FAQs

Check out IVC’s current selection of phones. Please visit your local Wireless Solution Center or Authorized Agent location for current phone pricing.

Currently, we have two requirements. The phone must be GPS-capable and it must have been used on the IVC network previously.

GPS-capable phones rely on signals from the Federal Government’s Global Positioning System satellites to help estimate their location when you make a 911 call. IVC handset-based location technology provides the most accurate capability over varied terrain, and is generally capable of estimating locations within 300 meters in most cases.

Yes, all phones come with a 1-year manufacturer warranty which covers factory defects.

IVC does offer a Wireless Protection Program feature for $5.99 per month. This will cover all aspects of the phone which include physical and liquid damage. Click here for more information.

Many different factors influence your battery performance. The temperature of your current surroundings can play a significant role in how well your battery holds a charge. Still, there are steps you can take to improve your battery life. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be turned off when not in use. Your phone uses IVC’s mobile network for data and so you would only need Wi-Fi turned on if you’re using your home network or a wireless network that you trust. If you’re not using a Bluetooth headset or car kit, you can turn it off to conserve battery power. By default, your device is set to automatically adjust the brightness of your device, but the display timeout is set for 1 minute. This means that when you put your phone away, the display takes a full minute to turn off. You can change the display timeout to as little as 15 seconds and there are apps that you can download to keep the display active while in use and turn it off when not in use. GPS on the device can also be turned off if you’re not currently using it. By turning off and adjusting a few items on your phone, you can help improve your overall battery life.

We have several technicians available to help you. You can call 611 while in our home area and ask to speak with a phone technician. Please visit one of our locations.

Please contact customer service as soon as you can. We can temporarily suspend your service.

Please contact customer service and discuss any usage. You will need to file a police report and provide the docket number to IVC.

Please visit our billing support page for instructions.

At this time, you are unable to manage your account online. However, please be advised that IVC is working to implement some online management of our customer accounts. IVC does allow you to view your bill online and set up automatic payment. Click here to enroll now or please contact IVC Customer Relations for assistance with your account.

IVC customers have many options available to them when they wish to upgrade their equipment.

Option 1: IVC offers an early buyout policy with a declining buyout amount for those customers that want a new phone offering and still may be under contract.

Option 2: All IVC customers can upgrade to a new 2 year contract when they are within 3 months of their existing contract end date.

Option 3: Any of our IVC customers may purchase outright any of our equipment at anytime.

Options 1 and 2 are our most popular options to our customers. When choosing Options 1 and 2, customers may take advantage of any promotional discounts that may be offered at that time.

You may be required to change your rate depending on the handset or device feature and rate plan requirements are in place at the time of your upgrade. Please contact your local sale representative.

Illinois Valley Cellular is all about options for our customers.

Option 1: You may call Customer Relations and pay your bill over the phone with a credit card.

Option 2: You may pay in cash or by check at any of our retail locations.

Option 3: You may set up online payments with automatic bank draft and even set a limit on your payment, giving you time to check into those costs if you have questions. Some of our Authorized Agent locations also take payments.

IVC has made our billing and payment option for our customers as convenient as possible. There are four billing cycles and each billing cycle always processes on the same day of each month. The due dates for each billing cycle are also always on the same day of each month. If IVC does not receive your payment before the day before your next bill processes, the system automatically applies a $10.00 late fee to your account. If you do not know your bill process or payment dates, please contact Customer Relations.

The call timer included in your wireless phone begins timing calls from the moment you press the SEND button until the END button is pressed. These timers keep track of all calls, including misdials, *611 or 911 calls. (IVC does not charge you for calls made to 611, 911.) The call timer in your wireless phone calculates every minute of every call you make. IVC rounds up to the nearest minute while the timer in your phone may calculate your minutes without rounding up.

Free nights and weekends minutes are free for calls made and received in Illinois only. Nights begin at 7 pm and end at 6:59 am. It should be noted that if you are on a call prior to the start time of free nights and weekends and the call duration runs past the 7 pm, the entire call will be billable. It should also be noted that if you are on a call prior to the end time of free calling and the call runs past 6:59 am stop time that the entire call will be free. Of course, free nights and weekends do not apply to our unlimited plans.

Nights begin at 7 pm and end at 6:59 am.

You may go to any of our Wireless Solution Centers or Authorized Agent locations and request a number change. Please bring your phone to one of our sales agent locations. There will be a $10.00 fee for a number change and it will be billed on your next bill.

Upon non-payment of any sum due, IVC may or may not, by notice to the subscriber in writing or by telephone communication, without incurring any liability to the subscriber, either temporarily or permanently terminate the furnishing of service to the subscriber at IVC’s sole discretion, either in part or in whole. IVC may also charge to reconnect service.

Directory Assistance calls are not covered under any calling plan and may incur charges up to $3.00 each time you use it.

LWNP or (WNP) is a service that allows customers to keep their current wireless phone number when they bring their line to a new wireless provider. This process or service is called “porting”.

Number porting was implemented in the top 100 markets of the U.S. on November 24, 2003. All Illinois Valley Cellular service areas implemented number portability on May 24, 2004.

In order to transfer your wireless number from another provider to Illinois Valley Cellular, it is as easy as: 1) Bring your last wireless bill, 2) personal identification, and 3) your wireless phone into any Illinois Valley Cellular Agent or Retail location.

Do not cancel service with your previous provider before porting your number. This will make your number ineligible to port.

There is no initial charge for the porting process. All Illinois Valley Cellular customers are currently being charged $.80 per month for each line in order to recover just a portion of the costs directly related to number portability and other regulatory mandates.

Because different providers use varying wireless technologies, yes, you will need to get a new phone if you port to Illinois Valley Cellular. Note: Even if another provider uses the same technology as Illinois Valley Cellular, they may program their phones to only work with their service. Illinois Valley Cellular does not do this because we believe that individuals should be able bring their phone to another provider if they choose.

No, the full terms of a current contract must still be honored. As a result, you may be responsible for charges imposed by your previous provider if your contract term is not fulfilled and/or if you have outstanding charges on your account.

Per a mandate from the FCC, a customer’s landline phone number may be transferred to any wireless provider whose coverage area overlaps where their landline number is provided. Several landline phone companies have asked the FCC or state commissions for a waiver of their porting obligation. Therefore, it is possible that you will not be able to take your landline number with you when you come to Illinois Valley Cellular. In addition, Illinois Valley Cellular is in a unique situation whereas certain line ranges within our number pool are actually owned by our parent landline company and cannot be ported at this time. These line ranges are 795 and 794 numbers.

You will need to contact the local landline provider to find out if your number can be listed. There may be a charge for this. All Illinois Valley Cellular wireless numbers are unpublished.

Wireless-to-wireless ports should take two and a half hours. Landline to wireless ports may take several days. In addition, landline companies have asked the FCC and state commissions for a waiver of their porting obligation. Therefore, it is possible that you will not be able to take your landline number with you when you come to Illinois Valley Cellular. If you are wishing to port from Illinois Valley Cellular, you should be informed that our parent landline company owns our 815-794 and 815-795 line ranges and because of the pending request to waive landline porting obligations, these two specific Illinois Valley Cellular line ranges are ineligible to port.

A “dropped call” is a call that is disconnected unexpectedly. Sometimes, while traveling, your wireless conversation is handed off from one cell tower to another and is dropped. When a call is dropped, it usually means either that you’ve traveled into the fringe at the outer limits of your service area, or that your battery is running low and cannot maintain enough current to “hold” the signal transmitting your call.

Storms may shut a tower down due to excessive winds or lightning and rain may interfere in the signal due to excessive moisture around the dish. Extreme humidity creates a barrier in front of the signal which inhibits the distance of coverage.

If your cell phone’s reception is adequate just outside your home, coverage may not be the problem. The problem may actually lie in the type of material used when building your home. Some types of materials used during a home’s construction can interfere with a cell signal. For instance, concrete structures use rebar, which is too dense for most cell signals to penetrate. Stucco exteriors (and interiors) use wire mesh, which can also interfere with signals. Even aluminum siding can be problematic because it tends to reflect cell signals, instead of absorbing them.

Leaves on trees and thicker vegetation strongly effect signals to your phone, attenuating or reducing the signal by as much as half or more as compared to the fall or winter. Other areas are country roads surrounded by corn fields. When the corn reaches its tallest, you would be surprised at how much signal is lost in your vehicle when driving down these roads.

Fringe areas have other roaming carriers signal bleeding into our area which causes your phone to go between home and roaming signal. When that happens, the call will then drop due to the towers lack of seamless hand-off between the IV Cellular tower and the roaming carrier’s tower.

Android is a cellular phone operating system designed by Google to bring you the latest in greatest in intuitive user interface and simple design. With each iteration of its upgrades, Android is constantly being built upon and improved to insure that you always get the most out of your device.

It depends on your device. The HTC Hero was launched with 1.6 and an update was released in June 2010 that brought it to up to 2.1. All HTC Hero devices after June 2010 came preloaded with 2.1. The HTC Desire, HTC Wildfire and LG Axis all came preloaded with 2.1, but will also have an update to 2.2 in the near future. The Motorola Milestone came preloaded with 2.1, but will not have an update to 2.2.

With each new version, Google implements new features. The upgrade to 2.1 allowed users to send picture/video text messages, use Bluetooth, and many other options, including a boost to system performance. The upgrade to 2.2 allows users to view Flash content on the device, use Exchange email accounts, and many other options, including a significant improvement on system performance and battery life.

You need to have a valid credit card that you have registered with your Google Account. The first time you attempt to purchase an app, you will be prompted to setup this part of your account. It is completely secure and your credit card information isn’t stored on your device, but with Google’s servers.

Each Android device comes with Google Maps preinstalled. When you first open Google Maps, you will have to read the disclaimer and then it will attempt to find your location. If you’re located indoors, your location might not be as accurate, so try to find a spot near a window in order to get a better view of the sky. You can use Google Maps to find businesses nearby, store your favorite locations, and even get step-by-step directions from point A to point B. Some devices even feature a turn-by-turn GPS feature known as Google Navigation. Please talk to an IVC Sales associate to discuss whether your device is capable of this.

If you forgot your pattern, don’t panic. You get five attempts before you are locked out of the device. After the fifth attempt, you will have to wait 30 seconds before you can try again. You can tap “Forgot Pattern” and you will be prompted to enter your Gmail username and password that was created when you bought your phone and you can create a new lock screen. If you’re unsure what your Gmail username and password, you can log into Gmail through a computer to verify your information.

Many different factors influence your battery performance. The temperature of your current surroundings can play a significant role in how well your battery holds a charge. Still, there are steps you can take to improve your battery life. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be turned off when not in use. Your phone uses IVC’s mobile network for data and so you would only need Wi-Fi turned on if you’re using your home network or a wireless network that you trust. If you’re not using a Bluetooth headset or car kit, you can turn it off to conserve battery power. By default, your device is set to automatically adjust the brightness of your device, but the display timeout is set for 1 minute. This means that when you put your phone away, the display takes a full minute to turn off. You can change the display timeout to as little as 15 seconds and there are apps that you can download to keep the display active while in use and turn it off when not in use. GPS on the device can also be turned off if you’re not currently using it. By turning off and adjusting a few items on your phone, you can help improve your overall battery life.

3G is a general term for third-generation wireless networks. IVC 3G speeds are approximately 10x faster than the previous generation, capable of the fastest 3G service in the country.

3G’s increased speeds are perfect for accessing the Web, downloading content, and sharing files such as photos or videos.

To connect to the 3G network, you’ll need a 3G capable phone or wireless modem. We offer a complete selection of 3G-enabled smartphones from Motorola, HTC, BlackBerry, and Samsung.

They are messages from our New Program called “Friendly Message Alerts”.

If you click the link inside your Text Message it will open a mobile web page with more info.

You need to make sure you have a “Data Plan” to open mobile websites.

No – You are not being charged for any message sent from our FMA Program.

Carrier to consumer communication is mandated by the FCC , not to mention important to you, the customer. Text messaging is the quickest, most direct and convenient way to get you the information you need regarding your account.

FMA Messages may avg. 1 – 2 messages per month, but will vary depending on account activity

Yes, simply click the “Manage your bill” section in the mobile website and log in to pay your bill

IVC account holders and authorized users ONLY can add lines and delete lines.  The account holder and authorized user will need to go through password authentication (CPNI) to add the feature.

As many lines as you have on your account.  If you have 15, you can add all 15 to TextGuardian.

Only account holders and authorized users are able to add the Text Guardian feature to a phone line.  Meaning, only lines in your account can be added to Text Guardian.

Call customer service or 611 from your cellphone.

The first line is $5 a month, with $2 for each additional line.

Yes

Click “forgot my password” and TextGuardian will send you an email or a text message to your mobile device to help you recover your account.  If you do not receive an email within 24 hours please contact customer service.

Yes.  You will get a text that says, “TEXTGUARDIAN: You are not able to send text messages during this time period.”

Yes.  They will get a text message that says, “TEXTGUARDIAN: The person you are texting is not receiving messages. Your message will be delivered at a later time.”

Text Guardian ONLY works with text/picture messages, voice calls will still go through.

In the time restraint screen, you can allow certain numbers to still send texts during the restraint period.

Yes.  You will get a message that says, “TEXTGUARDIAN: You are not able to send text messages during this time period.”

Yes.  They will get a message that says, “TEXTGUARDIAN: The person you are texting is not receiving messages. Your message will be delivered at a later time.”

Unlimited.

Yes.

If you have a group of people that you send text messages to often, you can set a 4 digit short code to send them messages.

You can create 10 groups and put up to 30 people in each group.

Call customer service to remove the feature or the line.

Until you delete them from your archive.

Almost infinite… Depending on disc space.  And we have a lot of disc space.