How Do You Tell If A Mobile Phone Is Switch On Or Off?

[ShOcKs]

Hey guys,

I need some help here.

Of coz I know how to tell if a mobile phone is switched on or off but please refer to the following situation:

My girlfriend likes to play around with music in her mobile phone.

Whenever I call her, I will always hear different songs/music instead of the usual ringing tone.

Even when her phone is off, there will be another kind of music instead.

How do I tell if her phone is on or off in this case?

Please kindly advise.

Thank you very much.

[richard_smith237]

When my phone is off (i.e. when I'm on a flight) and someone tries to call me, after landing I'll receive an SMS stating that x tried to call me at x:xx hrs. Additionally x will receive an SMS stating that my number is now available.

Phones can frequently be out of signal range in lifts and underground car parks etc but that is only momentarily. In this case the same messages will be received by both parties.

It might be worth while looking into this service, unfortunately I don't know what its called. Otherwise, other than the standard 'The number is not reachable' type response I'm not sure that there is a way to tell.

We should never be handcuffed by our phones, but in this technological age I would be wondering why a girlfriend / partner is not answering frequently enough for me to worry about this.

[Lickey]

Does she ever call you on the cheap number? does she speak good english?Perhaps she is shy? other posters will correct me if im wrong, but modern mobiles will play a tune/song even when turned off when called,

[torrenova]

AIS has call back, DTAC does not, at least on PAYG.

If unreachable on AIS, you can leave your number and the recipient will get an SMS when they turn the phone on again. You will not get one (maybe if you are also on AIS). On DTAC you just get some message in Thai and then English.

[vreemd13]

Sent a short text message (SMS) with reception notification. If recipient telephone is turned off you receive immediately from provider the message "your message with identification number xxxxxxx can not be delivered yet". Your message will be repeated by provider for delivery to recipient every 5 minutes for the first hours, then every 15 minutes for the next hours and afterwards for every hour, during the next 3 days. As soon as telephone is turned on and message is delivered to recipient you will receive a notification. After 3 days failure you also get a notification that your message is not delivered.

[vreemd13]

I personally never heard of a tune when a mobile telephone is turned off. Just old fashioned out of order sound, not reachable.

Edited July 13, 2009 by vreemd13

[G54]

2 different tunes at different times of the day when I was phoning someone. Each time I heard the second tune I understood there would be no answer after they told me that tune meant the phone was off.

Strangely enough that was the only person who had that service.

Obviously many Thai have their favourite tune played to the caller instead of a ringtone.

As others have said similarly :-

If their phone is off you will generally get a message saying the number is unavailable and later one saying the number is now available ( AIS - as that is what I use) but not always. Maybe 5% of the time I do not get notified the number is now back in service.

So if you are not getting the messages then maybe you are simply being ignored. Draw your own conclusions on that.

One g/f always plugged in the headphones and played music on her mobile when riding the motorbike but - as I recall - I was not given a message saying the phone was turned off. And I did phone her on these occasions.

HTH.

edit - forgot to add the last bit about music

Edited July 14, 2009 by G54

[longball53098]

The tunes you hear in you're phone when calling a person are called "Calling Melodies". A person such as the GF can subscibe to this service from AIS or DTAC. They choose what songs will play when a specific number calls them or when their phone is busy. They can choose a different song for specific numbers. It is very flexible in its use. If a person has internet access they can go online do all this programming from the Calling Melody web site for the respective service such as AIS. The tunes are stored on the AIS host computers not in the users phone. These melodies should not be confused with ring tones.

[britmaveric]

Welcome to callback service....

[torrenova]

Sent a short text message (SMS) with reception notification. If recipient telephone is turned off you receive immediately from provider the message "your message with identification number xxxxxxx can not be delivered yet". Your message will be repeated by provider for delivery to recipient every 5 minutes for the first hours, then every 15 minutes for the next hours and afterwards for every hour, during the next 3 days. As soon as telephone is turned on and message is delivered to recipient you will receive a notification. After 3 days failure you also get a notification that your message is not delivered.

Perhaps that works with some services somewhere but it sure don't work with any of the DTAC or AIS PAYG services I've seen. Delivery reports that I get come back when the phone receives the message with nothing beforehand. Comes back undelivered eventually, perhaps after 24 hours ?

[verydumbubba]

Get another GF

Bubba

[ShOcKs]

Hey guys,

Thank you very much for all the helps so far.

Cheers.

[Chaimai]

Ask her to give you her other mobile number and tell her to leave it on all the time.

[vreemd13]

Sent a short text message (SMS) with reception notification. If recipient telephone is turned off you receive immediately from provider the message "your message with identification number xxxxxxx can not be delivered yet". Your message will be repeated by provider for delivery to recipient every 5 minutes for the first hours, then every 15 minutes for the next hours and afterwards for every hour, during the next 3 days. As soon as telephone is turned on and message is delivered to recipient you will receive a notification. After 3 days failure you also get a notification that your message is not delivered.

Perhaps that works with some services somewhere but it sure don't work with any of the DTAC or AIS PAYG services I've seen. Delivery reports that I get come back when the phone receives the message with nothing beforehand. Comes back undelivered eventually, perhaps after 24 hours ?

OK, let me clarify. Technically all short text messages (SMS) have delivery notification back to the (provider of) transmitter in case (provider of) recipient has received the message. This delivery notification is just not shown automatically by your own provider to you as the transmitter mobile cell phone. This is how SMS works, if transmitting provider does not receive the delivery notification back, it will repeat sending (most provider for up to 3days by default, but can be changed at your mobile cell phone settings) untill delivery notification has been received back. Have you ever wondered why you some-times receive the same SMS more than once, that is because transmitting provider did not receive a delivery notification back from you as recipient (provider), even though you have already received the SMS once or more than once before.

And, depending on your provider, there are 2 ways of using the delivery notification:

-1- turn on "Yes" for "SMS delivery notification" at your mobile cell phone settings

-2- if -1- does not work correctly, then contact your own provider how to receive. Some-times your own provider doesn't support this automatic delivery notification at your telephone "Yes" settings and you need to add some special characters in front of each SMS message you sent, f.e. characters *0# (probably provider dependent)

It works for me to DTAC and AIS recipient providers, with situations -1- and -2- by different providers used by me. A delivery notificatin is free of charge, even though you receive a SMS back. This way you not have to ask receiving party to change any telephone settings.

P.S. now I am just curious about this song thing, whenever calling a mobile telephone which is turned off. Because I just immediately get a voice telling me "the telephone isn't in service", without a song thing. I only hear the song thing just as regular normal dailing tone untill telephone is answered (or just not answered for up to 1minute max.).

[nikster]

Call AIS / DTAC to ask for the service where you can get music when your own phone is off/out of reach.

Then let's see if they even offer the service. I mean... that's what I'd do because I have never heard of that and it seems weird. Simple call to customer service.

If they don't offer it -> what bubba said

if they do -> what vreemd13 said

Edited July 15, 2009 by nikster

[vreemd13]

Call AIS / DTAC to ask for the service where you can get music when your own phone is off/out of reach.

Then let's see if they even offer the service. I mean... that's what I'd do because I have never heard of that and it seems weird. Simple call to customer service.

If they don't offer it -> what bubba said

if they do -> what vreemd13 said

OK, however I have done my Short Message Text (SMS) delivery notification for the last 4years, still use your common sense with this thechnology.

Don't sentence recipient wrong for not receiving one SMS of your many SMS, but if they deny more than once, don't believe them anymore. For the last 4years (several SMS a day) I have used it and with my experience it is 99.99% prove they receive SMS and have their telephone turned on. Thus, if you call and have no answer, but sent a SMS with delivery notification (which you receive back as deliverd) and recipient deny you have called (should show on recipient's mobile cell-phone anyway) or deny you have sent SMS (who can more than once tell: "I have never received your SMS"), they lie for sure. It works like that world-wide.

And if you receive back a non-delivery notification immediately after you sent SMS, just wait, in case recipient mobile telephone is really turned off (technically really not announced at any world-wide provider for over than one minute). Your provider sent SMS to your telephone (as long as 3days waiting, after 3days provider let you know by SMS it will "never be delivered"). When recipient telephone has received you SMS, you hear Beep-Beep, check SMS and then you know recipient's telehpone is turned on and you can call back. Still no answer, they lie.

I have to admit, by accident, day before yesterday I discoverd a new returned non-delivery message. I was talking to my friend and he already tell me his telephone battery was low and after a while the connection was suddenly broken, immediately I send SMS (just to make sure he didn't cut off the call on purpose to finish without reason the ongoing difficult discussion). I get return message from provider the message wasn't delivered with extra information "check recipient xxxxxxxx number and try sent again" (thus different as "can't be delivered yet, we try later"). It happened that my friend never received this specific SMS (sure provider tell me to SMS sent again, because recipient was unkonwn even I used correct number). After my friend put his telephone on charger, he called back in a few minutes and we were talking again for hours.

And yesterday something similar happened to me again: talking to a friend, who lost telephone connection by walking inside a building. I sent SMS to say sorry we finish call so suddenly and received immediately back message undelivarable "unknown number xxxxxxxx, check number and sent again". For sure, my xxxxxxx number was correct and he did not cut off telephone by purpose.

Just to tell you, use your common sense. However, this shows the provider returned delivery notification messages don't lie.

[NanLaew]

The OP has a pretty obscure way of asking, 'Hey, do you think she's ignoring me?'

Then there's the long-winded, technobabble answers that mostly avoid the OP's real concerns.

Yes, she is ignoring you. This can easily be verified by trying to call her from yr mobile and hanging up after she doesn't answer. Call her immediately from any other phone and if she answers quickly.... see post #11.

Edited July 18, 2009 by NanLaew

[OxfordWill]

Call her when you know its off, remember how it sounds..

[imaneggspurt]

Just send a text saying, call me when you finish short time !, that will do the trick !

[travellight]

I have a similar question. What does it mean when there's normally music playing (for the caller) instead of a ring when you call, but sometimes when I call the thai cell phone long distance, it's a periodic beep instead of music? Does this mean it's busy, or turned off, or being tapped by spyware even? I think the person on the other end can still see that i called, and even answer it sometimes, so could it just be the carrier doesn't play the music sometimes? It's pretty confusing trying to figure out if I should wait while it beeps, or hang up and try again....

Edited January 31, 2010 by travellight

[travellight]

Anyone?

I don't want to waste minutes waiting on a busy signal, if that's what it is. I would like to know if my call is going ignored when the thing is beeping, or just a bad connection.

[jdinasia]

The OP has a pretty obscure way of asking, 'Hey, do you think she's ignoring me?'

Then there's the long-winded, technobabble answers that mostly avoid the OP's real concerns.

Yes, she is ignoring you. This can easily be verified by trying to call her from yr mobile and hanging up after she doesn't answer. Call her immediately from any other phone and if she answers quickly.... see post #11.

This is starting to remind me of why they are making all those PSA's (Public Service Announcements) for http://www.thatsnotcool.com/

[nikster]

The text message notification is the best way to determine whether the phone is on or off.

The question is why would you want to know? If she doesn't want you to call her in certain situations she can just turn her phone off. So what does it really tell you when the phone is off?

If you feel there's something fishy going on you are probably right, and time to get a new g/f. Life is short.

[travellight]

Text messages are not possible from overseas.

As previously stated, there are multiple reasons. Maybe the OP wants to know if he should continue wasting his time calling someone who plays phone games. For me, I want to know for reasons along the same lines, but mainly because I want to know if I'm supposed to just wait through the beeping (if busy), hang up and try again (if bad connection). If busy, calling again might get irritating. If bad connection, trying over and over again might be the only way to get through. Sometimes I get the message that "the country you are trying to reach is unavailable". So there are definite connection issues.

Call back service and "the number is not available at this time" are obvious signs it is off, right? So what about the beeping?

The text message notification is the best way to determine whether the phone is on or off.

The question is why would you want to know? If she doesn't want you to call her in certain situations she can just turn her phone off. So what does it really tell you when the phone is off?

If you feel there's something fishy going on you are probably right, and time to get a new g/f. Life is short.

[travellight]

Never mind. Figured it out. It's a busy signal, or the phone is connected to the computer for internet. Has nothing to do with the connection. So a waste of cell minutes and time, especially from out of country. Too many of these and refer to post #11 I guess.