Lesser Known TELUS Star Commands (*)

[Mr. Analog]

Background:
I was watching an old MST3K and they had a "phone features of the future" short by Bell from the 60s and it talked about a lot of features "soon to be implemented", it got me curious about what commands we actually have via landline and i was surprised

Transliterated from here in case the page disappears over time...

Call Return

    Activation command:
        *69 to hear the last number that called you
        *66 to monitor a busy line
    De-activation command:
        *89 to cancel *69
        *86 to cancel *66

Call Forwarding Busy

    Activation command: *90
    De-activation command: *91

Call Forwarding Fixed

    Activation command: *79 or 79# or *72
    De-activation command: *73 or 73#

Call Forwarding No Answer

    Activation command: *92
    De-activation command: *93

Call Forwarding Variable

    Activation command: *72 or 72#
    De-activation command: *73 or 73#

Call Screen

    Activation command: *60
    De-activation command: *60

Call Trace

    Activation command: *57

Call Waiting

    Activation command: Depress the receiver, link or flash button
    De-activation command: *70

Per-Call Blocking

    Activation command: *67

Voicemail

    Activation command: *98

Makes me wonder what other features are sitting there that I don't think about...

[Melbosa]

The Voicemail one isn't just an activation, its a short cut to your Voicemail; why do I know: because that is what I use at home.

[Lazybones]

They used to have a guide to these in the front of the phone book.

Then there was also the Talking Yellow pages that had choose your own adventure games and the joke of the day as well.

[Mr. Analog]

I believe there's a PDF with some of that stuff on the page I linked to, didn't get a chance to read it.

I was surprised how many features I pay for and don't use (like call forwarding)

[Lazybones]

I use http://ca.ooma.com/ these days.. The only thing we use the home line for is general contact numbers for Family things like appointments ETC and long distance calls.

I use the Premier service which is CDN $9.99/mo + 911Fees, the "FREE" service is just the 911 fees.

[Mr. Analog]

My home phone is basically a honeypot for garbage, my cell is where the action is

If caller display doesn't show anything I don't usually pick it up.