Modern man cannot imagine himself without a mobile phone. Being in touch everywhere and always, having the opportunity to communicate with loved ones around the clock, maintaining many business contacts is the norm of our time.
The world is wider than it seems
With the development of mobile communications, the market for telephone services began to expand rapidly. Large operators are fighting for the attention of the consumer, offering more and more tariffs, a variety of functions and additional services. Every year, using a mobile phone becomes more and more convenient.
The giants of the cellular communication market in the face of fierce competition are ready to offer customers a solution to all or almost all problems. One of these weaknesses for the time being was a temporary lack of communication for various reasons - from network failures to a discharged subscriber's phone.
Several telecom operators have undertaken to eliminate the breakthrough at once. Almost every major player in the mobile field has their own tricks for tracing missed calls and relaying information to customers. One ofleading telecom operators in the Russian market - Beeline. What does he offer his clients?
New opportunities from Beeline
With the introduction of a new modern service "Be in the know" Beeline provides its subscribers with additional convenience. Now no call will be missed! Previously, this was possible if the subscriber's phone was turned off (for example, out of battery), was out of network coverage, or the subscriber simply could not answer the call.
Now everything is different. If you fail to reach someone, your failed interlocutor will receive an SMS message about the call as soon as his phone becomes available again. Of course, only if he has this option enabled.
The same goes for you. If you have activated the "Be in the know" service, Beeline will carefully notify all those who called at a time when, for example, you attended an important meeting (of course, turning off your phone) or did not hear calls in the noise of city streets. The total number of calls from each subscriber and their exact time will also be indicated.
Clarify conditions
Does Beeline "Be in the know" allow us to connect for free? Or is it a paid service? What are the general conditions for enabling/disabling this option? The most detailed information on the topic can be obtained on the official website of the operator.
It is especially convenient to use your personal account. Each Beeline subscriber by default has his own account on the site,login to which is a phone number. You can get into your account for the first time by receiving a password to enter. The password can be sent via SMS upon request or to an email address that you need to provide.
Once in the personal account, the user has the opportunity to get the details of his own calls for a certain period, check the balance or clarify the tariff. Beeline positions "Be in the know" as a free service. That is, the subscription fee for it is not taken either for prepaid or postpaid billing systems.
But is this "chip" from Beeline - "Be in the know" really completely free? The cost of disconnecting or connecting the service with the help of a support center operator is no less than 45 rubles, about which Beeline unequivocally informs customers in the service description section.
How to activate the service?
To activate the service, dial 110401 and press the dial key. The telephone number for connecting the option is 0674 09 401. Beeline provided the following command to disable "Be in the know":110400, pressing the dial key. Similarly, disconnection can be done by calling 0674 09 400.
How relevant is this service? It is up to the consumer to decide whether they require the "Be in the know" option. Beeline positions it as necessary and extremely useful, but everyone makes the final choice for himself. Obviously, this service will be very useful for those who havemany business contacts and simply has no right to miss an important call. Subscribers who lead a more measured lifestyle and use the phone mainly for personal conversations may not need it.
News from Beeline
With the development of the mobile services market, Beeline decided not to limit itself to just "Be in the know". Recently, a new, more "advanced" option "Be in the know +" has been introduced. Obviously, it is supposed that it will replace the former one, and that it will join the ranks of archival services. That is, it will become unavailable for new connections.
What's the difference? Why is Beeline not satisfied with "Be in the know"? The description of the new "chip" with a "+" sign says that if you are not available, then your subscriber will no longer have to listen to dull beeps or the message "subscriber is not available." Instead, he will be prompted to leave a voice message. And you will receive an SMS notification that "such and such" has left a message for you, and you can listen to it by a certain short number. Moreover, the number for each message is separate, and the message of your interlocutor is stored for at least 24 hours.
If you suddenly delete one of these messages, then there is nothing wrong with that. There is a short number 0646, by dialing which you can listen to all the messages left to you over the past day.
There are also limitations. The duration of each message is no more than 40 seconds. And the subscriber can receive such messages per dayno more than 30.
In the event that your failed interlocutor does not want to bother with a voice message, you will simply be sent an SMS about the missed call.
What is the asking price?
If initially the new service was positioned as free, then later Beeline changed his mind. At the time of writing this article (August 2014), the subscription fee for the service "Be in the know +" is 60 kopecks per day, which is about 18 rubles per month. The amount, it would seem, is insignificant and completely pays for itself for those who need to receive a voice message from the caller.
But keep in mind that the person who left the voice message will also pay for it. The exact amount will depend on his own tariff. And involuntarily the question arises whether this paid service is really needed. Indeed, during the conversation that took place, only one interlocutor pays - the one who called. And if the conversation did not happen, both - the caller - fork out for the message left to the "elusive" message, as well as its addressee - by daily payment for the service. Moreover, the subscription fee for the provided option will be deducted from it even if the caller does not even think of leaving any message - after all, the service is still connected.
What do consumers think?
An ordinary consumer of communication services very often does not even know which services are connected to him. Not everyone will meticulously check the balance every day and will not notice the write-off of such an insignificant amount. Many don't even rememberwhich tariff is being used. And if they are suddenly puzzled by this question, then not everyone will come to mind to visit a personal account and thoroughly understand everything.
Meanwhile, when switching to a number of new tariffs (for example, to the "Zero Doubts" tariff), this option is automatically activated, which the consumer is informed about in small print at the very end of the description of the tariff plan conditions. There is also a link to detailed information about the service, which also includes a way to disable it. Although in most cases the description page remains unavailable, for which Beeline apologizes.
Thus, the consumer has every chance to get the option on an "all inclusive" basis. And he will think whether to refuse him (spending an additional 45 rubles, which are taken when disconnecting through the operator) or give up on an insignificant amount and leave everything as it is, even if he does not need this service at all.
The vast majority of consumers will not waste time on trifles because of such a meager amount. But the unpleasant aftertaste from the imposed service still remains.
Summarize
This service is important and needed. And for most subscribers, the fee for it is purely symbolic. In addition, the opportunity to find out about the content of a missed important call, as they say, is worth a lot.
For those who fundamentally do not want to overpay even a penny for an unnecessary service, there is always the possibility of disconnection - it is worth showing minimal perseverance.
