How to enable Calling Features and Codes on your Homephone Landline in Jamaica

Of late, Landline, also called POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) has slowly been making a comeback.

The nostalgia of having a phone at home was captured in the Homefone (spelt “Home Phone” officially!) , which began to skyrocket in popularity after they had dropped the calling rate for landline to mobile rate to $3.09 per minute, billed per second as noted in the article “LIME cuts landline to mobile rate”, published Thursday, July 04, 2013, The Jamaica Observer.

 

This was around the same time that LIME, the former incarnation of FLOW, has dropped their JA$2.99 Talkez plan as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME drops JA$2.99 Talk EZ to All Networks as Digicel promises something Bigger”, marking a revival for the struggling telecom provider.

There are now three (3) Home Phone plans:

1.      Home Phone Basic

2.      Home Phone Essential

3.      Home Phone Plus

The details for them are as listed below:

Package	Monthly Price	Details
Home Phone Basic	$1,200	Includes 100 free minutes of talk time per month to call any local landline. Includes FREE Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, Automatic Busy Redial, Caller Id, Priority Ring, Selective Call Rejection
Home Phone Essential	$1,500	500 free minutes of talk time per month to call any local landline number. Includes FREE Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, Automatic Busy Redial, Caller Id, Priority Ring, Selective Call Rejection
Home Phone Plus	$1,800	1000 free minutes to call any local mobile and landline numbers. Includes FREE Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, Automatic Busy Redial, Caller Id, Priority Ring, Selective Call Rejection

As for the Calling rates, that has improved dramatically, dropping as low as JA$0.99 per minute on per second billing. 

Destination	Rate per minute (excludes GCT)
Local Rates
FLOW Home Phone (formerly Columbus Communications' Flow)	$0.99
FLOW Home Phone (formerly LIME)	$0.99
FLOW Home Phone (NEW)	$0.99
Digicel Fixed Line	$2.40
Other Local Operators (OLO) Fixed Line	$2.40
FLOW (formerly LIME) Mobile	$2.85
Digicel Mobile	$2.85
Other Local Operators (OLO) Mobile	$2.85
International Rates
USA, Canada and UK (landline)	$10.00
Caribbean	$25/$35

They've now recovered with their mobile service having grown to 1 million customers to the point of their entire Network, Mobile, Fixed line and Broadband Network, going down between Friday September 2nd and Saturday September 3rd 2016 as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “FLOW Jamaica Network Outage due to 1 Million Satisfied Customers”.

This is a strong sign they are getting a lot of customer who are seeking to save money on their mobile and landline calling, as Digicel still isn't price competitive despite offering more advance products such as Digicel LTE and Digicel Play as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How to Activate a Digicel LTE Smart Plan on your Smartphone”.

So it’s worth your while to re-learn the various tricks that your landline that puts your POTS on par with a modern Google Android phone as listed below.

Voicemail	If you miss a call, callers can choose to leave a voice message.
Check voicemail	Retrieve your voice messages.	Dial *91
Call Waiting	If someone calls while you're on the phone, you can put the first call on hold while you take the second.
Create a distinct alert	Use a distinct sound to notify you of calls from a specific number.	Dial *32
Delete a distinct alert	Delete a distinct sound to notify you of calls from a specific number.	Dial *33
Cancel Call waiting	Cancel your Call Waiting if you want an uninterrupted call.	Dial *70
Automatic Calling Features	Dial a short code instead of dialling a full number.
Recall	Redial the number of the last incoming call.	Dial *69
Callback	Redial the number of the last outgoing call.	Dial *66
Wakeup Call Feature	Turn your phone into an alarm clock by programming it to ring at a certain time.
Activate Wakeup Call	Turn on the Wakeup Call feature.
Cancel Wakeup Call	Turn off the Wakeup Call feature.	Dial *100
Check Wakeup Call Status	Check to see if your Wakeup Call is activated or not.	Dial *101
Call Forwarding	Have your calls forwarded to another mobile, landline or Flow phone.
Enable Call Forwarding	Turn on the Call Forwarding feature.	Dial*72
Disable Call Forwarding	Turn off the Call Forwarding feature.	Dial*73
Enable busy line Call Forwarding	Turn on the Call Forwarding feature for when your line is busy.	Dial*90
Change busy line Call Forwarding	Change the number your calls get forwarded number to when your line is busy.	Dial*40
Enable no-answer Call Forwarding	Turn on the Call Forwarding feature for when calls to your line go unanswered.	Dial*92
Change no-answer Call Forwarding	Change the number your calls get forwarded number to when calls to your line go unanswered.	Dial*41
Disable no-answer Call Forwarding	Turn off the Call Forwarding feature for when calls to your line go unanswered.	Dial*93
Enable specific number	Call Turn on the Call Forwarding feature from a Forwarding specific number to another mobile, landline or Flow phone.	Dial*36
Disable specific number	Call Turn off the Call Forwarding feature from a specific Forwarding number to another mobile, landline or Flow phone.	Dial*37

I’ll be doing more articles on Landline on my blog. Sharing is caring so share them with as many people as you can.

Here’s the link:

Home Phone Plans

FLOW Store in Jamaica

FLOW Jamaica Website

FLOW Jamaica Twitter Feed: @FLOWJamaica

FLOW Jamaica Facebook Page

FLOW Jamaica YouTube Channel

How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - IBEX and clients Amazon, AT&T expanding to Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen

“We expect to be at full capacity by just after March. Right now, we are already looking for strategic areas not just in Portmore, but in Kingston”

IBEX CEO Robert 'Bob' Dechant on their Expansion plans into Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen

Call Center peeps at Advantage, Xerox, IBEX and Fullgram, I've got news that's more interesting than this hairless cat.

IBEX, which hails from Washington, DC in the USA is coming to Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen as reported in the article “BPO Company IBEX Plans Rollout To Three More Parishes”, published Sunday October 30, 2016 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

IBEX, who are based in Portmore Pines in Portmore, currently has some 500+ Customer Service Agents and other staff. They’re already in the process of recruiting some 400 Customer Service Agents as pointed out my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - IBEX Global paying 400 Call Center Agents JA$400 per hour”.

They'll likely double their call centre operations to between 1,200 to 1,600 staff members by March 2017 for their main clients Amazon and AT&T, even as they seek to expand elsewhere as noted in the article “ Ibex Global considers Mandeville, Montego Bay for expansion”, published Sunday, October 30, 2016 by Avia Collinder, The Jamaica Observer.

At that rate, they'll easily hit US$20 million annually, delivering some US$10 million in business in the year ending July 2017!

For now, they eyeing expanding into the abandoned supermarket behind their 45,600 square feet of leased space on the Portmore Pines Plaza to facilitate their current expansion plans to quote Site Director and Country Manager Dalgleish Joseph, quote: “We can take over, completely renovate, and set up about 600 more works stations there, which can mean just about 1,200 more employees working in that building, in conjunction with what we have now. Right now, we have four shifts, with operations starting from 7 a.m. to midnight but soon we will be moving to 24 hours. When that happens, the shift system will increase”.

So why does this have me excited?

IBEX coming to Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen - JA$400 per hour Work in Clarendon

For one, it means employment for people in the Country parts of Jamaica. No more having to travel to Kingston to work in a Call Center in the New Kingston area, as you could easily find work in your parish.

Were they to expand into Montego Bay, Mandeville and May Pen, their numbers could potentially swell to 5000. This would make IBEX one of the largest Call Centers in Jamaica next to Sutherland Global, who are already on the prowl for some 1,500 employees as noted in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - 1500 Call Center Agents needed by Sutherland Global”. 

This has me interested, as if I could get a job with IBEX sometime after March 2017, not only would I be getting at least $400 per hour, but I could potentially return back home to Clarendon.

Suddenly, working in a Call Center, as is my current situation as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - A Brief Listing of Call Center Job Openings in New Kingston”, doesn't seem like such a bad idea!!!

Here's the link:

http://www.ibexglobal.com/careers

How Number Portability has stalled in Jamaica but Caricel and 5G on the Horizon by 2020

“I know that the naysayers had previously thought that Jamaica would not be interested in number portability, but we have seen that with the option to jump ship at any time … it encourages our telecoms to pay more attention to customer service and especially the quality of service”

Minister of Science, Technology and Energy Dr Andrew Wheatley speaking about Number Portability at the 2^nd of the 14^th annual which was held at the Secrets Resorts and Spa located in Freeport, St James

In some really embarrassing news for local telecommunications, Number Portability is not doing so well.

Only 60000 persons have switched networks under Number Portability as noted in the article “Just over 60,000 accounts switched under number portability”, published Thursday, October 27, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

This shockingly low figure was proudly revealed by Minister of Science, Technology and Energy Dr Andrew Wheatley addressing the 2^nd of the 14^th annual OOCUR (Conference of the Organization of Caribbean Utility Regulators) which was held at the Secrets Resorts and Spa located in Freeport, St James.

The conference Theme, “Creating a Spectrum of Opportunities in the Caribbean” seems in stark contrast to the news that Number Portability was effectively dead!

The upbeat nature of the three-day conference, seemed to be in stark contrast to the progress made in Number Portability Adoption since June of 2015 as reported in my blog article entitled “Jamaica Number Portability 2 months on - How to Port your number as All Good Customer go to Heaven in 90 Days”.  

Back then, around 33000 customer of FLOW and Digicel switched Networks in less than 2 month as noted in the article “33,000 Jamaicans Switch Accounts Under Number Portability”, published August 28, 2015 O. Rodger Hutchinson, The Jamaica Information Service.

So what happened?

Jamaican and Number Portability – Lack of Advertising the cause but Caricel the Cure

But now in 2016, nearly 1 year later, only 60,000 have made use of the facility powered by Porting Access B.V. from the Netherlands as explained in my blog article entitled “Jamaica has selected Porting Access B.V. for NPA - How NPAS will provision a TPRR based CRDB”. 

The slowing down of access to Number Portability is directly related to a lack of advertisement by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Energy. After all, how can you know a service exists if it’s not being continuously advertised?

Still, it has encouraged Telecom Providers to improve their services, albeit they're still mis-treating customers, prompting the OUR to review customer Contracts as noted in my blog article entitled “How FLOW and Digicel Jamaica can improve Customer Contracts as OUR sets Guidelines, Limitations and Penalties”.

Telecom service providers are slowly making adjustments to their customer offerings. But they're yet to offer unlimited data for streaming and Free Wi-Fi Internet from FLOW modems as argued in my Geezam blog article entitled “FLOW Jamaica new Data Plans as FLOW ID, My FLOW App and Streaming Needed”. 

Still, this will not stop the coming of Caricel Jamaica; they can easily use Number portability as their advertising medium to win customers with cheaper Voice and Data Bundles as explained in my blog article entitled “Symbiote Investments Limited gets DMSL License for Caricel as 5G coming in 2020”. 

Minister of Science, Technology and Energy, the ball is in your court but customers will benefit in the long run.

Carube Copper captures OZ Minerals in Jamaica as Copper and Gold Mining slowing Globally

Copper mining is in trouble in Jamaica.

Carube Copper Corp, a CA$7.5 million Canadian copper mining company, is taking over Australian company OZ Mineral Holdings as reported in the article “Canadian Mining Company Acquires Copper Licence”, published Saturday October 29, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

They're set to acquire 70% of Australian company OZ Mineral Holdings in the Bellas Gate Joint Venture licences, giving them some 535 square kilometres of potentially mineable reserves of valuable minerals.  This latest developement is a follow-on to the news that Australian juggernaut, Oz Minerals was pulling out of Jamaica as noted in the article “OZ Minerals pulling out of Jamaica”, published Friday, September 23, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

Carube Copper Corp has two (2) mining projects that they're working on:

1.      Main Ridge Project

2.      Hungry Gully Project

In partnership with Oz Minerals, Carube Copper Corp is also working on extracting Gold and Copper from the following projects:

1.      Above Rocks Project

2.      Bellas Gate Project

OZ Mineral Holdings, if you may remember, has been mining Copper and Gold in Jamaica in Above Rocks and Bellas Gate since 2014 as noted in my blog article entitled “OZ Minerals of Australia prospecting for Copper in Jamaica - How to get into Mining Minerals in Jamaica”.

They, along with Carube Copper Corp, are among four (4) copper mining companies in Jamaica and are the second Canadian company mining copper in Jamaica as listed below:

1.      OZ Minerals of Australia

2.      Carube Resources Inc of Canada

3.      Rio Minerals Jamaica Limited of Canada

4.      Rodinia Resources Pty Ltd of Australia

In return for all this, Carube Copper will pay OZ Mineral Holdings for their CAN$14 million worth of exploration equiptment and gear and also give them 2% Net Smelter Return Royalty due after their copper mine start making money. Copper is easy to finding Jamaica, as certain plants indicate the existence of fairly large and commercially exploitable Copper reserves.

So basically a long term perpetuity agreement, as OZ Mineral Holdings will continue making money even though they've exited the island as noted in the article in the article “Canadian Mining Company Acquires Copper Licence”, published Saturday October 29, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

Apparently the fluctuations in the global price of copper due to oversupply and increase metal recycling has made mining the mineral less than lucrative for OZ Mineral Holdings was noted in the article “OZ Minerals pulling out of Jamaica”, published Friday, September 23, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

However, this market instability hasn't deterred Carube Copper Corp; they're expanding, effectively becoming one of the largest copper miners in Jamaica.

Now if we could only find fairly large and commercially exploitable gold and oil reserves, as Oil is set to hit US$300 a barrel by 2020 as predicted in my blog article entitled “Why Jamaican Private Sector funding Oil Exploration by Tullow Oil for US$300 per barrel in 2020”.

Jamaica has the potential to become a little but Tallawah mining giant of the Caribbean