Piatel.co.uk - Product Support

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about PiaTel

Q: Will this change my current telephone and Internet provider’s services?

A: No. Your current phone and Internet services stay exactly the same. Our services will sit comfortably on top of your existing provider’s networks to provide you with additional enhancement services. Through our ‘FollowMe’ Service, you can have your Business or your Personal PiaTel telephone numbers forwarded to your home, office or mobile, so that you can use these services easily and on all these phones, without the use of additional equipment.

Q: Is there an activation or set-up fee?
A: Yes. This fee is required to cover the cost of the initial set up so that we can bring our services to you. As there are no contract periods for PiaTel customers, we must ensure our initial costs are met so that we can guarantee customers the unique flexibility of our service. As you’ll see from the various packages, our one-off activation fees are extremely low.

Q: What happens after the £1.00 (30 day) trial?

A: Nothing changes with your service. Depending on which type of PiaTel package you select you’ll be charged the corresponding one-time activation fee and your first monthly fee. You can continue using our services for as long as you’d like. There are no hidden costs or gimmicks; you can cancel the service anytime you want without any penalty. You only get charged when you are using the system. It’s really that simple!

Q: How do I get in contact with customer services for a quick response?

A: By Phone: Call any of your normal PiaTel phone numbers. As soon as you connect and hear the greeting message start, simply press 0 and you will be taken to the customer service menu.

By e-mail: Send a message by e-mail to

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

No matter which way you choose to contact customer services, please be sure to include your first name, last name, and your Pia account number.

Q: Is there a one-year contract or penalty for cancelling?

A: No. You are simply on a month-to-month package. You can cancel anytime, any month you want, and will not be penalised for your choices.

Q: What happens after I press the ‘submit’ button to enter my credit or debit card?

A: Within seconds we will send you a confirmation page where we issue you with your own Pia number and password. This page will also provide instructions on how to start using your PiaTel service. You will be sent a detailed e-mail with all of your information, including detailed instructions on how to use your PiaTel service (complete table of contents describing all of its features). You will also get 100 free minutes as a thank you for signing up, and you’ll only be charged £1.00. It's as simple as 1…2…3!

Q: With so many features is it hard to set-up or use?

A: The set-up process takes approximately 3-5 minutes. When you first call your Pia number, we’ll walk you through a short and easy-to-use set-up process. During this set-up process we take you through how to record your name or business name; show you how to use and set up your FollowMe numbers (numbers you would like the system to call you on) and allow you to select a local number from over thousands of cities and towns that our service covers around the world. Pick a number in any city that benefits you the most!

Q: What are the benefits to internationally calling customers?

A: We provide internationally calling customers with the ability to have a local presence anywhere in the world using that country’s local phone numbers. This allows callers the ability to leave phone messages and send faxes internationally to you, without having to pay international rates. These phone messages and faxes get e-mailed or can be received online, thus saving money as well!

Q: How does the Virtual Merchant Account work?

A: This is truly one of our most amazing features we offer. The Virtual Merchant Account comes included with all PiaTel packages (no additional monthly fees), allowing you to accept credit cards and debit cards from customers over the phone. This service is worth £30-£40 per month but is bought to you for no additional charge! With the Virtual Merchant Account you can process credit cards and debit cards from customers within minutes after you set up your Virtual Merchant; and we provide third party verification and settlement. We process your customer's credit or debit cards for you in real-time and immediately deposit the money into your PiaCard account! Your PiaCard account comes with your own ATM card, allowing you instant access to your money from millions of ATM locations around the world.

Q: How can you offer so many services for such a low price?

A: We are able to offer the incredibly cost-effective and easy-to-use tools of the PiaTel network due to our large investments in our unique technology platform, along with our expertise and knowledge of communications and financial services. It is our mission to bring together telecommunications, electronic banking and the Internet, providing our customers with the best tools to succeed in this fast-paced world!

Q: What are the ‘floor limit’ and ‘recharge amounts’, and why are they important?

A: When you pay for your PiaTel services by credit or debit card, as most customers do, Pia can keep watch over your account so that you don’t run out of money for services. Whenever the amount of service you have available drops below your ’floor limit’ (default is set to £0), Pia will process a charge to your credit or debit card for your pre-set ‘recharge amount’ (default is set to £5), and add that amount to you available funds for service.

For many customers, the £0 floor limit and £5 recharge amount work very well. However, if you expect to use a great deal of service – perhaps you might want to consider changing these amounts.

You can change your floor limit and recharge amount at any time by sending a message to customer services. Be sure to include your first name, last name, Pia account number and the amounts you wish to set for the floor limit and recharge amounts.

Q: How can I get voice messages and faxes through e-mail?

A: Having problems? Don’t worry, our customer services can set up your e-mail forwarding for you, quickly and easily. Contact customer services by e-mail and tell them your first name, last name, PiaTel account number and the e-mail address to which you want items sent. Then tell them whether you want voice messages sent to e-mail as well as fax messages sent to e-mail. Finally, tell them whether you want those items delivered by e-mail ONLY, or if you want the messages left in your PiaTel mailbox as well.

Back To Top

Q: How do I change feature sets (such as when I go on holiday)?

A: On the PiaTel system, sets of features are grouped together under a greeting. With each greeting, the system stores such things as the numbers to use for FollowMe and message notification services, as well as the actual greeting announcements that callers will hear when they reach your PiaTel mailbox.

You can switch between active greetings in one of two ways. First, you can manually change the active greeting. To do this, just sign in to your PiaTel mailbox and select Option 6 from the service menu, the normal entry to work with FollowMe service. From the next menu, select Option 2 to select a new active greeting. Then select the greeting that you wish to be activated while you are on holiday, a business trip, or any other special circumstance.

If you like, you can also have greetings set-up to automatically be activated on certain days or at certain times. For example, you can have one greeting used during your normal business hours, a second greeting for after office hours, and a third for weekends.

Also, remember that, if you change greetings manually, that change will be forgotten the next time an automatic greeting change is scheduled to take over.

Q: How do I get more than 10 other people in a conference call?

A: If you need to have more than 10 people in a conference call, just send a message to customer services (see above). Include your first name, last name, PiaTel account number and the date, time and number of callers you need the conference room for. The room will be ready for you at the time you requested it for.

Q: VoiceGrams are being delivered too late at night. How do I stop that?

A: Pia can be very persistent in trying to deliver your important messages. If you give her a VoiceGram to deliver, she will try up to five times to deliver that message. When she calls the number you gave her and gets a busy signal, she will wait 10 minutes, and then try again. If the number rings and nobody answers, she will wait 1 hour, and then try again. To avoid late-night calls, be sure to ask Pia to start delivering your message at least 5 hours before the latest time you want her to call someone. And don’t forget about time-zone differences!

Q: Pia sent me an e-mail with attachments but I can’t open it. What do I do?

A: When Pia sends out an e-mail message with a voice message or fax attached, and you can’t open the message, it’s generally because your PC does not support the appropriate software for it to work correctly. An easy way to determine if your PC has the appropriate software is if your PC has a sound system and you are able to hear other sounds, you should be able to hear voice messages from Pia.

For voice messages, you will need to be able to handle ‘wave’ files. These files have names ending in WAV, and are the most common type of sound files used on PCs. For faxes, you will need to be able to use ‘TIFF’ files. These files have names ending in TIFF and will need a viewer that can read TIFF files with ‘multiple segments’.

Q: How do I set up a phonebook?

A: Just sign-in to your PiaTel mailbox, and select Option 8 (i.e. phone key 8) from the service menu. At the next menu, select Option 1. This will take you to the menu for working with phonebooks. To create a new phonebook, select Option 4 from this menu. Pia will give you a brief explanation of the ‘single feature’ phonebook. She will then ask if you want to set up a phonebook with other PiaTel numbers, or one with outside numbers. You will also be asked to record a name for the phonebook.

Once the phonebook is created, you can work with it to add and remove numbers and names. From the same menu you used to create the phonebook, you can ask to work with it, using Options 1, 2 or 3. Option 1 lets you work with your ‘Main’ phonebook, which was created for you when your account was activated. Option 2 lets you pick a phonebook by number. Option 3 lets you pick a phonebook from a list that Pia will read to you, such as work phonebook or personal phonebook.

Q: How can I get Pia to answer my phone in her voice instead of mine?

A: Pia will be more than happy to answer your phone in her voice (such as “Hello and thank you for calling. You have reached the office of John Smith”). To set this up, you need to contact customer services (see above). Include your first name, last name, PiaTel account number and the text of the greeting you would like Pia to use. There is a one-time £35 charge for the custom greeting.

Q: How do I turn transfer service off?

A: Just sign-in to your PiaTel mailbox and select Option 6 from the service menu, to work with FollowMe services. You may have up to three numbers programmed, each of which can individually be turned on or off. Just select the number you want to work with and follow Pia’s prompts.

Q: How do I use my account like a calling card?

A: There are two ways to use your PiaTel account like a calling card system.

1) Call your private PiaTel number and sign-in to your account. Then select Option 5 from the main services menu.

2) Call any of the PiaTel Public Access numbers, and press the # key. Then enter your PiaTel number and password.

Now you can simply dial all of your calls directly through Pia. As you finish each call, just press the hash key twice (# #) to start another call.

Q: How can I make more than one outgoing call?

A: When you place an outgoing call through Pia, don’t hang up at the end of the call. Instead, press the hash key twice (# #). Pia will come back on the line so that you can make another call.

Q: How do I cancel my service?

A: To cancel your service at any time (and we hope you won’t), you MUST do so by e-mail. Send an e-mail to customer services and be sure to include your first name, last name and PiaTel account number.