Making Calls with the Iridium GO!

How To Make Calls Using a Smartphone Paired with an Iridium GO!

All calls made from a smartphone paired with an Iridium GO! are considered “International” calls. If you’ve never made one before, it can be a bit confusing. This tutorial will help you make your first call, as well as how someone may call your Iridium Go phone from anywhere.

Every Iridium GO! terminal is assigned a 9 digit international telephone number along with a 3 digit Country Code. The Country code for all Iridium phones is 881. Iridium phone numbers can be called from any phone on the planet. If you do not know your Iridium phone number, please contact your Iridium service provider or Ground Control, or if you can, just call any phone with caller ID… which will show the Iridium number.

Making a call FROM an Iridium phone

The Iridium GO App lets you choose the country you wish to call by simply choosing it from the list of countries on the GO calling app.

This makes calling easy since all you need to do is dial the phone number as if you were in that country. Simply touch the flag, and select the country you want to call from the list of all countries in the world. Then make a call just as you normally would. No need to know country codes any longer.

If you want to know the OLD WAY… read on.

The old way of calling (if you select “No Number” from the list on the left) is use the country code. To call into the United States, you would dial the United States country code (001), and then the area code, and then the phone number. You may also need to finish the number by pressing the # (pound) key on the phone if the phone does not begin to dial.

Example 2 – (Calling a U.S. Phone Number from an Iridium Phone): 001 805 783 4600 #
In this example, 805 is an area code in the U.S., and the # key on the phone is sometimes used to tell Iridium you have finished entering the phone number.

For calling into another country:
Dial the country code then the full phone or fax number. To locate the country code that you are calling into, please visit https://www.itu.int/oth/T0202.aspx?parent=T0202.

Making a call TO an Iridium phone

To call an Iridium Go Phone from the United States, dial 011 and then Iridium’s country code of 881 then the 9 digit Iridium phone number. Note that 881 is the Country Code for all Iridium phones.

Example 1 (Calling an Iridium Phone from the U.S.): 011 881 672520732

From outside United States please use this tool to help you find the correct number sequence.

Example 2 (Calling an Iridium Phone From Afghanistan): 00 881 672520732

Each country is different, however many countries use 00 plus the country code. We also recommend using this tool to help you find the correct number sequence. If this doesn’t work, you may always ask for assistance from an operator to help connect. You only need to know the 870 country code and the 9 digit Iridium phone number for the operator to connect you.

Note – While the Iridium account will not be charged for any incoming calls placed to it, the calling party WILL pay for satellite Iridium phone rates. Charges vary widely between phone providers from $1 to $10 U.S. per minute, and some phone providers block international calling. The calling party can ask their phone provider for their international plan rate to “Iridium” which has its own Country Code of 881. Phone providers often have small international plans that can be added to avoid paying any exorbitant per-minute fees. Also consider adding a local number for the Iridium phone.

Iridium to Iridium – Making a call FROM an Iridium phone TO an Iridium phone

To place calls between Iridium phones, select Iridium from the available countries in the calling App. Then dial the 9 digit Iridium GO number.

Accessing Iridium Voice Mail

Iridium voice mail be accessed by pressing on the Voicemail Icon, or calling 662990000 from an Iridium phone or 011-881-662990000 from any other phone. When prompted, you will be asked for your Iridium phone number when prompted, as well as the VoiceMail PIN. Please read page 31 from the Iridium_Go_Users_Manual for detailed Iridium voicemail information.

An Excellent Tool For ALL Iridium Calling

This handy website helps find the exact number sequence you need in order to place a call to or from an Iridium phone from anywhere in the world. Please use “Inmarsat” as the country you are calling to or from (sorry, Iridium isn’t listed… but you can use 881 in place of Inmarsat 870 to or from).

www.countrycallingcodes.com
 
Example 3: If you are calling an Iridium phone:

1. Under “Where are you calling from”, select the country you are calling from.
2. Under where are you calling to, select “Inmarsat”. (It isn’t Iridium, but it’s close. Simply swap out 870 with 881).
3. Click on Submit.
4. On the screen that appears, you should have the prefix numbers before the 870 Inmarsat international number and then the 9 digit Iridium number.

 
Example 4: If you are calling from an Iridium phone:

1. Under “Where are you calling from”, select “Inmarsat”.
2. Under “Where are you calling to”, select the country you are calling.
3. Click on Submit.
4. On the screen that appears, choose the pull down window labeled “City Info…” and choose SNAC (Single Network Access Code). That number and the 9 digit Iridium number should connect you. Make sure you replace the 870 country code with 881 for Iridium.

Add a Local Number to an Iridium Phone

(This keeps incoming calls from having to pay)

The Iridium phone number is an international number that looks like: 011-881-672520732. You have the option of adding a local number (from any country) that connects the caller to the Iridium phone. This service (provided by satecollect.com) pays for the cost of the call and is helpful for those that desire a simple local number, and not charging the calling party for an Iridium call.

Local Phone Numbers for Inmarsat/Iridium.