The Unofficial 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless Canada Consumer Page 
Facebook
Twitter
Email this
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
11:35 am
November 26, 2009
Offline
A friend of mine gave me his motorola razr (v2?) unlocked phone. Was wondering how I would go about checking messages (voicemail) from the actual phone. Tried calling my number w area code and it just says call failed. I'll be out and about, if I miss the call or don't hear it, sometime want to check the voicemail if not near a land line.
He got it off ebay a few years ago (from japan). So it's not like it was bought on a service paln from Canada. In Winnipeg, so their is no toll free number to call. Did a search for voicemail and got 169 topics to scroll through. If I add in unlock as well, then jumps to 200 or more results. Don't have all day to read through all these generic topics. Help me with voicemail, or voicemail troubles...
1-877-643-7786 just disconnects right away.
12:10 pm
April 23, 2010
Offline
10:54 pm
November 26, 2009
Offline
jacks said:
...Tried calling my number w area code and it just says call failed...
11:35 pm
April 22, 2009
Offline
You should be able to access your voice mail from any phone. Just dial your cell number, and use the # key to get to the menus. Can you do that? If not, you might have to talk to speak out. If your phone can make phone calls, it should be able to access voice mail.
BTW, voice mail costs $0.25 a minute from the cell phone, it is free if you use a land line.
11:54 pm
November 26, 2009
Offline
I can access it from any other phone. Done it a few times. I'm curious as to what is different about the speakout branded phones vs the one I have.
as a side note, is it possible to block calls from certain phone numbers? I have this 1877 number phoning me every few days.
9:54 am
April 22, 2009
Offline
I do not have a good answer for you then. I have accessed my voice mail from a variety of non speakout phones with no issue. I have no idea why your phone would be different.
I do not think speak out can block any number. But surprisingly, I have had reasonably good success in calling the offending numbers (using another phone to save the cell phone minutes) and asking them to take the number off their database. More often than not they comply.
3:02 am
July 12, 2009
Offline
Hi
Dial your own 10 digit number with no "1" and see if that works. It does for me with a SO Manitoba number.
The 1-877-643-7786 number will not work for any area code west of Sault St Marie.
Rogers appear to have your "normal" voice access numbers set up to be local/toll free even if the area codes don't match as long as you are calling from a Rogers or SO phone.
If you have a 204 area code number, your voicemail is stored in an area code 403 number in Calgary.
Rogers only has one voice mail server for all the prairie province numbers -- I've had my area code 204 Speakout SIM in a few different phones and was able to call my own number and get my voice mail. I just dialed my 204 SO phone number and got in -- I dialed my own number with just the 10 digit number (no "1″ and no "#") a minute ago to confirm..
Unfortunately for anyone in Manitoba Saskatchewan, or the other area codes in Alberta, there is no toll free number to call to pick up your voice mail. You either pay SO the regular airtime at 25 cents per minute or you pay your home Telco long distance to call Calgary. I've made a couple of test calls and checked my balance before and after the calls and I was charged 25 cents as if it were a a local call.
The Calgary voice mail pickup number is 1-403-978-9990.
I live in Victoria BC, and calling either my own 204 number or the Calgary mail pickup number from Victoria on the SO phone is charged as local even when I call them from Victoria.
The Rogers and SO voice mail numbers for Victoria are area code 604 numbers in Vancouver and despite that normally being a long distance call they are charged as local airtime from a SO phone. I have helped a few friends set up their SO phones here and for Nanaimo and we checked that the charges for a test call were charged as a local call.
The annoying part is that there is no easy way to call for free -- you either pay airtime to SO or long distance to some other phone service.
9:29 am
November 26, 2009
Offline
I'll try that 403 number since 204-xxx still doesn't work. So I guess would have to remember to put in the 10 digit (no "1" at beginning) to calgary as opposed to just the 7?
I asked my friend about the phone. Says that never bothered with voicemail. But did mention that phone came straight from japan. I guess the software configuration would be that much different?
After a few mins of searching, turns out if add this annoying telemarketer to phone book can set the ringer to silent. That way they can keep calling and I don't care 🙂 Oddly enough only seems to work if address saved to phone only, and not the sim.
Thanks for the help.
8:24 pm
July 12, 2009
Offline
When you call someone from the phone, does it display the correct number on the recipient's phone? The Voice Mail service requires the incoming Caller ID number to work and get the appropriate mailbox.
If the number doesn't display correctly in English font numbers, the voice mail can't recognize your call.
If the phone came from Japan there might be a communication error in sending a readable caller ID number. The Sim will assign the right number -- but somewhere in the phone there may be some translation problems. Are the menus in English? If the menus aren't readable -- you can pretty much guess that the Caller ID won't be either.
I'm grasping straws there.
There is always a danger to buying out of country phones with regard to some functions. There are often sellers on usedvictoria.com and Craigs List here in Victoria who are trying to offload European phones as if they will work the same as North American ones. If they are GSM and Quad Band the phone and most 2G functions will likely work. If they are less than Quad Band from Europe they will be missing one (or both) of the bands that Rogers uses. Tri Band will work some places and not others, dual band will likely not work at all. The same applies to the 3G or 3.5G channels -- there are 4 more channels used there, and the only phone I've actually seen advertised that will cover all 4 is the iPhone 4 . (There may well be others -- I haven't looked hard.) The rest will work on 2 or 3 but not 4 of the 3G bands -- so if you want to use it in North America at its maximum capacity, you must be careful to buy a NA version of the phone with the correct bands.
Buyer Beware.
I had played around the night of my first post and spent 50 cents to test the voice mail because I'm heading to Manitoba next week and will be using the phone.
I dialed 204-myphone (where myphone is my number) and it rang directly into voice mail asking for the password.
I dialed 1-403-978-9990 and it worked exactly the same way.
If I dial my number from a different phone, I get the prompt to leave myself a message -- I can pick up my voice mail by hitting the # key and entering my password etc.
If I dial the Calgary number from a land line, I get a message saying "Welcome To Voice Mail" and asking me to enter my wireless number followed by the # key -- then it asks for the password and I can retrieve my message that way.
The only thing I can't do is call from a Rogers wireless phone because the system recognizes the Rogers number and sends me to the voice mail associated with that Rogers number.
10:32 pm
November 26, 2009
Offline
The phone is completely in english. I was playing around in the settings one day and believe said it was a quad band. My friend said he never used voicemail, so wasn't sure if worked or not.
I guess if I call the calgary voicemail number, have to remember to turn caller id on instead of private or whatever option it says. That would be pretty cool being able to just type in password to check messages.
Eventually will get a another phone. Only because I wouldn't mind a better camera. Seems that I use the phone more as a camera than a phone anyway 🙂
11:09 pm
July 12, 2009
Offline
You've already passed the compatibility test for the channels. if you can use it, it has the appropriate bands. However many bands your phone has, you have the right ones if it works.
If there is a way to turn off the outgoing caller ID off and it is off, that will likely be your problem -- the system has to know what phone is calling in to connect you appropriately. If it is off, the system has no idea who is calling.
If you want to check your phone specifications there are 6 pages of Motorola phones here:
2:08 pm
May 11, 2010
Offline
I am having the exact same problem with a Rogers pay as you go Hype that I got from Best Buy. When I dial 1 to go to voicmail (or my actual phone number) it just says "call failed". Is this because the phone is locked to Rogers? I believe my RAZR worked ok but it was a couple of years ago so I'm not sure I ever bothered setting up the voicemail.
Any ideas to get access my voicemail from my phone?
11:27 pm
July 12, 2009
Offline
Each area of Canada has distinct voice mail numbers to call. Tell us where you are, and someone in the forum will be able to tell you what number to call. Then you will have to program that number manually into the speed dial for the 1 button.
If your phone is based in in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Alberta the voice mail pickup number is 1-403-978-9990.
If your phone has a 250 area code, the voice mail pickup number is 1-604-762-9993.
The numbers for other areas in Canada are available scattered about in this forum — you can dig them out as well as I can. I had access to a 204 and a 250 area code phone so I was able to check those easily.
2:28 pm
May 11, 2010
Offline
Thanks Ron...I appreciate the response. I'm in the Hamilton Ontario area. Can you point me to the section with the numbers?
8:39 pm
July 12, 2009
Offline
FAQ number 15 on this site home page has some links to numbers and local numbers. I have no way of knowing what works and what doesn't on phones that I have no access to.
I have access to phones with area codes 204 and 250, and between using the serach on this site, Google, and spending a few minutes worth of airtime at SO rates, I figured out what I can and what I can't do.
Dial *777 and write down your account balance before your tests -- then again after your tests and you should figure out what works, what doesn't and what each cost you. And of course you could phone 611 for free and ask a SO customer rep -- my experience and that of some of the people using this forum has been quite good with them. Most posts about SO customer service here have been positive -- but as with everything in life there are occasional horror stories.
1:31 pm
May 11, 2010
Offline
I took your advice and phoned customer service. At first she recommended that I just call from a landline. She explained how the nokia phones that the sim cards come with are (obviously) pre-programmed with the vm numbers but said they were always changing which to me would suggest eventually even my nokia phone wouldn't work. Anyways when I asked her if I could have a number she provided me with a 647 number (I'm 289) but said she couldn't guarantee it would work. I tested it and it both works and is local despite requiring a "1" in front of it. Thanks again for the help.
8:34 am
November 26, 2009
Offline
I just tried to check my voicemail again. Seems that when I dial asks for a password. If I type in my password, or my phone number (with the 10 digits or not) I get call failed status. Doesn't seem to matter if I have caller id on or off.
Can't send text messages either on this phone (even though the "main" phone number is correct). I have caller id so I guess not so bad. But would still be nice
12:06 pm
October 14, 2008
Offline
jacks said:
I just tried to check my voicemail again. Seems that when I dial asks for a password. If I type in my password, or my phone number (with the 10 digits or not) I get call failed status. Doesn't seem to matter if I have caller id on or off.
Can't send text messages either on this phone (even though the "main" phone number is correct). I have caller id so I guess not so bad. But would still be nice
Usually when you set up your voicemail for the first time, the password is usually the last 4 digits of your phone number, or 1234, or 0000. I have found it to be only 4 digits in length.
8:51 am
November 26, 2009
Offline
I've setup the voicemail last year when I bought the phone. It works fine checking it from a land line. Just something about this phone that won't let any anything out
Whether I have callerid on or off, still asks for a password. Previously in this post, someone had mentioned that if you have the callerid on block, the computer wouldn't know what phone number voicemail to access.
Eventually might just end up buying another phone.
