Does your IsatPhone Pro have the latest firmware from Inmarsat?

Since the satellite phone debuted in 2009 the IsatPhone Pro has been a market leader in the satellite communication industry.  The IsatPhone Pro satellite telephone from Inmarsat has always featured: near toll-quality voice, voicemail, text and email messaging, with the ability to send your GPS position via either text or e-mail.  To maintain these features and new ones you should check the Firmware version on your IsatPhone Pro handset.

To check your firmware version on your IsatPhone Pro, select: Menu > Settings > About.  Your firmware version should be V5.2.0.  If it is not, then you will have to upgrade your phones firmware before June of 2013.

Inmarsat has released a mandatory firmware upgrade for the GSPS service on the IsatPhone Pro handset.  This latest version was released on November 16th 2012.  If you have purchased an IsatPhone Pro prior to this date you will need to upgrade the firmware on your IsatPhone Pro handset.

This is a mandatory firmware upgrade, meaning that the features introduced by the firmware are vitally important for the GSPS service including the network and the IsatPhone Pro handset.  In order to update your phone you will need to download the Inmarsat Firmware Upgrade Tool as well as the latest version of Firmware.  Links to both downloads can be found on this site here.

Inmarsat advises that per end of June this upgrade is absolutely critical as IsatPhone Pro phones that are not upgraded by 30th of June, 2013, will no longer be able to register and make/receive calls for handsets in the field Inmarsat recommends that firmware is distributed to all customers.

Instructions on the IsatPhone Pro Firmware Upgrade from Inmarsat can be found on the GMPCS website here.

What Time Does Your Satellite Phone SIM Card Expire?

If you have an Iridium or Inmarsat IsatPhone Pro satellite phone and are using a prepaid airtime card from GMPCS you already know about the expiration date. But did you know that the official expiration date for a SIM card is at 00:00:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)? Or that Iridium always uses GMT and Inmarsat UTC. For our purposes, there is no difference between the two indicators.


Because of this, you will need to be aware of the time zone where you are located and whether or not Daylight Savings Time (DST) is in effect where you are or in the United Kingdom (UK). Why the UK? For the answer you will need to think back to your primary school experience where we learned that the Prime Meridian was located at Greenwich, England. All satellite communications service activations, deactivations and expirations are based on GMT/UTC time.


So what does this mean for you? Well, if you are in the US Eastern time zone and daylight savings time is in effect for both the US and UK, your time will be 4 hours behind GMT. For example: 10:00 PM GMT will be 6:00 PM EDT.


Now if your prepaid SIM card expires on October 10th at 00:00:00 GMT, you will need to purchase additional airtime or a 30 day extension from GMPCS BEFORE 8:00 PM on October 9th. You may be saying to yourself, “That’s just crazy!!”, and a first glance it would seem so. But then we need to remember that satellite airtime is based on GMT and for that reason, we will need to leave reminder notes for ourselves to top-up our prepaid airtime cards in advance of the published expiration date/time.


To be safe, give yourself a 24 hour window and mark the expiration date on your calendar each time you add airtime, it will save headaches in the future and prevent the loss of unused airtime. We also recommend that you Google the current UTC time and act accordingly.


Any questions regarding the expiration of your SIM or available time extensions can be answered by calling GMPCS at 954-973-3100 or via email at: contact@gmpcs-us.com

Portable Broadband Office Anywhere in the World With BGAN

When travelling the world, you may find yourself in remote locations where there is little to no access to the local terrestrial or cellular networks. Some international networks can be unreliable and even if you are able to make a good connection you will often find that the roaming fees can be cost prohibitive. Being able to conduct your business on a global basis is vital and the Inmarsat BGAN keeps you connected. The BGAN service delivers a reliable broadband connection over satellite wherever you may go using one of the small, portable, lightweight, cutting edge BGAN terminals. GMPCS is an established Inmarsat Partner and is well equipped to provide you with the right Inmarsat BGAN equipment and service for your application.

Inmarsat BGAN is the world’s first mobile communications service to deliver broadband Internet accessand voice connectivity, simultaneously, through a single, truly portable device, anywhere on the planet. It is also the first mobile communications service to offer guaranteed data rates on demand. BGAN is a satellite terminal that you can connect to using your laptop, your smartphone or any tablet computer. It is very compact and lightweight and some of the terminals are equipped with a Wi-Fi hot spot. BGAN terminals are battery powered and can be recharged from any AC or DC power source.


Based on IP technology, BGAN provides you with a data connection to the Internet or your corporate network at speeds up to 492Kbps. BGAN enables you to remotely access all the applications you would normally access from your desktop via a secure and reliable connection and you can even make a phone call at the same time.


BGAN is quite simple to deploy and operate. Making a connection is as simple as these steps: 

1. Find a clear view of the Southern sky (Northern sky if you operate in the Southern Hemisphere)
2. Power on the BGAN unit and wait for it to acquire a GPS positions
3. Point the BGAN toward the Inmarsat satellite covering your area, let it register to the network and launch the connection.
4. You are now connected to the Internet and can connect your laptop, smartphone or tablet computer using the Wifi hotspot (on certain models), an Ethernet cable, USB or Bluetooth. You can also place voice calls and send text messages.

There are several types of BGAN to suite your needs. For more information on the variety of BGAN units view this comprehensive comparison chart . If you have questions or need a more catered solution for remote broadband contact a specialist at www.gmpcs-us.com or 954-973-3100