calls?

Absolutely not. Internode has entered your service details in the IPND database with the directory listing flag to 'Unlisted'. The effect of being unlisted is that your details will not be made available to any publishers of directory information.

Unlike certain other providers of Voice Services, Internode charges no fee for your right to privacy.

Who can see my IPND data?

Your full IPND data can only be seen by Emergency Services, so that they can dispatch help to your location, in the event of an emergency.

A post-code level summary of your data (suburb, postcode, phone number - no name or street address) is made available to location dependent service providers. This facilitates services, such as taxis where your phone number is used to identify (roughly) your locality. (In our recent experience, many service providers, such as the large pizza chains do not currently use this data - they rely on simple prefix analysis instead e.g. 08 8271 xxxx is Unley exchange in South Australia)

Can someone call Directory Assistance and get my number?

No. All NodePhone services have been set up as "Unlisted", so no Directory providers have your information.

Can I "Opt out" of the IPND database?

No. Provision of IPND data is mandated under the Telecommunications Act. Your existing fixed line phone service (which most of you would have) would already be in IPND. The only way for you not to be in IPND is not to have a telephone service - fixed, mobile or VoIP.

I can use NodePhone anywhere - how do Emergency Services know where to come?

This is an issue faced by all mobile and VoIP services. The IPND database provides the ability to indicate that the location of a service may not be reliable, and allows the provision of additional contact information, other than your NodePhone number.

Internode has populated IPND with the flag set to indicate that the location of the service may not be accurate, and has added in the alternate contact information (generally your landline or mobile) as an alternate contact number.

How can IPND work if I disable Calling Line Identification?

When you make an emergency 000 call, your CLI is always presented to the emergency services, even though you may have explicitly disabled it in the Toolbox, or by prefixing your call with *31. Your CLI is used to look up your location in the IPND database.

Other location dependent services will not be able to determine your approximate location, if you disable CLI when calling them.

How can I check my IPND data?

Internode is working on the ability for you to view and to update your own data online, through the NodePhone toolbox. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your IPND data, please contact Internode Sales.

Where can I find out more?

You can read all about IPND on the following pages:

• Telstra's IPND page - http://www.telstra.com.au/ipnd/index.htm
• ACIF - http://www.acif.org.au/documents_and_lists/codes/C555 and http://www.acif.org.au/documents_and_lists/guidelines/G619
• The Telecommunications Act - http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/

Accounts and Billing

Does unused call credit on the NodePhone2-Premium plan roll over month to month?

No it doesn't, any unused call credit is forfeited at the end of your billing month.

How is the call credit for NodePhone2 plans applied?

Your NodePhone service has a billing month, just like an ADSL service has. You can check on a recent invoice to see what your NodePhone billing month is - look for some text similar to "NodePhone calls to (date)".

On that same day of each month, our billing system checks the calls you have made in the last month, and applies any call credit according to the plan that you are on.

Importantly, the call credit on NodePhone2 plans applies to all types of calls.

Why can't I upgrade my plan online?

For various business reasons we are unable to offer online plan changes to some customers - including customers of Internode resellers and re-billers, and Corporate and Government customers. Please contact Internode Sales to discuss your plan change.

Are NodePhone1 and NodePhone2 calls charged at the same rate?

Calls are charged at the same rate, whether they are made from a NodePhone1 or a NodePhone2 service.

How much do people pay to call my NodePhone2 service?

Someone calling your NodePhone2 service is charged the same as if they called a standard telephone service located in the geographic charging zone from which you selected your NodePhone number. If you signed up for a Sydney NodePhone number, for example, anyone calling your NodePhone will be charged the same as if they called a standard telephone service in Sydney.

General

Can I forward my existing phone number to my NodePhone2 service?

Yes, you can. You can forward calls to a NodePhone2 number, just as for any other number. Naturally, your existing carrier's charges will apply for the call diversion. Please check with your existing carrier regarding these charges.