Q8Ba7th Official Blog

You may have already heard about the Offline Java and Windows converter available. Some people are facing issues with either installing or running the program, especially the Windows version. Cross-platform compatibility also comes at a price. The Java version requires JRE 1.6, which has a considerable download time.

To provide a simplified and quick solution, we have also included an online converter version, where you simply upload your Contact Info CSV file, click convert and get the output converted file on the fly. There is a limit right now for 100 KB, which should be enough in most cases. My 16 KB file has over 300 records and numbers. If you have a larger file, you may want to consider the offline version.

You do not have to worry about your confidential information being stored anywhere. We do not store any information about you, or your file. The file is placed in temporary location for on the spot processing, and the output file is pushed immediately to the user.

If you are savvy enough with the online version, please just follow the steps below:

Important Notes

The service you are about to use processes CSV files blindly, and does not use country field to distinguish Kuwaiti from non-Kuwaiti numbers. Instead, it will process the file, and whenever a pattern of Kuwaiti number is found, it will convert it accordingly as a Kuwaiti number. Kuwait patterns are numbers like: 7 digits, 6 digits starting with 8, +965, 00965, and +00965. 3 digits numbers are still the same and will not be altered. If you have numbers of such patter in your list that are non-Kuwaiti numbers, especially the 6 and 7 digits, make sure you handle them separately later on, or take them out of the CSV file and recreate them manually. Your international dialing codes will be preserved in all cases. If you have +965 or any other prefix infront of your number, the converted number should still hold this prefix accordingly.

1. Synchronize your phone with your favourite PC address book software. This could be Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Mozilla Thunderbird for example.
2. Once done, export your contacts from your address book into a CSV (Comma Separated) file format, say contacts.csv. Make sure you remember the location of that file.
3. From the 8 Digits Converter Form below, Click on Browse and select your newly generated CSV contacts file, contacts.csv in our case, then click Open. (Max file size: 100 KB)
4. By default, all Kuwaiti phone numbers will be convertered. If you require only specific numbers to be converted, e.g. Wataniya numbers only, uncheck the unwanted prefixes, for example, MOC and Zain.
5. Click Convert. This process will take a while, depending on your file size.
6. If successful, you will be prompted to save the output CSV generated file. Save it to a new file name. Never delete your old file
7. Go back to your address book and delete all contacts.
8. Import the new contacts-8-digits.csv file back to your address book. This should create the same old contacts with the new numbering plan.

Terms Of Use:

8 Digits Online Converter is an online FREE service from Q8Ba7th.com that will help you update your phone contacts to the new 8 digits numbering plan coming to Kuwait October 2008. The web service is designed to overcome the problems of the offline versions, from compatibility, and download time, and instead, make the process a lot easier and faster. This ofcourse comes at the cost of uploading your contacts information to a public server.

Nevertheless, rest assure we do not store any information about the user, or keep the contacts information, or any part of it, onto our system. Once uploaded, your file is placed in temporary folder for processing, and the final output is pushed directly to the user.

The service is FREE to use, and is provided as is, use it at your own risk. Always keep a backup of your old contact information in case you need to get back to it. Conversion is done based on the officially announced new numbering plan in the newspaper, aided by further checkings with mobile operators. Should there be any mistake in the conversion, we encourage you to inform us about it.

The software is being provided absolutely FREE. Feel free to use it and share it, as you like. It was meant to help people do the transistion. We encourage people however to download the software directly from our site, to ensure they get the latest release with all the updates. Please note that you are not allowed however to do any modification on the code, part of it, change or add anything to it, or claim ownership of this product. You should not also try to use it for commercial purposes
like selling, rebranding or service providing.

While this software is FREE, and we believe will be important for many people to migrate to the new numbering plan, we are open for business owners who would like to discuss sponsoring this program, having their brand shown on the web page and software it self. If you like to sponsor this software, do send us an email at the address provided below.

Not Happy With Online Version?
We fully understand and respect the opinion of people who do not wish to send their contacts to a public place. In that case, you are welcome to try the offline versions. Our recommendation is to use the Java version.

Wataniya WBackup Converter

I believe all Wataniya customers got this SMS today about WBackup for FREE conversion of their numbers. It’s a pretty smart move from Wataniya to utilize the eight digits to promote and educate the public about their online backup solution, which I don’t think was selling pretty much before. I’m sure also Zain will come with their own solution pretty soon, but still late! If you want to give it a try, go ahead. Note however that WBackup is only FREE for 3 months, so you need to deactivate the service if you don’t wanna get charged.

While it might be a useful and quick way to convert, I have these points and concerns to preserve and think about before using it:

1. The service is about storing the contact information permanently on their system until you delete them.
2. I would double check if it converts all numbers or only Wataniya ones. Does it preserve the international dialing codes as they are?
3. Incompatibility: This is ofcourse an application based service you store on your mobile. A good large amount of handsets are supported, but still not all. iPhone for example is not in the list.
4. WAP Based: Does it mean I have to be subscribed and paying for WAP to use this service? This is double charging at the end.
5. Most Importantly: One thing I really hate about phone contacts is how each handسet uses it’s own contact fields. E.g, home number, work # 2, Home Fax. You go ahead and use those numbers, until you sync and move to a new phone, only to find out those numbers were not moved because they are not recognized by the address book or your new phone. Would WBackup be able to handle all kind of phone fields, or be missing some of them? When I designed the Eight Digits Converter, I wanted to avoid this problem, which is why the converter only looks for number, regardless of column name, you will still get it.

If you give it a shot, do let us know how it goes.

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