Cellnet, or Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio – 60%-owned by British Telecommunications Plc and 40% by Securicor Group Plc yesterday launched a new service – Gold Numbers – whereby customers are offered their own choice of mobile phone number. Now users with poor memories can have the same cellular and domestic telephone number or, since most cellular phones have letters as well as numbers, they can code their cellphone number after themselves – 0858 ROBERT would for instance represent the phone number 0850 762378. Cellnet launched the Gold Numbers service after being allocated a new code prefix, 0850, to supplement its existing 0860 code. Cellnet has also introduced a 24-hour voice mail service called Cellnet Messaging, which answers calls made to mobile phones when the receiver’s handset has been switched off, and takes messages. The caller is greeted by a personal message, just as on a domestic answering machine and, as usual, speaks after the tone. When the mobile phone is switched on again, the network automatically calls to notify the user of the number of recorded messages stored in her mailbox – messages are retained for three days, so the user can choose when to play back the messages. A command mode enables the user to play, re-play, edit, delete or save messages. A personal identification number ensures that no-one else can access the messages. And Cellnet’s new Cellnet Direct Access service enables mobile phones outside the office to make and receive internal telephone calls, as though they were part of an office switchboard system – peak call rates are 16 pence per minute.
