Introduction:
Bureau of Meteorology Telephone Weather Services (TWS) deliver pre-recorded
messages, accessible via various telephone numbers. Services with more
than one message contain menus which help to reduce the length (and cost)
of the call.
1900 services provide an extensive range
of products (forecasts, outlooks, warnings, and observations). The first
24 seconds of a 1900 call is charged at 16.5 cents*, and provides a description
of the service and charging information. If you wish to continue with
the call press '0', after which the stated charging rate (77 cents per
minute*) will apply.
1300 services provide various types of warnings
(flood, cyclone, severe thunderstorm, etc.). Forecasts, outlooks and observations
are not available through these services. 1300 services are accessible
from anywhere in Australia at low call cost (around 27.5 cents*).
As warnings are not always current, the menus on 1300 services are dynamically
constructed to present to the caller options which relate to current warnings
only. For example, if you call a 'Land Weather and Flood Warnings' service
to hear a flood warning, and there is not a menu option for floods, that
means there are no flood warnings currently on the system.
*Call costs current at time of print and include GST
(more from international, satellite, public or mobile phones)
1196 numbers: The 1196 service is run by Telstra, using Bureau
of Meteorology forecasts. There is usually only one '1196' service in
each State/Territory, which provides a basic forecast for the capital
city. There are also 1196 services for Townsville, Cairns and Rockhampton
which provide weather information for the local area. Dialling 1196 from
anywhere in Australia automatically routes your call to the closest applicable
service, based on the location of the phone from which you are calling.
It is not possible to access the 1196 service of another state.
Calls to 1196 numbers are charged a 'low call fee' (around 27.5 cents,
including GST).
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Phone Requirements
A phone which sends tones when keys are pressed is required in
order to access most 1900 and 1300 services and to make menu selections
on any services which have menus.
If the system is not detecting your key presses, your phone is probably
not issuing tones. All modern phones should be able to send tones, though
on some you may need to select this option via a switch.
You can determine if your phone is sending tones by lifting the handset,
pressing some keys and listening for tones from the ear piece. If you
can't hear any tones, the phone may not be configured to issue tones (check
its documentation or look for a switch labelled T-P and make sure it is
set to the T position). Phones which are very old may not be able to send
tones, in which case you'll need to get a new phone in order to access
1900 and 1300 services.
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Moving Around the Services
'Key Ahead' widely supported: All 1900 and 1300 services support
'key ahead' which means that you can make your selections without waiting
for menu options to be offered. Most services begin with a 'Service Introduction'
message which includes some segments which cannot be skipped over. These
segments are reserved for special warnings or other information relating
to severe weather events (if any are current). 'Key ahead' is enabled
at the end of the service introduction message.
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