I just returned from a trip to the Orient and Australia. My cell phone provider told me how to make calls, but I was never really clear on what it cost to call home. The phone bill came to a whopping $600 and instead of the dollar a minute I expected, most calls were almost $3 per minute! But yet, when in Vietnam and Hong Kong, friends who live there told me that when they use their own cell phones, it costs them only a few cents a minute to call the U.S.!

I have asked my cellular provider if they can do something to help me, but so far they refuse. In all fairness, when I now study their international calling web page it is fairly clear, but when I phoned I was clearly told that it would cost $1 a minute to use the phone overseas. What do you advise I do? Are there any recommendations you have for using a cell phone overseas and not being taken to the cleaners? Don from Fresno.

Better than Las Vegas

When I ran the facts of Don’s e-mail by Ken Grunski, CEO of San Diego based Telestial, Inc., he was not surprised. “Rates charged by U.S. based cell providers for calls back to the United States are a giant slot machine – one with great odds for the house,” he said. His company is responsible for saving, “Literally millions of dollars in the excessive charges that U.S. based cell phone companies force their users to pay for using a cell phone overseas. They do not like us, but our customers love us,” he added, with a big smile.

And, if I may engage in a bit of flag waving for a moment, Ken’s story is an example of what makes this country such an amazing place. America truly is that land where, if you have an idea that makes sense, you will indeed make dollars and cents out of it. Ken’s is not the story of the better mousetrap – it is the story of the mousetrap that was just waiting, just begging to be used.

It began years ago after Kenhttp://www.telestial.com) discovered that a brief phone call he placed to the States from China was more than the price of a hotel room, but that locals could make inexpensive calls from their own cell phones. “I wondered, why can’t we – the tourist or business visitor – use local cell phone services, at a local rate, just like anyone who lives there?”

Sometime after that experience in China, the idea of marketing local cell phone service to an international audience “hit me like a ton of bricks!” Ken proudly relates. “At the time there were no world cell phones and even when phones that work on most global frequencies came into production, there was still no way to obtain the low, local cell phone rates charged in most countries to their residents. Why was it so expensive to use your American phone overseas? There had to be a better way, and thus was born Telestial – our company satisfied an obvious need,” he explained.

Today it is possible to have the convenience of a cell phone virtually anywhere in the world without falling victim to the international roaming surcharges USA cellular providers beat us with. The products and services that Ken delivers – as do others in this same business – also provide an alternative to many so called international calling cards.

“They are typically cheaper to call from but require a payphone when available or you are often subjected to hotel access charges when you dial that toll-free access number. But, for as little as $99 any traveler can have the security and convenience of their own cell phone, while receiving free income calls just like the locals do,” Ken states.

When You Need To Use Your Local US Cell Phone Service

All of that said, Ken cautions that, “For some travelers, it is absolutely necessary to be reachable through your U.S. cell phone service. Even though it is more expensive than using a pre-paid SIM card and local number, the advantage for some users is that you can be reached just by calling your U.S. number – the call following you overseas but at a very steep price.

What are the Options?

The international traveler has four choices for using a cell phone overseas. One, go with a U.S. GSM provider, roam overseas, and expect to pay from $1 up to $4 per minute for incoming and outgoing calls. To roam with your US service you will need a GSM compatible phone that operates on the 900 and 1800 frequencies.

The least expensive choice is to purchase a SIM card for local cell phone service before you leave. With local service you get a local cell phone number for the country in which you are traveling, free incoming calls (even from the US), pay roughly 30 cents for local calls, and 70 cents for outgoing calls to the States. Since the service is prepaid you always know how much you are spending for calls and there are never any billing surprises when you return home.

“Finally, there is also prepaid international roaming service – a truly powerful product for the modern globe-trotter. Designed for multi-destination itineraries and frequent travelers, you can have a single phone number with global coverage and still benefit from rates that are up to 70 percent cheaper than other alternatives. Free incoming calls are of course available at many destinations including most of Europe, Mexico and Australia while outgoing calls will rarely cost more than 60 cents per minute locally or to the United States,” Ken pointed out.

How Does it Work?

To take advantage of international prepaid cell phone service you need a GSM phone with the correct frequencies for the areas you are visiting. If you are using a phone provided by your U.S. cell company, it must also be unlocked, which means that it will accept foreign SIM cards. Expect to pay around $40-$60 for the card which, in addition to your phone number, will also include some air time credit.

Reduced Rates

In discussing this with the major US cell carriers, I learned they have reduced rates, but it is still impossible to match those of local carriers overseas. But a lot has changed, as five years ago, with a US cell phone, roaming was possible in only a handful of countries.

Help To My Reader – Re-Rate The Calls

In my reader’s case, all was not lost, as Ken had a suggestion. “Why not phone them and see if they will re-rate the charges, especially as it seems as though your reader was not told the full story about how expensive it would be. Most US companies are pretty good about this – give it a try.”

So we did – Don and I got on the line to the Customer Retention department of his cell provider, we explained the problem, and they did indeed re-calculate his calls at the $10 a minute figure he had expected to pay. This saved him over $400, but the cost in using a pre-paid SIM card service would have brought his entire bill down to less than $100.

Need I say more? You can visit the Telestial Web site by going to www.telestrial.com.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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“Several months ago on a Sunday afternoon, our home landline and cell phones rang, one after the other, many more times than normal. Also, our caller ID displayed Spam Likely.

From prior experience, the caller claims to be from any number of organizations, wanting all sorts of personal information. We never answer Spam Likely calls.

“Curious as to who it was, we activated the ‘last call received’ feature and a legit number was revealed. We immediately dialed it, finding that it belongs to a company that monitors fire and burglar arms for security companies.

“Something had tripped our alarm, and they were trying to reach us. Unsuccessful, they contacted the local company that maintains our alarm system who in turn dispatched a security guard to my office.

“I met him there, found that everything was secure, and several possible explanations for the false alarm were offered – none of them our fault. I asked if he could explain why Spam Likely showed up on our phones — not the name of the monitoring company — and if this has been a problem in the past.

“He acknowledged this has been an on-going issue, upsetting customers who are being charged each time a guard is dispatched. He, his co-workers and the company’s owner have repeatedly told the monitoring company to remedy the situation, without success.”

Several days later, we received a bill stemming from that Sunday afternoon Spam Likely call and guard response have refused to pay it.

“Mr. Beaver, who is responsible for this charge? Had the company’s name been visible, we would have answered and had the opportunity to decline a guard being dispatched and check out things ourselves, as we have done in the past when they called us and Spam Likely did not appear. Are we obligated to pay? What explains this? Thanks, Bob.”

Calling James Bond – Shaken and Stirred

To see if my reader’s experience was unique, I phoned alarm companies across the country, and found that it is very common.

“Instead of picking up on the first couple of rings, our calls go to voicemail, and this is potentially dangerous, aside from upsetting our customers, when they are billed for a guard being dispatched,” I heard repeatedly from managers and owners.

So, how does a legitimate business phone number suddenly show up as “Spam Likely?”

An Explanation as Clear as Mud

Technical people at cloud-based telecommunication companies I spoke with all said that the blame and solution is wrapped up in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) STIR/SHAKEN technology standard for service providers.

As explained to me, the STIR/SHAKEN protocol has a three-level system carriers use to categorize the information about the caller into levels of trustworthiness. The different levels, ranging from A to C, indicate the amount of trust or proof a provider has in the caller’s right to use that number.

The higher the “attestation level,” the more trustworthy the call and the less likely it is to be blocked or labeled as “spam risk” or a similar designation indicating a possibly fraudulent call.

Here are a few reasons a carrier might determine a lower level of trustworthiness.

– You make a high volume of outbound calls per day per number.

– Someone flagged a call from your number in that carrier’s app as spam.

– The number’s outbound caller ID is not set correctly in your business phone system which carriers view as incomplete and likely flag it as spam.

What can be done about it?

The FCC and major carriers realize there are legitimate business reasons that require high call volumes (such as appointment reminders). A request for them to white list your number should be filed with an explanation of your reasons for the high call volume.

Upon approval, telecommunication providers will safe list your number and prevent future blocked calls or unwanted caller ID showing up as spam. As one tech told me, “In a perfect world, this works. Our world is far from perfect.”

A Law Professor Offers a Simple Solution

Loyola University School of Law (Los Angeles) professor Bryan Hull gave this analysis:

“First of all, what do the terms and conditions in the alarm contract specify? If they say the customer will be called first and if there is no answer an officer will be sent out and a charge will be made, then an argument could be made that if the call says “Likely Spam” the customer could claim that it was unclear who was calling and the charge is unwarranted.

“The solution is for customers to be given the monitoring service’s phone number(s) and instructions to program and recognize them on their caller ID. Then, if they don’t answer, there will be a charge for an officer visit.”

Hopefully that logic will be persuasive and my reader will not be pursued for payment.

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December 05, 2015 • By Dennis Beaver

If you have a landline and want the ability of making a phone call during a power outage, today’s story will be of special interest. As Central California reader “Sylvia” discovered, digital telephone service has made something we depend upon suddenly undependable.

“Recently my 91-year-old mother was experiencing chest pain during a power failure in our neighborhood. We have old-fashioned, plugged-into-the-wall phones, not cordless, and do not require the power being on. I tried to call 911, but there was no dial tone. The phone was completely dead. This was very strange, as, only a week earlier we had new digital phone and Internet service installed,” she explained.

“I ran to a neighbor who had no power, but her phone was working. We both have the same telephone/Internet provider, and she has had service for several years. Neither of us knew why her phone worked and mine did not.”

We sent emails to 30 highly educated people — lawyers, doctors, high school and university teachers — asking, “If you have digital telephone service, what must be in your modem that could save a life in an emergency?”

It’s not GPS, as several people thought. Most had no idea.

The answer? Without a backup battery in your modem, during a power failure, phone calls from a landline are impossible.

Ninety-eight percent of the people who responded to our email had no inkling that a modem can and should have a back-up battery.

That’s exactly what so upset Sylvia when speaking with her provider’s customer service representative.

“I asked them to explain why my neighbor obviously had a back-up battery. Did the installer forget to put it in our modem?

“Their answer floored me! I felt absolutely cheated, and I’ll bet a lot of people feel the same way,” she told You and the Law.

She’s right — but most do not know just how deeply at risk they could be, right now.

Until about a year and a half ago, across the U.S., modems almost always had a backup battery provided at no extra cost. If the battery failed, it would be replaced. In Canada they still are provided free.

If a customer had some issue with their phone service, Internet connectivity or Wi-Fi, and spoke with customer service, the standard instructions were to, “Unplug the modem, remove the battery, wait 10 minutes, replace the battery, power up your modem and that should fix things.” Often it did.

So, why was there no backup battery in Sylvia’s modem?

We spoke with Jenny Gendron, Comcast’s media relations manager for the California Region, and Donald Forbes, director of communications with Bright House Networks.

“After surveying customers, and reviewing industry practices we found that most do not place a high priority on having a backup battery, so we no longer provide one automatically for voice modems, but they can be purchased for $35,” Gendron explained.

“We changed the battery policy approximately one year ago due to a lack of customer demand. As most customers have a cordless phone which will not work in a power outage — unless they have a backup power source for the phone which most don’t, a modem battery is rendered useless during an outage,” Forbes told us.

You and the Law asked to be provided with proof — the research these companies claim to have done to reach conclusions which we seriously question, based on our own small survey and, more importantly, speaking with telecommunications experts.

We also asked, “Now that you are buying modems without batteries, how much are you saving?” Both declined to answer. We learned from one manufacturer that the savings “ballpark” is from $15 to $20 per modem,

To Edgar Dworsky, former Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division, and now editor of Consumer World, “Cable companies have found yet another way to stick it to customers, but this time it could have serious safety implications.”

“While the FCC in August has authorized cable companies to charge for backup batteries, I still urge that they are offered free to all customers who request them,” Dworsky stated.

To John Strand, retired AT&T Central California supervisor of network operations, “Remaining in touch is critical, especially to our aging population. Historically, when the lights go out, landline phones still work, as they operate on an independent power system. To increase profit margins —and leaving out these critical batteries — cable companies are putting lives at risk.”

And Sylvia? We placed one phone call and our reader got that battery, at no cost. 

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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