Emergency Kit Phones

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msukiwi

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# 208223 1-Feb-2017 16:38

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Why don’t any Mobile Providers offer a Prepay plan for emergency kits?

Eg:

Buy a SIM, register it.

(Save emergency contacts on it)

Load say $50 on it.

Each year (As it has a positive balance) deduct an annual fee (Say $10) to keep it “alive” with the same number. And don’t delete any balance.

(Remember on normal prepay you don’t actually have to spend – just do a minimum top up each year)

People like me have a mobile in their kit and a SIM or 3 that may or may not have expired by the time the “annual” replace the food / water / batteries etc rolls around.

This way you could put $$$ on it whenever you liked – just keep a balance large enough for annual fee and emergency use.

This would solve that problem and be a GREAT marketing tool for whichever Telco offered it.

What do you think?

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# 1714071 1-Feb-2017 16:41

Maybe check how long top up codes are valid for, never register the SIM or apply the topup until you actually need it.

richms

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# 1714072 1-Feb-2017 16:43

I cycle my sims around between GPS trackers, tiny wallet card sized gsm phone in my wallet and 3g hotspots, and the second sim in my second phone that I use for data sometimes to keep them alive. None of those things need a constant phone number and the vodafone app makes it easy to keep track of the ballance, but not expiry or let me name them so I know where the sim for each thing is.

Richard rich.ms

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# 1714073 1-Feb-2017 16:44

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You normally have your phone with you, so I'm not sure if this would be very popular. You could just put your sim into whatever emergency phone you stashed (make sure you put adapters!), and/or an AA recharger (such as this) and a stack of AA batteries in the kit to keep your existing phone(s) alive

PaulBags

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# 1714126 1-Feb-2017 19:41

Pick a provider with min $10 top up & ~ a year before balence expiry, and just load $10 on. If you want register a credit card so if you do need the emergancy phone & more than $10 it's quick & simple to top up. Often you can buy a prepay pack on the fly too.

msukiwi

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# 1714129 1-Feb-2017 19:55

The main point is:

You usually (I and many I know) refresh their kits every year. Sometimes longer.

Problem is if it is longer - the SIM has expired.

Every option here or I have seen requires action in under 12 months even if you have plenty of existing credit.

The idea of an Emergency Kit is not to be always in it - or do you have emergencies several times a year?

What IS WRONG with my original idea?

Jase2985

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# 1714141 1-Feb-2017 20:27

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could you explain why you need a separate phone for your emergency kit? whats wrong with the one you use every day?

would it not make mroe sense to just have some way to change it for an extended period?

i cant see anything wrong with your idea im just not sure of the why and im not sure it would be popular at all

msukiwi

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# 1714184 1-Feb-2017 21:19

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Having been through the Christchurch Quakes and having a "quake refugee" who:

Was in the lunchroom with his phone on his work desk charging - and was unable to get it back for 6 months! (Due to immediate evacuation)

(The building was eventually demolished. (And was relatively new))

...and his flat keys were in his drawer and the rental company / agent etc were unavailable for over a week he couldn't access anything at all.

An emergency will hit at the most inconvenient time!

Prepare for every PRACTICAL possibility.

Jase2985

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# 1714275 2-Feb-2017 05:00

that just sounds like bad luck/timing

again i dont think it would be very popular

dickytim

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# 1714277 2-Feb-2017 06:01

msukiwi:

Having been through the Christchurch Quakes and having a "quake refugee" who:

Was in the lunchroom with his phone on his work desk charging - and was unable to get it back for 6 months! (Due to immediate evacuation)

(The building was eventually demolished. (And was relatively new))

...and his flat keys were in his drawer and the rental company / agent etc were unavailable for over a week he couldn't access anything at all.

An emergency will hit at the most inconvenient time!

Prepare for every PRACTICAL possibility.

But what if his emergency kit was in the building with his phone? Besides Vodafone can easily do a sim swap to a new sim card and get you up and running in this case.

I just don't see the market for this, if the emergency was any worse that your original phone just didn't work then it would likely be a region wide issue with communications.

timmmay

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# 1714291 2-Feb-2017 07:51

I keep a keysafe at home that has keys in it. Spare phone is easy. Problem with SIM cards is unless registered they expire, all you really need to do is put a bit of credit on the phone every year or so to keep it active don't you?

msukiwi

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# 1714292 2-Feb-2017 07:53

The emergency phone is for anyone who might need it.

My "Kit" is in 3 large wheelie bins in the corner of the property furthest from obstacles.

You may think you don't need something - a friend needed my generator for 1 month before he had power back in New Brighton.

It was still in the box with the required oil etc with it - Bought "just in case" 2 years previously on special - and boy was he greatfull!

Or why not have prepay expire after 13 months to allow for the annual kit plus or minus a couple of weeks renewal?

MikeAqua

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# 1714316 2-Feb-2017 09:03

How useful is a mobile phone after a big quake, when network capacity is down and demand is up?

I know every time we feel a decent roll in Nelson (ChCh 2, Seddon 1 & 2, Kaikoura) network availability for calls text and data is problematic for about an hour afterwards (without any loss of local capacity).

Mike

msukiwi

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# 1714326 2-Feb-2017 09:16

Texts were fine for me every time. (Thankfully)

PaulBags

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# 1714330 2-Feb-2017 09:27

Cellphones were suprisingly useful during the Christchurch quakes, late txts are better than nothing and the few calls I had to make all went through (kept off the network as much as possible). Copper landlines were more reliable and didn't need charging, but not portable.

Had zero problems with the non-Tsunami, all calls and txts went through fine. Indeed the cellphone network worked much better than the "get your emergancy info from the radio" network.

Maybe cellphones won't work and maybe you should prepare for that, but if they do work they're useful.

Hiamie

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# 1714359 2-Feb-2017 10:39

If it is purely for emergencies... ie calling emergency services, then i think you do not need to have any sim installed.

The phone will make a call to emergency services on any network it can find.... you just dial 112 (The international emergency number for mobile phones is 112, valid in all countries I believe), and, as I understand it, the call will be carried on any provider's network, with or without a sim installed.

I believe this is true in any country, including NZ.

Otherwise, just call 111 within nz, and, I believe that so long as a sim is installed, the call will be placed to emergency services. (May not even need a sim to call 111 - I don't know)

That's my understanding anyway!

Perhaps someone here can confirm or clarify?

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