Mike arrived a little ahead of time last week, and whizzed through baggage and check in. So Convenient! He is currently staying up on the 42st floor of the Emirates Towers overlooking the city of Dubai, within walking distance of the Dubai Mall, and with a Starbucks downstairs. As he returned this time, he needed to set up his Dubai international phone, and ran into some difficulties that Americans rarely even consider. Here were his thoughts and notes on the situation:

"We spend years complaining about our service from “Ma Bell” but we don’t realize how easy we have it. Knowledgable techs, everything done “for” you when you call, monthly billing versus filling up every time your prepaid minutes get low, phone number is permanent you don’t have to remember to renew it every year, a blinking light when you have a voicemail (not available with wireless systems and a pain in the rear)."

Here are some of his actual notes, which we found pretty funny and extremely beneficial if you are going to be doing business internationally!

Spent 4 hours and 5 different agents going through this!

-There is a language challenge: instead of saying pound for #, the all said “hash” for #
-They don’t enunciate the numbers when there are duplicates they say “triple 5” or “double
zero”
-They will not recognize the term voicemail it is “transfer call”.
-Various codes: (if you do not have them on your phone in the tools folder) check 1st to see if they are already on your phone because the tech will not suggest this.
**67*0555 678 161# VM when you cannot pickup
**62*0555 678 161# VM when you are talking
**21*0555 678 161# VM won’t allow any pickup
##002# cancels all VM commands
-AS OFTEN HAPPENS WHEN YOU WANT COMPUTER ASSISTANCE THE “LAST” TECH KNEW THE ANSWER;
-135 to initiate service for your SIM card use.
-NOKIA: Check out phone tools/settings/call divert/voice calls/
-Activate: Busy & Not Answered
-DO NOT activate If unavailable or out of reach unless you are activating again soon. You are charged for every voicemail.