Message access ends in Y2K upgrading

By Keith Newman

Telecom mobile customers who have become accustomed to accessing their cellphone messages as a free call from the office or home telephone are being locked out of that option as Telecom upgrades its call minder offering to make it Year 2000 compliant.

The Business Herald has had a number of inquiries from irate cellphone users who have found they can no longer use the standard 083210 call-minder number to access their mobile or 025 messages.

However, Telecom says they were not supposed to be using this approach to get to their messages in the first place - until recently they have been taking advantage of an anomaly in the system.

As part of its Year 2000 upgrades, Telecom is moving its 'cellular secretary' services from the old Octel platform to a specialised voice services platform.

All message box inquiries will now be charged at the same rate as other landline to cellular calls. The upgrade will affect about 150,000 customers and be completed by the end of June. Customers can still dial their mobile number plus the 025 prefix and then their pin number to get to cellular secretary, but they will be charged according to the rates at the time of day.