Hey, reverse calls are back. You know, that thing you used to do with the booth phone calls provided by Telkom back in the 80s and 90s. Where you could call an operator, to call the person you want to talk to but have no money to pay for the phone call. So the operator calls them on your behalf and asks them if they would be will to pay for the cost of the phone call.
Well, Safaricom has done a major TBT of that feature and brought it into the 21st-century mobile phone communications. The principle is the same, you (the initiator of the phone call) transfers the cost of the call to the receiver (the person you intend to call), by dialing #0728******.
When you dial the receiver phone number, beginning with the hash and followed by the 10 digits of their phone number. The receiver will get a normal phone ring with your number or name on their phone screen. When they accept the call, a pre-recorded voice prompt in English and Swahili will as you (the receiver) to press 1 to accept the reverse call or press 2 to decline.
When the receiver accepts the reverse call, they will pay normal charges of the phone call and you two (initiator and receiver) will get connected. If the receiver declines, the call will be terminated.
“At Safaricom, we maintain our commitment to always provide our customers with relevant products in line with their needs. This innovation is in line with this commitment and has been tailored to mirror the relationships between customers with a goal of empowering them to always remain connected with their loved ones,” said Sylvia Mulinge, the Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom.
This feature is just one more addition to services rolled out by Safaricom aimed at keeping people connected when they have no airtime credit on their lines. Previous ones include the call back request and the Okoa Jahazi which sort of works like overdraft airtime, where you use call on credit.