Pre-Paid

A Pre-paid calling (or scratch) cards are a prepaid method of making a satellite phone call.  There are no monthly bills or fees, and no detailed call record statements. Rather, you simply pay for the calling time in advance and reduce the prepaid balance as you make calls. A

Pre-paid scratch card is a card that activates a satellite phone without a contract and consequently requires the prepaid subscriber to purchase airtime credit prior to use. There is often a service life of some duration typically 1, 3, 6 or 12 months after which the card expires and a new one must be purchased for continued service.  Renewal fees can be paid to extend the life of expiring calling cards.

Advantages of Pre-paid cards:

• No contracts
• No monthly bill
• No credit check

(Pay-As-You-Go)
Essentially another term for pre-paid, meaning service that is paid in advance, as-needed, instead of billed at the end of each month (post-paid). Since service is paid for in advance, there is no generally no need for contracts or credit checks with pay-as-you-go.

One difference from pre-paid is that a PAYG plan can (optionally, usually) be set up to automatically deduct funds from a bank account or credit card when depleted, instead of the balance simply becoming zero, rendering the phone unusable until the account is manually replenished.

Post-Paid SIM card

The SIM - Subscriber Identity Module - is a smart chip card, with the size of a postage stamp. The SIM card contains a microprocessor chip, which stores unique information about your account, including your phone number and identifies you to the network. So it is NOT your cell phone which determines your telephone number, but it is your SIM card. Instead, subscribers activate their phones by inserting SIM cards. Therefore, every time you change your SIM card, you are getting a new telephone number.

A SIM card is actually a tiny computer in your phone. Current SIMs typically have 16 to 64 kb of memory, which provides plenty of room for storing hundreds of personal phone numbers, text messages, value-added services and important for us: position data (coordinates) of tracked animals.

The embedded circuitry located on the SIM card stores information about the services that are available to you as a local subscriber. The SIM card identifies you to the network and contains a microprocessor chip, which stores unique information about your account, including your phone number. The SIM card, provided by a local GSM cell phone operator, snaps into the back of a GSM cell phone to make you a local subscriber.

Advantages of Post-Paid SIM cards:

• Billed monthly as opposed to advanced payment
• Specific call-detail-records in Monthly Billing Statement
• Possibly lower per-minute airtime rates

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology used to create PANs (Personal Area Networks) among your devices, and with other nearby devices.

Bluetooth allows you to leave your phone in your pocket, while talking on your phone with a Bluetooth headset - with no wires. You can also exchange contact or scheduling information with other Bluetooth-enabled phones nearby, or send such information to a nearby Bluetooth-enabled printer.

Another common use is to give your laptop computer or PDA wireless high-speed Internet access via Bluetooth and your phone.

Many newer automobiles also have Bluetooth, which can interface with a phone in a pocket, to allow automatic hands-free phone capability.

More innovative uses include playing a game against someone with a similar phone nearby, or using a special Bluetooth pen to send SMS messages by simply writing them on paper.

Bluetooth functionality is divided into separate types of connections known as "profiles". Each of the various scenarios outlined above involve a different profile. Not all Bluetooth devices support all profiles.

For example, most phones support the Headset and Handsfree profiles, for connecting the phones to headsets and car kits, respectively. But not all phones support the Object Exchange (OBEX) profile, which lets you transfer files (like photos and video clips) to and from other devices. Another profile supported by only some phones is Dial-Up Networking (DUN), which lets you connect a laptop or PDA to the Internet via the phone. Other optional profiles support connecting to printers and keyboards, for example.

Bluetooth is named for the 10th century Viking King Harald Bluetooth, a Danish king who conquered Norway.

Monthly Service 

Monthly Service: A rate plan selected by subscribers when they start up airtime service, usually consisting of a base monthly rate for network access and a per-minute rate for usage. Service plans are designed to provide the most cost-effective rates for different types and amounts of usage by the satellite phone subscriber.

MIN

(Mobile Identification Number)

A unique 24-bit number assigned by the wireless service provider (carrier) to each phone it sells or includes in service plans. Unlike an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), a MIN is changeable because wireless phones may change hands or phone owners may move to another coverage region, requiring a different service plan. The MIN and ESN are both automatically transmitted to the wireless network each time the phone is used to verify that the phone has not been reported lost or stolen and that all subscriber bills are current.