@zombie999 wrote:
OK, thanks. And when you are out of minutes, are calls sent to voicemail?
Lots of good tips and responses in this thread! To add to what everyone has stated, if you're using one of the 50 or 100 minute plans:
- You'll get a text message when you only have 10 minutes remaining ("Public Mobile here. You have 10 minutes left in your plan. Go to publicmobile.ca/selfserve for more options."
- While you're on a call, when you're down to 1 minute, you get a two-tone warning (sounds almost like call-waiting). If you remain on the call and consume the rest of that minute, you and the other party will be abruptly disconnected.
- As you and others have stated, once minutes are depleted, any incoming calls will go straight to voicemail (so at least callers just think your phone is turned off or you're out of coverage). You'll still get notifications of VM, but won't have minutes to call to check VM (there are workarounds -- see below).
- You can access your VM by calling your PM number from another phone or VOIP app, and at your greeting, press *, followed by your PIN and then #.
- If you attempt to call out on your phone while out of minutes (even to local numbers or to check VM), you'll get a "Sorry, we cannot complete your call. You don't have an active long-distance add-on, and this call is not covered by your plan..." (Ignore the bit about "long-distance add-on" as it's a bit misleading.)
- A handy way to conserve minutes is to use Voico or Hangouts (on WiFi or cell data, if you have that) when dialing out, and if you verify your phone number with those apps, they will make it look like you're calling straight from your phone, so that your number shows as the Caller ID on the called party's end.
- Using Voico or Hangouts is also a good way to check your VM without using minutes (really handy to access VM when all plan minutes have been consumed). If you've disabled VM PIN when accessing VM from your own phone, you won't even need to remember/enter your PIN/passcode when accessing this way (whereas if calling your PM number from another phone, in order to check VM, you'll need to know the passcode).
- If you're running low on minutes and you don't want to add 200/400 minutes for some reason (e.g. you're just a few days from the end of your cycle), one way to really stretch out the minutes is to configure your VM to kick in after only 5 or 10 seconds (default is 20 seconds)... this lets you see who called, but usually doesn't give you enough time to answer before it goes to VM. It does not consume minutes for a caller to leave a VM, and if you check it using Voico or Hangouts, you also won't use minutes. You can then call the party back using Voico/Hangouts ("Hey George, I see you called, but it went to VM before I could answer, so I'm calling you right back...") and they won't know any better.
- By using the $15 plan with 250 MB data, or adding on some data to the $10 plan (e.g. $10 for 200 MB), you can have cell data in an emergency to use Voico or Hangouts. Be warned, Voico will use a lot more data since it has a lot of ads/videos, so Hangouts is preferrable when using cell data.
