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Tarrif and Call viewing software? -request- |
roskelld
Joined: Dec 01, 2001
Posts: 98
From: UK - Orange P990i
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I was wondering if a piece of software exists that displays a break down of your tarrif and how you are using it, to enable you to keep track of your monthly free minutes and stuff.
I checked my last bill yesterday and my call charges were only £7, but one of the calls actually cost me £6.80! so if I never made that one call I would have had a bill of 20p!
The call in question was made at 6:40pm (twenty minutes before my free off peak would have kicked in) and lasted for 8 minutes!
If I had a piece of software that sat on the main screen showing how many free minutes I had left, and displayed a warning if I'm still in peek time, also maybe showing how many free sms/mms/etc... I had left to send, I know my bills would be a lot better.
Some one tell me this already exists, please. |
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butterguy
Joined: Jan 18, 2003
Posts: 192
From: back and forth from US to UK
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Damn...i'd pay good money for that software...would be very handy |
dazbradbury
Joined: Nov 24, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: UK - Derby/London
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nice idea, can it access that kind of info though? i mean i know on PAYG you can see ur remaining balance, but i've just moved onto pay monthly and dont you have to ring up for that kind of info? |
exilis
Joined: Sep 30, 2002
Posts: 48
From: Dundee, Scotland
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The problem with that would be coping with the shear number of tariffs out there.
Not everyone has a standard tariff anymore, especially since all the networks are moving over to a "bolt on" style system, where you bulk buy text messages, picture messages, gprs etc etc seperately.
You can get this kind of info from your network by phoning customer services, both t-mobile and orange have it as part of the automatic "press 1 for bleh" system on 150. You can check your account usage online as well for most networks (depends on your billing provider for o2 and voda) |
timmkick
Joined: Feb 17, 2003
Posts: 9
PM |
Surely it would be a case of writing some software where you can include details of your tariff - ie free minutes, cost of calls during which times and so on. Then this would access the call log details on the phone and give you the costs of each call maybe? Is this information available to developers through an api or something? |
roskelld
Joined: Dec 01, 2001
Posts: 98
From: UK - Orange P990i
PM |
My thoughts would be that you just entered your free minutes and messages etc. and billing date so it knows when to could down from.
I might work best if the config file was produced on a PC then ported over to the p800. The software wouldn't really have to know your exact tariff, just what it consists of.
There are many standard tariffs which could be included as presets to select, but customisation would be a necessity. |
Eleventy7
Joined: Jul 05, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: the rotten oasis
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one problem - cross-network charging, since cross-network calls cost different and the fone would have no way of knowing it was calling a different network, how would it know what to charge?
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exilis
Joined: Sep 30, 2002
Posts: 48
From: Dundee, Scotland
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If the mobile industry wasn't such a fluid market then yea entering your own parameters would probably be viable.
But for the program to take in the shear scope of the tariffs in the UK alone, never mind anywhere else you would need to enter a lot of information.
And as above, how does the phone tell the difference between networks, what happens if the networks change the pricing for say an 0845 number, the original prices of which tend not to be the most publicised. The program, altho would be a good idea, would just be getting too big and cumbersum to become viable.
If it was coded for one set individual then yea it's a possibility, but mass market? I'm not so sure.
Besides the customer service lines and online billing systems are becoming more and more detailed and easy to access, which kind of defeats the purpose of any program! |
roskelld
Joined: Dec 01, 2001
Posts: 98
From: UK - Orange P990i
PM |
Some very valid points made there. An option like adding network operator in the contacts would help slightly, but this concept is already getting very in-depth. It's almost as if the phone companies want you to have high bills 
The idea would certainly work for the tariff I'm on now (Standard Orange 200) where you have 200 mins to all networks peak and off peak, plus a set number of SMS/MMS.
The screen data for my request would be.
An Icon stating Peak or Off Peak time - something as simple as a red dot to state peak and a green dot to state off peak.
Free minutes counter - situated next to the Peak Icon, this number would count down after each call made.
SMS/MMS counter - situated next to the Free minutes counter, this would also count down after each message sent.
There is always the exception of funny numbers like 0845 and 800, but these are numbers that I rarely if ever phone from my mobile. Plus, you can never guarantee the out put of your counter to be absolute, just really a nice reference.
It's a shame that this software couldn't be accessible to everybody, but I certainly feel that it will be of use to many people. Most people I know with a p800 have it on Orange talk 200 anyway. |
701
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Romania
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U r taking this too far-they have charge info and everything.it is simple to look at the watch and remember the time when u go on low tarrif ..u need no sw 4that ..thats the beauty of mind.
This message was posted from a WAP device |
julianmclean
Joined: Mar 11, 2003
Posts: 118
PM |
I agree with roskelld here:
Forget the actual pricing of calls that's far too much hassle to worry about. The parameters for the program to set could be fairly simple:
-Peak Time start stop
-No. inclusive peak minutes
-No. inclusive off-peak minutes (or shared with peak)
-Calls inclusive to other networks or not (This could be established firstly by checking the number called (if if starts 07 or not), and then by an override list where you can select which contacts are on your network - this would be useful info in itself)
-No. of free SMS, MMS, GPRS, etc, etc. (these are all easy ones)
-Billing date so that the program knows when to reset the counters.
Yeah, ok it needs a bit of thinking and to be quite customisable but there's probably not that much work in there - the hard part may be getting at the call/sms/mms info from the phone. BTW how hard is it to write apps for mobile devices like this, I've got some coding experience in java and stuff, but I've never tried to do anything for a mobile device. Are there readily available development kits with Symbian emulators, etc, etc? I might be tempted to have a go if its easy! |
roskelld
Joined: Dec 01, 2001
Posts: 98
From: UK - Orange P990i
PM |
@701
Taking it too far?
That why I've cut the idea down. I accept that there are far too many options and unknowns to make this a complete call cost package, but it could still function as helpful little app.
Info already stored in the phone:
Call times - last, total outgoing, total.
SMS/MMS - number of messages sent.
The app could take this information and print it on the main screen, as a reference. I'd like to know off hand if I've used my phone for 20mins or 400mins in a month, without having to traul through the menus to find out.
The peak / off peak icon, should be a very simple thing to do, the user would have to annouce when peak times are for the software to know, but this would be a once off thing.
You could also add WAP and GPRS to this again without too much problem, as thier details are also saved in the phone. |
monkeymagic
Joined: Mar 26, 2003
Posts: 7
PM |
I would love something like this... Surely it's worth pursuing some more in the forum.. trying to get a definitive feature list...
Strikes me that any software produced would rely on a lot of initial input from the user.. Identifying numbers from their phone book that are Landline, same mobile network or different mobile network.
I assume international numbers would be separated as well.. for those glamourous folks who call abroad on their mobile.
You'd have to be able to input your billing dates... and add modifiers to include carried over SMS/minutes rules.
An additional modifier for any bonus minutes/SMS your provider gives you. (As in the 60 free SMS on the recetn Orange contracts)
Your current GPRS setting (does it include a GPRS bundle or are you paying full whack for every kb) and an onscreen counter indicating time.. AND cost of GPRS usage.
There's not many apps that have come out that i'd be arsed to use... let alone pay for. I'm happy enough with Opera, Emame, ESCUMMVM, SMSPlus and File manager... but if this software could be shown to work.. i'd gladly pay for it.
...and yes.. like someone said earlier, you could keep track of all this with jotter and your brain... but the idea of having a page of outgoings that i could check at any time in just a second or two... Would save me a fortune.
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julianmclean
Joined: Mar 11, 2003
Posts: 118
PM |
Taking it on a bit further, the program could follow some sort of rule-based logic, and the usage would be as complicated or as simple as the tariff that someone is using:
All your different call types/times/destinations etc. could could be assigned different buckets. i.e. Someone with Orange YP400 would really only have one call bucket (basically all calls except international), whereas someone with an off-peak tariff might have 4 bukets: Peak Xnet, Peak same Net, Off-peak Xnet, Off-peak same Net.
The control of these buckets could be executed by certain rules:
Billing date rules:
e.g. On 14th of month bucket 1 = 400 mins (to reset it)
On 6th of month bucket 2 += 400 mins (for rollover)
On 18th of month sms bucket = 50
Usage rules:
e.g. All calls deduct from bucket 1
All calls not starting with 07 (and not international) in peak hours deduct from bucket 2
All calls starting 07 but not in override list deduct from bucket 3
All SMS deduct from SMS bucket
The call types themselves could be setup as rules too, so the user can define the type of calls they make (peak xnet, off-peak data, etc.) and then it's even easier:
e.g. All calls of type 1, deduct from bucket 3
All this could be stored in some sort of xml config file or something - the hard part might be allowing the user to edit these settings through a GUI rather than editting the file. But with this sort of implementation the program could be as simple or as complex as the user needs to make it. Come on, someone must be a coding guru ready to take this on! |
monkeymagic
Joined: Mar 26, 2003
Posts: 7
PM |
Just the use of the word "bucket" should be incentive enough.
Not sure if this software is "sexy" enough to attract potential coders yet... maybe we should have the option to display 3D £ signs... pulsing faster and faster as we approach our free minutes limit...
One of my house mates is a coding type.. and he bought his p800 before me... I may have to start badgering him to find the SDK...
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[ This Message was edited by: monkeymagic on 2003-04-04 14:54 ] |
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Posted: 2003-03-30 12:46
