Military Personnel| AllCom

Military Personnel

For our men and women in uniform - both new and veteran - cell phones and pagers are often far away and regular telephones are few and far between. Mom, Dad, Husband, Wife and kids have been replaced by Drill Instructor, Master Chief, bunkmates, and swabbies. But home and family are never far from their minds. The PhonePlusPlus is the best way to keep in touch with loved ones when far apart.

Mark, Colonel US Army

"My job has me hopping from post to post, inspecting equipment installations I can't even talk about. Half the time, I can't tell my wife or kids where I'm going to be, because it's classified. Seems like the other half, it's because I don't blasted know!"

"But with my PhonePlusPlus number, Celia and the kids know they can usually reach me with FollowMe and I'll always get their messages no matter where I am, either on one of the post phones or my laptop on GenieMail*. Last week, Scott, my eldest, needed me to read over some college app papers, while I was deep in the middle of - something. He just faxed them to my PhonePlusPlus number, I checked 'em out on one of the post's Internet-connected systems, and emailed him back the info he needed."

"The kids** all have their own PhonePlusPlus numbers too. When Scott actually does go off to college, we'll be able to stay in touch. Not only that, but he has a GenieCard Visa® Prepaid Card to go with his PhonePlusPlus Genie Number*. I can send him money when he needs it for books or tuition or other expenses. I carry one with me at all times. The home base is the most important thing, but you never know when I might need a new pair of skivvies after a field exercise. "I just hope the General never figures HE can reach me that easy!"

Using it - In Depth:

Trevor is a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps. As a young married soldier, family and friends are very dear to him. Lance Corporal Trevor's wife Adele and four-year-old son Johnny are waiting for him back home and "just hearing their voices makes me feel good. But it's hard to stay in touch while I'm training - especially when I'm out in the field, or moving from one assignment to the next."

"A couple of months back I heard about PhonePlusPlus and how it could help keep us all together. It gave us our own local PhonePlusPlus telephone number back home in San Diego so Adele can call me like calling across the street and a PhonePlusPlus toll-free number so our folks can reach me on FollowMe or leave me messages even when I'm out on an exercise. Whenever I can get to a phone - even if it's the middle of the night - I just call or log into my PhonePlusPlus and listen to Adele, or Johnny, or Dad. Usually I leave the messages there, just so I can play them again later.

"If it's a good time, I can use the PhonePlusPlus Genie* to call home, just like with a calling card, and for only pennies a minute. That way, I don't have to worry about having change for the payphone - the slot's probably jammed anyway," Lance Corporal Trevor joked.

"It's even easier when I'm on shipboard, because the ships have Internet service that we can use. I can just use the net to go to GenieMail* and listen to my messages or look at a picture Johnny drew that Adele faxed to my PhonePlusPlus Virtual Fax Machine. Mom doesn't like to talk on the phone much and she'll never figure out email, so she still writes me letters, like when I was a kid at camp. Adele just faxes them to my same PhonePlusPlus number, and they're there the next time I log on to the net."

"The Corps wants all the marines to use Direct Deposit for payroll, and PhonePlusPlus solved that for me too. I had the Paymaster do the direct deposit to my Visa® Prepaid GenieCard, so I don't have to worry about anything getting lost. I could have done it to a regular bank account, but this was easier, Adele's got her own GenieCard Companion Card. That way I know she and Johnnie are always taken care of without all those high fees from banks or Western Union®."

"The time away from my family is rough, but we all knew that. PhonePlusPlus helps make it a little easier while I'm serving my country." says Lance Corporal Trevor. "I'm glad I have PhonePlusPlus. It really helps me feel closer to home, even if I'm halfway around the world!" says Lance Corporal Trevor.