Australia, 24 August, 2011 – TravelSIM customers will now receive incoming calls for free in 117 countries. The company, a mobile phone service for international travellers, believes free-to-receive further protects customers from the common problem of being hit by huge mobile roaming charges when receiving calls. Australian travellers are used to receiving calls for free when they are in Australia, but are often unaware that when they use global roaming or their normal service overseas they will frequently be charged steep fees for receiving calls.
“Being able to extend free-to-receive calling to 117 of the 190 countries we cover gives our customers a genuine advantage and the assurance that they now have even more control of calling and data costs while abroad,” said TravelSIM CEO Jamien Zimmermann. “What this means is that TravelSIM has taken another giant step toward our goal of delivering a continuum of worry-free, cost-contained service from the moment our travellers leave Australia until the moment they return.” Both New Zealand and Fiji also made the list of countries for free-to-receive.
Zimmermann stressed that while these developments are important, rates are only a part of the picture for his company. “We definitely have some of the best rates around, especially in Europe where our global data roaming rates are among the lowest, but we need to be clear, TravelSIM is not engaged in a race to the bottom at the expense of its customers,” Zimmermann said.
“The market is rapidly filling with SIM service providers for the international traveller –essentially new arrivals jumping on the bandwagon. There’s a tendency to go for the cheapest rate and then be left high and dry at critical travel moments,” Zimmerman said. “The provider might not have told you about limitations in their service or something else you needed to know about phone use at your destination. At moments like that, being informed and being able to connect back home are what matters most.”
Such limitations, Zimmermann explained, involve a provider selling a SIM card without checking if it will actually work where their customer is going or failing to deliver dialling instructions for a particular country –oversights that can mean the difference between seamless communication and no communication at all.
“TravelSIM is about the total customer experience,” Zimmerman said. “This comes down to two things: 1) giving the traveller more control over call and data spending so they avoid ‘bill shock’ when they get home; and 2) giving them the kind of human service that is adaptable to their needs and makes certain they are equipped with the right information before and during their overseas trip.”
Zimmermann cited TravelSIM’s Personal Assistant service as an example of the company’s approach. The service is available 24/7, 365 days a year and provides travel information and support, business services, medical assistance and emergency help services to travellers while abroad, as well as live language interpretation services in more than 70 languages.
TravelSIM has extended this service to all TravelSIM customers free of charge to the end of 2011, with customers only paying the normal cost of making a phone call from the country they are in. After December 31, 2011, a one-off subscription fee of just $15 applies for six months of unlimited usage, which is automatically withdrawn from the customer’s account upon first calling the Personal Assistant service.
Key Facts
Receiving incoming calls will now be free for TravelSIM customers in 117 countries.
Calls received via TravelSIM’s 1800 toll free number will continue to be charged a flat rate of just $0.21 per minute, allowing callers back home to reach TravelSIM customers overseas at no cost from their landline.
Popular destinations New Zealand and Fiji are on the free-to-receive list.
TravelSIM’s Personal Assistant service, a full-range of customer service options for overseas travellers, will continue to be complementary until the end of 2011 with customers only paying the normal cost of making a phone call from the country they are in.
The range of services offered by Personal Assistant (24/7, 365 days a year) includes:
o Transport, hotel and vehicle information and reservations o Live language translation and support in more than 70 languages
o Country, visa, currency and medical information
o Personal safety advice
o Performance of minor tasks such as faxing or emailing with the “Secretary” service
o Information on booking tables at restaurants and tickets to events
o Information on local events, attractions and leisure activities
o Business services such as arranging a meeting or a conference call
o Medical referrals and ambulance arrangement
o Information on local legal representatives
o For an executive summary of these services and more, please visit www.travelsim.net.au/personalassistant
The TravelSIM Personal Assistant service is backed by 28 alarm centres worldwide staffed by doctors, multilingual co-ordinators, security experts and logistics personnel. It has 31 clinics
globally, with more than 8,000 employees, including 1,900 medical professionals. It is backed by more than 65,000 accredited network providers worldwide, and provides solutions to 87 of the Fortune Global 100 Companies.