Frequently Asked Questions
Rent for short term periods - TR office located Australia-wide
TR Telecom has a large range of satellite phones available to rent for short term periods from any of their offices located around Australia. TR Telecom has supported numerous businesses for their satellite requirements around the world with rents including one for 70 Iridium satellite phones over 2 months.
The phones are ready to use and by renting you avoid paying any monthly access fees and are also only charged for any calls you make on top of the rental costs.
Perfect to use in remote areas of Australia
TR Telecom’s rental fleet of satellite phones are perfect to use in remote areas of Australia for either personal or business customers to stay connected and have a means of voice communication. Our offices are located across the country and our ability to deliver satellite phones anywhere in Australia makes renting one, easy.
The phones are ready to use and by renting you avoid paying any monthly access fees and are also only charged for any calls you make on top of the rental costs.
Adding contacts
To add your required contacts to either a Iridium 9555 or 9575 and make calling and SMS much easier and faster please use the following steps;
1. Use the left soft key to open up the “Menu”
2. Use the left soft key to select “My Phonebook”
3. Use the left soft key to open up “Options”
4. Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until “New” is highlighted, use the left soft key to select (please note if no contact are entered in the satellite phone once “Option” is selected the highlighted option will be “New Entry” so use the left soft key to select this.)
5. This will open up the New Entry page where your contacts details can be entered including their Name, Home Number, Work Number, two Mobile Numbers and Email address.
6. Remember when entering their contact numbers use the correct number format for calling from the satellite phone e.g. for an Australian mobile number
Send an SMS from an Iridium satellite phone
The following steps can be used to send an SMS from an Iridium satellite phone.
If you have your contact/s saved in your phonebook.
1. Use the left soft key to open up the “Menu”
2. Use the left soft key to select “My Phonebook”
3. Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until the required contact is highlighted, use the left soft key to open up the “Options”
4. Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until “SMS” is highlighted, then use the left soft key to “Select”
5. Now type the message you would like to send, once completed use the left soft key to open up the “Options”
6. From here use the left soft key to “Send” the SMS, your SMS will now be delivered to the relevant contact.
If you don’t have the contact/s saved in your phonebook.
1. Use the left soft key to open up the “Menu”
2. Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until “Messages” is highlighted, the left soft key to select.
3. Use the left soft key to select “Create message” which will be highlighted.
4. Now type the message you would like to send, once completed use the left soft key to open up the “Options”
5. From here use the left soft key to select “Send”.
6. Use the right soft key to “Add” the contact details.
7. Use the left soft key to select “Enter Number” which will be highlighted
8. Enter the required number to send the SMS to and when completed use the left soft key to select “OK” (Remember when entering the number use the correct number format for calling from the satellite phone e.g. for an Australian mobile number which is 0404 123 456 it would be entered as +61404123456)
9. You can enter more than one number to send the SMS too, to enter more numbers repeat from step 6.
10. Once you have entered the required contact details for the recipients of the SMS use the left soft key to “Send” the SMS
Send a Free SMS using an Iridium number with 8816
The following steps can be used to send a free SMS to any Iridium satellite phone with a number beginning with 8816.
1. You can find the fee Iridium SMS link on www.trtelecom.com.au or you can go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
2. Enter the full phone number of the Iridium subscriber in the “To:” field. If a reply is desired, enter in an optional reply-to email address (this address counts towards the 160 character limit, there is a character count field so you can see how many characters you have used.)
3. Enter the message and click ‘Send message’.
4. You will get a confirmation that the SMS has been sent.
Make and receive calls from a satellite phone
To make and receive calls from calls from your Iridium satellite phone
To make calls:
- Make sure the phone's battery is fully charged
- Make sure the phone has a valid SIM card inserted in the SIM slot
- Go outside with a clear view of the sky. Turn the phone on and ensure that the antenna is extended and pointing straight up toward the sky. Wait for the phone to register on the network – your phone will display register on the home screen once this is done.
- To make calls from the Iridium phone to land based or Mobile Phones:
- Dial ‘00’ or hold the zero key down until ‘+’ appears on the screen.
- Dial the country code (E.g., 61 for Australia.)
- Dial the area code without the ‘0’ (E.g. Victoria =‘3’).
- Then enter the phone number, E.g.: 00 61 3 9896 3000.
- Press 'OK' to initiate the call.
- If dialing a mobile, dial ‘00’ or hold the zero key down until ‘+’ appears on the screen:
- Dial the country code (E.g., 61 for Australia).
- DO NOT include the area code OR the ‘0’ at the beginning of the mobile number.
- E.g. 00 61 419 123 456.
- Press 'OK' to initiate the call.
5. To hang up, press the “Red Button”.
To receive calls:
- Extend the antenna and point it directly towards the sky
- Press the “Green Button” to answer the call
- To hang up, press the “Red Button”.
Making calls from mobiles or from another Iridium Phone
To make calls to an Iridium phone from land based or mobile phones within Australia:
- From your hand set dial 0011 followed by the satellite phone number e.g. 8816 123 45678
- If dialing from an international location replace 0011 with the local IDD access code
To make calls to this Iridium phone from another Iridium Phone:
- 1. From the Iridium handset dial 00 followed by the satellite phone number e.g. 8816 123 45678
Please note “00” can be replaced by the “+” symbol on some devices e.g. dialing +11 8816 123 45678 will work.
Enter voicemail number on 9555 or 9575
To enter the Voicemail number in the either an Iridium 9555/9575 please follow the below instructions
The satellite phone does not have to be logged onto the satellite network to follow this instruction.
- From the Main screen, press the left soft key labelled ‘Menu’.
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Voicemail’ is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Voicemail Settings’ is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- The ‘Number’ option will be highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- The Voicemail box number, +881662990000, should be already entered. If not, enter the number. Hold the zero key down to enter a + symbol (equivalent to 00) press the left soft key labelled ‘Save’
- Press the right soft key labelled ‘Back’ to return to the previous menu.
- Press the ‘Red’ key to exit to the Main menu
Setup call forwarding on Iridium 9555 or 9575
To setup call forwarding on either an Iridium 9555 or 9575 follow the below steps.
- From the Main screen, press the left soft key labelled ‘Menu’.
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Setup’ is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- ‘Call Options’ is highlighted in the next screen on the 9555, on the 9575 using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Call Options’ is highlighted. Press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’. These options are shown in the next menu and can be selected when highlighted, you will then have more options which can be selected when highlighted.
Here are those options:
- ‘Call Waiting’ may be selected as ‘On’ or ‘Off’.
- ‘Call Forwarding’ provides forwarding of calls to the Voicemail Box under these options.
- ‘All calls’. (Be wary if you select this option as all Voice calls and SMS calls will be forwarded to the Voicemail Box if you select this option.)
- ‘If Busy’
- ‘If No Answer’
- ‘If Unobtainable’
- ‘Call barring’ provides two options:
- ‘Bar Incoming calls’
- ‘Bar Outgoing calls’
Setup and access voicemail
To setup and access your personal Iridium voicemail mailbox please follow the below instructions.
You must be registered on the Iridium network to complete this process.
- From the Main screen, press the left soft key labelled ‘Menu’.
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until “Voicemail” is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- “Call Voicemail” will be highlighted press “Select”
- After a short pause you will hear the message "You have now accessed the Iridium messaging centre, please enter the number of the person you are trying to reach."
- Dial your own Iridium telephone number in the following format 881612345678 (You will hear the message "You have reached the voicemail of 881612345678”)
- Before the message ends, press “*” (asterisk) located on the bottom left hand corner of the keypad. You will hear the message "Please enter your password"
- New subscribers will enter the last seven digits of their Iridium telephone number as their default password 88161 [2345678] DO NOT PRESS OK AFTER ENTERING YOUR PASSWORD
You have now accessed your Iridium messaging service. By following the voice prompts, you can listen to your voicemail message, personalise your outgoing message, change your access password and customise many other advanced features.
To ensure full operation of your Iridium handset you should, record an outgoing message, change your access password to an easy to remember 4 digit number and record your name in the message preferences when prompted. Now your Iridium telephone is ready to receive voicemail messages.
To call an emergency number
To call an emergency number from your Iridium satellite phone within Australia please follow the below process.
When in Australia you can simply dial “000” followed by the green call button to call emergency services.
Make sure your satellite phone antenna is extended and pointing to the sky and you are registered on the Iridium network with good signal strength.
BLOCKED indicates wrong PIN number
"Blocked" indicates the PIN number has been entered incorrectly more than three times.
You will require the PUK1 code (an eight-digit number that is provided when you are notified of your account and SIM card details) to clear the ‘Blocked’ indication.
If you do not know or cannot remember the PUK code please call TR Telecom Customer Service on Phone: +61 1300 550 014
Instructions for Motorola 9500, Iridium 9505 and 9505A handsets
- When the phone is powered on, the screen displays, "Blocked", enter, * * 0 5 * (star,star,zero,five,star),
- Screen then displays, "Enter unblock code", DO NOT PRESS OK
- Enter the eight-digit PUK code. Press OK.
- Screen displays "Enter new PIN"; you can re-enter the original PIN or a new one, 4 to 7 digits. Press OK,
- Screen displays "Re-enter new PIN". Press OK.
- Phone says, "Completed", then "Searching". The phone has been successfully unblocked.
Instructions for Iridium 9555 or Iridium 9575 handsets
The 9555 – If the PIN number has been entered incorrectly three times the screen will display "Searching for network...PIN blocked".
The 9575 - If the PIN number has been entered incorrectly three times the screen will display "PIN Blocked".
- Enter * * 0 5 * (star,star,zero,five,star) then press the GREEN button.
- Screen displays, "Enter PUK".
- Enter the eight digit PUK code. Press the down arrow.
- Enter the new PIN (four to seven digits). Press the down arrow.
- Verify the new PIN. Press OK.
- Screen displays "PUK OK - unblocked".
- Phone then displays "Searching for network". The phone has been successfully unblocked.
Call TR Telecom Customer Service if you have difficulty. +61 1300 550 014
Check pre-paid SIM card call balance
There are two options for Iridium users to check their prepaid balance.
By calling
1. Dial 2888 from your Iridium satellite phone, this call is free.
2. The number of remaining minutes of calls and the number of days to account expiration will be announced (in English).
By SMS
1. On your Iridium phone, create a blank SMS and send it to 2888 (002888 or +2888 will work too). This is a FREE message.
2. The number of remaining minutes of calls and the number of days to account expiration will be sent to your Iridium phone as a text message (in English).
Also note remaining minutes are always announced before any call is connected.
Configure preferred prefix option
To configure the preferred prefix option on the Iridium 9555 or 9575 please follow the below steps
- From the Main screen, press the left soft key labelled ‘Menu’.
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Setup’ is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- Using the 2-way Navi-key scroll until ‘Number Entry’ is highlighted, press the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
- ‘Number Entry’ allows any number you dial to be prefixed or not.
‘Prefix with +’
‘Prefix with 00’
‘Do Not Prefix’ - You can choose one of the above options by using the 2-way Navi-key to scroll and highlight the preferred prefix method and pressing the left soft key labelled ‘Select’.
Entering the Iridium SMS Service Centre Number
Before a subscriber can send an SMS message from the Iridium system, the Iridium SMS service centre number must be stored on the SIM card. To store the Iridium Service Centre Number:
Iridium 9500/9505/9505a/9522 Handsets
- Press the Envelope Key on the handset
- Use the Scroll Key to select the ‘Message Settings’ option. Press OK
- Use the Scroll Key to select the ‘Service Centre’ option. Press OK
- Enter 00881662900005 or +881662900005. Press OK
- The phone will momentarily display “Completed”
Iridium 9555 Handsets
- Press the Menu Key on the handset
- Use the Scroll Key to select the "Messages" option. Press Select
- Use the Scroll Key to select the ‘Settings’ option. Press Select
- Use the Scroll Key to select the ‘Service Centre’ option. Press Select
- Enter 00881662900005 or +881662900005. Press OK