"How can I avoid charges on my mobile phone when using pinless dialing on my phone card?"

Using a phone card is a great way to make affordable calls from your mobile phone to international numbers.  PINzap™ Pinless Dialing makes using your phone card even easier from your cell phone.

In the past few months, I've talked to a few customers who noticed a call or two on their mobile phones.  After some research, we found out that the customer was misdialing, and I thought others might have experienced the same issue.

When using PINzap with your mobile phone, here are a 5 tips to keep in mid:

1)  After you dial the access number, do not press send or end until your call is complete.

One customer I helped was dialing the access number for her phone card, looking up the phone number she was dialing in the phone book on her phone, and pressing send a second time.  Pressing the send button a second time was ending the call into her phone card and dialing the international call directly through her mobile provider.  So lesson learned - don't press send a second time after you dial the access number.

2)  Make sure you hear your available balance before entering the international phone number.

When you dial the access number that you've set up with PINzap™ Pinless Dialing, the network recognizes the number you're calling from like a caller ID and announces the balance available on your phone card.  If you don't hear the balance available on your card, hang up and try dialing the access number again.  It will be worth the extra couple seconds to make sure you've entered the access number correctly.

3)  If you do not hear the number of minutes available for your call, hang up and try again.

Another customer called in and said every time he used his phone card from his mobile phone, he never knew how long he had to talk because he didn't hear the minutes available.  We discovered what the issue was before an international call connected directly from his mobile provider so he didn't have any extra charges on his next bill.  This is probably one of the most important pieces of advice I can offer concerning this.  If you don't hear the amount of minutes available for your call after you enter your destination number, hang up and try your call again.

4)  Double check your call details online to make sure the call registered.

For cards that have online call details, double check your records to make sure that the call is properly logged.  This sometimes may take a few minutes to appear on your record, but it's a good double check to give you the peace of mind that the call connected through the calling card.  Plus, if for some reason your mobile provider charges you for a call they shouldn't have, you have documented proof that you can print out and show to them to dispute the charge.

5)  Use Speed Dial to make sure your number is correctly dialed.

With so many numbers to dial when using your phone card and making an international call, the combination of PINzap™ Pinless Dialing and Speed Dial can make calling quick and easy.  Calling cards that have Speed Dial allow you to program up to 99 numbers to your phone card so all you have to do after you hear your available balance is dial the corresponding speed dial number and press #.  Doing this also helps ensure that you are using your phone card to place your international call from your mobile phone.

 ZapTel carries 21 phone cards with PINzap™ Pinless Dialing available:

• Africa's Best
• Asia's Best
• Call the World**
• Destination Cell**
• Europe's Best
• Everyday USA
• Extreme Talk Time International*
• Extreme Talk Time USA**
• Flying Colors!**
• Genesis
• Global Line
• India's Best
• International Student's Choice**
• Mexico's Best
• Minute by Minute
• Oceans International*
• Phone Bank
• Precision World**
• Study Abroad Student's Choice*
• True North*
• Wireless World**

*  Phone card also has online call detail records.

*  Phone card also has online call detail records and speed dial.

Phone Card Coupon for Week of July 21st     

Through July 27^th, receive a 5% discount on the purchase or recharge of any ZapTel phone card with both PINzap™ Pinless Dialing and Speed Dial (see cards with ** in the above list).  Use the following code to receive the discount:

ZAPCALL

Enter the coupon code on the Review Your Order page, and be sure to click the "Add Coupon Code" button on the page to apply the discount. Offer expires at Midnight Central Time on July 27, 2008.