There will be a number of features that would be installed into the phone network. All of these features will be included no matter the technology used to deliver the service. Some features will not support rotary dial phones. For best results, one should strive for Cellular and SIP as soon as possible.
All of these features will be available to both cellular, and SIP customers (unless otherwise noted). When a feature can be managed through the online portal, it can also be managed through an app that can be installed on Android, iOS, or Kal-OS devices. The feaatures are as follows
3 Way Calling
3 Way calling is when you are talking to 2 people at the same time. Those 2 people + the person initiating the call is how 3 way calling is figured out. If the intitiating caller terminate the call, both lines are dropped. However, if a person you are speaking with drops their call, the customer and the remaining person will still be on the line.
ACR
ACR (Anonymous Caller Rejection) is when the recipient rejects any call that does not disclose their telephone number. Such calls will go straight to voicemail. The caller will then either hang up, or leave a message. Even though the caller made the call anonymous, Ka-Tel will still have records, and the caller’s telephone number. Therefore harassing or threatening calls can still be reported.
Anonymous Calling
Anonymous calling is when the caller wishes to not display their name and number to the party they are calling. They can either set this feature as permanently on, and therefore prepend a telephone number with *68 if they want to show their number. They can also have it default to off, and use *67 to prepend to the number they are calling to block their number. Keep in mind that many people might have ACR on, and if so – anonymous callers will automatically go to voicemail.
Calling the government will automatically unblock your number even if you have anonymous calling turned on. Since all government numbers begin with 1, the caller will know that their number will be displayed to the party they are calling when calling such numbers.
Blacklist
Blacklist is a Ka-Tel feature that can be setup and managed through the portal. Essentially, one would add a number to the blacklist whether it is a domestic or international telephone number. Any time the blacklisted call will call the subscriber, they will go straight to voicemail. Since the first 11 digits of a telephone number is the same as the NIN which the subscriber having options for the last number based on their needs, the person that wishes to blacklist a person can enter their NINx for the number. This will block all numbers from that NIN, and therefore assure that the harassing call can not ring you from any of their lines.
Call Forwarding
As the name implies, any calls to the number will forward to another number. This may not make much sense as you are still paying full price for the service, but someone that wants to have multiple numbers may see a benefit to this.
Call Rules
This feature will be especially useful when the subscriber has multiple numbers. Let’s say the subscriber has a number for family, another one for his business, and a phone number for anyone else. Well, they could set that when an unknown (not anonymous) caller calls, they will ring to one number. If a family member calls, it could ring to another number (or even all numbers). Business callers will ring to a third number, and so on. Calling rules is based on “groups” to define what phone number to ring to. Unified voicemail still applies to this feature, but it would be useful in segregating callers without having to give out multiple telephone numbers. Also, time restrictions can be put in place. A business call may only ring the business line from 9AM-5PM. After hours, the caller will go to voicemail.
Call Waiting
When a caller is on the call, they will hear a tone when someone is trying to call them. The recipient can choose to put their current call on hold, and answer that call. If they choose to not answer the second incoming call, then the caller will go to voicemail. This feature can be turned on and off through the app, or the control panel.
Caller ID
Assuming the caller does not block their number, when recipient receive a call, the name, and number of the account holder will show up. This information is dependent on what name is used when setting up the number with Ka-Tel. Therefore, one would never see Wireless Caller as the caller. Keep in mind, scammers will likely spoof their numbers. Ka-Tel will make features in place that would limit this, but nothing is guaranteed. Caller requires an CID display to show the name and telephone number of the caller. Cellular phones, and most cordless phones in the past 20 years will likely have a CID display.
Data Only Device
Tablet, cellular routers, and other similar devices will be allowed to be included into the account. The rates are based off of Internet rates rather than cellular rates. One could tether their phone to act as a cellular modem, but this might not make sense for regular use. This is because turning your phone into a hotspot drains the battery. Therefore data only devices makes the most sense.
Since there has to be a “telephone” number for accounting reasons, all data only devices will receive a number starting with 0. This is because no Kaldan telephone number will begin with 0. Even government numbers will start with 1.
Messaging Only Account
Someone who might be deaf or mute will not be able to use the voice feature of their phone. And a data only plan will not work as well since numbers from data only plans are not valid phone numbers. A subscriber that can not hear will be able to turn Hearing Impairment on. Outgoing calls are turned off, and calling the number will get a message to contact the subscriber via RCS/SMS. This will assure that the subscriber can have their service without worrying about how to deal with incoming calls. As with any other subscriber that can hear, they will be given a standard telephone number that is not segregated in the reserved numbers. All government entities must support RCS/SMS services for this exact reason.
International Calling
Prepending the number with 00, 011 will be needed to call any telephone number that is not 15 digits. The number is to inform the system that you wish to make an international call. The reason this is not needed for 15 digit telephone numbers is 15 digits is the longest a telephone number can be. A Kaldan citizen can effectively call the full telephone number as a contact for another Kaldan number without the need to enter the International Calling Code.
International Roaming
Ka-Tel will work with other carriers in other countries to make it easier for you as the phone subscriber to make and receive calls on their Kaldan number – albeit for a premium. To keep costs down, Wifi Calling is always free even in other countries.
Number Lock
There are 2 reasons why someone may need a number lock. The first is if a bad actor wants to port your number out to another carrier. The second is to stay with the carrier, but port the number to a different IMEI number. Both of these could be useful for the subscriber, but also the same usefulness may make it easier for a bad actor to get a phone number. Let’s address these issues.
First, there is only one carrier in Kaldus. There is no AT&T, T-Mobile, nor Verizon. There will be only Ka-Tel. Taking the number, and switching it to another carrier is simply not possible. This makes things simple for number protection. Since all telephone numbers are based off of the NIN, another person can not simply get another person’s number. If Frank’s NIN is 52022554377, and Joe’s NIN is 87248852442, then Joe can not acquire any Kaldan number beginning with 52022554377, and can only modify 87248852442x telephone numbers. All of this is done to prevent irreconcilable damage to one’s life. The best they can do is set up call forwarding, but there is no RCS/SMS forwarding.
The second option is possible, but includes a lot of inconveniences on the initiator’s end. These precautions are intended to prevent IMEI switching. If the subscriber selected an authenticator app as their 2FA, then when a bad actor tries to break in (assuming they know the UID and password), they will be required to provide the 6 digit code that the subscriber will never give to anyone. If the authenticator app is not used as an 2FA, then an email code will be sent. This means the bad actor now needs to know the login credentials of the account, and the subscriber must not have the authenticator app turned on. If the subscriber lost their device, they can request an email code by providing their 6-8 digit PIN. Only by then can they get an email 2FA. Once that is all done, they must then go to the Telephone Tab, and select which phone number they wish to switch the IMEI. They then must provide the IMEI, and wait 30 minutes. During this time, the subscriber will receive an RCS/SMS message informing that a IMEI Transfer for “phone number” has been initiated. If they didn’t do this, they must call 611 to report possible hacking. This will be assuming that the subscriber does not have number locking turned on. If number locking is on, then an RCS message will be sent to the telephone number requiring the owner’s intervention to turn off number locking.
RCS
Ka-Tel will support RCS for both Android, iPhones and Kal-OS phones. RCS is more versatile, and SMS/MMS is considered as legacy technology, and is still supported for basic or KaiOS phones which do not support RCS. Ka-Tel will promote the use of a smartphone within the country, and with that said, basic phones will not be marketed or sold by Ka-Tel. If the subscriber wishes to have a basic phone, then they must buy online. RCS does not support landlines.
SIP Address
All phones, even cellular phones will have their own SIP address. The address will be simple and to the point. SIP calling is free to anyone in the world with a supported SIP provider. The SIP address will always be sip:telephone-number@tel.ka.
SIP Broker Calling
When dialing 111, the subscriber will be able to dial any SIP broker number, and have a very similar effect to SIP calling as noted above. In addition, Ka-Tel will work with SIP Broker to acquire the *883 access code which will make the number look more like the international standard number.
Smartwatch Support
For those with a cellular capable smart watch can assign one watch per cellular phone line. Personally, I don’t see the value in a cellular capable smart watch, but it is what the kids likes these days. Smartwatch will just be an option that would work once activated by the subscriber.
SMS 411
One can send an RCS/SMS message to 411 to get telephone number lookup for an entity based on the name and city of the person. If the city is not known, then the name can be provided, however – many more results will show, and the subscriber will have more work to do. SMS 411 does not support landlines. One could call 411, but the call will cost $2.50, or $5.00 for a live operator. The subscriber will get a unique message for all possible options of the query they asked for. This will allow a more consistent look and feel whether the replies are to an RCS device, or an SMS device.
Speed Dial
Not functional on cellular and rotary phones, but the idea is that the subscriber will be able to set unto 100 entries for speed dial. Instead of dialing the full telephone number, they will simply dial the recipient’s *75xx code. For example, MOM might be *7500 and DAD is *7501. Once they setup, they can dial *75xx from their phone to ring the entity they wished to talk to. This will include either telephone numbers, or SIP addresses.
Unified Voicemail
Every subscriber will have 1 voicemail account. This does not matter how many telephone numbers they have. All telephone numbers will use the one voicemail. If a second voicemail is required, it will likely be for commercial use, and therefore the subscriber will get a business license with an NIN for that business entity. They can then receive a second account in representation of the business. The maximum for voicemail is 2½ minutes per message, and a maximum of 25 messages. If a new message comes in after the 25th message, then the oldest message will be deleted to fulfill that message. Therefore, it is recommended that one keep their voicemail service clear for new messages.
If the customer does not pay for phone service, they will be able to receive free voicemail services. When the account owner calls from another phone, they will press * during the announcement, enter their PIN, and from there, they can access their voicemail features and services.
Visual Voicemail
Visual voicemail will allow you to see the individual voicemail entries, including the name or number of the person leaving the voicemail. The subscriber can choose to listen to their voicemail without having to call the voicemail line in, and enter credentials. This feature is only available on cellular smartphones.
Voicemail – Email
One could receive a transcription of a voicemail left for the subscriber. They will also receive an .mp3 file with the voicemail. This could allow them to check their voicemail without actually logging into their voicemail account. As mentioned with Unified Voicemail, there is a limit of 25 messages, and the oldest message will drop off if a new message comes in. With that in mind, it might make sense to keep your voicemail box clean.
VOLTE
VOLTE is Voice Over LTE. This is the standard of calling providing a stronger, and clearer voice call without using the old network. Since Ka-Tel will be shutting down any 3G networks, this is a requirement for new devices as they will have to support VOLTE, and can support 4G or 5G data.
Wifi Calling
Wifi calling is to use a Wifi network to make and receive calls. This avoids the cellular network entirely with such calls. You would also be using the Wifi network for data services. Wifi Calling is always free even if you are calling from outside of Kaldus. Again, you are using the locations Wifi network, and not the cellular towers.