Short Voice Service

Antonf said:
How will you be able to leave a voice message if I don't have a voice message facility?

I block e-mail addresses using Mailwasher Pro - it will be bounced...

If I don't have a postal address where are you going to post the letter to?

I do get a few points yes...
Vodacom has decided I WILL have a voice message facility whether I want one or not :mad:
Vodacom has decided I WILL have a voice message facility whether I need one or not :mad:
Vodacom has decided I WILL have a voice message facility whether I asked for one or not :mad:
Unsuspecting callers will waste money delivering voice messages that will not be listened to.
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Let's not confuse a few different points:

1) Services exist (from SMS, to snail mail, to e-mail, etc.) that will deliver something to you in such a way that the sender does not know if it was delivered or not. That was the gist of my response above.

2) No one is forcing you to use this service. Or anyone else. Don't use it, or don't respond to them. It's your democratic choice.

3) Your real requirement is to blacklist certain MSISDN's, including the ones coming from the SVS service. This we're working on.
 
anton, something just dawned on me. A few months ago you mentioned here that you're canceling all your Vodacom contracts? :confused:

Glad to see you again (or still) find Vodacom the better network. ;)
 
is there a way to replay a svs message once you have listened to it?
 
SVS rip off

ConsiderThis said:
let's bombard them until 9 november!!!
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Thats exactly what they want you to do!! Didnt you see the post here: http://simonb.co.za/?p=58

When it's free most people storm the service and then Vodacom makes a killing.. Well unless someone makes a big noise about it and then they are forced to backtrack..

So here's to hoping Vodacom officially apologizes for the big bugger up they made today. Even if it was a bug, why was it not tested properly before launching? Why was it not launched as SVS (beta)
 
vodacom3g said:
2) No one is forcing you to use this service. Or anyone else. Don't use it, or don't respond to them. It's your democratic choice.
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Does this mean there is an opt-out then?

3) Your real requirement is to blacklist certain MSISDN's, including the ones coming from the SVS service. This we're working on.
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My communication skills are clearly lacking...
Antonf said:
My issue with SVS is NOT about receiving the SMS, but the fact that someone can leave a voice message. I can understand that Vodacom won't be bothered if I don't listen to it because the 90C has been paid.

I don't want the facility, and it is questionable business ethics on Vodacom's side to accept the money if I won't listen to the message.
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I do NOT have a requirement to block SMS, I already have a facility that can do that.

What I, and other Vodacom clients, need is a choice whether we want a service or not, i.e. an opt-out. This Big Brother attitude of "we will decide what you need and you will accept it"

I am still waiting to hear how many Vodacom clients requested this service. I suspect the guys who really requested it are the bean counters who realised
vodacom3g said:
... A small percentage of subscribers configure and use their voice mail and this service was thus designed to allow
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increased revenue from an under-utilised service...

Nothing wrong with that, just provide me with an opt-out on SVS.

If you clever guys at the same time develop a facility to block all or certain SMS, great, I will probably subscribe to that at some time!
 
Antonf said:
Does this mean there is an opt-out then?



My communication skills are clearly lacking...


I do NOT have a requirement to block SMS, I already have a facility that can do that.

What I, and other Vodacom clients, need is a choice whether we want a service or not, i.e. an opt-out. This Big Brother attitude of "we will decide what you need and you will accept it"

I am still waiting to hear how many Vodacom clients requested this service. I suspect the guys who really requested it are the bean counters who realised increased revenue from an under-utilised service...

Nothing wrong with that, just provide me with an opt-out on SVS.

If you clever guys at the same time develop a facility to block all or certain SMS, great, I will probably subscribe to that at some time!
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If you already have the facility to block sms, so what's the problem considering SVS notifications are sent via sms and you don't actually receive an SVS message on your phone?:confused:
 
vodacom3g said:
anton, something just dawned on me. A few months ago you mentioned here that you're canceling all your Vodacom contracts? :confused:

Glad to see you again (or still) find Vodacom the better network. ;)
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Antonf said:
I canceled my 3G contract - cleverest thing I did in some time... Vodacom has (eventually) upgraded the only tower in the vicinity to 3G, and I haven't even used my MTN sim card the last few weeks!
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I am NOT complaining about the network, am I?
 
AirWolf said:
If you already have the facility to block sms, so what's the problem considering SVS notifications are sent via sms and you don't actually receive an SVS message on your phone?:confused:
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I have NEVER had an issue with SMS notifications (go read my previous posts), but I have an issue with the fact that Vodacom is forcing me to have a voice message facility. If Vodacom however again send me SMS' to inform me that I have voice messages I will complain to ICASA and WASPA as the SMS' are spam.

I canceled my voice message facility on one account, and I DON'T WANT ONE...

How much simpler can it be than to provide an opt-out facility?
 
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vodacom3g said:
In the same way you could leave a normal voice message but you will have no idea if was listened to. Or send an SMS without knowing if it was read.

Or send an e-mail without knowing it was received.

Or post a letter without knowing it was opened.

You get the point....;)
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Yes, I do (now)

But mustn't we all catch a wakeup? How many of us (like me) just assume if we send, it arrives?
 
CORY said:
Yes, I do (now)

But mustn't we all catch a wakeup? How many of us (like me) just assume if we send, it arrives?
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Most of us, because it normally does arrive, even if the delivery is not guaranteed. But if the recipient does not want to open, read or listen to your message, the sender won't know this.
 
vodacom3g said:
Most of us, because it normally does arrive, even if the delivery is not guaranteed. But if the recipient does not want to open, read or listen to your message, the sender won't know this.
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If the sender is not able to leave a message it is unlikely that he will believe it has been delivered...
 
Short message can be shorter as 3 seconds but the fact that voda claims 30 seconds of recording space makes me wonder why none of my messages never reached that max but but at less than 20 seconds from the beep unless if the 10 seconds intro is also taken as part of that 30 sec max.
 
Simon_B said:
Thats exactly what they want you to do!! Didnt you see the post here: http://simonb.co.za/?p=58

When it's free most people storm the service and then Vodacom makes a killing.. Well unless someone makes a big noise about it and then they are forced to backtrack..

So here's to hoping Vodacom officially apologizes for the big bugger up they made today. Even if it was a bug, why was it not tested properly before launching? Why was it not launched as SVS (beta)
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Simon, please enlighten us to how many people were affected by this 'big bugger up'? You seem to have accurate information with your R900 000 claim.

Secondly, you seem to keep on flattering yourself that you 'discovered' this problem. Reality is you did not, the fix was already being put in place when you blogged about your 'big' discovery. Why did you not rather call 155 and report it?

As someone on your blog pointed out, I hope your accusations of fraud against Vodacom is not the result of Vodacom's "early termination" of your services.
 
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While Simon_B's motives may be questionable (I don't know him or the circumstances of relationship with Vodacom), telling him to call 155 is a cruel and unusual punishment. As every consumer knows, call centres only ever succeed in making the consumer more frustrated, and more likely to "go postal".

The only way a corporate the size of Vodacom will ever listen to a consumer is through the high court (and we don't all have a few years and many spare millions to do this) or by dragging their name through the mud. Corporates, in this country especially, will abuse the consumer without any conscience until the courts, a regulator, or the media makes a ruling.

I have no problem painting Vodacom with the same brush as every other corporate in the country, as I've had a fair amount of experience with their customer care, and don't see any reason to make an exception for them.
 
vodacom3g said:
Simon, please enlighten us to how many people were affected by this 'big bugger up'? You seem to have accurate information with your R900 000 claim.

Secondly, you seem to keep on flattering yourself that you 'discovered' this problem. Reality is you did not, the fix was already being put in place when you blogged about your 'big' discovery. Why did you not rather call 155 and report it?

As someone on your blog pointed out, I hope your accusations of fraud against Vodacom is not the result of Vodacom's "early termination" of your services.
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There is no need to act so petulantly in connection with what Simon_B put up on his blog. Rather, maybe, look at ways to incur a few more costs actually testing your systems properly - oh! I forgot, that might affect your already small margin LOL!

Jokes aside, you might take note and make others at Vodacom aware of what is clearly widespread distrust of your company and its ethics. Your PR machine is not as effective as you might wish: alternatively you might fix the issues that require you to have such a PR machine in the first place. It's a toss-up as to which would cost less, I'd venture to guess. Deep-rooted dislike and mistrust can take decades for a company to overcome - a few TV ads won't do it.

< What's that bad taste left in my mouth??? >
 
Does SMS, MMS, Voice, etc, etc have an opt out service? I'm really struggling to understand this argument. Maybe I'm just slow :p
 
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