Frequently Asked Questions—FAQs
Contents
1. FCC guidelines and those standards One way to minimize health and safety concerns is to limit the duration of calls made on handheld portables Install a hands free kit in your vehicle if you use a phone a lot while driving If this isn t practical try to get some sort of headset or ciga rette lighter hands free setup If you use a bag phone keep the antenna three feet away from you and your loved ones In other words don t put a bag phone on your console while you and your kids are in the front seat of the car Best of all get an external antenna magnetic mount window clip or even a permanent mount antenna More information can be found at the CTIA s Web site wivw wow com com consumer faqs faq_health cfm and at CNN s news archives cnnfn com digitaljam 9611 12 cell_pkg index htm Chapter 9 Frequently Asked Questions 157 How can prevent my wireless phone number from being read on caller ID devices Most carriers offer permanent caller ID block at no charge This blocks the information each time you make a phone call and you appear as private or anonymous on the caller ID box In most markets you can lift the permanent block on a per call basis by preceding the number you dial with 82 example 82 1 312 555 1212 for long distance 82 555 1212 for local Check with your carrier though Sprint PCS uses 68 instead of 82 Temporarily lifting the permanent block allows your wireless ph2. 154 The Cell Phone Handbook the MDN which is the number you give to your friends and relatives The problem is that if you look at the number programmed into your wireless phone it is the MIN Do not give out the MIN as your mobile phone number It is very important to remember your MDN especially if you are calling customer service with a problem There is a slew of other challenges facing wireless providers when it comes to LNP For instance caller ID currently transmits the MIN in your phone However youll want it to transmit the MDN so people can see it s you calling Public safety answering points PSAPs the call centers that answer 9 1 1 calls use the MIN to call you back if your wireless phone call is disconnected for some reason Fraudmongers will have a field day thinking up new ways to scam carriers As for roaming Well let s let the carriers work on all this There are many fine minds at work developing solutions among which might be phone designs that store both the MIN and the MDN You can get the latest information on local number portability at CTIA s Web site www wow com com frequently Asked Questions FAs Chapter Are cellular phones safe to use for my health All wireless phones transmit and receive radio frequency signals while turned on Portable phones use the topmost part of their antennas for sending and receiving signals so never put the antenna in your mouth especially during
3. a phone call Always extend the antenna all the way and give it an extra tug to be sure For instance the Motorola StarTAC phone antenna clicks when you pull it out Although it feels as if it is fully extended pulling a little more on the antenna often clicks it into another stop Wireless phones manufactured today comply with guidelines adopted by the FCC in August 1996 which delineate safety levels of RF exposure with regard to handheld wireless phones In fact most wireless phone manuals include the following under their sections on safety or exposure to RF energy In August 1996 the Federal Communications Commission FCC adopted RF exposure guide lines with safety levels for handheld wireless phones Those guidelines are consistent with the safety standards previously set by both U S and international standards bodies 156 The Cell Phone Handbook ANSI American National Standards Institute C95 1 1992 NCRP National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Report 86 1986 ICNIRP International Commission on Non lonizing Radiation Protection 1996 Those standards were based on comprehensive and periodic evaluations of the relevant scien tific literature For example over 120 scientists engineers and physicians from universities government health agencies and industry reviewed the available body of research to develop the ANSI Standard C95 1 The design of your phone complies with the
4. alog service area The carrier has had 16 years to build out its analog network and develop a customer base that uses it Digital networks are only two or three years old and the footprint of the digital network will expand as the digital customer base develops Mean while if you opted for digital service and your service area is reduced just because you chose the newer Chapter 9 Frequently Asked Questions 163 technology you won t be happy By using a dual mode phone your phone will function in digital mode when you are within the digital footprint However if you venture beyond the digital footprint but remain within your home market service area your phone will fall back to analog mode This way you still have the use of your phone If you travel and the market you are visiting has incompatible digital technology your phone will also revert to the analog mode Check the section on roaming for more details How does cellular compare to the new PCS services available Let s dissect this question PCS advertises digital services but many of the cellular carriers are making the transition to digital switching equip ment as well Therefore you either need to compare analog cellular with digital cellular or compare digital cellular 800 MHz with digital PCS 1900 MHz Comparing analog cellular call quality with digital cellular call quality is like comparing a cassette tape to a compact disc Digital brings signal clar
5. are visiting Solution If this is the case try changing your network selection For example if you are an A system subscriber try scan ning B systems Sometimes your home market carrier has a relationship with the opposing carrier rather than the like carrier in the market youre visiting Check your manual for instruc tions on changing networks Problem Your carrier has implemented a brownout for your NPA NXX or possibly all its numbers roaming into the market you are visiting This means that excessive fraud has taken place in the market you are visiting and your subscribing carrier is refusing to accept any charges billed from that roaming market The blockage is usually tempo rary ranging from days to six months Chapter 9 Frequently Asked Questions 165 Solution Ask the visiting market carrier if you can make calls and have them billed to a major credit card See the end of this answer regarding FCC regulations and access Problem You purchased a phone that works only on a specific frequency or specific tech nology and the carrier has no roaming agreements in place or has subsidy locks on the phone For example if you purchased a 1900 MHz CDMA phone to use on the PrimeCo network you won t be able to use that phone on a Sprint PCS network until they establish a roaming agreement Solution None Problem You locked the system registration of your phone on HOME only and forgot to c
6. e will prob ably be lost I had a habit of unplugging my phone from the cigarette lighter adapter without turning the phone off Any feature changes I had made would always revert to their previous settings until I figured out what I was doing wrong Why do I lose my signal when I go into a building or drive into a garage or valley Wireless telephony signals are based on line of sight signals That means that if your phone can t see the signal your phone won t work Because signals can bounce and reflect your phone doesn t always have to be in direct line of sight with the wireless tower However some buildings have metal in their internal or external walls that shields the signal from the phone and makes it inaccessible to you The same concept occurs when you go into a parking garage or drive into a valley Your phone loses sight of the signal and is unable to hear the overhead signal from the carrier Your phone will indicate NO SERVICE and any call attempts will be met with a system busy signal Why do I get a system busy indication when I should have service or have had service in the same area before A system busy signal is your phone s way of telling you that you cant access the system at the moment Check to see if your NO SERVICE indicator is lit If you are in hilly terrain you may have driven into a valley or dip where the signal is temporarily unavailable As you continue to move out of the lo
7. er to your carrier They will already have the ESN and put it on restriction so that whoever finds the phone will be unable to obtain service from any carrier MSN The mechanical serial number is the actual hardware serial number This number is usually what the police need to complete a police report Unlock code This is often found on your service agreement if assigned by the carrier s dealer or it is in your user manual as the manu facturer s default If your phone has the capa bility it is recommended that you change your unlock code from the factory default Be sure you remember what you change it to though Security code This number code usually four to six digits allows you to change your unlock code reprogram your wireless phone and change other security features of your phone This number should be changed from the factory default which is usually in the manual Check your agreement Dealers usually make a note on the contract if they change the security code at Chapter 9 Frequently Asked Questions 159 the time of purchase In PCS this is sometimes referred to as a subsidy lock code What should do if lose my phone The moment you realize you don t have possession of your phone or don t know where it is call your airtime service provider and have your number suspended Whether you have lost your phone or it was stolen a prompt report to your carrier will minimize your liability for charges to yo
8. eter mine whether your phone is in its home market or not in order to give you feedback about the network This process takes a few seconds If the NO SERVICE indicator stays lit there is either no service where you are or your phone is unable to connect to any of the networks Why do my calls drop Dropped calls usually occur when you are on the move Wireless telephony is a dynamic process The cell site continually measures the phone s signal strength As you move within the cell site and then from cell to cell your phone s signal strength can vary and your phone can be handed off to different channels Sometimes as you are about to move into a new cell the system tries to hand off your call to a new channel If there are none available at that moment for you to use your call has no where to go so it gets dropped by the system Placing the call again will usually result in a successful connection Why doesn t my phone retain the feature changes made Wireless phones will usually retain repertory numbers stored into them whether the phone is turned off or loses power such as when a battery goes dead However some feature changes require you to lock them in by powering off your phone If you make a feature change and then without Chapter 9 Frequently Asked Questions 161 turning your phone off you replace your battery or otherwise interrupt or change the power source of the phone the feature changes you mad
9. hange the setting when you left town Solution Change your system registration to standard or automatic Problem Your phone isn t registering properly so the system doesn t know if you are a legitimate user Solution Contact customer service in either the roaming market or your home market while you are still roaming If you wait until you get back home to see what went wrong you may find that no one can help you until you roam again Problem You need to use a PIN code to let the roaming market know you are a legiti mate user Solution Usually you will receive an intercept message asking you for your PIN code POINTER
10. ity and adds security to wireless Cellular offers digital service at 800 MHz and PCS does this at 1900 MHz It is better to compare cellular 800 MHz digital to PCS 1900 MHz digital For instance when you compare CDMA 800 MHz to CDMA 1900 MHz the PCS service may seem a bit clearer but consider that the PCS customer base is a fraction of the cellular carrier s customer base If the two systems achieved the same level of users you probably couldn t tell them apart The same comparison holds true for TDMA technology at 800 MHz and 1900 MHz GSM NA at 1900 MHz may also sound clearer than 800 MHz digital technologies due to its recent entry into the U S wireless telephony market 164 The Cell Phone Handbook Among the many benefits of digital are short messaging service SMS security of transmissions clarity of voice conversations and increased capacity At some point in the next few years new analog only phones will no longer be manufactured However most dual mode 800 MHz digital phones or dual frequency 1900 MHz 800 MHz digital phones will be capable of accessing analog networks simply because AMPS provides a common thread for wireless telephony in the United States Why can t use my phone out of town There are several reasons you would be unable to use your phone out of town Following are some possible reasons and potential solutions Problem Your carrier doesn t have a roaming agreement with the market that you
11. one number to be transmitted to the caller ID box for that call only This is handy if you want to block your number all the time except when you call home for instance Then you want your family to see it s you calling If you don t elect the permanent caller ID block you can block on a per call basis by dialing 67 preceding the number you dial What is a NAM number assignment module Your phone needs certain information to work on a wireless system The carrier assigns the wireless phone number or mobile identification number MIN and provides information for use on its network such as the system ID SID the access overload class the group ID and the initial paging channel As the user of the phone you decide what your unlock code and security code will be All this information is stored in a special place in your phone called the NAM 158 The Cell Phone Handbook What information should Know about my wireless phone and why The following pieces of information are found either on or in the phone Mobile phone number You need to know this so that 1 other people can call you and 2 you can report it to the police and the carrier if the phone is lost or stolen ESN The electronic serial number is unique to your phone Do not share this number with anyone but your service provider No one else needs to know this piece of information If your phone is lost or stolen you will need to report your mobile numb
12. ur phone bill Next report the loss or theft to the police department Check with your local police depart ment to see if you need to file the police report where you live or where the phone was lost or stolen What is a SID A system identification or SID is a unique identi fication code transmitted by the carrier in its over head signal This SID number is also programmed into the wireless phone to designate your home market The phone compares the numbers to determine if you are roaming or not In 800 MHz cellular an even numbered SID indicates a B system while an odd numbered SID indicates an A system How does my phone Know that am in my home market When you turn on your phone it listens for infor mation being broadcast by the carrier on what is called an overhead signal Part of this information contains the identity or system ID of the carrier Your phone compares the SID from the carrier to the SID programmed into the NAM of the phone If the SIDs match the phone indicates it is in its home market If they don t match the phone turns its ROAM indicator on If the phone can t find a 160 The Cell Phone Handbook system at all it turns its NO SERVICE indicator on For more details refer to Chapter 2 Why does my phone say NO SERVICE when first turn it on When a phone is turned on it listens for informa tion from the carrier which is constantly broad casting a signal It uses this information to d
13. w lying area to higher ground your NO SERVICE indicator will go out and you should be able to place your call Sometimes kA The Cell Phone Handbook during peak calling periods when channels are at a premium you may have to wait your turn for a voice channel When this occurs your phone alerts you by providing a system busy signal Try again in a few minutes If your phone has a system busy redial feature press the SEND key instead of the END key and let the phone do the redialing Sometimes my call gets very staticky and then it clears up What happened here This is an analog problem that is related to the paragraph above on why calls drop Sometimes as you get to the edge of a cell your phone tries its best to maintain its connection by transmitting at maximum power but it s just not enough Eventu ally as the signal gets weaker and weaker the system will try to hand off the call to another cell site Meanwhile you hear hisses pops crackles and sometimes even silence Then all of a sudden your call is crystal clear because the system successfully handed off your call How can I have a digital phone on an analog system Almost all 800 MHz digital phones are dual mode phones They can access both the digital network and the analog network offered by the carrier In fact when most analog carriers implement a digital network the geographic coverage area or footprint of the digital network is smaller than the an
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