|
| Archives for mtuparent-L (discussion list) Subject: Phones in the Dorms Wed, 13 Aug 2003 Have to say so far we have had no connectivity problems with my son's cell phone, and due to problems with financial aid etc. my son I have been in constant communication this past week. However I also agree the phone cards are wonderful alternative. The cell phone was my idea as a way to be able to communicate with my son whenever I needed. That is the only draw back to the phone cards. In other words they are a one way street item. Plus since I wanted it I am paying for it. The rest, charging the battery etc is his problem. P.H. _______ Hi! C. J. _______ My son was a freshman in the dorm last year at MTU and we brought an extra telephone from home. S. L. _______ Hi! We just sent an extra phone from home, worked fine. T. E. _______ Thanks! We'll do the same. C. J. _______ Thu, 14 Aug 2003 hi. the kids rent the phone service, but have to have their own phones. our daughter spent this summer there at mach-1. let me know any other questions you have--I'll try and answer them. M. O. _______ Sun, 17 Aug 2003 My son got a cordless as one of his HS graduation presents. All his friends in McNair were borrowing it to talk as they roamed around to other rooms, doing laundry,even the dining hall! He's a grad student off campus now so I don't know if that's changed. R. C. _______ Tue, 27 Aug 2002 I also had the same problem last year with my sons dorm phone at DHH. They had a terrible time with the message service. A. R. _______ dkwalika@mtu.edu FYI, I did pass on the e-mail to Jim Cross, head of IT, who maintain our phones here. _______ We went to the office where you had to sign up for long distance and voice mail; however, my son has e-mailed the phone service to get help with voice mail. We have a cell phone for him which is really nice! R. J. _______ I agree. The cell phones are the way to go. No haggling with roommates over charges etc. Plus the kids can be reached anytime, anywhere. So long as they have it turned on. LOL P. H. _______ Wed, 28 Aug 2002 Yup, cell phones will do the trick as long as they remember to pay their bill (or you have a 6-month prepaid service) and remember to charge the battery. I found another way last year and bought a 600 minutes phone card for my son. That has worked great, no batteries to charge, no bills to pay and it fits in a wallet. To my surprise he still have about 200 minutes left, although he asked me if I would give him another 600 minute card for x-mas. A good testimonial from the user end! BTW, we had no problems with his phone in the dorm last year or this year (although the recorded message on their answering machine leaves something to be desired)! R. _______ i agree with the phone card idea. particularly if you or someone you know has a Sam's Club membership. You can get up to a 1000 min card and it's 3.47 cents a minute any time and can be refreshed/reloaded by phone. It is a few numbers to dial but even pay phones take them (with a 9 minute charge) D.D. _______ Food for thought - - -The problems in the dorm are small, and bothersome but can be worked out. As your son or daughters move on to off campus living the problems become even more unique. Did you know there is a rule in Michigan from the phone companies called "house rule". When moving into a house - make sure the tenants before you left with bills all paid up or your child will not get a phone until it is paid up. (that means usually you resort to paying someone else's bill) It is all legal and many phone calls later and months later our son finally got a phone. C. W. _______ Get them a cell phone before you pay someone else bill H.T. _______ I sure agree about the cell phones. My son hasn't tried to use the voice mail provided in his dorm room. We bought him a cordless phone with an answering machine to use there. We also got him a cell phone, but it can be nearly useless in the U.P.! Sometimes we can't get through even in Houghton. I have never heard of paying off someone else's bill before you can get service. If this is actually legal, then we all need to contact our state senator's and reps and get that changed. F. _______ For $25 you can buy a cordless phone. I try to e-mail or call my son and he has calling cards and a cell phone. I guess we are covered. I would like his voice mail to work, though, in case I need to leave messages! R. J. _______ Truthfully, probably the best thing I have done is install AOL Instant Messenger as a means of communicating with both my sons--one at Tech and one at Purdue. The three of us can even have a nice chat together. And whenever they are on-line I can contact them and talk. F. _______ Yup, I sure subscribe to that! My son and I are in "IM" contact 2-3 times a week! Sometimes just chatting, other times more serious subjects. I can see when he is on the web and vice versa and either one of us can initiate the contact. (In fact, I can see that both he and his mother are on the web at this time!) It work like a charm and is totally free. R. |
Join ParentNET's discussion list!That's all there is to it! |