FAQ
1 - The Mobilemiles Service
1.1 - What is Mobilemiles?
Mobilemiles is a combined Internet and mobile service which helps you keep track of the distances you drive by car, motorbike etc.
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1.2 - Who should use Mobilemiles?
Anyone who is driving in his/her job, to and from work, or anyone else who wants to keep track of the distances driven.
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1.3 - Why should I keep track of my miles?
There are many reasons why it is important to keep track of the miles driven. If you drive in your work, then the clients are (or can be) billed based on the miles driven. It can also be possible to claim tax discounts based on mileage. The rules and regulations are different in different countries.
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1.4 - What is the difference between the premium and the basic version of Mobilemiles?
The basic version of Mobilemiles is provided totally free of charge, and it contains all the functionality you need to track your miles. The only "cost" involved is that you will receive a limited amount of advertising messages, which is our way of financing the service.
The premium version of Mobilemiles has some added capabilities:
- You can manage up to 3 different vehicles with the same account
- You can define and manage your own journey types
- You can get your mileage reports directly as Excel files
- You can opt out of any advertising messages (except banner ads etc on the website)
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1.5 - How can I get the premium version?
There are two ways you can upgrade to premium level in Mobilemiles:
- Invite at least 3 people to Mobilemiles
- Pay a low, yearly subscription
In the current release of Mobilemiles, only the first of these options is available. To upgrade, click on the "Go premium" button on the main menu. This will show a form in which you can enter up to 10 email addresses. An email will be sent out to these users, referring to you. Once at least three of these users have signed up and logged their first journey, then your account level will automatically be upgraded to premium.
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1.6 - Can two Mobilemiles accounts refer to the same vehicle?
Yes. Different persons (colleagues, family members, ...) can have separate Mobilemiles accounts and register the same vehicle (registration number). Each account is handled separately, which means that the miles for person/account X is never mixed with person/account Y, even though they refer to the same registration number.
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2 - Getting Started
2.1 - How do I get started with Mobilemiles?
To start using Mobilemiles, you need to register on the www.mobilemiles.net website. Click on the "Register" link and fill out the form. Once the form has been successfully submitted, a verification email is sent to your email account. This email contains a link that you need to click to enable the account. Once that is done, your account is nearly ready to go.
When enabling the account, Mobilemiles automatically creates a personalised mobile WAP page for you. At the end of this process, the website will ask you if you want a bookmark to this WAP page sent to your mobile phone as an SMS message. If you click "yes", then an SMS should arrive within a few seconds.
You will receive an SMS message on your mobile phone with a WAP link. You will need to save this as a bookmark (or shortcut) on your mobile phone. To report in your mileage using the mobile phone, simple click on the bookmark and use the personalised Mobilemiles form that is displayed.
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2.2 - Something is wrong; I can't get it to work. What do I do?
If you are having problems getting started with Mobilemiles, then use the form on the "Contact" page of the website and send us a message. We will contact you as soon as we can and try to help you through.
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2.3 - Why isn't country X listed in the registration page?
In the current version of Mobilemiles, we only support certain countries. If your country is missing out, then send us a message through the "Contact" page on the website and we will add it.
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2.4 - My mobile operator is not listed. What should I do?
For each country enabled in Mobilemiles, there is an operator option called "other". If your mobile operator is not in the list, then choose "other".
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3 - The Mobile Phone
3.1 - Which phone can I use with Mobilemiles?
The Mobilemiles service currently works on all mobile phones which support XHTML; nearly all phones that are up to two years old support this.
For future versions of Mobilemiles, additional ways of using Mobilemiles on the phone will be provided, including SMS messages, which allows Mobilemiles to be used on any phone. Keep an eye on the "News" section of the website for updates on this subject.
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3.2 - What is the mobile phone used for in Mobilemiles?
The mobile phone plays a very simple and important role in the Mobilemiles application. You use your mobile phone to enter the meter readings when you start and finish journeys with your car, motorbike etc. You don't, however, use your mobile phone to manage your mileage records - this is much more easily done on a computer.
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3.3 - How do I get Mobilemiles on my phone?
Before you can use Mobilemiles on your mobile phone, you will need to do the following:
- Register on the Mobilemiles website
- Enter details about your vehicle in the preferences section of the website
- Enter details about your mobile phone in the preferences section of the website
- Generate a personal WAP page by clicking the associated button in the preferences/mobile section
- Click the "send bookmark as SMS" button on the same page in the website
After a few seconds, you will receive an SMS on your mobile phone. In the text of the SMS, you will see a link, looking like "http://www.mobilemiles.net/userpages/mm-c313a2...", where the long encryption string is unique for you. You need to save this link as a bookmark in your phone, and after that, you can start using Mobilemiles.
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3.4 - How do I save a bookmark in my mobile phone?
There is no single, simple way of storing WAP bookmarks on a mobile phone, and the variations between different makes and models is very big. You will need to check with the manufacturer and/or operator (do check their websites) for more information.
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3.5 - So, now the bookmark is on the phone. How do I access it?
Again, there are big differences between different makes and models. On some phones, bookmarks will automatically be shown in the main menu; on other phones, bookmarks can be a bit trickier to find. As with 2.4 above, consult manuals, websites and support from your handset manufacturer and/or mobile operator.
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3.6 - How long does it take to load Mobilemiles from the bookmark?
Mobilemiles uses a patented technique to speed up certain types of WAP pages. This means that the Mobilemiles page is shown almost immediate after clicking the bookmark; no communication on the mobile network is necessary.
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3.7 - I've done some changes to my profile on the web. How do I get those changes to the phone?
Whenever you do changes to your profile, such as change the vehicle registration number, there are a couple of things you need to do for the change to have an effect on the mobile phone:
- In the preferences/mobile page of the website, click the button to generate your personal WAP page.
- On your mobile phone, you need to do an operation called "clear cache", which erases the local memory for WAP pages. This is done differently on different phones, and you will need to consult your handset manual, your mobile operator or handset manufacturer for more information. Once the cache memory is cleared, your Mobilemiles page will load from the server when you access the bookmark. Once the new page is on the phone, no further re-loading is necessary.
It is not necessary to send a new bookmark as an SMS; reloading the Mobilemiles page does the trick.
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3.8 - I've changed my handset. How do I get Mobilemiles to my new phone?
To get Mobilemiles on your new phone, you will need to go into the preferences/mobile page of the website, click the button to generate your personal page (again), and then click the button to send out the WAP bookmark as an SMS to your new phone. After that, you will need to save the bookmark just as before.
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3.9 - When I click the button to send the WAP bookmark as an SMS, I get an error message saying that I don't have any SMS credits. What should I do?
Each WAP bookmark which is sent out as an SMS has a small cost which is currently covered by Mobilemiles. To control this cost, we have set an automatic limit of 2 bookmark SMSs per user when registration is done. If you get this error message, then please contact us via the "Contact" page on the website and we will add some credits to your account.
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3.10 - When I try to access Mobilemiles with my mobile phone, I get an error message saying something like "Subscribe to WAP first". What should I do?
Mobilemiles uses mobile data communication for sending your mileage reports from your mobile to the Mobilemiles service. Depending on your mobile subscription, you might not have WAP (and GPRS data communication) enabled. If you need to enable WAP, then you need to contact your mobile operator.
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3.11 - Does it cost anything to use the mobile phone with Mobilemiles?
Mobilemiles does not charge anything for using the mobile phone. Your operator may, however, charge you for the data communication used - it all depends on the subscription/price plan you have. Most operators use a charging model based on the amount of data communicated. Therefore, Mobilemiles has been optimised so that an absolute minimum of data is communicated.
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3.12 - I'm trying to enter the mileage on my phone but it keeps showing letters instead of numbers. What should I do?
Different mobile phones handle text and numbers in different ways. As an example, you can enter digits on most SonyEricsson and Nokia phones by holding down the respective key on the handset for a few seconds. Consult your handset's user manual if you are having problems with this.
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3.13 - What does the "description" field in the WAP page mean?
When you register the start or end of a journey, you can add a note for it in the "description" field. If it is more convenient for you, then you can add this later when accessing the miles from the Mobilemiles website.
There is a special case with these notes. Assume that you add a note when you start the journey. If you don't add a note when ending the journey, then the note supplied at the start will remain unchanged. If you do enter a note at the end of the journey, then the start note will be overwritten.
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3.14 - What are the "start" and "end" fields on the WAP page?
Depending on whether you are starting or ending a journey, you need to put your mileage in either of these fields. For instance, if you start a journey, then you put your mileage reading in the start field and leave the end field blank. When you end the journey, you simply do the reverse. If you enter mileage readings in both fields, then a complete journey is registered in one single go.
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3.15 - What happens if I enter non-numeric characters into the meter fields?
If you enter non-numeric characters into the start or end meter fields, then Mobilemiles tries to translate that into digits according to the standard keypad of mobile phones. You will be presented with a new form, in which the characters have been translated. If you are happy with the translation, then you can just click the "save" button; otherwise you can edit the fields just like a normal form.
The translation is as follows:
- A,B,C,a,b,c are translated to "2"
- D,E,F,d,e,f are translated to "3"
- G,H,I,g,h,i are translated to "4"
- J,K,L,j,k,l are translated to "5"
- M,N,O,m,n,o are translated to "6"
- P,Q,R,S,p,q,r,s are translated to "7"
- T,U,V,t,u,v are translated to "8"
- W,X,Y,Z,w,x,y,z are translated to "9"
- any symbols are translated to "1"
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4 - Mobilemiles Website
4.1 - What will I use the Mobilemiles website for?
In the Mobilemiles service, the mobile telephone is only used to report journeys into the system. All other activities use the Mobilemiles website. In the Mobilemiles website, you will be able to manage your vehicle(s), your journeys, read relevant information from authorities etc. You can also get your mileage reports sent to you as emails or, if you are a premium user, as Excel documents.
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4.2 - How can I check my previous journey details?
The link "Miles" on the Mobilemiles website will take you to the webpage in which you can read and maintain your mileage records.
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4.3 - OK, I can see the list of my journeys. I only want to see my business trips. How can I do that?
In the top of the journey mileage table, there are three drop-down menus called "filters": one for year/month, one for vehicle and one for journey type. If you only want to see your business trips, then select "business" from the drop-down menu. If you only want to see business trips from August, then select "2007-08" in the first drop-down and "business" in the third one etc.
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4.4 - Can I see the details of a specific journey?
The bottom part of the "Miles" page contains the full details about a journey. To see the details for a specific journey, click the little black/yellow arrow at the left end of the row in the journey table.
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4.5 - How do I update the details of a journey?
On the "Miles" page, click on the details arrow so that the journey you want to update is displayed in the form on the bottom of the page. Add or update any of the fields in the form and click the "update" button when you are done.
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4.6 - I forgot to register a journey. Can I do it afterwards?
You can add a journey in an easy way on the "Miles" page of the website. In the bottom details form, click on the "new" button. This clears the details form and you can now add the journey details. When you are done, click on the "save" button.
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4.7 - How should I write the date and time of a journey?
A date and time field in Mobilemiles always needs to be in the form YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM. To make it a bit easier to fill in the data, Mobilemiles automatically converts from some other formats as soon as you click outside the date field. You can, for instance, enter a date as DD/MM/YY instead. If you don't enter the time, then Mobilemiles fills in 12:00. If you fill in the hours but not minutes, then Mobilemiles assumes the minutes are 00 and so on.
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4.8 - How can I get a mileage report and what form is it in?
To get a report of your journeys sent to you, simply click the "get report" button on the "Miles" page. This will create an email with the miles currently shown and have it sent to the email address you registered with. The email comes in a plain text form and is easy to read. Note that any filter settings on the page also affects the reports. If, for instance, you have filtered out business journeys, then the report will only contain business journeys.
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4.9 - What is the "journey ID" shown on the report and in the Miles page?
Each journey in the Mobilemiles system has a unique identity, and it is created internally by the system.
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4.10 - How can I delete a journey?
To delete a journey in the "Miles" page, simply click the black/yellow cross to the left of the journey you want to delete. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion before it is concluded.
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4.11 - How can I get an Excel report of my journeys?
The Excel report function is only available to premium users, and the "get Excel" button is not visible for normal users. To get the report, simply click the "get Excel" button. As a result, an Excel file is created by Mobilemiles. You will be prompted by your web browser whether you want to open the file directly or save it on your disk.
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4.12 - How can I add my own journey types?
In the free version of Mobilemiles there are only two available journey types: business and private. Premium users can define their own journey types. This is done through the "Settings" tab in the Preferences page. Here you will see a list of journey types, where "private" and "business" are provided as "standard" tyoes.
Due to the limitations of mobile phones, there is a limit of 8 journey types that can be displayed. This means that only the top 8 elements of the list in the Preferences/Settings tab are shown on the mobile phone. (In the list, these journey types are written in blue, while the others are written in black.)
To add a new journey type, simply fill out the text field and click the "save" button. This will add the new journey type on the top, but under the standard business and private types. To move a journey type downwards in the list, click the yellow/black "down" button to the side of it. Analogouesly, to move a journey type upwards, click the "up" button. To delete a journey type, click the cross to the side of it.
Remember that you need to re-generate your personal WAP page after changing the journey types, and you need to reload the WAP page on your mobile phone.
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4.13 - How do I replace the car in Mobilemiles?
In the basic version of Mobilemiles, you can only manage one vehicle. If you need to add a new vehicle (for instance because you got a new car), then you will need to archive the old one. By archiving it, you will still be able to see all journeys done with the previous vehicle, but you won't be able to enter any new journeys via the mobile phone.
To archive a vehicle, simply click the "archive" button under the vehicle on the preferences/vehicle page. A couple of extra control questions are given before the vehicle is archived. Once that is done, then you can enter the details of your new vehicle.
In the premium version of the service, you can handle up to three vehicles at the same time. Just as above, you can archive any of the three vehicles by clicking the "archive" button just underneath the vehicle on the preferences/vehicle page.
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4.14 - The mileage record from last August are a bit irrelevant now. Can I hide them?
Yes. Just as you can archive a vehicle, you can archive a set of journey records. In the "miles" page, there is a filter drop-down on the top of the page where you select whether you want archived records to be excluded, included or the only ones to be shown in the view. The default is that archived records are excluded, which gives a nice and clean view. Archiving a journey record does not mean that it is deleted. Journey records (archived or not) can currently only be deleted one at a time by clicking the "x" in the journey list.
To archive a set of journey records, use the filter drop-down menus to generate a view in which all records you can see should be archived. When that is done, just click on the "archive" button. You will get a couple of safety questions before the records are effectively archived.
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4.15 - I accidentally archived a vehicle or a set of journey records. Can I un-archive them?
It is currently not possible to un-archive journey or vehicle records in any other way than to contact customer support. If you need any items to be un-archived, then please tell us the registration number (if it is a vehicle) or journey IDs (if it is journey records).
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5 - Further Developments
5.1 - Do you plan to develop the Mobilemiles service further?
There are a number of developments in the pipeline for Mobilemiles. This includes:
- allowing mileage reporting by SMS
- additional countries
This new functionality will be gradually added over time. Whenever we do any major changes, a notice will be published on the "News" page of the website.
