IOL USSD

NOTE: This service is currently available only to people who use the Vodacom and MTN networks in South Africa. The service is not yet available to Cell C users. The service is not available outside South Africa.

Questions

Answers

WHAT IS IOL USSD?

  • IOL USSD on your phone uses Unstructured Supplementary Services Data. This technology allows you to browse text menus and find a wealth of information and entertainment on your phone, simply by dialling a number (*120*IOL#).

WHY IOL USSD?

  • Premium news and entertainment content on your phone.
  • All you need is a cellphone - no Internet connection required
  • Hassle free - just dial *120*IOL# and start browsing
  • Low cost - Vodacom and MTN offer two options: either R1,50 per minute or an ongoing subscription of R5,00 per week for unlimited access at 60c per minute.
  • User-friendly menus - you don't have to remember keywords to access the information you want

HOW DOES IT WORK?

  • Using IOL USSD is like making a phone call to the IOL website (Simply dial *120*465#). USSD maintains an open session while you are on the line, similar to you dialling someone and receiving information from them - you are not sending individual SMS messages. During the session you are able to browse through text menus and choose items you want to view, such as weather, movies, sport, etc. Sessions last a maximum of 2 minutes but you can redial and come back to where you left off.

HOW DO I GET IOL USSD ON MY PHONE?

  • There is no set-up required to get IOL USSD on your phone. Simply dial the service code (*120*IOL#) and press your phone's CALL button. You will be connected to IOL USSD and will be able to browse immediately.

DO I HAVE TO SIGN A CONTRACT?

  • There is no contract required to get IOL USSD on your phone. Simply dial the service code (*120*IOL#) and press your phone's CALL button. You will be connected to IOL USSD and will be given clickable options depending on your service provider.

HOW DO I "DIAL" *120*IOL#?

  • Simply input *120*465# - the 465 is actually IOL on your phone's keypad.
  • Once you have keyed in the code, press the CALL button on your phone and you will be connected to IOL USSD.

IS IOL USSD CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON ALL 3 SOUTH AFRICAN NETWORKS?

  • IOL USSD is only available on Vodacom and MTN at the moment.
  • This service is not yet available to Cell C users.
  • The service is not available outside South Africa.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

  • You are not charged "per SMS" but per minute or part-minute you are on the line.
  • You are billed by your service provider or the cost is deducted from the amount you have available as a pre-paid customer. Whether you are a contract subscriber or a pre-paid user, the cost deducted is the same.
  • MTN & Vodacom: R1,50/minute or an ongoing subscription of R5,00 per week for unlimited acces at 60c/minute. Users will also be billed in 20-second portions. So if you are on the line for 18 seconds you will pay 50c. If you are on the line for 42 seconds you will pay R1.50. Each session lasts a maximum of 2 minutes, after which you will be cut off. This means that the maximum cost you will incur per call is R3.00.
  • This service is not yet available to Cell C users.

IF I AM A MTN / VODACOM SUBSCRIBER, HOW DO I CHANGE MY SUBSCRIPTION OPTION OR UNSUBSCRIBE?

  • Go to the USSD main menu on your phone. Select option 10 which is Info. You will be taken into that menu. Within that menu choose option 5 which is Unsubscribe. Once you have chosen the unsubscribe option, you will be flagged within the USSD database as not having a payment option and will be unsubscribed. Should you choose to use the service at a later stage, you will be asked to select a payment option before continuing.

HOW DO I MAKE A MENU ITEM SELECTION?

  • On your phone the screen will display an "ANSWER" or "REPLY" button. Take note of the number on the menu to which you want to go. Press the ANSWER/REPLY key, type in the number of the menu item and press the SEND Key. The next menu or the content will be displayed.

HOW DO I MAKE A MENU NUMBER SELECTION IF MY PHONE ONLY GIVES ME TEXT?

  • The input required on the IOL USSD system is numerical. Some phones default to text when inputting information into USSD systems. To get your phone to type digits “toggle” between the text and numerical display by either pressing the number key multiple times until the digit is displayed (for example the 2 key: a-b-c-2 OR the 7 key: p-q-r-s-7) or hold down the “toggle key” so that the display on your phone’s screen changes from abc to 123 and then key in your number.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN'T REMEMBER THE MENU NUMBER I NEED FOR MY SELECTION ONCE I HAVE ACTIVATED THE ANSWER/REPLY SCREEN?

  • You have to remember the menu number you want to go to. Once you have activated the ANSWER/REPLY screen you cannot go back. If you cant remember, take a guess and if you do not land on the right "page" you can always use the * key to go back to the previous menu.

WHY DOES IT HANG ME UP WHEN I MAKE MY MENU SELECTION?

  • If you make the selection without "telling the phone" that you are about to make a selection, it will not understand the selection and will hang you up.
  • Before you make your selection you have to prompt the system that you are about to send an answer. Each handset manufacturer displays the instruction on the phone above the relevant activation key. For example on a Nokia phone, press the "ANSWER" key and then input your selection. The "ANSWER" key will now be labelled "SEND". Press the "SEND" key to complete your choice.

HOW DO I READ A WHOLE NEWS STORY ON CELLPHONE?

  • When you select a news article to read, the system will indicate to you how many pages the article consists of. To navigate to the next page, press the ANSWER/REPLY key and type in the page number that you want to read next.
  • To return to the previous menu, press *, or press # for home.
  • If the news article is a long story, you may be cut off because of the 2-minute limit. By redialling the service code within 15 minutes you will return to your story item.

IF I GET CUT OUT WHILST READING A NEWS STORY, WHY DO I GET TAKEN BACK TO THE MENU AND NOT THE STORY?

  • USSD remembers the last menu that was sent to your phone but not the actual story you were reading, nor what page of the story you were at. If you are cut out whilst reading a news story you will be taken to the menu for you to make your story choice again. If you want to continue reading the news story you were reading before you were cut off, make the same story selection again and then input the page number you want to read. Ie if you were cut off at page 9 of 15 pages: when the first page is displayed, press the answer/reply key and input 9 and press the send/reply button and you will be taken straight to page 9 for you to continue reading the story.

HOW DO I GO BACK TO THE MAIN MENU?

  • If you want to return to the main menu at any stage, press the ANSWER/REPLY key, then #, followed by SEND. The home menu will be displayed.

HOW DO I GO TO THE FIRST MENU IN A LIST?

  • When many selection options have been found for display on your phone (ie e.g. 15 movies) sometimes they can't all fit onto the display (only 160 characters are allowed - just like SMS). You then have to select the 0 key to have the next batched batch of items displayed on your phone. If you want to go to the first page you can select the 8 key.
  • When you are in a scrolling menu like this, you will notice that you do not have 7,8,9,0 key choices. This is because the 7=first page, 9=last page, 8=previous page, 0=next page.

WHY DO I GET CUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF BROWSING IOL USSD?

  • MTN and Vodacom implement a 2-minute cut-off of any call to a USSD service. This is not an IOL USSD function, but rather something that is implemented by the networks. However, if you redial the IOL USSD service code (*120*IOL#) again within 15 minutes of being disconnected, you will find yourself at the same menu at which you were cut off. This saves you having to re-navigate to where you were cut off.

WHEN I REDIAL THE SERVICE CODE, WHY DO I GET TAKEN TO WHERE I WAS INSTEAD OF TO THE MAIN MENU?

  • When the networks cut you off after 2minutes and you return within 15 minutes you will be taken to the same menu at which you were cut off. This saves you having to re-navigate to where you were cut off.
  • To return to the main menu, press ANSWER, #, SEND on a Nokia phone.

HOW DO I GO BACK JUST ONE MENU?

  • If at any stage you want to go back one menu level, press the ANSWER/REPLY key, then *, followed by SEND. The previous menu will be displayed.

WHY AM I ASKED TO "Choose City" FOR THE MOVIE GUIDE AND WEATHER?

  • When you first use IOL USSD it asks you which city you are in, so that it can deliver information for that city. IOL USSD then "remembers you" and automatically displays info for that city the next time you browse Weather or the Movie Guide.

HOW DO I CHANGE MY CITY?

  • You can choose to "select another city" or change your home city.
  • Selecting another city temporarily displays info for another city until such time as you manually change it to another city or you time out. If you redial after time out you will be reset to your home city.
  • Changing your home city will permanently record a change in your home city and this is the setting you will automatically revert to when you come into the portal in future.

HOW DO I SAVE THE ACCESS CODE *120*IOL# TO MY PHONEBOOK?

  • Simply go to your phonebook or address book and enter a new listing, call it whatever you want (we suggest: "IOL USSD" or "IOL on my phone" if it fits) and then input the access code in full using digits: *120*465#. Press Save and it is there for use anytime anywhere and you don't even have to remember the code in future!

HOW DO I FAST-TRACK MY USE OF IOL USSD?

  • If you know what menu you want to get information from, you can skip the main menu. Dial the IOL USSD service code with an extra menu number and this will take you directly to that menu listing. Here are the codes for the various main menu options:
      *120*338*1# Lotto
      *120*338*2# Weather
      *120*338*3# Astro
      *120*338*4# Tones & Fun
      *120*338*5# PSL Soccer
      *120*338*6# English Premiership
      *120*338*7# Sport
      *120*338*8# News
      *120*338*9# Business
      *120*338*10# TV
      *120*338*11# Movies
      *120*338*12# Gossip
      *120*338*13# Wacky
      *120*338*14# Info, Cost

WHY USE FAST-TRACKING?

  • You can dial directly into the menu item you want to get information from in order to reduce the time you spend on the system. This not only saves you money but also gives you more time to browse the information you are interested in reading, rather than spending time on other sections.

IF I FAST-TRACK CAN I STILL GET TO THE HOME MENU LATER ON?

  • The # key will take you to the home menu at any stage.

HOW DO I GET A RINGTONE, OPERATOR LOGO OR PICTURE MESSAGE FROM USSD?

  • From the main menu choose option 4 for Ringtones, Logos and Graphics. Then browse through the options available to you. Make the selection of the ringtone, operator logo or picture message that you would like to receive on your phone. A message is displayed with information that you will need to send in an SMS in order to receive your item on your phone. Write down the item code and SMS it to 35465 and it will be sent to you. NOTE: this sms costs an additional R3.00.

WHY DOES THE IOL USSD PORTAL NOT SHOW THE PICTURE MESSAGES AND OPERATOR LOGO GRAPHICS?

  • USSD is a text-based mobile channel. It can only display text characters. That is why the descriptions of the picture messages and operator logos are displayed instead of the actual graphics.

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