Outgoing calls to 778-580-4001

[Bottomshelf]

Hi Community Members,

I am a new user since March 23.

I checked my usage history and noticed 5 outgoing calls to 778-580-4001. The 5 separate calls ranged anywhere from 22 seconds to 3:37 for a total of 5:45 minutes.  These calls were all made on March 27.

Does anyone know what this is and why it's happening?

How is possible that I or my phone is making automated calls to that number?

There are no outgoing calls showing in "Recents".

I am on a 100 minute Canada wide plan ($15 plan) so every minute is valuable.

I was previously a prepaid Telus user and my spouse is on the Koodo network.

Thanks for your help.

[Bottomshelf]

Response from moderator - Camelia_M

You use minutes every time you call your voicemail and listen to the messages, if you do not access it, you don't use minutes even if  messages are deposited.

However, as at the writing of this email, I have never received a response regarding my "phantom" calls to access my voicemail.  That is, there are 5 minutes worth of calls on my voicemail that I have never accessed yet I have been charged.

[duffer900]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Thanks for the comments.  

The only time I have used voicemail was to set it up.

I have never accessed voicemail to check messages.

From what some people are saying, there would appear to be 2 different voicemail policies - one that will not charge minutes even if it goes to voicemail and another that does.

Why would there be 2 different policies?

Is there a moderator or Employee that can settle my issue once and for all?

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If you do need to speak to a moderator, please send them a message here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[Bottomshelf]

Thanks for the comments.  

The only time I have used voicemail was to set it up.

I have never accessed voicemail to check messages.

From what some people are saying, there would appear to be 2 different voicemail policies - one that will not charge minutes even if it goes to voicemail and another that does.

Why would there be 2 different policies?

Is there a moderator or Employee that can settle my issue once and for all?

[Anonymous]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Overview And Usage history both show 8 minutes of 100 used

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Right. They're both like a summary.

From the overview page in the plan area you'll see View My Usage. Clicking that gives you all the activity details in and out of the phone.

Confusingly, the same-name link in the add-ons area takes you to the summary.

So you'll see all the activity in that detail screen. But the counter on the overview page is the one that matters. In your case the 8 minutes of 100 used. Mine is written as 40 / 50 MIN.

[CalgaryBen]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

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@CalgaryBen wrote:

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

I checked my usage history and noticed 5 outgoing calls to 778-580-4001. The 5 separate calls ranged anywhere from 22 seconds to 3:37 for a total of 5:45 minutes.  These calls were all made on March 27.

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For these entries that show up in your Usage History as "Outgoing Call" -- does the "Originating Location" column have "All" or "BRITISH COLUMBIA", or something else?

My understanding is that if it shows "All", then it's an incoming call that went to voicemail, and won't use up your minutes.  If it shows your province, then it's treated as a call (e.g. a call to access/check/setup VM) and will use minutes.

If you're able to provide screenshots of your Usage History since you joined (while blocking out any personal/private information of course), that might be helpful in figuring out what's happening...

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All the calls “All” and “British Columbia” used minutes according to my usage history.

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Usage History isn't a good way to assess whether actual minutes are consumed -- all lines in the history will show the duration, but there's unfortunately no indication whether it uses minutes or not.  I just know that calls to voicemail, regardless of duration, do not consume minutes on my metered plan, and show up as "All".

Indeed, maybe 50 minutes vs. 100 minutes plans work differently.  I'm on the 50 for one of my lines, and have tested calling it and going to voicemail, and my minutes in Overview remain constant.

[Bottomshelf]

Overview And Usage history both show 8 minutes of 100 used

[Anonymous]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

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All the calls “All” and “British Columbia” used minutes according to my usage history.

Does anyone else have a definitive answer?

Some users say messages to voicemail will not use minutes if you don’t check your voicemail.

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There was another customer who has the same plan and is reporting that their overview counter is incrementing on voicemail calls. Either messages left or checking the voicemail from another phone.

But you're saying usage history. What matters is the counter on the overview page. All activity in and out of the phone will be recorded in the usage history.

[Bottomshelf]

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@CalgaryBen wrote:

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

I checked my usage history and noticed 5 outgoing calls to 778-580-4001. The 5 separate calls ranged anywhere from 22 seconds to 3:37 for a total of 5:45 minutes.  These calls were all made on March 27.

---

For these entries that show up in your Usage History as "Outgoing Call" -- does the "Originating Location" column have "All" or "BRITISH COLUMBIA", or something else?

My understanding is that if it shows "All", then it's an incoming call that went to voicemail, and won't use up your minutes.  If it shows your province, then it's treated as a call (e.g. a call to access/check/setup VM) and will use minutes.

If you're able to provide screenshots of your Usage History since you joined (while blocking out any personal/private information of course), that might be helpful in figuring out what's happening...

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All the calls “All” and “British Columbia” used minutes according to my usage history.

Does anyone else have a definitive answer?

Some users say messages to voicemail will not use minutes if you don’t check your voicemail.

[CalgaryBen]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

I checked my usage history and noticed 5 outgoing calls to 778-580-4001. The 5 separate calls ranged anywhere from 22 seconds to 3:37 for a total of 5:45 minutes.  These calls were all made on March 27.

---

For these entries that show up in your Usage History as "Outgoing Call" -- does the "Originating Location" column have "All" or "BRITISH COLUMBIA", or something else?

My understanding is that if it shows "All", then it's an incoming call that went to voicemail, and won't use up your minutes.  If it shows your province, then it's treated as a call (e.g. a call to access/check/setup VM) and will use minutes.

If you're able to provide screenshots of your Usage History since you joined (while blocking out any personal/private information of course), that might be helpful in figuring out what's happening...

[Anonymous]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

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How does setting up a voicemail uses minutes?   The minutes charges happened on the same day at 5 different times.  If I assume correctly, minutes woulde appear to be charged if someone leaves a message and not necessarily the user accessing the voicemail.

Why would Public Mobile has different policies on time charges for messages left on voicemail on your plan compared to mine?

Can anyone else shed some light on this issue?

Thanks!

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Public Mobile has several little anomalies around the place.

Using the phone to make calls uses minutes (some exceptions). Calling the voicemail on the phone to set it up and check messages is just like making a call. It calls the voicemail number.

You may very well have found that people leaving voicemails does in fact use minutes. This is a new plan. So maybe they changed that feature. It has been something I've been curious about since it was introduced.

[Bottomshelf]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Hi,

I've never checked my voicemail.  The only time I did use it was to set it up.  So it seems that I will be charged for minutes even if I do not access voicemail.  As long as a caller leaves a message on my voicemail, I will charged for the minutes; not when I access voicemail?

Thanks.

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If you did that initial set up via the phone itself and not from a landline or something then yes that will count as minutes. Checking for voicemails too.

I'm interested to know your observations.

I have the $10 plan. It does NOT count minutes for people leaving voicemails.

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How does setting up a voicemail uses minutes?   The minutes charges happened on the same day at 5 different times.  If I assume correctly, minutes woulde appear to be charged if someone leaves a message and not necessarily the user accessing the voicemail.

Why would Public Mobile has different policies on time charges for messages left on voicemail on your plan compared to mine?

Can anyone else shed some light on this issue?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Hi,

I've never checked my voicemail.  The only time I did use it was to set it up.  So it seems that I will be charged for minutes even if I do not access voicemail.  As long as a caller leaves a message on my voicemail, I will charged for the minutes; not when I access voicemail?

Thanks.

---

If you did that initial set up via the phone itself and not from a landline or something then yes that will count as minutes. Checking for voicemails too.

I'm interested to know your observations.

I have the $10 plan. It does NOT count minutes for people leaving voicemails.

[Bottomshelf]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt response.

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My "Data and Add-On Usage" shows 7 minutes used with a balance of 93 minutes.

I would need to disable call forwarding to prevent the usage of minutes?

In my "Recents" history I can see 3 separate phone calls that I did not answer because they were numbers I did not recognize.  How does this reconcile with the fact my history shows 5 separate outgoing calls to voicemail number?

Thanks.

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Did you use the phone to set up your voicemail? Did you use the phone to check your voicemail?

As for the 7 minutes, I'd be interested to know if this new plan does count voicemail messages being left as minutes. The $10 plan does not. I kinda doubt the $15 plan does but you would be able to test it if you're interested in consuming some of  your minutes or verifying all your calls in the log. Remember too that calls are by the minute. A call that shows as 2:05 will count as 3 minutes.

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From my usage history, the 7 minutes has been deducted from my 100 minutes.

No, I did not check voicemail because I normally don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize.

[Bottomshelf]

Hi,

I've never checked my voicemail.  The only time I did use it was to set it up.  So it seems that I will be charged for minutes even if I do not access voicemail.  As long as a caller leaves a message on my voicemail, I will charged for the minutes; not when I access voicemail?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt response.

---

My "Data and Add-On Usage" shows 7 minutes used with a balance of 93 minutes.

I would need to disable call forwarding to prevent the usage of minutes?

In my "Recents" history I can see 3 separate phone calls that I did not answer because they were numbers I did not recognize.  How does this reconcile with the fact my history shows 5 separate outgoing calls to voicemail number?

Thanks.

---

Did you use the phone to set up your voicemail? Did you use the phone to check your voicemail?

As for the 7 minutes, I'd be interested to know if this new plan does count voicemail messages being left as minutes. The $10 plan does not. I kinda doubt the $15 plan does but you would be able to test it if you're interested in consuming some of  your minutes or verifying all your calls in the log. Remember too that calls are by the minute. A call that shows as 2:05 will count as 3 minutes.

[Bottomshelf]

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt response.

---

My "Data and Add-On Usage" shows 7 minutes used with a balance of 93 minutes.

I would need to disable call forwarding to prevent the usage of minutes?

In my "Recents" history I can see 3 separate phone calls that I did not answer because they were numbers I did not recognize.  How does this reconcile with the fact my history shows 5 separate outgoing calls to voicemail number?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

 @Bottomshelf 

And if you call your voicemail to set it up or check messages FROM your handset then that will use minutes.

[RobertQc]

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Paying-for-your-service/access-voice-mail-out-of-home...

"Here is the list to all Access numbers.

778 (outside greater Vancouver area 778-580-4001)"

[Anonymous]

 @Bottomshelf 

Those are from the calling records of calls that went to voicemail. They shouldn't count against your 100 minutes in the overview counter.

Please let us know if it does.

Edit: voicemail is really just a call-forwarding function.

[RobertQc]

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@Bottomshelf wrote:

Hi Community Members,

I am a new user since March 23.

I checked my usage history and noticed 5 outgoing calls to 778-580-4001. The 5 separate calls ranged anywhere from 22 seconds to 3:37 for a total of 5:45 minutes.  These calls were all made on March 27.

Does anyone know what this is and why it's happening?

How is possible that I or my phone is making automated calls to that number?

There are no outgoing calls showing in "Recents".

I am on a 100 minute Canada wide plan ($15 plan) so every minute is valuable.

I was previously a prepaid Telus user and my spouse is on the Koodo network.

Thanks for your help.

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That is telus voicemail (public mobile runs on the telus network)