Features and services

MessageBank Plus enables Visual Voicemail on the iPhone (iOS 4.3 or greater) to provide you with a new user-friendly, visual interface that simplifies the management of your voice messages.

Key benefits of this new service are:

• Voicemail messages presented in a list with a header similar to an e-mail set up - simple, efficient and intuitive
• Voicemails delivered directly to your mobile so you can listen to them without having to dial 101
• The message header contains the caller ID so you can see at a glance who called (unless the caller's number is withheld)
• Prioritise the most important messages - no need to listen through messages to get to the ones you need. Simply tap on the message you want and listen to it immediately
• No additional costs to listen to your voicemails.

MessageBank Plus subscription fee is $5 per month.

To activate MessageBank Plus on your iPhone (iOS 4.3 or greater), call 13 22 00

Note: Voicemail messages on the MessageBank platform are treated as read messages and will be deleted after seven days and will not be accessible by calling 101 after this time. Voicemail messages delivered to Visual Voicemail on your iPhone will remain on the device until you delete them.

Things you need to know

MessageBank Plus replaces any other voice mail or messaging service you may have. Eg. you cannot have Voice2Text or MessageBank Standard as well as MessageBank Plus at the same time.

Where a voice message is processed using MessageBank Plus you will receive a sound file on the Visual Voicemail application in place of the SMS notification.

We are not responsible for the content of any voice mail messages you receive from another person.  We do not censor or filter messages that pass through the system and we simply supply a technical service enabling voice messages to be accessed via the Visual Voicemail application

Free MessageBank Plus on eligible Mobile plans

Standard MessageBank charges apply (if applicable) for the diversion to your MessageBank Plus Service and retrieval of calls from your MessageBank (if you choose to call 101).

Data must be enabled to receive voice messages on the Visual Voicemail application.

Within Australia data usage associated with MessageBank Plus is not rated so no charges apply and it does not count towards your monthly usage.  However, standard data charges apply when International Roaming for the delivery of messages and communication between the application on your handset and MessageBank platform.

Standard Carrier rates apply if retrieving messages from a phone other than the nominated service. If you are using MessageBank® Roaming while you are overseas, MessageBank® Roaming rates will apply.

Apple is a registered trade mark of Apple, Inc in the US and other countries. iPhone and iTunes are trade marks of Apple, Inc.

With Message2txt, callers who can't get through to you can leave a 10-second message that is converted to text and sent to you as an SMS. Message2txt is enabled when you don't have a messaging service (such as MessageBank) and your mobile phone is switched off, out of range, busy or unanswered. 

If the caller leaves a message, you will receive a free SMS with the caller's message and mobile number, unless their number is withheld. Press the call button to return the call. You can also reply to the caller's SMS.

Call 13 2200 to turn off Message2txt.

Pricing

There is no charge to you to receive the SMS if the caller leaves a message. The caller will be charged standard call rates. Standard SMS or call rates apply if you reply to the SMS or call back.

Things you need to know

The Message2txt service will do its best to convert the caller's message accurately into a text message, but the conversion may not be totally accurate if the caller's voice or words are unclear.

We may use a third party to assist in the translation of a voice message. The text message should take about 3.5 minutes to arrive after the caller leaves the voice message, but in some instances may take up to 20 minutes.

The caller's voice message isn’t stored and is unable to be retrieved.

Sending messages overseas As a Telstra mobile customer, you can send texts, picture and video messages (MMS) to friends and family overseas on selected international phone companies' networks and also receive messages from them. 

You can also send a picture or video message to any email address worldwide.

If you can send within Australia then you can send overseas. Just make sure your friends and family have MMS working on their phone and that their carrier and country are participating.

International picture and video messages have a size limit of 300 kilobytes per message. If you try to send a larger message it may not be delivered. If the recipient isn't with a participating carrier, they may receive a text message directing them to a website to view your MMS.

Pricing

The cost of a 160-character text message originating in Australia and sent to an international number is 50c (incl GST). All international picture and video messages (MMS) are charged at a flat rate of 75c (incl GST) per message, per recipient.

If you're travelling overseas and want to send and receive pictures and videos, please see details on International Roaming. If you're set-up to make international calls while overseas you can still send to friends and family in Australia and to overseas destinations if their carrier and country are participating.

Premium SMS (PSMS) services are information and entertainment services such as casting a vote on TV shows or entering TV competitions.  Premium SMS is a payment option that lets you receive content and services offered by companies other than Telstra, on your mobile phone or tablet. You agree to pay for it by sending to a number starting with ‘19’.

Even though the charges appear on your Telstra mobile bill, we have no control over the cost; your agreement is with the third party content provider. That's why we recommend that when you buy content by texting a 19 number you keep a few things in mind:

Do you understand how much you'll be charged?

We don't set prices of content provided by third parties for Premium SMS. Usually they are charged at a higher rate than a standard SMS.

Do you know how you'll be asked to pay?

If you see additional charges on your Post-Paid bill (under Third Party/Separate Purchases) or money debited from your Pre-Paid Extra or Recharge Credit, it is because we pay the content provider on your behalf then recover the cost on your account.

Reasons you may not receive the service you signed up for

Premium SMS charges aren't included in the 'Free Text' programs on a Pre-Paid service so if you don't have enough credit, you won’t get the content. For Post-Paid, Premium SMS is not included in discounts or within your allowance.

Barring Premium SMS

Barring Premium SMS services on your mobile means you won’t be able to receive, be charged for or use these services. There’s no charge to activate barring and it won’t restrict your access to other services. To arrange barring for existing customers or if you’d like information about other options (like setting spending limits), call us on 13 2200 and say “premium SMS” or go to online webform. Please allow up to one business day for Premium SMS barring to be activated.

Limiting Premium SMS

You can cap the amount you spend on Premium SMS. The standard spend limit for Premium SMS is $100 per month for Post-Paid customers and $500 for Pre-Paid customers, but you may also qualify to have other limits applied.

To request a change to your spend limit or make a complaint about Premium SMS charges, contact:

• Telstra Post-Paid – call 13 2200 and say "Premium SMS".
• Telstra Pre-Paid – call 125 8880

Got more questions about Premium SMS?

19SMS.com.au is a free online guide to how to use Premium SMS.

Available to post-paid customers only at no extra cost.
Mobile protect is designed to help protect your children when they’re using their mobile devices, and lets you restrict usage on their pre-paid and post-paid mobiles and tablets.

Telstra Mobile Protect lets you ensure the content your loved ones view on websites is family-friendly with web-blocking features, keep an eye on their social networking and protect them from th dangers of un-wanted calls and SMS messages. 

With Telstra Mobile Protect, you can:

• Apply internet filters and block nominated websites
• Restrict call and SMS activity
• Set time restrictions
• Receive reports on which websites are being accessed

How to get Telstra Mobile Protect

To get started, log into My Account with your username and password. If you aren’t registered for My Account, you can sign up here.

1. Once you’re in, select the mobile service you want to apply Telstra Mobile Protect to, then press the manage button for Telstra Mobile Protect under the features section to enter the setup process.
2. Within the setup process you’ll be able to create your phone and internet restrictions. Once Telstra Mobile Protect has been successfully applied to the mobile service we’ll send it an SMS. This can take up to 10 minutes.
3. You’ll need the user’s consent to apply Telstra Mobile Protect to a Telstra mobile service (including Pre-Paid) that isn’t on your account. Press the ‘Import service’ button at the bottom of the Telstra Mobile Protect dashboard and follow the on-screen instructions. We’ll send an SMS or an email (if the device isn’t capable of receiving an SMS and an email address has been provided by you) to the user of that device. The user must accept the request by reply SMS or via the authentication link provided in our email for the consent to be accepted. Email access needs to be via the Telstra Mobile network and not via a Wi-Fi connection for the embedded acceptance link to work.