The Paradigm WelComE service provides a range of welfare services to the MoD for the benefit of Military personnel and their families, including:
Paradigm has provided WelComE (Welfare Communications Everywhere) services to the UK MoD since 1999, including over 190 million Welfare minutes from 2003. UK Military personnel deployed on 2 to 6 month tours can make 30 minutes of Government funded phone calls to any location in the world each week using their Paradigm Account Card.
Users can supplement their call time by purchasing top-ups directly onto their Paradigm account cards, or by purchasing Paradigm’s disposable phone cards from NAAFI / EFI outlets.
Family and Friends can supplement call time by purchasing top-ups directly onto the user's Paradigm account card. You can do this by calling the WelComE Customer Contact Centre (WCCC) on 0800 4334 993*. For more information on the Paradigm top up service along with instructions, please visit the Family and Friends page.
Friends and family can also leave voicemail messages for their loved ones. These are retrieved free of charge by the Paradigm account holder. For more information on the Paradigm voicemail message service please visit the Voicemail page where you will also find instructions on how to use this service.
In the Main Bases there are telephone and Internet cabins. Deployed personnel receive 30 minutes of Publicly funded call time every week; additionally, they can top up their private account by dialling *0 from any Paradigm provided phone in theatre.
A Wi-Lite service is provided to accommodation areas and some communal areas to enable troops to access web-based messaging and email services from the privacy of their own bed-space. In addition, at the Main Bases, Paradigm have a number of engineers who provide technical support 24/7.
In the Forward Bases there are Iridium satellite phones to enable troops to make voice calls.
BGAN is a portable Internet terminal provided on some bases and TextLink provides the capability to send and receive emails, SMS and postal letters for the smaller locations and manoeuvre forces.
In Afghanistan, the larger Forward Bases have a new Wi-Fi solution, which provides full Internet services the same as the Main Bases. Future developments, currently underway should bring Wi-Fi to even more forward locations in the near future.
The WelComE Customer Contact Centre (WCCC) is open Monday to Friday, between 0600hrs to 2200 hrs GMT.
The WCCC team are able to assist with:
By phone, using free phone number: 0800 4334 993*
(open Monday to Friday, 0600hrs to 2200 hrs GMT).
BY Email:
* Calls to 0800 phone numbers are free from a UK landline. Mobile and international call costs may vary. You may wish to check this with your mobile/service provider.