I just purchased a new Passport US SIM and would also love to see and email to SMS gateway for this service!

As for the new SIM, things have been fairly smooth! As was mentioned, the pre-programmed shortcodes don't work on the US side, so one must dial them manually. Also, GPRS only works on the UK side, but this isn't really a big deal! I do love the whole dual IMSI idea though. Keep up the good work!

Yes, Email, please!
 

I don't think anyone on this forum would object if ekit had a means of people sending email for inbound SMS. I know I would not object.

If we bring email in the loop, I for one would really appreciate pass-through Blackberry data capabilities (access to blackberry.net APN).

Makavel:

You are correct that the pre-programed Easy Dial numbers (like checking your balance) do not work when the phone is in U.S. mode. So you just dial 187 or 191 and send it and it works fine. You do not need the *126* prefix dialing code. In fact when the phone is in U.S.mode here in the U.S. the call back system is not needed. Calls just go straight through. So I assume the *126* with easy codes is used to trigger a call back when you are in Global mode.

Did you also notice the feature to warn you if you are in the wrong calling mode? If you are in the U.S. and turn on the phone in "Global" mode, and then make a call, you get a warning and the call is temporarily blocked. This prevents you from inadvertently making a more expensive call.

FBlack_111:

When I first noticed that the pre-programmed shortcodes didn't work and dialed manually, I did notice that it went directly through rather than waiting for a callback, but until you said something, that totally didn't register as something special. It really is interesting that the calls are directly connected when you dial the shortcodes in the US mode.

As for the blocking of calls in the wrong mode, I actually hadn't noticed that feature! I was very aware of which mode I was in so I hadn't tried to make those calls out of fear of being charged like $3 for the call hehe. That's a great feature to have though, specifically to avoid those situations! I did notice that if you try to call the phone on the US number when it's in global mode, it won't ring at all (presumably to save you from paying tons to receive the call). I'm not sure if the same thing happens when you're in the US in global mode and you try to call the UK number because I didn't test it, but it seems like this would also go straight to voicemail to avoid an expensive call.

Makavel:

One thing I like is that in the U.S. the phone tells you if you are in U.S. mode or global mode.

I learned the hard way that calls dialed from the U.S. when in U.S. mode don't use a call back. As a test of the SIM, I called a +44 contact number from my phone. It happened to be American Airlines in England. I figured I would have time to cancel as the call back system asks for "accept" or "reject". Much to my surprise, some one answered in the UK and I was charged 84 cents.

Wow! An employer that reimburses for business calls! Where do I sign up?

Kupe...who spends two weeks per month in Europe for his employer and gets zero reimbursement (which is why I'm always scoping here for the best deals! ;) )

Hey gang-

Got my eKit SIM from Telestial today. Trying it out here in the US and seems to work great!

Quick Voicemail question for eKit...Does anyone know if you can access Voicemail remotely? i.e. call your US or UK eKit number from another number and listen to Voicemail remotely?

Thanks!

Kupe

Haha yikes! Thanks for the heads-up. I've been wanting to try a test call, but now that I know it'll go through without callback, I won't be doing that! That's a pretty nice feature if you do plan on making a call while in the US though.

Does it work the same way in Canada? (e.g. straight through dialing?) The amazing thing with Canada is that the eKit is cheaper to receive a call out of your local region than it is with most Canadian plans. Nationwide plans are through the roof. I'm about sold. Are they still giving you any discount for an old United Mobile or 09 sim?