Blunt Perspectives

I’m pleased to announce that Mark/Space, Inc. has just made available a public preview of The Missing Sync for BlackBerry. While the final release version won’t be available until the end of the quarter, the public preview lets interested individuals take a pre-release version for a spin to check out its features.

The Missing Sync for BlackBerry public preview synchronizes contacts, calendar events, tasks and notes between a Mac running Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later and a USB-capable BlackBerry handset running version 4.0 or later of the BlackBerry operating system. Owners of BlackBerry Pearls or the new 8800 series handsets will enjoy The Missing Sync’s iPhoto album and iTunes playlist syncing (for unprotected audio files). The Missing Sync for BlackBerry really brings out the multimedia capabilities of these devices.

For more information, or to download and try the public preview release, please visit

http ://www.markspace.com/missingsync_blackberry.php

Scott “Seize the Day” Stevens

As I was traveling last Friday I had several hours to kill before my flight left, so where better to sit and do some work than at Denver International Airport, which sports Wi-Fi in the while airport by AT&T and allows roaming partners like my subscription to Boingo.

I found a comfortable spot in a restaurant, opened my laptop and tried to login only finding my “login was rejected”. Much to my dismay, the AT&T “rejected” page did not offer any more specific information or a recharge page like CenturyTel Wi-Fi does. It also does not have “white-listed” links to roaming partners or an account management tool – and since I am a roaming customer through Boingo, I was left wondering how to fix this with Boingo when I can’t get to their website.

I felt trapped and frustrated.

Luckily the “rejected” AT&T Wi-Fi page does offer their toll-free number to call. I gave it a long shot hoping they could tell me some information about my account status or if my user/pass was just wrong (which I knew it was not). At a minimum all I wanted at that point was a number for Boingo.

From my mobile I call the 800 number and reach 3 options of which #1 is a somewhat logical choice as a customer, then the following prompt offering an account issue or tech support option.

Ring, ring, pickup…

I was stunned. I was maybe on hold about the length of time it takes for the call to transfer and a friendly female voice greeted me on the other end. I informed her that I was reaching that page, that I was a Boingo subscriber and that I believed my user/pass was okay.

The customer service rep informed me she could not help with Boingo account questions. My hope balloon just went flat. I asked if she had Boingo’s number and she happily looked it up. We laughed about my inability to get it without my login working. She offered me the number for Boingo which took a minute or two and to my surprise…

She offered to transfer my call.

I was glad to hear that Boingo and AT&T Wi-Fi decided to do the logical thing and at least allow transferring of calls. I accepted her offer and was transferred to Boingo where I was literally picked up on first ring. I asked the rep if they staff 1 customer service agent per subscriber and we laughed.

We got down to business…

We asked for my credentials (not secure ones; last name, first, account city) which I passed with flying colors despite an error from a recent address change. He informed me that the old card we had was expired and I gladly provided him a new card. He suggested a “few minutes” until all systems update and I can get back online.

Total support time: 5 Minutes

Because I was impatient from email withdrawals I tried to login about 30-seconds later with success. My email was downloading and the crisis evaded.

It was an experience of melancholy…

My customer service call was one of the quickest and most successful calls in my life. The reps were friendly and helpful, I was never on hold for significant time and the prompts were easy enough – Kudos to both AT&T and Boingo.

Although it had a happy ending, the beginning was very frustrating and restricting. The obscure message about my rejected login. No conspicuous links to white-listed roaming sites or roaming support pages. No phone numbers to roaming partner support. No mention that their support number would help. No more specific information on my login or account status. No conspicuous helpful troubleshooting tips.

In conclusion:

As a professional who builds Wi-Fi networks (including citywide “Muni” networks) I feel that I have more patience when it comes to these issues and typically resolve problems on my own. However, I was very disappointed at first because of the pure lack of information given to me on the “reject” page. Because I know what technical capabilities are available I felt underserved and confused. Many folks (especially Wi-FI consumers) are tech-savvy and prefer to fix problems on their own.

Unfortunately AT&T only offers phone support as the obvious option – despite an excellent support site that offers lots of good information, it was not an obvious option. Kudos to AT&T for the excellent support info and for the quick and helpful customer service. Thank you Boingo for impressively easy and fast support too.

But AT&T needs to beef up their self-help. Make your support docs the FIRST option, not last or obscurely placed on your very busy home page. Provide more information other than “rejected” for current subscribers. Include white-listed links on the page to roaming partners’ support pages. Include support phone numbers for your roaming partners.

Tech support costs all of us money; it affects ATT and Boingo’s bottom line and thus my cost for the service. Give me more info and let me fix my problem for us. I don’t want to spend ATT’s support money just to call Boingo directly.

I think roaming has come a long way and is doing a great job. These are really my suggestions on how to improve support and roaming support. Overall I am extremely happy with the service from Boingo, their partners and believe it’s worth every penny. I flock to use service where I know I can use my subscription on a reliable network. I prefer this far and above unreliable and illusive free Wi-Fi and even greater over incompatible “one-off” and/or non-roaming hotspots.

If given the chance, I would love nothing more than to help prefect Wi-Fi roaming.

Sincerely,

Scott Stevens