XT users - A fix is coming
When iOS 4 was released to developers in beta form, the first thing we did was get to work on getting our bundles to work. Unfortunately, as you may have heard, we were unsuccessful and it meant that users lost their fancy carrier icons and the ability to use their voicemail button. Well, in an interesting turn it seems that users on XT may soon regain the functionality of that button.
After we made the carrier bundle announcement there were comments from some readers who were telling us that their voicemail button was still working and they were on 2degrees. We ran some tests of our own and found that yes, it was true. But why would it work on 2degrees and not on XT? We wondered if it may have something to do with how the voicemail information is loaded onto the SIM but we were un-sure.
We asked some questions and it turns out it is the SIM card causing the problem. Within the database tables on all SIM cards is a field called ‘MBDN’ which stores the voicemail information and the Telecom XT SIM cards don’t have this info loaded. Apparently only a few phones use this field and this includes the iPhone and the Blackberry (yes, XT users with a Blackberry are affected by this too).
New XT SIMs on their way
So the fix? @Telecomnz have confirmed to us that new SIM cards are on the way and they will have this field populated. This is great news and means that once you get your hands on the new SIM card the voicemail button on your iPhone will work. It means the only thing you won’t have that the bundles provided is the custom XT logo.
It’s interesting as this is something that must have been an issue prior to iOS 4 but we’ve not picked it up before because the bundles circumvented the problem for all providers.
Now, before I finish I must point out that we don’t know the details of how Telecom are going to manage the roll-out of these new SIMs and what the options will be for existing SIM-holders. If you are an XT user with a Telecom-supplied Blackberry then you could probably argue that they should provide you with a replacement SIM for free as this is a Telecom supported phone. But as the iPhone is not a supported device (and the only two phones that are affected are the Blackberry and iPhone) then they don’t really need to provide anyone else with one for free. This means that if you want one you could end up being charged for a replacement to give you the ability to use the voicemail button, but we just don’t know at this stage.
We’ll update the site with further details when we hear them. But until then, remember if you’re an XT customer you can still access voicemail by several means, it’s just that the dedicated voicemail icon (which is essentially a speed-dial button) will not work.
Picked up my replacement 'version 3' sim today and hey presto my Voicemail button works again. Thanks to Gavin at Feildings Telecom store… where the good guys are!!!
(kiwiav8a has made 3 comments)
there are new micro sims coimng in AUG
cant wait
Iphone4 on XT
(kiwiboi22 has made 57 comments)
Went into the shop and asked!!! As I said… these are the good guys in this shop. Seriously, I've never found more helpful knowledgable friendly retainers as these two. Seems they really want to give good service.
(kiwiav8a has made 3 comments)
lakeview01 wrote:
Did they indicate when this would happen? Mak was sent a text suggesting an update was being sent (on the forums) but when he asked if this was sim/voicemail related he was told no. Very confusing. I have not received any texts from Telecom so maybe rolling updates or his was phone related not sim related (although text said “mobile sim”)
(camtab has made 468 comments)
Jst spoke to telecpm again and they confirmed me that there are no new sims coming out its just an update that goes on ur sim..
(lakeview01 has made 198 comments)
OK… I just know that I took out the old one, put in the new one and hey presto my Voicemail button works again. Nothing else touched!!! S@ lakeview01:
(kiwiav8a has made 3 comments)
@ kiwiav8a: Wish all of Telecom were that helpful. I just asked via the 0800 number and then live chat and both said “no we do not have any V3 sims available as they have not been released yet” I said that others (namely you) had already picked one up and they said “nope, cant have happened, they have not been released” (I even clarified that i wasnt talking about the Micro Sims and they got shirty saying they know what I am talking about.) grlll. Anyone know of any ChCh stores that have them? Not that important but kind of handy to have the update.
(camtab has made 468 comments)
if poss, maybe telecom can go one step further and allow voice messages to be sent directly to an app where you can see, edit and save msgs- am over going through all msgs in order to get to the new msgs – it just makes life thaaat much easier -
(tigerhour has made 4 comments)