Military Professionals

For our men and women in uniform – both new and veteran – the cell phone and pager are often far away, and regular telephones are few and far between.  Mom, Dad, Husband, Wife and kids have been replaced by Drill Instructor, Master Chief. bunkmates and newbies.  But home and family are never far from their minds.

The Personal Office level of Universal Office is the best way to keep in touch with loved ones when far apart.  Here are just a few of the features:

• Local Telephone Number, in any of 3,000 communities across the US
• Options to add as many more Local Numbers as you want, across the US
• Complete support for Voice Messaging, and Faxing
• Connect your Voice Messages and Faxes to your E-Mail
• Financial Services through the GenieCard

Mark, Colonel US Army

“My job has me hopping from post to post, inspecting equipment installations I can’t even talk about.  Half the time, I can’t tell my wife or kids where I’m going to be, because it’s classified.  Seems like the other half, it’s because I don’t blasted know!

“But with my Personal Office number, Celia and the kids know they can always get a message to me, no matter where I am.  Last week, Scott, my eldest, needed me to read over some college app papers, while I was deep in the middle of – something.  He just faxed them to my Personal Office number, I checked ‘em out on one of the post’s Internet-connected systems, and emailed him back the info he needed.

"The kids all have their own Genie Numbers too. So I know that when Scott actually does go off to college, we'll be able to stay in touch. Not only that, but he has a GenieCard to go with the Genie Number. Either Celia or I can send him money when he needs it for books or tuition or other expenses. I carry one with me at all times. The home base is the most important thing, but you never know when I might need a new pair of skivvies after a field exercise.

“I just hope the General never figures HE can reach me that easy!”

Using it – In Depth:

Trevor is a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corp. As a young married soldier, family and friends are very dear to him. Lance Corporal Trevor’s wife Adele and four-year-old son Johnny are waiting for him back home and “just hearing their voices makes me feel good.  But it’s hard to stay in touch while I’m training – especially when I’m out in the field, or moving from one assignment to the next.

“A couple of months back I heard about EasyTel where I could get my own Universal Telephone Number back home in San Diego.  Now my folks can leave me messages, even when I’m out on an exercise.  Whenever I can get to a phone – even if it’s the middle of the night – I just call in to my Personal Office and listen to Adele, or Johnny or Dad.  Sometimes I leave the messages there, just so I can play them again later.

“If it’s a good time, I can use the Personal Office ‘Genie’ to call home, just like with a calling card.  That way, I don’t have to worry about having change for the payphone – the slot’s probably jammed anyway,” Lance Corporal Trevor joked.

“It’s even easier when I’m on shipboard, ‘cause most all of the ships have Internet service that we can use.  So even if I go to sea, I can just use the net to go to Genie Online and listen to my messages.

"The Navy wants all the sailors to use Direct Deposit for payroll, and Genie solved that for me too. I had the Paymaster do the direct deposit to my GenieCard account, so I don't have to worry about anything getting lost. I could have done it to a regular bank account, but this was easier. Adele's got her own GenieCard, so we can just put the money wherever we need it. That way I know her and Johnnie won’t have a problem because I ended up with too much of the money this month. We just move it where we need it without all those high fees for things like Western Union.

“Mom doesn’t like to talk on the phone much, and she’ll never figure out email, so she still writes me letters, like when I was a kid at camp.  Adele just faxes them to my same Personal Office number, and they’re there the next time I log on to the net.  Mom still hasn’t figured out how I have a copy of Johnny’s latest drawing of the dog when it’s still on the fridge at home!

“The time away from my family is rough, but we all knew that.  EasyTel helps make it a little easier while I'm serving my country." says Lance Corporal Trevor.

“I may be going overseas soon.  When that happens, I’ll be using the on-ship Internet as much as I can.  But even if I can’t, my folks can still leave messages, and I can have the Personal Office ‘Genie’ call ME if there’s a phone around.  That way, I don’t have to pay those humongous foreign phone bills.  And I can still use it to call home too!

"I'm glad I have my Universal Telephone Number. EasyTel really helps me feel closer to home, even if I’m halfway around the world!" says Lance Corporal Trevor.