Divert All calls before going Roaming? Cant get a straight answer from O2

Kaskade

I am finding it very hard to get a straight answer from o2 in terms of how you will be billed if you divert all calls to another number before you leave Ireland to go to another country.

I have been told that if I divert all calls and I do not turn on my phone when I am abroad then I will not incur any roaming charges - I agree with this.

I have been told that if I turn on my phone at all, even for a second my phone will then register on a foreign network and I will then be charged roaming rate to receive and to forward all calls to the other number so I will be charged on the double. - I think this is a joke, if the divert is setup before I leave for "all calls" then it shouldn't matter where my phone is as the network has been instructed to divert all calls and send none to my mobile.

I have also been told that if I do turn on my phone at all then I will continue to pay roaming rates until my phone is detected on an Irish network again. - I think this is completely ridiculous. So if I turn on my phone for 5 minutes just before I come back to Ireland and then I drop my phone in water and it work turn on. I cant afford to replace it for a month, then for that entire month all calls that are diverted from my phone will be charged at roaming even though I am back in Ireland. I asked "why would I be charged for roaming in this situation" and I was told "you are being charged because we don't know where you are" so I said "if you don't know where I am how can you charge me for being abroad?"

Comreg says : "You should also note when roaming that you will have to pay to receive calls and also to listen to your voicemail messages. There is a charge when a call is diverted to voicemail unless an “all calls” divert (see below) is set up before you leave Ireland. To minimise these costs, you should let your friends and family know you are travelling so that you can avoid receiving costly and unnecessary calls.

You should consider “all calls” divert which, as it suggests, will result in all incoming calls being automatically diverted to your voicemail. You may be able to do this from your handset but for some networks you may have to contact customer care. "

But it doesn't specifically say that you have to turn your phone off or that you can turn it on and I cannot get a straight answer from o2, probably because they don't know themselves.

So my very long winded question is - has anybody actually done this, diverted all calls while in ireland, gone abroad and used phone for texts/data. Were you charged for the diverted calls or not?

Any advise or experience is much appreciated.

kirving

Your phone has a number of different ways you can set up diverts. This in turn configures a server on the network side to deal with your diverts, before the call ever gets to your phone. I think it's just a flat fee of 15c or something to handle the divert if you're in Ireland.

If you have your phone set up to divert the call after ringing for a few minutes, then the phone handles the divert, rather than the network, meaning that the phone is making a roaming call, which you'll be charged for. As Comreg say "Divert All" will mean that your phone never rings, and never handles a call since it's all done on the server side.

I'm not sure I have that 100% right, but that's how I understand it to work.

Paulw

Once you setup your phone to divert ALL calls to voicemail, then there should be no roaming costs at all, since the setup is done on the O2 network, not via your handset.

Whoever you talked to in O2 just doesn't know how call setup works.

From the O2 website - http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Business/Business+Solutions/Voice+services/Manage+your+calls/

Even if you turn on your phone, all calls go to your voicemail and you should have no roaming charges.

Kaskade

I completely agree with you both that the "all diverts" should be done at a network level and have nothing to do with Roaming. The problem is I cant even test it out when I get there because according to o2, once I turn my phone on it will register on the foreign network and every call I then receive until I land back to ireland will be charged as roaming even if I then turn the phone back off.

I cant understand how they have no official terms and conditions and how some staff can say one thing and others say the complete opposite. They are a complete disaster.

Paulw

Also European regulations required a Free Divert to Voicemail (FDTV) service, for roaming subscribers. So, if you don't answer a call, and it's diverted to your voicemail, as standard, you are not charged for that. Now that legally applies to all European roaming, but in most cases it is applied across the board (all Irish operators use it, no matter where you are roaming).

If your phone is powered off (no matter if it was ever powered on when roaming) then the call never touches the foreign network and the divert does not carry any roaming charges for you.

Kaskade

Paulw wrote: »

If your phone is powered off (no matter if it was ever powered on when roaming) then the call never touches the foreign network and the divert does not carry any roaming charges for you.

o2 said that once my phone has been turned on then it is registered with the foreign network and until it is registered on an irish network again then all calls are considered roaming.

I am not going to Europe and I am diverting the phone to another number not voicemail so the european rules on voicemail dont apply in this case.

Paulw

Kaskade wrote: »

o2 said that once my phone has been turned on then it is registered with the foreign network and until it is registered on an irish network again then all calls are considered roaming.

I am not going to Europe and I am diverting the phone to another number not voicemail so the european rules on voicemail dont apply in this case.

They are wrong. Once your phone is off, a signal is sent to say you are off, and then your network divert kicks in.

Diverting to a different number, other than voicemail is different.

But, a network divert (setup before you go, for Divert ALL calls) is done on a network level, not on the handset, so no matter if your phone is on or off, the call never goes near your handset. It would never leave the local O2 service, so you would not be liable for roaming charges.

Kaskade

I know they are wrong but I just cant get them to admit it. I got through to somebody with a brain today so hopefully the will actually talk to somebody technical who knows what they are talking about and get back to me.

Otherwise comreg here I come again

Paulw

Kaskade wrote: »

I know they are wrong but I just cant get them to admit it.

Otherwise comreg here I come again

Ok, I don't get your query. If you know they are wrong, why do you need them to admit it, and why are you going to Comreg?

You just want them to confirm something you already know?