Cell phone minutes...

[rh71]

I was thinking... (it did hurt)... as soon as you dial the number, the timer on the phone starts... but does that timer indicate the number of minutes you've used by the time you've hung up? I hung up at the 2:00 minute mark... does that mean Sprint charges the full 2 minutes or do they have their own timer starting from when we've been connected?

 

I read somewhere a long time ago that the real cost of a cell phone call is MAKING the actual connection...keeping you connected is not as hard to do. So the fact that the timer starts as soon as you hit send makes sense to me.

I'm pretty sure that your minutes are charged from the second you hit the 'send' button...that's why all the phones have minute beeps based on their timers.

 

[roncarter]

Originally posted by: JuMpR629
I read somewhere a long time ago that the real cost of a cell phone call is MAKING the actual connection...keeping you connected is not as hard to do. So the fact that the timer starts as soon as you hit send makes sense to me.

I'm pretty sure that your minutes are charged from the second you hit the 'send' button...that's why all the phones have minute beeps based on their timers.

yea, hes right. you have to be connnected to the person before it the timer starts. The phone is just dumb and starts counting right away

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: roncarter

Originally posted by: JuMpR629
I read somewhere a long time ago that the real cost of a cell phone call is MAKING the actual connection...keeping you connected is not as hard to do. So the fact that the timer starts as soon as you hit send makes sense to me.

I'm pretty sure that your minutes are charged from the second you hit the 'send' button...that's why all the phones have minute beeps based on their timers.

yea, hes right. you have to be connnected to the person before it the timer starts. The phone is just dumb and starts counting right away

lol, you guys just said the exact oppistite thing, but you said "yea he's right." classic.

 

[amnesiac]

dunno, my sprint phone doesn't start counting until you've made the connection (i.e. phone starts ringing). Before that it just says "connecting"

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
dunno, my sprint phone doesn't start counting until you've made the connection (i.e. phone starts ringing). Before that it just says "connecting"

Yes, that's what I meant... as soon as the phone starts ringing the timer starts... but it doesn't mean the person will pick up... does it start charging me airtime even if they never pick up ?! Or will it only charge me the timer's minutes if they end up picking up?

 

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
dunno, my sprint phone doesn't start counting until you've made the connection (i.e. phone starts ringing). Before that it just says "connecting"

Yes, that's what I meant... as soon as the phone starts ringing the timer starts... but it doesn't mean the person will pick up... does it start charging me airtime even if they never pick up ?! Or will it only charge me the timer's minutes if they end up picking up?

I'm pretty sure they WILL charge you for a minute even if the person doesn't pick up. Think about it - when you're calling on a landline you're basically on the same network, and the connection isn't tough to make. But when you're on a mobile, the toughest thing to do is to make the actual connection to the land-based network from a wireless network. So, I'm guessing (GUESSING) that they will charge you when the phone is still ringing, because what do they care if the person picks up? They've already made the connection (the theoretical "expensive" part of the call.

lol, you guys just said the exact oppistite thing, but you said "yea he's right." classic.

Ha, I noticed that earlier, but I decided not to reply lest we get ourselves even MORE confused.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: JuMpR629

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
dunno, my sprint phone doesn't start counting until you've made the connection (i.e. phone starts ringing). Before that it just says "connecting"

Yes, that's what I meant... as soon as the phone starts ringing the timer starts... but it doesn't mean the person will pick up... does it start charging me airtime even if they never pick up ?! Or will it only charge me the timer's minutes if they end up picking up?

I'm pretty sure they WILL charge you for a minute even if the person doesn't pick up. Think about it - when you're calling on a landline you're basically on the same network, and the connection isn't tough to make. But when you're on a mobile, the toughest thing to do is to make the actual connection to the land-based network from a wireless network. So, I'm guessing (GUESSING) that they will charge you when the phone is still ringing, because what do they care if the person picks up? They've already made the connection (the theoretical "expensive" part of the call.

Crap... so that's probably how I went 100 minutes over (@ 40 cents per minute) my daytime minutes. On a side note, SPRINT service sux, but the only thing keeping me there is the 25% discount. I want to go over to Verizon and get a 10%, but that's a huge difference supporting 3 phones.

Heard on the radio... providers in order of best to worst...
Verizon (also most expensive), Nextel, Cingular/Voicestream, Sprint, T-Mobile

 

[Zenmervolt]

I think that my service (Alltel) only charges if the other person picks up, but they charge in one minute intervals and they always round up. So if you make a call that is one minute and one second long, they count that as two minutes. That's probably how you went over your minutes.

ZV

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I think that my service (Alltel) only charges if the other person picks up, but they charge in one minute intervals and they always round up. So if you make a call that is one minute and one second long, they count that as two minutes. That's probably how you went over your minutes.

ZV

Most providers round up to the next minute so I'm aware that Sprint does that. It just made me think when I hung up at 2:01 on my phone's display... but they didn't pick up till about 4 rings after I hit "talk/send" 15 seconds into 2:01. Does Sprint charge 2 minutes or 3 minutes because of those 15 seconds of "ring-time-only" ?

 

[Lucky]

I'm pretty sure they WILL charge you for a minute even if the person doesn't pick up.

No, they don't. At least none of the providers I know of. AT&T recently announced that in coming months they will charge for airtime after 60 seconds of ringing, but AFAIK no provider currently charges until the actual connection is made.

 

Originally posted by: Lucky

I'm pretty sure they WILL charge you for a minute even if the person doesn't pick up.

No, they don't. At least none of the providers I know of. AT&T recently announced that in coming months they will charge for airtime after 60 seconds of ringing, but AFAIK no provider currently charges until the actual connection is made.

That's what I was saying. ISN'T THE CONNECTION ALREADY MADE WHEN THE PHONE RINGS? Whether or not the person picks up is irrelevant in my eyes. The connection between the wireless and the wired network seems to be the point when they start charging...at least in my opinion/observations.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: JuMpR629

Originally posted by: Lucky

I'm pretty sure they WILL charge you for a minute even if the person doesn't pick up.

No, they don't. At least none of the providers I know of. AT&T recently announced that in coming months they will charge for airtime after 60 seconds of ringing, but AFAIK no provider currently charges until the actual connection is made.

That's what I was saying. ISN'T THE CONNECTION ALREADY MADE WHEN THE PHONE RINGS? Whether or not the person picks up is irrelevant in my eyes. The connection between the wireless and the wired network seems to be the point when they start charging...at least in my opinion/observations.

No, which is what my point was. I'm basing this mostly upon an article I read recently (in the WSJ?) that AT&T will begin charging for airtime on outgoing calls after its been ringing for 60+ seconds. Which means they currently do not, meaning they dont count airtime unless the other side picks up the phone. I'm extrapoliting this to other carriers because I know from my own calls Sprint does not do this and the article stated AT&T's move was a first for the industry.

 

[Zenmervolt]

No, which is what my point was. I'm basing this mostly upon an article I read recently (in the WSJ?) that AT&T will begin charging for airtime on outgoing calls after its been ringing for 60+ seconds. Which means they currently do not, meaning they dont count airtime unless the other side picks up the phone. I'm extrapoliting this to other carriers because I know from my own calls Sprint does not do this and the article stated AT&T's move was a first for the industry.

Alltel is the same way, they don't start the clock until the other party picks up the phone. The counter on my phone (Motorola SC3160) is often off by 15-20 seconds each call.

ZV

 

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

No, which is what my point was. I'm basing this mostly upon an article I read recently (in the WSJ?) that AT&T will begin charging for airtime on outgoing calls after its been ringing for 60+ seconds. Which means they currently do not, meaning they dont count airtime unless the other side picks up the phone. I'm extrapoliting this to other carriers because I know from my own calls Sprint does not do this and the article stated AT&T's move was a first for the industry.

Alltel is the same way, they don't start the clock until the other party picks up the phone. The counter on my phone (Motorola SC3160) is often off by 15-20 seconds each call.

ZV

Hum...well, I stand corrected.

 

[prodigy]

For my phone (Voicestream), if you hit send and hang up after 1 second, even before the other side rings, you'll be charged for 1 minute.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Sprint charges a minute no matter how many seconds you've used of that minute. Don't believe me? I'm 216 minutes over my plan this month. And counting.

<-- his wallet will be thinner than Calista Flockhart

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Sprint charges a minute no matter how many seconds you've used of that minute. Don't believe me? I'm 216 minutes over my plan this month. And counting.

<-- his wallet will be thinner than Calista Flockhart

yes...i know that pain. Got a $182 bill two months ago.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Sprint charges a minute no matter how many seconds you've used of that minute. Don't believe me? I'm 216 minutes over my plan this month. And counting.

<-- his wallet will be thinner than Calista Flockhart

You should switch to AT&T's unlimited for $99/month although I'm sure there's probably some catches to that plan.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Make that 280 and counting

I don't need unlimited minutes per se, my plan now just sucks in terms of minutes - 750 minutes a month, $15 a month. (Employee plan with Staples) In the 2 years 4 months I've had it, the minutes I've used combined in 26 of those months probably is < 2000. After getting a steady girlfriend, the past 2 months I've surpassed the minutes I've used in the previous 26 months. Sprint's $34.99 plan - 500 anytime 2500 N&W would be more than I would ever use a month, I just can't change it the normal way by calling customer service. (I've contacted my 3rd party rep but shes pretty slow at responding) My fault for going over but I can't help it