If you don’t have credit, or if your friend is rich and always has airtime, or if you don’t want to spend your money calling other people, Safaricom has today announced that the Reverse Call Feature is now available to all customers. The service enables a caller to transfer the cost of a call to the receiver by adding ‘#’ before the number they are calling. Safaricom is saying this is a way to have ‘customers pay for calls for loved ones’.

“At Safaricom, we maintain our commitment to always provide our customers with relevant products in line with their needs. This innovation is in line with this commitment and has been tailored to mirror the relationships between our customers with a goal of empowering them to always remain connected with their loved ones,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer, Safaricom.

How Safaricom Reverse Call works:

When calling your friend, parent, or loved one, and you want them to pay for the call, just add ‘#‘ to the person’s phone number. For example if their number is 0720000000, then dial #0720000000.

The customer receiving the reverse call request will see the caller’s details appear on the screen as normal, but once they pick the call, they will receive a VOICE PROMPT asking them to key in “1” to accept the reverse call. The cost of the call will be equivalent to the receiver’s normal call cost. So no extra charges.

This service however will only work with on-net calls. So don’t expect it to work if you’re calling other networks. Also, it won’t work when you’re roaming, or when you’re making international calls. What are your thoughts on the new service? Is it way better than using Please Call Me, or Okoa Jahazi?