1. What is Thuraya? 2. What needs to be done when I receive my Thuraya phone? 3. How to make a call with the Thuraya phone? 4. How to recharge my Prepaid Account? 5. How to get recharge Scratch Card codes? 6. How to use the voice mail service? 7. I can’t make a call? 8. How to send text messages (SMS) to my Thuraya phone from the Web?
1. What is Thuraya? Thuraya is a regional mobile satellite system that provides satellite telephone services to 99 countries. Thuraya’s footprint includes the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, Central Asia, Northern and Central Africa, and Europe. It offers satellite and GSM cellular communications and even GPS position location services. Thuraya’s satellite is in geo-synchronous orbit, positioned 36,000 km above the earth at 44 degrees east above the equator. A spare ground satellite is available for launch as a replacement system and a third that could be used to expand system capacity. The primary Thuraya gateway is located in Sharjah, UAE, and acts as the operation center for the mobile satellite system. 2. What needs to be done when you receive your Thuraya phone?If you purchased your Thuraya phone from another source and have purchased your SIM card from Outfitter, you will need to insert the SIM card by removing the battery from the back of the phone and inserting the SIM. If you purchased your Thuraya phone and SIM card from Outfitter, your phone will come ready to use with SIM protection turned off.If you wish to turn SIM PIN protection on to prevent unauthorized use, you can change the PIN code using menu-6-4-1. The default PIN codes for your Outfitter SIM card are provided in the documentation that comes with your phone (see photocopy of SIM card). After turning on SIM PIN protection, the following screen will appear each time you power on your phone, requesting that you to enter the PIN code. Press OK to confirm this code. 3. How to make a call with the Thuraya phone?The phone can be switched on by holding the red end key for 2 seconds. The main menu is now displayed. The Thuraya system uses your GPS location for billing purposes. Therefore, you will have to have a valid GPS position stored in your phone before making calls. To do this, go to menu 8 GPS Manager and select "Current position" at which point "Acquiring" will be displayed, followed by current position. This process can take up to several minutes after which you SAVE this position. Go back to menu 5 System Pref and select "SAT only". Then go to menu 4 Network and select "SAT registration" at which point "Requesting" will be displayed. After the Thuraya phone registers successfully with the Thuraya network, you are ready to make a call. 4. How to recharge my Prepaid Account?Outfitter attempts to notify our Thuraya customers by email when their prepaid SIM validity is coming to an end or their prepaid account balance becomes low. You can check your own account balance by using short code 151 and you can recharge your account using short code 150. When you dial short code 150, a friendly voice will guide you through all the options. You will be asked to enter a recharge Scratch Card code, and you will receive a recharge confirmation, followed by your credit status. There is no charge for the call. 5. How to get recharge Scratch Card codes?Outfitter Satellite will provide you with recharge Scratch Card codes in 39 unit, 80 unit and 160 unit denominations, which can be purchased by phone, fax, email, or online using a secure web site. If purchasing Scratch Cards codes by phone, dial 615-889-8833. If purchasing by email, send a request to the following address: Recharge@OutfitterSatellite.com. To purchase online go to our Secure Online Prepaid Recharge Form. 6. How to use the voice mail service?The Voice Mail Service (VMS) from Thuraya works like an answering machine and stores messages when you have your phone switched off or the line is busy. The symbol shown to the right indicates that a message is stored in your voice mailbox. (Note: some service providers do not support the symbol indicator). You can listen to it by dialing the short code 1,2,3. Alternately, select Menu then Messages and then Listen Voicemail or press the symbol below for two seconds. 7. I can’t make a call?When making and receiving calls with the Thuraya satellite phone, sometimes no connection can be established and therefore no calls can be made. This problem is caused by poor signal from the Thuraya satellite or the fact that you are in a bad position such as between or inside buildings, in heavily wooded areas. Doing one of the following two actions often can solve these problems: » Sat registration - The Thuraya Satellite telephone has an automatic mode for registering with the satellite when switching the telephone on. When no registration is made (the little satellite in the top right corner of the display keeps blinking or the displayed service area is wrong), you can try this again manually by going into the option Network and then SAT Registration. » Acquiring your GPS - When the manual SAT Registration does not resolve the problem, you should try to acquire the position again (see above). 8. How to send text messages (SMS) to my Thuraya phone from the Web? Thuraya supports 160 character SMS messaging. If you have web access and know the Thuraya phone's mobile number, you can use Outfitter Satellite's SMS Messaging Center to send an SMS. Some Thuraya phones have GSM capability, e.g. the HNS-7101 or SG-2520. If you are in GSM-mode, sending or receiving SMS messages can be at different rates than when in Thuraya satellite mode, depending on the policies of the GSM regional operator being used.
