Receiving texts while in US (opportunity?)

[ottawa]

A friend went on vacation and signed up for 10-day talk+text+data for $20 until they could sort out their US SIM (didn't work in their unlocked Canadian handset, though it was supposed to). 

They only paid for the initial 10 days, and after that nothing worked, with one exception: incoming texts. No data, no talk, no outgoing texts, all as expected, but when someone sent them a text on their PM #, they got in in the US, followed by a flurry of messages from PM encouraging paying for US service. I think incoming voice calls went to vmail.

My theory is that until the phone/SIM was detected back in Belus territory, the texts continued to be delivered by TMo/AT&T. And it made me think, if one keeps the PM line active, it's great to be able to call in and pick up vmails. But is it possible that for a one-time $8 payment at start of trip (10 days in US, text only) would keep incoming texts alive for the duration? I'm not sure if it's possible to pick up texts remotely otherwise, and it could be good to know.

Is that possible?

[darlicious]

@ottawa 

When the Manitoba issue came up telus offered migration plans to koodo for pm customers hut claimed only if they had a voLTE enabled phone from their very specific list. Of the few customers who panicked and chose that option with their own phone's they reported their phone's still worked even though they were not on the list. It's likely that MM chooses not to enable non US provider phones that are voLTE capable.

I have 3 phones....a Samsung galaxy A320 UAE international version it is voLTE capable but not enabled. It was on the freedom network before pm. A moto g7+ NA version bought in the US it is voLTE capable and enabled. And a Google pixel 3 bought in the US (Verizon variant unlocked) it is voLTE capable but not enabled. So who knows how it all works other than if your phone isn't already enabled out of the box then it's up to the provider to do it thru your SIM card I imagine....?

Similar to the bf being able to use WiFi calling with his pm SIM card without an active plan but because the phone had it enabled by telus previously and it was connected to WiFi with telus home internet?

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[dust2dust]

ottawa: It's all very convoluted. The provider has control over whether to enable volte on a phone. Public does not enable it. Maybe they don't disable it if previously enabled. If you have a Koodo sim and an account that can use volte (prepaid? postpaid?) then the setting should be available. For Public, calls are only on 3g. Data and texts can be either 3g or 4g.

Then throw in roaming. If a phone has the setting available then it needs to be checked as to whether volte works with roaming. Some say it would. Some say not.

I would be surprised that MM doesn't work at all on that A8.

A provider could say a phone works as long as it has at least one of the bands/frequencies in either of 3g or 4g (or 5g).

[ottawa]

Yeah, I meant PM to text you and say "welcome to US, want to buy an add-on?" 🙂

They actually ran into a problem with the VoLTE issue, they had a Mint Mobile (US though Ryan Reynolds 🙂 ) SIM and an ex-Koodo A8 which Koodo claims does VoLTE (here VoLTE (Voice over LTE) | Help | Koodo Mobile, the IMEI meets the requirement) but actually doesn't apparently (MM website rejects, Cricket website rejects, no VoLTE settings on phone). They used the Mint SIM in another handset and left the PM SIM in the A8, and it worked for the initial 10 days.

Some US MVNOs advertise needing VoLTE, but others don't (nothing to do with PM now). I wonder how many are getting burnt when Americans buy a SIM and discover it doesn't work even though it meets the MVNO's stated requirements.

Suggestions of Fongo are great, in fact my friends have a Google Voice number and the GV app worked for calls and texts. What I am excited about is receiving texts sent to the PM number. 

Will the incoming-texting still work on a PM SIM even when the handset (and PM) doesn't support VoLTE? I know "V"="Voice" but wonder if they might be rejected outright (the way Mint rejected their A8 altogether, rather than "will work for data not voice").

[darlicious]

@Yummy 

Each voip provider is different but fongo uses approximately 0.5mb/min. So 250mb=500min of calling. This is also a good option for those with the $15 plan that do use much of the 250mb of data that comes with the plan.

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[dust2dust]

ottawa: It has to work so they can tell you you're in the US and to suggest buying add-ons. Scroll to the last Q/A of troubleshooting https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/us-roaming

[Yummy]

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@darlicious wrote:

If you choose to have a US roaming data add on you can then have full services on your phone using the voip app

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How much data is used for lets say 5 minutes talk through voip app? And does data usage depends on volume, amount of talk, etc? Will 5 minute of silence use the same data as some chatter box talking non stop?

[darlicious]

@ottawa 

Yes you can still recieve incoming texts on you pm sim card without a US roaming add on. Using a voip provider like textnow will allow you to call your voicemail to retrieve messages, make calls and send texts while on wifi. If you choose to have a US roaming data add on you can then have full services on your phone using the voip app. This will also be the workaround for voice calls in the US once at&t and T-Mobile complete the decommissioning of their 3G networks until pm enables voLTE calling for pm customers.

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[JL9]

That's good to know, especially if you can get by with just that 

[hTideGnow]

HI @ottawa   Yes, my buddy went US before and confirmed that free incoming text  🙂

But of course, you can also use VoIP app like TextNow for free calls and text, incoming and outgoing

[ottawa]

Thank you, I'll suggest trying that with the next friend who goes to US and doesn't want an add-on. Makes sense in some ways, as a way for PM to text you.

[Meow]

I have been told (by one of Oracles I believe) - You don't need to purchase US roaming text add-on to receive incoming texts.

[Community_QA]

@ottawa  they said you get incoming text in US anyway, just need to pay if you want to send text in US