Technology1 min read

Telstra apologises after customers mystified by phantom missed call notifications

By · Via The Guardian · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Telstra confirmed that a technical fault within its MessageBank platform caused multiple delayed notifications and voicemails to deliver simultaneously before technicians fixed the issue on Wednesday night. More than 3,000 perplexed users commented on the company's social media page after receiving ghost alerts from contacts who had never called. The telco clarified that the disruption was isolated, leaving standard voice calls, mobile data, and Triple Zero emergency lines fully operational. The incident arrives just months after a major July defect caused widespread chaos across retail payment terminals and train networks.

Key points

  • The network's core communications infrastructure remained functional despite the widespre…: The network's core communications infrastructure remained functional despite the widespread confusion generated by the MessageBank error.
  • Delayed alerts caused subscribers to receive phantom call notifications from inactive cal…: Delayed alerts caused subscribers to receive phantom call notifications from inactive callers or even their own phone numbers.
  • The service failure follows an earlier July software defect that disrupted Australian tra…: The service failure follows an earlier July software defect that disrupted Australian train systems, retail Eftpos machines, and millions of customers.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Thousands of Telstra users have reported phantom calls on their mobile devices, with some receiving delayed missed call notifications or voicemails, sometimes days later.

The company acknowledged an issue with its MessageBank service on Wednesday night, saying the issue had been fixed.

“We identified an issue with our MessageBank service yesterday, which was fixed last night,” a Telstra spokesperson said in a statement.

“Some customers may have noticed several delayed missed call and voicemail notifications arriving at once, some dating back to several days.

“We’re sorry for the confusion this may have caused. There was no impact to Triple Zero calls, voice calls or mobile data.”

Telstra’s Facebook page received more than 3,000 comments from confused users.

“I got a missed call on my work mobile this afternoon from my personal mobile which was locked in my cupholder while driving and listening to an audio book via bluetooth,” LisaMaree Collier wrote. “No call on the call log of the private phone.

“So confused as I’ve not called myself in months (last time I misplace the phone).”

Another customer, Steven Alexandrou,…

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