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AT&T Finally Gets On Board

MobileMaiden — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:07:23 +0000

photo credit: AT&T’s LG Thrive Pre-Paid Droid

AT&T is the last of the cell phone service providers to offer a Droid Smartphone in their pre-paid lineup. Beginning April 17th, AT&T is offering the LG Thrive for $180. The Thrive is a mid-range Droid, running on the Android OS 2.2 (Froyo). It only has a 3.2 megapixel camera and 160 MB of memory, although it can be expanded to 32 GB with a MicroSD card. The customers will have to pay pretty dearly for using this phone however. Customers can choose the “Smartphone 10 cents per minute” plan or “Smartphone $2 USD per day for unlimited talk and text” plan. Their choices for data plans range from $5 for 10 MB to $25 for 500 MB. There is no contract, which is probably a good thing since customers may dump AT&T once they find out how poor the service coverage areas are.

AT&T Finally Gets On Board

Verizon has a whole bevy of Droid pre-paid Smartphones available. They include the Motorola Original Droid, Motorola DEVOUR, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Eris, HTC Droid Incredible, LG Ally, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Storm 9550, BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Bold 9650, Palm Pre Plys, and Palm Pixi. Rumor has it that Verizon’s unlimited talk, text AND data plan will run about $80 per month. And Verizon certainly has better service coverage than AT&T. Of course this is just a rumor so far.

US Cellular is also in the game with the LG Optimus U and the LG Apex as their prepaid Android phones. The Optimus U features a 3.2mp camera, Android OS 2.2, 3.2″ display, and 140 MB of storage. The LG Apex runs on Android 2.1, features a 3mp camera, 3.2″ screen, and has 256 MB or Storage. The Prepaid Plans include: $70-Unlimited Talk & Text with 2GB of data, $60-450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data, $50-Unlimited Talk & Text, $50-2GB of data.

Sprint’s BoostMobile offers Droid and BlackBerry Smartphones. With the best deal in town, they offer a plan with unlimited talk, text and data for as little as $45 per month once you have paid your bill on time for 6 months. With $18 months of payments on time, your plan drops to $35 per month.

AT&T’s announcement of offering Droid Smartphones on a pre-paid plan just isn’t all that exciting. But they have to do something to stay in the game. They are losing customers and not signing up new ones. If they are able to buy T-Mobile, it may breathe some life into the company, but for now, they come in last on my list.

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Tiny lightRadio Cube Could Be a Cell Tower that Fits in Your Hands

MobileMaiden — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:35:57 +0000

photo credit: Cell Tower Fits in Your Hand

Mobile data usage grows almost exponentially. With more and more Smartphone usage, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile technology in general, how to handle growing mobile data usage is the focus of wireless companies. Wireless companies are spending billions each year to maximize capacity. As their research and development costs grow, so do our cell phones bills. Costly cell phone towers being built at alarming numbers not only push our wireless bills up, but are unsightly as well. A tiny little device the size of a Rubik’s cube is being developed by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) that may be the answer to both cost and more cell phone towers.

Tiny lightRadio Cube Could Be a Cell Tower that Fits in Your Hands

lightRadio cube technology was introduced in February 2011. It takes all the parts of a cell tower and reduces it down to a 2.3 inch cube. It is easy to maintain, holds a lot of data and takes a small portion of energy unlike cell phone towers which are expensive to maintain, large and ugly, and inefficient in their use of energy. According to an article written by David Goldman, CNNMoney.com, the global wireless industry is spending over $210 billion per year to operate their networks and over $50 billion per year to keep upgrading these systems to keep up with the growing demands of mobile data usage. Mobile data usage is expected to grow 30 times in the next four to five years and 500 times in the next ten years, according to Alcatel-Lucent. The lightRadio cube could be effective in reducing costs and providing more data capacity.

With a combination of miniaturization and cloud technology, lightRadio cubes are more efficient. According to Goldman’s article, “Alcatel-Lucent’s engineers stripped out all the heavy power equipment that controls modern cell towers, and moved them to centralized stations.” This allows the lightRadio cubes to be placed just about anywhere. The can be attached to the top of bus station awnings, the sides of buildings or even on lamp posts. They are small and inconspicuous. Instead of those unsightly cell towers, these little cubes contain multi-generational antennas that can relay 2G, 3G and 4G network signals all from the same cube. It also reduces signal interference, as well as doubles the number of bits able to be sent. But probably the best news is that it will help cut the cost of service in half.

“We need to think differently about this, because no one wants limits,” said Tod Sizer, head of wireless research at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Laboratories. “We hope to solve this problem so that the AT&Ts, Verizons and Sprints of the world will be able to provide the data capacity that is needed by the customer.”

lightRadio cubes are set to begin trial usage in September 2011. ALU expects to be mass producing them by 2012. Sprint Nextel is plans to start using the technology later this year.

“Sprint is talking to Alcatel Lucent about this technology and we will be working with them to test and evaluate it,” a Sprint spokeswoman said. “We have been aggressive in smaller factor cell sites to help us support the growth in data traffic.”

Size does matter. The wireless companies are finding that not only are cell phone towers expensive to build and maintain, but they are exhausting room to build these monstrosities as well. According to Goldman’s article, “Each 1.5-Watt lightRadio cube powers about a two-block radius, so in urban areas, they can be deployed throughout the city and stacked like Lego blocks in stadiums or other areas that need extra capacity. In rural areas, they can be deployed atop existing cell towers in arrays.”

Are you as excited as I am about this innovation? It would be nice to actually tear down a lot of the obsolete towers. They are unsightly and not all that efficient. I remember when Nextel created cell phone tower sheaths, coverings that disguised the tower to look like a native grown tree. It was some improvement in aesthetics, but not by much. They were actually pretty funny looking trees. Having little cubes instead is much better.

Verizon Loses Case to US Government

MobileMaiden — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:12:30 +0000

photo credit: Verizon to Pay $93.5 M

Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $93.5 Million to the US government. According to an article written by Brad Reed, ITWorldCanada, the original complaint was filed against Verizon in 2007. MCI (starting in 1999) began overcharging the government by “submitting invoices for payment to the United States for certain surcharges … that it is prohibited from charging the United States under Federal Acquisition Regulations … and the FTS 2001 contract.” Since Verizon and MCI merged in 2006, the courts found Verizon liable for MCI’s actions.

Verizon Loses Case to US Government

“Verizon was not only charging the government for the costs associated with communication services, but it also was pumping up its revenues by charging the government for Verizon’s own property taxes and other costs of doing business,” said attorney Colette Matzzie of the law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP, which filed the original complaint against Verizon. “Under federal law, Verizon was responsible for paying those costs, not the government.”

This is the 2nd time in less than a year that Verizon has agreed to pay millions for overcharging. Last fall, Verizon had to pay the Federal Communications Commission $25 million for charging its customers with unexpected “mystery fees.” Apparently Verizon was charging customers fees for data plans when they didn’t have data plans. Verizon had to pay $52.8 million to consumers for overcharging them.

Nearly 1 in 5 US cell phone subscribers had their cell phone bill rise unexpectedly. According to a survey done last year by the FCC, conducted by research firms Abt/SRBI and Princeton Survey Research Associates, 17% of US cell phone users had an unexplained rise in their bills even though they hadn’t changed service plans. The survey didn’t single out any particular cell phone service provider.

Do you watch your cell phone bill closely or just pay it automatically? Apparently Verizon was counting on your inattention. I for one, will be watching very closely now. Verizon is already one of the most expensive carriers out there. Unfortunately for me, Verizon has the best coverage in my area. AT&T and Sprint really fall short in my rural area. But I will be watching the bills for any sudden increase.

Texting, Not Phone Calls Better During Disasters

MobileMaiden — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:21:59 +0000

photo credit: Texting During Disasters

Phone call restrictions in Japan leave more people texting. After the earthquake in Japan earlier this month, cell phone providers as well as landline phone service was restricted or at best, heavily congested. Many found the only way to reassure friends and family was through texting. CNET reported that in addition to texting, people were using “social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Mixi” to stay in touch. The phone carriers were “limiting voice calls on congested networks, with NTT DoCoMo restricting up to 80 percent of voice calls, especially in Tokyo and in northeast Japan, where 30-foot tsunami waves caused extensive damage.” Even after restrictions were relaxed, coverage was spotty. For many, texting was the answer.

Texting, Not Phone Calls Better During Disasters

Social media networks helped keep communications open. The most noted were Twitter, Facebook, and Mixi. Here in the States, we are very familiar with Twitter and Facebook. Mixi is the social network most popular in Japan. While phone lines were restricted, the social media via Internet as well as through mobile phones provided viable solutions. Posting status on Facebook kept families informed about their loved ones. Twitter also played a big role. All in all, communication streams seemed to stay open fairly well.

Twitter was one of the best ways to stay in touch. At one point there were over 20 tweets per second being sent. By the end of the first day, U.S. time, a total of 246,075 Twitter posts using the term “earthquake” were posted on the site, according to The Telegraph. According to the article in Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor, “mobile phone operators provided an emergency service to check on friends or relatives who reported in using their mobile phone numbers, according to Twitter. The companies providing the service were i-mode, au/kddi, Softbank, Willcom, E-Mobile, and NTT (News - Alert) East.” The US State Department also “used Twitter to post emergency numbers, and provided instructions for Americans how to contact families in Japan. Relief organizations used Twitter to give information about shelters for victims of the earthquake.” Verizon Wireless and at&t offered free calling and texting to Japan for the Stateside folks trying to reach their friends and family in Japan.

Cell phone service was sporadic for several days after the earthquake. Many cell phone towers were either damaged or destroyed by the earthquake or the tsunami that followed. According to ComputerWorld, 3 cell phone carriers delivered base stations to Japan. Base stations can facilitate a connection between telecom networks and satellites.

This isn’t the first time we have seen communications during disasters better served by cell phones. See my blog Cell Phones in Haiti are Key to Emergency Services. More countries worldwide are connected by cell phones than ever before. In 2010, it was predicted that cell phone subscriptions worldwide would reach 5 billion by year’s end. For many 3rd world countries, landline phone service isn’t as available as cell phone service. It only makes sense that the people in Japan would also use cell phones both to text and to access the Internet during this crisis.

Did you have loved ones in Japan during the earthquake and tsunami? Did you connect through Facebook or Twitter? Were you able to take advantage of the free calls or free texting from Verizon or at&t? Let us know what worked for you.

AT&T and Verizon Offer Free Calls and Texting to Japan

MobileMaiden — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:20:04 +0000

photo credit: Helping Japan

The largest wireless service providers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless have announced free calling and free texting to Japan. Peace of mind is free for a limited time. In the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in history, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and 30 feet tsunamis, the world watched in horror and worried about the people in Japan. Now with nuclear reactor melt-downs, everyone is sitting on pins and needles waiting…

AT&T was first to announce free calling and free texting to Japan. Verizon followed suit shortly thereafter. Both companies also make it easy to donate by texting to help the people in Japan. If you are calling from an AT&T phone, simply text “redcross” to 90999 to donate $10 (added to your cell phone bill) to help the relief efforts in Japan.

Verizon actually posted a list of 9 charities to text donations. Verizon customers can easily make a $10 donation by simply sending a text message and may choose from nine organizations aiding those in need in Japan, including the American Red Cross. Donating $10 is easy – simply text the specific word to the organization’s designated short code:

* ADRA Relief: text SUPPORT to 85944
* American Red Cross Relief: text REDCROSS to 90999
* Convoy of Hope: text TSUNAMI or SUNAMI to 50555
* Global Giving: text JAPAN to 50555
* International Medical Corps: text MED to 80888
* Mercy Corps: text MERCY to 25383
* Salvation Army: text JAPAN to 80888
* Save the Children Federation, Inc.: text JAPAN or TSUNAMI to 20222
* World Relief Corp. of National Association of Evangelicals: text WAVE to 50555
* World Vision, Inc.: text 4JAPAN or 4TSUNAMI to 20222

Text messages are free for customers donating to any of these organizations. Verizon Wireless always waives text-messaging fees for disaster relief, and 100 percent of each $10 donation goes to the relief organization. For Verizon Wireless customers who pay monthly bills, the $10 donations will appear in customers’ next regular monthly bill. For customers using the company’s prepaid services, the $10 donations will be taken from customers’ prepaid balance.

As with any crisis, scammers are beginning to form schemes to take advantage of people’s generosity. See my blog Avoid Donation Scams—Giving Help to Japan. My advice would be to text from the list provided above if you are a Verizon customer, or check with your cell phone service provider for their approved list.

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Verizon iPhone vs. AT&T iPhone

MobileMaiden — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:16:46 +0000

photo credit: Verizon iPhone vs. AT&T iPhone

Which iPhone is faster—Verizon or AT&T? According to an article by Peter Svensson, (AP Technology) posted on TechBits, “the Verizon iPhone loads Web pages just as fast as AT&T’s version of the phone, even though Verizon’s network has lower data speeds, phone testing firm, Metrico Wireless reported.” However, Metrico Wireless said that data downloads on the Verizon iPhone turned out to be half as fast as those on AT&T’s network, but unless you are downloading data, most users didn’t notice much difference in web browsing. Metrico tested the Verizon iPhone’s performance with 4,000 calls and 10,000 Web page downloads in New York, Seattle, Washington, Baltimore, Chicago and Dallas, Rich McNally, Metrico Wireless’ VP of Information Products said.

Verizon iPhone vs. AT&T iPhone

Verizon has taken AT&T’s iPhone US exclusivity status away and trumped it with a more reliable network, or has it?

Verizon Wireless started selling the popular iPhone 4 in February. Verizon is known for having a more reliable network than AT&T, but Metrico Wireless said that their testing results didn’t come to the same conclusion. When downloading files while in a stationary position, then yes, Verizon had good results. But if you are traveling while downloading, Verizon had a 10% higher failure rate than AT&T.

“There are many factors that determine Web performance. Speed isn’t the only one,” said a Metrico spokesman. “There are also OS trends, rendering time, latency on the network, etc.”

Both versions of the iPhone, AT&T and Verizon, had “death grip” challenges. The “death grip” is the phenomenon of grasping the iPhone and having poor signals due to an antenna problem. Verizon’s iPhone has supposedly been redesigned to eliminate this problem, but apparently it wasn’t all that successful. Metrico Wireless’ tests were not affected by this as the “death grip” only occurs when a human hand grasps the iPhone, and the phones Metrico Wireless tests are attached to measuring equipment, not held by humans.

And so the battle between Verizon and AT&T continues. Are you an iPhone owner? Do you have the new Verizon iPhone or AT&T’s iPhone? Are you happy with the performance? Are you content with your wireless carrier? Let us know and we’ll post the results. By the way, both carriers are selling the iPad 2 as of March 11.

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Southern California Phone Outages Signal Need for Upgraded System

MobileMaiden — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:17:47 +0000

photo credit: Southern California Storms Take Out Phone Service

100,000 customers throughout California lost land line phone service during severe storms. The state declared emergencies in numerous California counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino. During the storms between December 17 to January 4, storms soaked through to underground cables, disrupting service. AT&T had 70,000 complaints at the peak of the storm; Verizon had 32,000. Normally these outages are fixed within 24 hours, according to the PUC’s service quality standards. During this two and a half week storm period, AT&T and Verizon were unable to fix 90% of outages within that 24 hour window. Some customers were without phone service for as much as twelve days. Many of those people did not have cell phones.

Southern California Phone Outages Signal Need for Upgraded System

Have AT&T and Verizon neglected their land line networks? According to an article by Kimberly Pierceall, The Press-Enterprise, consumers, reform groups and telecommunications firms that lease copper telephone lines from AT&T and Verizon say the storm may have proven what they’ve suspected for years, that the two major carriers have neglected their basic copper networks and, as a result, their land-line customers. At the same time, both companies have expanded into more profitable cable, fiber and wireless services, the groups have noted.

“The copper network has taken second place,” said Sarah DeYoung, president and executive director of CALTEL, the California Association of Competitive Telecommunications Companies. Her group is an advocate for companies such as TelePacific and others that lease “the last mile” of copper from AT&T and Verizon. During the storms, those customers were without telephone and Internet service for five to seven days.

Who is responsible for fixing the networks? At this point the carrier is responsible. AT&T is responsible for the majority of wired networks in California, with Verizon coming in second. Independent companies take up the slack. Apparently these companies are falling short. According to Ms. Pierceall’s article, between October and January, the California Public Utilities Commission received 218 complaints from customers that their Verizon telephone was out of service. Another 392 complaints came from customers of AT&T. To be fair, during that storm period, complaint calls were about 10 times the average. Verizon had 32,000 pending trouble tickets and had to increase their work force by 73%. The employees worked 10-hour days, 6 days per week instead of the usual 40 hour work week. It took until January 29th for all the tickets to be resolved.

Should we put more money into the wired networks? With so many people switching to wireless phones only, is it worth it to fix a dying horse? The problem as I see it is that until the entire nation is wireless, we still need working wired networks. There is also the DSL issue. DSL is a wired system. We need the network to be up and functional, especially in disastrous times. It’s still appropriate to maintain the existing system. What do you think?

Is Verizon iPhone Coming Tomorrow?

MobileMaiden — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:27:48 +0000

photo credit: Verizon iPhone

Verizon is rumored to make the big iPhone announcement tomorrow. According to ZDNet and countless blogs, Verizon has scheduled an announcement tomorrow which includes Steve Jobs (Apple) as a speaker. The much anticipated Verizon iPhone is expected to be announced tomorrow, with availability as soon as the end of the month. This announcement is scheduled for 11:00 am EST on 1/11/11. Hmm…

Is Verizon iPhone Coming Tomorrow?

AT&T is already slinging mud. According to an article by Daniel Ionescu, PCWorld, “AT&T PR boss Larry Solomon told Business Insider that AT&T’s GSM technology is faster than Verizon’s CDMA technology: “The iPhone is built for speed, but that’s not what you get with a CDMA phone. I’m not sure iPhone users are ready for life in the slow lane.” Solomon launched a tirade against Verizon, essentially confirming Verizon is indeed getting the iPhone, ending three years of AT&T exclusivity. Verizon is yet to comment on AT&T’s lashing out, and probably won’t comment until the iPhone announcement on Tuesday.”

AT&T should just shut up. A blog by Robert Scoble, Scobleizer, sites all the reasons AT&T should be a bit more humble. These include the fact that the AT&T iPhone still has lousy or non-existent coverage in San Francisco and says that at CES the iPhone was nearly unusable. Robert says he is ready to leave AT&T. Why? “Because it has proven unable to support us at big events. Yes, SXSW was pretty good. But the World Series? Unusable. CES? Unusable. Web 2 expo? Unusable.” In addition, according to Consumer Reports, December 6, 2010, AT&T was rated as the worst cell phone service provider.

Verizon may give unlimited data usage to its new iPhone. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon will offer an unlimited data plan with their new iPhone. Johnny Evans at ComputerWorld warns, “Don’t expect Verizon’s unlimited data iPhone offer to last forever. Carriers worldwide are realizing the difficulty in serving data-hungry Smartphone users. In the UK, 3, O2 and Vodafone have already abandoned unlimited deals, as AT&T did last year. This suggests Verizon’s unlimited tariff constitutes a marketing tool designed to tempt existing iPhone users to jump ship from AT&T.”

What will the Verizon iPhone mean to AT&T? With AT&T getting such poor ratings on coverage, will people switch to Verizon? ZDNet’s figures show that 80% of iPhone users at AT&T are hooked up with family plans, almost 75% have at least 1 more year on their contract with AT&T. If Verizon gets an exclusive deal with Apple, the other 2 major cell phone service providers are in deep trouble. T-Mobile and Sprint could be left out in the cold.

Are you an iPhone user? Will you switch to Verizon? Are you a Verizon customer waiting for the iPhone? Be aware of the difference in networks and the limitations of roaming internationally with the Verizon iPhone. All in all, I am glad to see Apple taking away AT&T’s exclusivity. Let’s just hope that the Verizon iPhone will mean upgrades in lots of areas within the Verizon network.

Cell Phone Service Certainly Isn’t Cheap

MobileMaiden — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:32:24 +0000

photo credit: Cell Phone Bill

Have you been shocked by your cell phone bill lately? One in five people got an unexpectedly high bill in the past year, according to Consumer Report’s just released cell phone survey. Were you texting more than your plan allowed? If you recently upgraded to a Smartphone, you may have gone over your data usage allowance. How can you avoid cell phone bill shock?

Cell Phone Service Certainly Isn’t Cheap

Shop around for service providers. Next time you are about to renew your contract with your current cell phone service provider, try checking out the competition. According to Christine Park, KFSN Fresno, Sprint and Verizon tied as top cell phone service providers with a contract. That being said, Verizon is one of the most expensive, but in my opinion, provides the best area coverage. Sprint is more affordable, has lots of options, but reception can be kind of sketchy. Most of the people I know who have Sprint like the service as long as they live in a city. Rural areas don’t get such good reception. With Verizon, it’s all about the network, but you pay for it. AT&T comes in last in all areas of service, including customer service.

Consider a contract free service. Consumer Cellular came out on top as number one according to Christine Park. I checked them out and they offer a no-contract service for a fairly reasonable rate. They don’t offer many phones, even if you pay for the phone, but at least they seem to be available in my rural area. If you want a better selection of phones, T-mobile has expanded its selection of phones available to non-contract subscribers and even includes a couple of Smartphones. Their service reception isn’t the greatest in rural areas, but again, for a city dweller, it’s not a problem. Boost Mobile, Cricket, and MetroPCS also offer flat rate, no-contract plans, but are only available in some areas.

No-contract service plans aren’t for “power users.” No-contract plans are best suited for people who only make occasional calls and text but don’t surf the web or use their phone for email. Pay-as-you-go plans are also good for a first phone for your teen since many plans just stop if the minutes are used up. Be sure to check however, since some contract-free plans charge as much as 25 cents per minute for overages.

What’s the bottom line? Shop around. Compare services as well as call reception. Consider your communication needs. If you are a power user, just bite the bullet and get a good plan. In the long run you will save money. Keep in mind that no-contract plans generally charge more money for the phone itself. Compare how much you will save by getting the phone free or at a discount with a contact vs. what you will pay in service fees.

Gmail Extends Free Calls through 2011

MobileMaiden — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:32:23 +0000

photo credit: Free Gmail Calls

Google introduced phone call capabilities through Gmail back in August. Google promised calls in the US and Canada would be free until the end of 2010. On December 20th, Google announced Gmail phone calls would be free until the end of 2011. They must have been moved by the holiday spirit.

Gmail Extends Free Calls through 2011

Call quality is pretty good. It isn’t as clear as a Skype call, but it’s free. With Skype, it is only free if it is a Skype to Skype call. With Google, you don’t have to call another Gmail account holder for it to be free. You can access the feature by turning Google Chat on in your Gmail account, on the left side of the screen, and then click on the “Call Phone” feature. Dial your contact’s phone number and you are good to go. You can use your laptops built in microphone and speakers, or for better clarity, use a headset with microphone.

One of every four American homes has only wireless telephones, according to the National Health Interview Survey. We have cut the landline tether. Most of us have no need for a home fax, and it’s cheaper to only have one phone service. Of course that only works if you have a cell phone provider that offers good reception where you live. AT&T cell phone service can be sketchy. In many areas, AT&T mobile drops your calls or the calls are full of static. Believe it or not, San Francisco is a terrible area for AT&T mobile phone connection. This of course doesn’t bode well for the AT&T iPhone. But the landline and DSL connections through AT&T seem fine for the most part. So by using your DSL and Gmail, you can now make reliable calls. I have a Google Voice account (which isn’t required to make calls), so I can also receive calls in Gmail. When I dial out, my calls look like they’re coming from my Google Voice number.

Will Gmail be able to compete with Skype? Skype clearly has the market share for computer calling. Skype is also free, but just for Skype to Skype calls. This is especially nice for those international calls that cost so much. Both Google and Skype also do video calls but I haven’t tried the Google video call yet. Side by side, the only advantages I see to using the Gmail calling over Skype is that you don’t have to call another member, and it is already loaded up in my Gmail account making it very accessible.

I’m willing to give Gmail calling a good try. What about you? Do you have a Gmail account? If not, you ought to try it. You can pick up all your email through Gmail, not just Gmail. If you have an Android phone, chances are you already have a Google account. It certainly makes life easier for me to be able to log into only one place to check all my various email accounts. Try it, you’ll like it.