Cwa-documentation: Hotline not reachable from abroad

[tkowark]

Via email, we received feedback that users abroad cannot call the 0800 number in Germany so they have to wait until coming back to Germany before being able to call the hotline.

Suggested fix: Provide an alternate number that can be called from abroad.

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Since 17.03.2021:

Technische Hotline: [phone]
Verifikationshotline: [phone]

These numbers involve some costs in contrast to the 0800 numbers..

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Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-2566
Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-5138

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Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-5138 iOS
Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-6011 Android

[MikeMcC399]

Is it still the case that the hotline submission_contact_number_dial
"[phone]"
is not reachable from outside Germany?

[kalosisz]

this has not been resolved for almost half a year now!

[MikeMcC399]

@kalosisz

this has not been resolved for almost half a year now!

Are you saying this:

• because you tried to call the number [phone] from another country and it didn't work? or
• because there has been no response to the issue?

[kalosisz]

The number can't be dialed outside Germany. It'd be good to have a secondary phone. Thanks

[MikeMcC399]

@kalosisz
This issue was originally logged by @tkowark who was a member of the SAP Open Source Team, so it is strange that there has not been any follow-up. I am just a community member, and I don't have any internal details. I only know what has been discussed here in the forums.

After the European Federation Gateway Service was set up and the German Corona-Warn-App (CWA) integrated with it in with the release of CWA 1.5 the following FAQ article was published:

https://www.coronawarn.app/en/faq/#test_in_other_country
Can I enter positive test results from other countries?

"If you are in another EU country or in one of these countries and have made a molecular biological test (PCR test) which is positive, you can upload it to the Corona-Warn-App. To do so, it is necessary to verify your identity by calling the hotline [phone]. You will receive a 10-digit TAN with which the test result can be registered in the app. Attention: The TAN is only valid for one hour!"

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I assumed at that time that any problems about reaching the TeleTAN hotline on [phone] from outside Germany had been solved, even though the issue https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-hotline/issues/5 here was still open. It wouldn't otherwise make sense to publish an international telephone number and tell people they can use it from another EU country if it didn't work.

Have you (or somebody you know) tried to make a call to the telephone number [phone] from a location in the European Union recently and it did not work? If yes, what tone or message was heard? When was the call attempt made? Was the call made from a landline, a mobile phone or a pay phone? What was the country of origin of the phone call and what was the name of the telephone operator being used, such as local Telecom, Vodafone, T-Mobile etc.?

With that information we can go back to the people who published the FAQ article and ask them to investigate.

[kalosisz]

@MikeMcC399 I am in Slovakia right now and the number is not even dialed by my phone. I asked s/o in Germany whether the number works, and it does. I assume this has not even been looked at at all.

[MikeMcC399]

@kalosisz
According to https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/travel-during-coronavirus-pandemic/mobile-contact-tracing-apps-eu-member-states_en Slovakia is not in a position to join the European Federation Gateway Service, so I don't know if anybody else will have tried to use the German TeleTAN hotline [phone] from Slovakia.

You say that the number is not dialed from your phone. It is quite possible that your mobile network is blocking access to an international 800 number. You did not say which mobile network your phone is logged on to when you tried to dial the TeleTAN hotline. If you have access to a landline, you could try if you can call from that number. Please also say which mobile operator you are using.

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar
Could the Open Source Team please provide an update to this issue? The issue was originally opened by @tkowark from the Open Source Team itself. Thank you!

[kalosisz]

@MikeMcC399 I tried from two providers. None of them was working. For me, it's not relevant anymore. However, it might be for others..

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399, @kalosisz, Thanks for the feedback. We will come back with news. The topic has been raised internally just now. Best wishes, DS

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Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team

[dsarkar]

Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-2566

[dsarkar]

Website: removed +49. Stand by for an international number, please. Best, DS

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar

Website: removed +49. Stand by for an international number, please. Best, DS

Is there any movement in announcing an international phone number for the TAN Hotline?

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399

Is there any movement in announcing an international phone number for the TAN Hotline?

No news here.

Inside CWA wording will change slightly and +49 removed.

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar
Thanks for the update! Are you able to share what has been going on in the background and the reasons? Policy? Technical? Organisational?

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399 I will try to get some info.

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar
If the verification hotline [phone] is a national German telephone number only, what is the advice for a user of the CWA app who is currently outside Germany and has tested positive with a PCR test?

https://www.coronawarn.app/en/faq/#test_in_other_country still says:

"Please note that currently, the hotline [phone] (as well as hotline [phone]) can only be reached from Germany. We will update you soon with any further developments on this issue."

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399 Yes, it was discussed internally several times. We have no feedback yet. Next week we try to get the status on this one.

[dsarkar]

new ticket EXPOSUREAPP-5138

[dsarkar]

Both issues #501 and #502 were handled in the same ticket, splitting it now.

[GisoSchroederSAP]

This request was already raised and transmitted to the respective hotline team.
They also asked for confirmation to setup a new number that can be reached internationally - approval is pending at BMG (Federal Health Ministry) sind Dec 6th.

I'm going to ask for an update, now.

[ndegendogo]

Thanks @GisoSchroederSAP for keeping us updated!

[MikeMcC399]

@GisoSchroederSAP

Did you get any feedback on the future of the TAN Hotline [phone] from the Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (BMG)?

The FAQ article https://www.coronawarn.app/en/faq/#test_in_other_country still has the following text posted on Jan 8, 2021 promising a further update "soon":

UPDATE
Please note that currently, the TAN hotline [phone] (as well as the technical hotline [phone]) can only be reached from Germany. We will update you soon with any further developments on this issue.

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399 I have forwarded the question internally.

[GisoSchroederSAP]

Hey @MikeMcC399 , meanwhile I received confirmation the new international dial-in number will be technically established in the middle of March. Once the technical setup is performed, the number gets virtualized for call handling independent from any location.
The current plan for implementation is next week, in case of delays I will be updated accordingly.
So far, I have no knowledge about the exact phone number. As soon as we get the details, we will update this issue and the FAQ accordingly.

[dsarkar]

Nummern für die Auslandserreichbarkeit (ab gestern/heute geschaltet):
Technische Hotline: [phone]
Verifikationshotline: [phone]

These numbers involve some costs in contrast to the 0800 numbers..

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar
Thanks for the new numbers! Will you update https://www.coronawarn.app/ accordingly?

The 0800 numbers are on the main page and they are used in several of the FAQ articles too.

[GisoSchroederSAP]

@MikeMcC399 , sure, we will update the FAQ accordingly.
And, obviously, those new numbers will be incorporated in the App UI as well.

[dsarkar]

FAQ entries have been updated. We close this issue once in-app info is adjusted.

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar

FAQ entries have been updated.

Thank you!

Are you planning to change the footer of the main page?

Also https://www.coronawarn.app/de/faq/#available_languages still has the typo "So erreichen Sie uns außerhalb Detschlands"
https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-website/blob/10c9b616aa0119fee8be69d5f3b1620bbb468292/src/data/faq_de.json#L416

We close this issue once in-app info is adjusted.

Do you expect the change in 1.15 or not until 2.0?

[dsarkar]

Detschlands

5x in the FAQ !!! Corrected it. A lot of people told me .... ;-)

Are you planning to change the footer of the main page?
Yep, will do so.

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399 This issue can't make it into 1.15 anymore. So, it will be (let's be careful with such statements!) probably 2.0, which is the release after 1.15.

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar

This issue can't make it into 1.15 anymore. So, it will be (let's be careful with such statements!) probably 2.0, which is the release after 1.15.

I wasn't trying to tie you down to the release numbering. I just wanted to know really if it would be in the next release (and I thought myself anyway that it was too late). So you just confirmed that. Thank you!

[dsarkar]

PR for footer webpage https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-website/pull/1000

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar

5x in the FAQ !!! Corrected it. A lot of people told me .... ;-)

Thanks for fixing also number 6 typo! All good now!

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399 thanks for thorough cross-checking.

[dsarkar]

Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-5138 iOS
Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-6011 Android

[dsarkar]

FYI https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-ios/pull/2370/files

[dsarkar]

FYI https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/pull/2789

[MikeMcC399]

https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/pull/2789 has been merged into branch release/2.1.x.

The German language UI looks good. The English language translation has not yet caught up, so it would be good to check this when the first Release Candidate for 2.1.x is published here.

[Ein-Tim]

Version 2.1 has been released. Can this be closed?

[heinezen]

@Ein-Tim I think so. The tickets are completed.

Closing the issue as this has been implemented in CWA release 2.1

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Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team

[MikeMcC399]

I checked the 2.1 Android release in English and German and all looks fine for the technical and TAN hotline numbers.