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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CELLULAR TELEPHONE SERVICE

1. What is “roaming” and how do I do it? If you are traveling outside your home coverage area with your cellular phone, you are roaming. If you place a call to telephone number outside your local cellular coverage area, but you are still within your local coverage, you are NOT roaming, you are placing a long distance call.
2. Do I have to do anything special to roam or tell someone calling me to dial another number to reach me? As an AT&T Wireless Services customer, you are automatically part of the North American Cellular Network (NACN), which means you can make and receive calls in thousands of cities coast to coast without any special access codes or operator assistance.
3. How do I make calls while I am roaming? To place local calls within the city you are roaming in, dial the 10 digit telephone number as you usually would. (Some areas require that you dial a “1” prior to dialing the telephone number.) Placing a call to anywhere outside the area in which you are roaming is considered a toll call.
4. I keep trying to make calls in a roaming city and I'm getting a recording saying that I am unauthorized to make calls. What can I do so that I can roam? Contact a customer care representative by dialing 611 from your cellular telephone.
5. How do I use the VoiceMail system? Please see our voicemail instructions page or call customer service.
6. What are the costs for receiving and retrieving voicemail messages? There is no charge for messages placed into your voicemail box. If you choose to retrieve your messages from your cellular telephone you will be charged airtime for the retrieval call, according to your rate plan. If you choose to retrieve your messages from a landline telephone AT&T Wireless Services will not bill you for retrieving your messages. Your local telephone company may, however, charge you for the call.
7. What does it cost to receive numeric pages or text messages on my digital PCS telephone? There is no charge to receive numeric pages or text messages on your digital PCS telephone.
8. What is the difference between "peak" and "off peak" hours?
• Peak time is the highest-usage period of the week, from 7:00am to 9:00pm Monday through Friday on most plans.  Depending on your calling plan, airtime may be more expensive during peak times.
• Off-peak time is a lower-usage period of time, all times other than the peak time described above. Depending on your calling plan, airtime may be less expensive, or even free, during this time.
9. Can I block someone from making calls from my phone? Yes, by locking your telephone. Once locked, calls can not be placed from your telephone until it is unlocked. Different cellular phones have different methods of "locking.” Consult your owner’s manual for details on the locking features of your telephone.
10. How do I use my voice mail, call forwarding, and call waiting features? AT&T Wireless Services has a feature guide which covers all the service features it offers. Just dial 611 from your cellular phone and a Customer Care Representative will be happy to answer your questions or to send you a feature guide.
11. Does the phone have to be on in order to receive or place calls? Yes, the phone's power source must be on in order to receive incoming calls or to make outgoing calls.
12. When do I have to dial a “1” in front of the area code when placing a long distance call? AT&T Wireless services’ systems usually do not require that you dial a “1” before dialing a long distance call. However, if you are not in an area served directly by AT&T Wireless Services, you may need to do so. If this is the case, you will be instructed to do so by a recording.
13. Do I pay for incoming calls to my cellular phone? Yes, airtime accrues any time that you are using your cellular phone,.
14. Can I receive calls when I am in another state? Yes. AT&T Wireless Services provides Automatic Call Delivery (ACD) throughout most of the United States.
15. Why doesn't my phone work in some buildings? Just like the light from the sun or a lamp, the radio frequencies used in cellular communication cannot pass through the walls of some buildings or other large objects.
16. When do I pay long distance charges for using my telephone? Long distance charges apply to both incoming and outgoing calls. If you answer your cellular phone while travelling outside of your home rate area,  long distance charges may apply. Outgoing calls are local to the area/city from which you are dialing regardless of your cellular telephone number (i.e. if you have a New York City number and you are in Philadelphia, making a local call to Philadelphia, you will be billed only for airtime, not for long distance charges.)
17. How do I dial directory assistance? Dial the area code for number you desire plus 555-1212. Directory assistance is usually billed at a higher rate than cellular airtime.
18. Do I get billed for calls that ring but don't answer or busy signals? No, AT&T Wireless Services does not charge for unanswered calls or busy signals.
19. How is usage charged? You are charged for cellular airtime usage in 1 minute increments. Partially used minutes are rounded up to the next minute.
20. At what point does AT&T Wireless Services begin charging customers for the phone calls made from a mobile phone? AT&T Wireless Services starts the clock on a phone call as soon as a customer presses the “Send” button. If the call is connected, the customer will be billed for the call. However, if the call is not connected, the customer will not be billed.
21. How do I make sure my telephone’s battery is fully charged? Charge new batteries for 14 to 24 hours before initial use. Do not recharge a NiCD battery until it is fully discharged or you will reduce the amount of power it will hold. If your battery charger has a "discharge" capability, use it before you recharge. If you have a NiMH “memory free” battery, you may recharge your battery at any time but it is still best to wait until it is substantially discharged before fully charging it again. Once fully charged, remove your batteries from the charging unit. You should avoid overcharging any batteries.
22. What is a “memory free” battery? Some batteries will not charge up to full capacity if they have not been fully discharged first. NiMH batteries are often known as “memory free” batteries because they are not subject to this “memory” effect.
23. Where shouldn’t I use my telephone?
• Check the laws and regulations on the use of cellular telephones in the areas where you drive. Always obey them.
• Do not use your cellular telephone in a hospital. I could interfere with certain medical equipment.
• To prevent possible interference with aircraft systems, FAA regulations require you to have the permission of a crew member prior to using your phone on an aircraft while it is on the ground. FCC regulations prohibit using your phone at any time onboard an aircraft while it is in the air.
• To avoid interfering with blasting operations, turn your cellular phone OFF when in a blasting area or in areas posted: “TURN OFF TWO-WAY RADIO.”
• Turn your cellular phone OFF when in any area with a potentially explosive atmosphere. Your phone or its accessories could generate sparks. Sparks areas such as gasoline stations could cause an explosion or fire resulting in bodily injury or death.
24. Does cellular communication cause cancer? There is no credible, scientific evidence of adverse health effects caused from cellular communication devices.
25. How do I “activate” my phone when I receive it? You do not need to “activate” your telephone. Your telephone will already be activated and ready for use when you receive it!
26. I was driving on the Garden State Parkway in Holmdel. My phone indicated that I was roaming and my display read “Comcast.” Was I paying roaming rates for using the phone there? No. With the AT&T Wireless network if you are in or south of Middlesex county your roaming indicator will display, however there are no roaming charges from Boston to Washington D.C.

This page was last updated on 25 August, 2005

While we try to keep this site as up-to-date as possible, vendor changes do occur often. Equipment and plan pricing and availability listed herein are all subject to change.