Voicemail: ALTON accuses Pantami of meddlesomeness - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has accused the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami of meddlesomeness on his alleged interference over Voice mail deactivation order, reports ITREALMS.

Responding to the deactivation order by the Minister, ALTON described as unnecessary interference on a value added service, which the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), could simply handle without much ado.

in response to the claimed order for deactivation of Voice Mail Protocol by Service Providers' Network as a ‘policy issue’ ALTON maintained that within the Section 23 and 24 of the Nigerian Communications Act, “this is not a major ‘policy issue’ which must align with consultations to be organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“It is a mere operational/consumer protection issue which the Ministry can simply call NCC's attention to,” ALTON insisted amounted to unnecessary interference.

The group which is the umbrella of all licensed mobile network operators, noted that in as much that they want to believe that the Minister was misquoted.

However, ALTON posited that “Voicemail (VM) is a value-added service. Only those who opt-in should have it” stressing that the current practice on some networks is that once subscribers call and the recipient does not pick, “you get a voice prompt saying that the subscriber is not available and asking you to record a voice message *after the tone*”

They further said that for the avoidance of doubt subscribers are not billed anything, but if they delay in either exiting in the event of not wanting the voicemail, “they may be charged for a few seconds, or for the time it takes you to record the message.”

ALTON pointed out that the recipient of the voice mail does not get charged for listening, because “It is free.”

The group explained in a press statement available to ITREALMS signed by ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Head of Operations, MR. Gbolahan Awonuga, said that VM is a value added service and should only be provisioned for those who expressly request for it, recalling that MNOs reintroduced the VM facility to discourage people who "flash" continuously.

“Flashing wastes network resources and also degrades QoS reporting. This should not however justify the practise the way it is being done by some networks” they said.

ALTON, however maintained that, this is not a major "policy issue" within the meaning of S. 23&24 of the NCA which empowers the Minister to formulate "general policy for the communications sector..." after due consultations organised by the NCC, describing it as a mere operational cum consumer protection issue which the Ministry could simply refer to NCC's attention.

“It is a purely consumer related issues that minister refers to as a major policy issue and also amounts to unnecessary interference by the Minister contrary to Section 25 subsections 1 & 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003,” ALTON insisted.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

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Pix: Gbenga Adebayo of ALTON and Minister Pantami

Deactivation order: ALTON disagrees with Pantami, insists Voicemail is opt-in only - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has disagreed with the deactivation order on voice mail by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, insisting that Voice mail is opt-in value added service (VAS) only, reports ITREALMS.

ALTON in response to the claimed order for deactivation of Voice Mail Protocol by Service Providers' Network as a ‘policy issue’ maintained that within the Section 23 and 24 of the Nigerian Communications Act, “this is not a major ‘policy issue’ which must align with consultations to be organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“It is a mere operational/consumer protection issue which the Ministry can simply call NCC's attention to,” ALTON insisted amounted to unnecessary interference.

The group which is the umbrella of all licensed mobile network operators, noted that in as much that they want to believe that the Minister was misquoted.

However, ALTON posited that “Voicemail (VM) is a value-added service. Only those who opt-in should have it” stressing that the current practice on some networks is that once subscribers call and the recipient does not pick, “you get a voice prompt saying that the subscriber is not available and asking you to record a voice message *after the tone*”

They further said that for the avoidance of doubt subscribers are not billed anything, but if they delay in either exiting in the event of not wanting the voicemail, “they may be charged for a few seconds, or for the time it takes you to record the message.”

ALTON pointed out that the recipient of the voice mail does not get charged for listening, because “It is free.”

The group explained in a press statement available to ITREALMS signed by ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Head of Operations, MR. Gbolahan Awonuga, said that VM is a value added service and should only be provisioned for those who expressly request for it, recalling that MNOs reintroduced the VM facility to discourage people who "flash" continuously.

“Flashing wastes network resources and also degrades QoS reporting. This should not however justify the practise the way it is being done by some networks” they said.

ALTON, however maintained that, VM is not a major "policy issue" within the meaning of S. 23&24 of the NCA which empowers the Minister to formulate "general policy for the communications sector..." after due consultations organised by the NCC, describing it as a mere operational cum consumer protection issue which the Ministry could simply refer to NCC's attention.

“It is a purely consumer related issues that minister refers to as a major policy issue and also amounts to unnecessary interference by the Minister contrary to Section 25 subsections 1 & 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003,” ALTON insisted.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

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Missed call, voicemail: InstaVoice to rescue

Commentary@ITRealms:

The Kirusa InstaVoice App provides free and unlimited visual missed call alert, voicemail and voice SMS all in one app to connect you with your friends even when you are busy, out of coverage or switched off, in a simple user friendly interface. Moreover, with InstaVoice you can send text, image or voice message to anyone even if they don’t have the InstaVoice App.

With the InstaVoice app, you never miss a call. The App captures and notifies you of missed calls from friends, family and colleagues that happened while you were busy on another call, out of network coverage, on flight mode and even when your phone was turned off entirely. More so, you can call back or respond with a voice or text message, directly from the app.

With the Voicemail feature of the app, your callers can now leave you voicemails after they tried calling when you were unavailable. From the app, you can easily listen to these voicemails and respond with a single tap. The app also allows you send voice messages to any member of your contact list, even those who do not have the app, including feature phone users.  

Additionally, the App allows sent voicemails to be withdrawn at your request, from your mailbox. And to create a better experience for your callers, you can record a personalized welcome messages for them to listen to before leaving their voicemails.

InstaVoice is a valuable tool for every smart phone user, be it the high flying executive, upwardly mobile professional or even the career homemaker. It is suitable for people of all ages; young and old.  It is especially instrumental to busy business executives and frequent travelers who are often away from their local carrier network coverage area.

In addition to receiving notification via SMS, you can also request to receive missed calls alerts and voicemails via your email from the InstaVoice App to suit your preference, thanks to the user-friendly, interactive and flexible App. More so, you can manage missed calls and voicemails on multiple SIMs or phone numbers in the same app, and can use the App on several devices.

The App is easily accessible, it can be downloaded from Google Playstore store, Apple Appstore and BBM at no cost. In Nigeria, the App is available across most of the networks, so the colour themes vary across the networks; for instance red for Airtel, and black for Etisalat.

*Oyedeji Akindele contributed this from MediaCraft Associate, Lagos.

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