Q. How do I sign up for NorthwestCell service?

A. It's So Easy. We have 1 retail location in Maryville and 9 agent locations throughout our coverage area of Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway and Worth counties. Stop by, check out the variety of cellular telephones available and tell the salesperson where you will be using your phone. This will help them in finding the right phone to suit your needs. You may then fill out an application, which takes only a few minutes to process and you could be on your way with your new phone in less than 1 hour.

Q. I need help with choosing the right price plan. Where can I go?

A. You don't have to leave your car. If you feel you are using more airtime minutes than you anticipated or maybe you are using less, you may call a NWMC Customer Service Representative or an agent location and we will look over your airtime charges to determine if you are currently on the right price plan. After our analysis, you may choose to upgrade to a plan that has more free minutes built into it or downgrade if you are not using your phone a great deal. We do not charge you for plan upgrades or downgrades. Give us a call today to find out how we can help you! Dial 1-800-331-6341 to speak with a Customer Service Rep.

Q. What charges appear on my bill?

A. Your bill will contain charges for monthly service (depending on price plan selected), airtime charges (if airtime minutes are exceeded), any applicable roaming charges, any optional feature charges (such as Caller ID, Detailed Billing, etc.), any applicable long distance charges (if calls are placed to areas outside your calling plan, not applicable on national plans), directory assistance charges, Universal Service Fund fees (USF), State and Local taxes. Airtime usage charges may not appear until subsequent bills due to reporting between carriers, and as a result, your bill may be slightly higher or lower than expected.

In the first bill that a customer receives, you are billed for one full month in advance plus a prorated partial charge for the period starting the day the phone was activated to the end of the billing cycle. In addition, your first month's minutes are also prorated for actual usage, just like your bill. The billing cycle ends on the 15th of the month. Here's an example: if you activate service on May 1, your first bill will show pro-rated charges from May 1st – May15th then full month charges from May 16th – June 15th.

Any features added or removed will also appear prorated on the bill. Although there is no fee to upgrade or downgrade your plan, plan changes can impact your bill. If your plan is upgraded there will be a prorate charge, which is the difference between the former price plan and the current price plan. This could also appear as a credit if the price plan is downgraded.

You will also see any GB charges for any data features you have selected or monthly charges associated with any bundled feature packages you have chosen.

Q. What are my payment options?

A. You may select the conventional cash or check payment method, the option of automatic bank draft, or choose to pay with one of your credit cards. We also offer automatic credit card payment. Any of these options can be done by stopping by any retail or agent location or pay online by visiting www.nwmcell.com and selecting the NWMC ebill option.

Q. What is Roaming?

A. Roaming is the term that is used when a customer of one cellular carrier, such as NorthwestCell, leaves their home service area (in this case the five counties of Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway and Worth) and goes into another cellular carrier's service area. NorthwestCell has roaming agreements with other cellular providers across the US and Canada which provides a seamless transition as you travel. Roaming charges will only be assessed when making or receiving calls outside your calling plan area.

Q. Do roaming charges appear on my bill right away?

A. Some carriers take up to 30 days to forward their charges to us. In some instances it could take up to two billing cycles for the roaming charges to appear.

Q. How is my airtime billed?

A. You pay for airtime used while making or receiving calls on the cellular system. When you make a call from the local home coverage area, charges will begin after the call is answered even if the call goes to Voicemail. All calls are rounded up and billed in one-minute increments. Unanswered calls are not charged.

Roaming calls are chargeable to our customer whether they are answered or not in most areas. We do have some agreements that do not charge for unanswered calls but most still do. Charges will begin when you hit the send button and charges will stop when you hit the end button. These calls are also billed in 1 minute increments.

Q. Will I be billed airtime for toll free calls?

A. Yes, toll free numbers such as 800 numbers are billed airtime usage.

Q. How long is the warranty on my phone?

A. If you purchased and received your new phone from NWMC, the manufacturer warranty period is one year from the date-of-purchase in most cases. If your phone needs to be sent in for repair during that time we will provide you a loaner phone until it comes back from repair. This may take several weeks. Phones that are deemed to be physically damaged or have liquid damage voids the manufacturer warranty and will not be repaired by the manufacturer and the consumer will take replacement responsibilities. NWMC does offer handset coverage.

Q. What is handset coverage?

A. Handset coverage is offered as an option to provide protection of your cellular phone from liquid and physical damage or if it is lost. A monthly fee is charged and a deductible will apply if a claim is made.

Q. What times do night and weekend minutes begin and end?

A. Nights are from 7 pm-6:59 am and weekends are from Friday 7 pm-Monday 6:59 am. Night and weekend minutes apply within the coverage area of your designated plan. If you have not updated plans recently, nights start at 9 pm.

Q. What's considered Mobile-to-Mobile minutes?

A. Mobile-to-Mobile minutes are minutes used from one NWMC mobile handset to another NWMC mobile handset.

Q. What is BREW and how does it work?

A. BREW is an application based service allowing you to download ringtones, wallpapers, educational items, informational updates, games and more. To download these applications you must have a BREW compatible handset supported by us along with a data package.

The data package allows you to wirelessly download these applications from a cell tower to your phone. The data is measured by kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Each BREW session will use data which allows you to transmit and receive an application. Downloading applications will result in additional charges to your cellular bill.

Q. How much is Voicemail?

A. Voicemail is free with all Northwest Missouri Cellular plans.

Q. How do I set up, check and utilize my Voicemail?

A. Below you will find instructions to set up your voice mail along with shortcut menus and several Tips and Tricks to access your voicemail account.

STEP 1
Dial your 10 digit cell phone number to call your voice mail or use the shortcut key.
Follow prompts to set up password, record name and record outgoing announcement. If you do not want to enter your password each time, from the Main Menu press 4 then 8
From another phone:
Dial your cellular number, when message starts press * followed by your 7 digit phone number.
Follow prompts to set up password, record name and record outgoing announcement. If you do not want to enter your password each time, from the Main Menu press 4 then 8

To listen to a voicemail:
From your cell phone:       
Dial your number or use voice mail shortcut key.
From another phone:
Dial your cellular number, when message starts press * followed by your password.

Shortcut Menus

Main Menu: 1 Play your messages 3 Change your greeting 4 Access your Personal Options 4 Modify Personal Preferences 1 Modify login password 2 Modify playback preferences 1 Select order messages are played 2 Select playback mode 3 Play time stamp 8 Enable/Disable password # End your call

Shortcuts while listening to a voice mail: 1 Rewind 11 Replay message 2 Pause message 3 Fast forward 33 Skip to the end 7 Delete message   Tips and Tricks: * To return to previous menu **  To return to Main Menu

Shortcuts after listening to a voice mail: 1 Replay message 7 Delete 9 Save # Keep new message and go to next message ## Skip to save messages 2 Pause at any time while listening to messages 5 More Options 5 Replay message with time stamp 3 Playback with or without number of caller

If you would like the greeting to be your cell phone number rather than your personal recorded greeting, simply press # when you hear the beep to start recording your announcement.

Q. How do I check my Voicemail?

A. Retrieving your Voicemails:

1. Log in your mailbox using one of the following:
    ♦ Call your cellular phone from a home, office or other land line phone.
    ♦ Dial * 86 Send from your cellular phone
    ♦ Press and hold the 1 key for 3 seconds (must be preprogrammed into phone)
2. At the prompt, enter your permanent password you have chosen during set-up
3. Follow the prompts to listen to new and saved messages

Q. Am I charged for checking Voicemail?

A. If you check Voicemail from your cellular phone, you are debited airtime for the time you spend on the call checking your messages but not for callers actually leaving a message.

Q. I've checked my Voicemail and cleared the messages and I still show an envelope on my screen, why?

A. There is a possibility that you have received a text message and it is in your inbox. To read the text message on your phone, check you phone's user manual for specific directions for your phone model or stop by one of our locations and we will be happy to show you how to clear those messages.

Q. Can I send a text message?

A. In order to send a text message you must be signed up on one of our text messaging packages.  We do offer a pay per message option.

Q. Can I receive a text message?

A. Yes, any phone is capable of receiving text messages. You do not have to be signed up on a text messaging package to receive them. Additionally, NWMC does not charge for incoming text messages at this time.

Q. How do I use call forwarding?

A. Call forwarding can be activated by pressing *72, the number you would like to forward your cell phone to then send. To cancel call forwarding, dial *73 send. Note: call forwarding is a feature that must be added to you account before you are able to use it. Please contact our office or refer to the features section of the website to inquire about pricing.