Bye, Bye iDEN – Devices no longer available for purchase

Starting 5/18/12, iDEN devices will be completely removed from Telesales, Sprint.com, Consumer Care, SWAC and Sprint Retail Stores. After Friday, the only place to purchase an iDEN device will be a 3rd Party retail store that carries Boost Mobile devices. In the interest of keeping the mole-hunters at bay, I’ll post the iDEN FAQ sheet from Boost Mobile below – it has the same facts as the one for Sprint, with a few words changed, and the addition that Boost retailers can still order and sell the devices if they choose to. 

Also, as of 7/4/12, no more iDEN activations will be allowed in the system. So those that have an iDEN phone activated before then can use it until next summer, but after that it’s bye-bye-bye.

From the Boost Retailer FAQ:

Should I still sell iDEN devices?

• Yes. If the customer is a “heavy” iDEN walkie-talkie user, you can still sell iDEN devices, letting the customer know that the iDEN network is projected to shut down in mid-2013. Offers may be available at a later date to migrate the customer to another device.
• However, if a customer is a “low” or “no usage” walkie-talkie user, suggest the customer purchase a Boost Mobile CDMA device so they can start taking advantage of our CDMA network improvements.
• Starting July 10, we will no longer allow new activations onto iDEN, however the existing
• iDEN customer base will still be able to use their handsets and perform equipment changes and network swaps until the projected network shut down in mid-2013.

From the Sprint FAQ:

• Sprint is completely phasing out the iDEN network by 2013 so this is the customer‘s opportunity to get a jump on migrating to CDMA.

• Proactively offer the opportunity to migrate to a CDMA device.
• Tell upgrade eligible iDEN customers about the great offers available for CDMA devices and the benefits of the CDMA network.
• Tell iDEN push-to-talk users that they will experience the same convenience using the Sprint Direct Connect feature. 

And there’s one more gem hidden in the box: Effective 5/18/12, the iDEN International Direct Connect add-on will increase from $10 per month to $15 per month. Existing impacted customers were sent postcards and bill messages to notify them of this change

Download the FAQ here: iDEN FAQ Document 04_25_12 – ISN

or view below:

View this document on Scribd

DAILY MAINTENANCE REPORT 5/4/12

DAILY MAINTENANCE REPORT 5/4/12

Sprint.com Community

SUMMARY: Friday 05/04/2012 12:00 AM CT – 7:00 AM CT

DETAILS:

• Sprint.com Community will be unavailable for 6 hrs starting at 12:00 AM CT – 7:00 AM CT on 05/04/2012
• Community will be splashed during this maintenance

ACTIONS:

• Maintenance will end at 7:00 AM CT

ID: 31462

Online Store (www.Sprint.com)

SUMMARY: Friday 05/04/2012 12:00 AM CT – 7:00 AM CT

DETAILS:

• Customers will be unable to access the Online Store (www.Sprint.com) for7 hrs starting at 12:00 AM CT – 7:00 AM CT on 05/04/2012

ACTIONS:

• Customers will have access when maintenance is complete at 7:00 AM CT

ID: 31460

Weekend Maintenance Window 2AM-6AM 11/22

We’ll be having some scheduled maintenance during off-peak hours this weekend, though very minimal in comparison to recent weeks.

• CDMA Homedeck (Handset home/landing page for the web), and the Digital Lounge will be unavailable from 2AM-6AM on Sunday 11/22
• Premium Content purchases, both new and stored, will be unavailable for download fromn 2AM-4AM on Sunday 11/22
• Wireless eCare will be unavailable during the same period – 2AM-6AM on Sunday 11/22
• Online Storefront, Sprint.com, and all Telesales systems will be offline 2AM-6AM also on Sunday 11/22

During this time, if there are any CDMA Provisioning requests (adds, changes, and deletes) made during this window, they will be delayed up to 4 hours. Continue to submit any requests as usual, and they will be held in queue until the maintenance window closes at 6AM, at which time they will be processed.

Motorola Debut i856 Maintenance Release

A new software release, RA6.00.004, is available for Motorola® Debut™ i856 customers. Customers with access to a phone cable to connect to a computer and internet access can download this new software themselves. Customers can also go to an authorized Service and Repair center and have a technician update their phone to this new software version.

 

 

Issues that are fixed with the new software:

• Now has Battery Temperature Monitoring: A Cool Down Message screen appears when battery has been exposed to extreme heat.

What you need to do:

• When a customer reports an issue with their Motorola Stature i9 device, first verify the software version of the phone is RA6.00.004.
  1. From the idle screen, press #, *, Menu, the Right Key (Next To OK) in rapid succession. The Trace Mode menu displays.
  2. Scroll down to Unit Info, Press OK.
  3. Scroll down to access Software, Press OK. The software version should be listed as RA6.00.004.
• If the customer is not on the latest software version, tell them if they have access to a phone cable to connect to a computer and internet access, they can download this new software themselves or they can go to an authorized Service and Repair center and have a technician update their phone to this new software version.
• Customer downloading instructions:
  • 1. Have the customer confirm that their PC matches the following requirements before selecting the correct utility on the Web site:
       • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher installed on your computer
       • If using a USB Data Cable computer operating system should be: Windows 98 SE™, 2000™, ME™, and XP™
       • If using an RS232 Data Cable computer operating system should be: Windows 98™, NT 4.0, 2000™, ME™ and XP™
    2. Go to the Motorola Web site at: http://idenphones.motorola.com/iden/support/software/html/firmware_utility.html and download the software to the phone.
    3. Power on the iDEN phone.
    4. Select the utility that matches the phone model.
    5. Connect the iDEN phone to the PC with a Data Cable.
    6. When the utility starts, follow the onscreen instructions provided.

Motorola Stature i9 Maintenance Release

 

 

A new software release, RB7.01.01, is available for Motorola® Stature™ i9 customers. Customers with access to a phone cable to connect to a computer and internet access can download this new software themselves. Customers can also go to an authorized Service and Repair center and have a technician update their phone to this new software version.

 

 

 

 

Issues that are fixed with the new software:

• Customers who text in Right to Left languages (RTL) can now make calls by selecting call back number hyperlink in the Unified Client Viewer (Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)).
• Phone no longer locks up while in idle mode.
• Phone no longer will experience a reset when the deleting a profile while in Zoom mode.
• Phone no longer displays the SMS service center number on incoming messages.
• Calling and dispatch animation clears as soon as a call or dispatch is terminated.
• Users can now upload contacts to the Web server after they have added an SDGC talk group.
• Phone no longer resets when accessing messages with attached pictures that contain imbedded text.
• External backlight now turns off after disconnecting from a charger.
• Phones experiencing a Temporary Error Condition no longer suspends SMS messages.
• Unread Message icon now displays on the status bar when MMS is disabled.
• Ringtone assignment no longer changes with voice playback interaction.
• SMS messages with 765 characters no longer display as empty.

What you need to do:

• When a customer reports an issue with their Motorola Stature i9 device, first verify the software version of the phone is RB7.01.01.
  1. From the idle screen, press #, *, Menu, the Right Key (Next To OK) in rapid succession. The Trace Mode menu displays.
  2. Scroll down to Unit Info, Press OK.
  3. Scroll down to access Software, Press OK. The software version should be listed as RB7.01.01.
• If the customer is not on the latest software version, tell them if they have access to a phone cable to connect to a computer and internet access, they can download this new software themselves or they can go to an authorized Service and Repair center and have a technician update their phone to this new software version.
• Customer downloading instructions:
  • 1. Have the customer confirm that their PC matches the following requirements before selecting the correct utility on the Web site:
       • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher installed on your computer
       • If using a USB Data Cable computer operating system should be: Windows 98 SE™, 2000™, ME™, and XP™
       • If using an RS232 Data Cable computer operating system should be: Windows 98™, NT 4.0, 2000™, ME™ and XP™
    2. Go to the Motorola Web site at: http://idenphones.motorola.com/iden/support/software/html/firmware_utility.html and download the software to the phone.
    3. Power on the iDEN phone.
    4. Select the utility that matches the phone model.
    5. Connect the iDEN phone to the PC with a Data Cable.
    6. When the utility starts, follow the onscreen instructions provided.

4G WiMAX: Texas, Illinois, North Carolina & Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tomorrow, 10/25 – 4G WiMAX will launch in the Philadelphia, PA market! and then….

On 11/1/09, 4G WiMAX launches in these new Texas markets: Dallas-Fort Worth, North Carolina markets – Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro.

• The wireless revolution began late 2008, when Sprint introduced a new era for wireless consumers, with the launch of the first dual-mode 3G and 4G USB modem in Baltimore. For the first time ever, customers experienced WiMAX connection with lightning-fast speed. Including speeds 3-5 times faster than 3G with peak download speeds of 12 MegaBytes per second (MBPS).
• Aggressive 4G market expansion is under way including coverage across 80 markets by the end of 2010.  IMPACT and Sprint.com provide coverage details.
• All Care specialists are able to and should assist a 3G/4G dual-mode customer with questions, billing support, and basic troubleshooting.  Only when customers require more than basic troubleshooting should they be transferred to the 4G Dedicated Support Team.
• WiMAX KMS information is easy to locate using the Content Directory – it is located under Products, 4G-WiMAX, All Specialists.

How 3G Compares to WiMAX (4G):

Feature	4G (WiMAX Broadband)	3G Service (CDMA Broadband)
Speed	Average download: 3-6 Mbps	Average download: 0.5-1.4 Mbps
Technology	WiMAX Standard – Network built for mobile broadband wireless data that is IP centric	CDMA Standard – Cellular voice network based on CDMA technology with added on data features
Reliability	Built into the 4G network based on Sprint’s heritage and experience in providing highly reliable networks	Integrated into Sprint’s 3G network
Security	WiMAX 802.16e includes the use of X.509 security certificates for both the devices and the network. Provides greater security by preventing fraudulent devices from entering the network. Helps users validate they are receiving a valid network operator signal.	Sprint Mobile Broadband uses secure CDMA technology.
Cap	No data cap	5 Gigabyte data cap
Download Times (based on peak speeds)	10MB Photo – .8 Seconds 250 MB Movie – 21 Seconds	10MB Photo – 3.3 Seconds 250 MB Movie – 83 Seconds
Enables	* Video Chat * IP TV * Cloud Computing * Synchronization * Digital Storage * User Generated Media Content * High Definition * Full Length Video * Hard Drive Synchronization * HULU * Online Interactive Gaming – Halo	* Instant Messaging * Audio Conference * Desktop Applications Windows * E-mail * User Generated Media Content * Standard Definition * Short Video Clips * File Synchronization * You Tube * Online Static Gaming – Sudoku, Chess

WiMAX requirements:

• To experience 4G, you must:
  • Be in the Baltimore MD, Portland OR, Las Vegas NV, Atlanta GA, Boise ID, and Bellingham WA area (prior to this launch of additional markets)
  • Have a 4G connection card plan (shown in the table above)
  • Have the U300 Mobile Broadband Card
  • Have Sprint Smartview – version 2.24 or higher

• A 2-year service agreement is required for new customers on U300 device purchase.

Sunday AM Services Downtime

As is almost tradition for the past several months, we will be running scheduled maintenance and upgrades starting as early as midnight, and lasting as long as 6AM. Here’s what will be effected this week (all times are KS/Oakland Park time – Central):

Wireless HomeDeck: 2AM – 6AM on 09/27

• Wireless HomeDeck on the customers phone will be unavailable to purchase premium content, ringers, etc for 4 hours starting at 2:00 AM CT.
• The internet will still be available from the handset, however you may need to type in the URL in the browser’s address bar, and the landing/home deck will be down.

SPO (Sprint Plan Optimizer): 2AM – 6AM on 09/27

• No portion of the SPO tool will be available during this maintenance window.

Sprint.com – Online Registration & Address book: 2AM – 6AM on 09/27

• New account registration will not be available during this maintenance window.
• You will not be able to manage your online address book during the window.

Sprint.com – Manage, Media Mall, Online Store, Digital Lounge: 2AM – 6AM on 09/27

• All primary service options hosted on sprint.com will be down during this window.
• You will not be able to login or manage your account during this window.
• No digital content will be able to be purchased or managed during this window.
• New phone orders will not be able to be placed during this maintenance window.

For any Sprint employees interested, OLIVE, TOES & FAST will also be unavailable during this time for scheduled maintenance.

As always there’s a good chance that everything will be wrapped earlier than 6AM, and 99% of the user base will sleep through it all anyways and never know it happened. All customer facing or impacting venues will be given priority over internal facing items should any maintenance window need to be extended. There should not be any delay or increase to care or retail agents in any LOB for Sunday morning opens, expect BAU.

Early Sunday AM Provisioning Delays

In case you’re one of those people that has an odd schedule, or just prefers to activate your phones in the middle of the night – there will be a short maintenance window early Sunday morning (09/13) from 2AM – 6AM (Central Time) for the CDMA (Sprint) switch.

CDMA Provisioning (Adds, Changes and Deletes) will be delayed 4 hrs due to Maintenance. All will be complete by 6AM, and any transactions that were started and queued during that time will then be processed. With this time frame there should not be any backlog to speak of.

Sprint.com Self Service Maintenance Window

Some updates on the backend are being completed over the next few hours… from now until 6AM (Monday) actually. Affected areas are:

• You won’t be unable to purchase or manage their content.
• Ability to login to Sprint.com/Manage account will be down.
• Customer will be unable to check MOU in Sprint.com – they can still get MOU from the IVR (*4/*5)
• Customers will be unable to purchase content from their computer or from their handset

Fully expect all to be up before the sun rises :).. so you probably never missed a thing!

Quick Maintenance Window Update: Online Store

Sprint.com Store will return shortly!

The website updates are *soo* close to being doing for the current phase, and to be able to complete some needed maintenance, the online store, housed on nextel.com will be down from 2AM-6AM this morning!

So hang tight and don’t get too antsy – the Pre is only going to be available in retail channels initially anyways, so it’s not like you’ve got anything to order, right ? Well, if you do it’ll be up in just over 4 hours.