The Simply Everything + BlackBerry BES Blunder

Enjoying your Simply Everything plan from Sprint? Most everyone does - especially BlackBerry Users. Mostly this is because with one of the 'everything' plans, a seperate Blackberry data pack is not required (it's a $30 addon with all other plans, even if standard data is already included - which is why almost every Sprint BlackBerry user has some version of the 'everything' plan, it's all built in and included, truly 'everything'. This is of course only for the standard BIS, or Blackberry Internet Service - which is what most everyone uses that doesn't have their BlackBerry attached to their corporate/work IT department. So that's all and good, and will continue to be. Here's the catch...

On the flipside of 'BIS' (the personal version) there is BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server/Service), which means that the BlackBerry not only connects to your company's IT dept., but can also lets you access anything inside the  corporate firewall, direct access to your exchange server, etc... this is also the version that allows your company to 'push' applications and settings to your device, along with wiping its contents clean if you loose it or someone steals it, or you're terminated (lol, seriously - I've had IT depts inform folks that their BB was not functioning because they were term'd - and they weren't informed by HR until later that day... what a way to go, heh).. but anyways, it would seem that someone in the billing dept here at Sprint forgot that we actually charge for the BES addon/upgrade, which gives the BlackBerry the ability to do all off this. All of our tech docs and marketing materials have indicated this, but it would seem that only now, in this time of cutbacks and penny pinching, did someone notice that customers were indeed told and quoted the cost, but it was never billed or collected.

The process of identifying which accounts are not being charged hs started, and those impacted will get a letter in May (2009) letter explaining the error and that BES has always had an additional charge of $20 for the Simply Everything plans, they were just not being charged.

• BES is the service that allows Sprint customers, with BlackBerry phones access to their corporate e-mail account. Sprint incurs a fee to offer this service and therefore it has an additional charge for our customers.


• BlackBerry web functions and BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) for personal e-mail such as gmail, yahoo, etc. are included in the Simply Everything Plan at no additional charge.

Here's what you'll hear when you call care:

• I am sorry for any inconvenience, but BES access for corporate e-mail has always been an option that was available for an additional $20 per month. Sprint incurs additional charges to offer BES service so it has an additional charge. Due to a Sprint error, you had been receiving this premium service for free.


• If the customer wants to continue to have BES service, tell them there is a $20 per month charge in addition to their Simply Everything plan of $99.99.


• Apply the following SOC codes in CSM if customers wish to continue to have BES service
  CDMA: PDSBKBESE
  iDEN: PDSBKBES

Sprint Overage Relief Minutes

Tired of paying $.40/per minute or more for using more minutes that your plan allows per month? There’s a little known tip to help avoid paying the ridiculous price for overages. You have to be alert and plan ahead to get the savings, but it’s well worth it. For instance if you used 200 minutes over your plan in any given month, you would have to pay $80 in overage – with the tip below, those same 200 minutes only cost you $10 ! It does pay to plan ahead, or at least to know what day your bill cycle ends and how to check your MOU (minutes of use).

Here’s how it works! Sprint offers ‘Overage Relief Minutes’ to customers who have used more minutes than allotted in their plan. The purpose was originally intended to help customers in ‘one-time’ situations or to use as part of an offer to entice you to upgrade your plan starting with your next bill cycle while providing the overage for the current month at a discounted amount.

• You MUST call in before your bill cycle ends. Overage Relief Minutes can only be added before your bill generates. Nor care or account services or anyone can change this. If you waited too late, you’ll just have to pay for your usage and mark your calendar next month for your cycle end date.


• Overage Relief Minutes come in ‘buckets’. There are several available for consumer accounts, with one restriction: You may only ever purchase a 500 minute bucket 1 time during the entire life of your account. This is enforced by the system and cannot be overridden (though there is a trick, read on!).

Buckets of Minutes	Cost
100 Overage Minutes	$5
200 Overage Minutes	$10
300 Overage Minutes	$15
400 Overage Minutes	$20
500 Overage Minutes	$25

So, how do you get them? It’s simple. Just dial *2 and ask! Tell the agent that you’d like to purchase “Overage Relief Minutes” and if you can feel the blank stare on their face (hopefully most of those have been weeded out by now) insist they look in their knowledgebase for the information, or in a super nice way suggest to them that they ask their team lead or supervisor about it. While every agent is trained on these, most have forgotten the 5 minutes they spent on it during six weeks of training, and it’s not a common call driver, so some may not be familiar.

• Overage Relief Minutes don’t roll over, no matter what expiration date is put on them, again this is systematically enforced. If you want them next month, you’ll have to call in again. They aren’t intended to be an easy way to get extra minutes, but rather for help for occasional overage.


• The agent MUST backdate the SOC to the start of your current billing cycle, or you will only get a prorated portion of the minutes. If this happens, call in after your bill posts to get it corrected, and be clear about what happened and insist on proper credit to your account.


• You can change your mind and purchase more minutes! If you call in on the 20th day of your bill cycle to add a bucket of 100 minutes, and realize on the 30th day that you really needed 400, you can always add more.


• You can only purchase the bucket of 500 minutes one time, however you can ‘stack’ the other buckets all you want. Need 500 again? purchase a 300 and a 200. Need 600? stack a 400 and a 200.Officially there is no limit on the upper amount, however you’d be able to get 1,500 once and 1,000 any month thereafter, as the same code cannot be ‘stacked’ twice during the same month (assuming you get a rep willing to add that many – as most would probably have the good sense to require a plan change, and I can’t say I’d blame them on this, though there’s no official policy).


• Lastly – in case you have a plan that doesn’t include it – Overage Relief Minutes DO NOT apply to roaming minute charges. These would be billed as normal.

If you find yourself using Overage Relief Minutes more than once or twice, then you probably should listen when the agent offers to tell you about a different plan that would save you money – because most likely they’re right, and you’re hanging on to that ancient plan for sentimental reasons – and if that’s the case, then you may actually want to consider our newer offerings that really do include everything. While there’s no formal policy on requiring a plan change commitment when using these minutes, do the math yourself and see what’s right for you, because in almost every case you will save money if you find yourself using these more than a couple of months in a row.

It’s really that simple – so know what day your billing cycle ends, and check your minutes of use each month (that’s 12 times a year – surely you can find the time!). You can find your MOU on sprint.com, by dialing *4 from your handset, and by speaking with someone at Care (*2).

Have you used Overage Relief Minutes before? Did you know they existed? Comment Away!

Customer Care no longer taking payments over the phone

New this week - if you call into Customer Care (*2) to pay your bill, be prepared to be transferred to the interactive phone system to complete your payment.  In an effort to reduce inbound calls to care centers, and to increase the awareness of self-service options, the policy went into effect at most centers this week. 

If you call for other reasons, the agents have been instructed to resolve any issues first, and inform you that after those are all taken care of you will be transferred to the *3 payment system to complete your payment. While I don't agree with the change, I do see (if only a tiny bit) why it was implemented. It's a step backwards from the personal touch and the 'be the reason' approach, because in all likely hood most customers know they can either pay online at sprint.com or over the phone by dialing *2 - so if they're already on the phone with an agent, and their payment method is already on file, it literally takes 30 seconds to process a payment and all is done. With this new system, not only do I think that some CSAT scores will drop, but it also increases the transfers for each agent - yet another metric that stands between them and a pink slip.

What's your thoughts? If you're arleady on the phone, or willing to wait for an agent, should you be transferred to an automated payment system to complete your payment?

Sprint/Nextel BlackBerry Plans (& Data Pack Addons)

All BlackBerry devices must have a BlackBerry data plan to access data service.
iDEN Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) uses data service and also requires a BlackBerry plan.
If the customer does not want data service, a BlackBerry data plan is not required although BlackBerry devices are not eligible for the following non-data plans:
1500 and 3000 Talk/Messaging Share.
450, 900, and Unlimited Talk/Message/Connect.
BlackBerry Data Plan Options
 
BlackBerry Plans
 CSM Service Order Code (SOC)
 Included Data
 Access
to Corporate
E-mail
 Required Subscriber Agreement
(New Lines of Service Only)
 Phone as Modem (PAM) service for CDMA devices
 
$20.00 Power Vision BlackBerry
BES buy-up

Provides BES service.
Access to enterprise or corporate server.
Can only be combined with:
Simply Everything plans
Everything Data Share 1500 and 3000 plans
Everything 450 and 900 plans
 Attachable Plan Only

iDEN: PDSBKBES
CDMA: PDSBKBESE
 Unlimited
 Yes
 N/A
 N/A

$30.00 Power Vision BlackBerry
Data Pack

Includes data and internet access
Includes BIS service
Access to personal e-mail only (For example: AOL or Yahoo)
Does not provide access to enterprise or corporate server
Includes Unlimited Messages
Includes On Demand and Mobile e-mail
Includes Basic TV (8130 and 8330 only)
Includes Basic Radio (8130 and 8330 only)
Includes Unlimited Sprint Navigation
Includes Picture Mail service (for capable devices)
 Attachable Plan Only

Power Vision: PDSTVBKCE
Optional $15.00 PAM service: PAMADDON
 Unlimited
 No
 N/A
 Can be added for $15.00
 
$39.99 BlackBerry Unlimited
Promotional Plan

Includes data and internet access
Includes BES service
Access to enterprise or corporate server
 Attachable Plan Only

iDEN: PDSBKBULT
Power Vision only: PDSBUN39E
 Unlimited
 Yes
 2 year
 Included
 
$39.99 BlackBerry 10MB Plan

Includes data and internet access
Includes BES service
Access to enterprise or corporate server
 

 Stand-Alone Plan

iDEN: PDS1197:

PDS5MBUUB
1mo data overage promo; BOGO
Vision: PDSB2562V; PDSB2562B
1mo data overage promo; BOGO
Power Vision: PDSB2562E; PDSB2562B
1mo data overage promo; BOGO
Attachable Plan

iDEN: PDSBKB10M; PDSBKB10P
1mo data overage promo; auto-deployed
Vision: PDS10MBV; PDS10MBVP
1mo data overage promo; auto-deployed
Power Vision: PDS10MBE; PDS10MBEP
1mo data overage promo; auto-deployed
 10MB

$0.001 per kilobyte overage rate.

One-month data overage free.
 Yes
 1 year
 Included
 
$49.99 BlackBerry Unlimited Plan

Includes data and internet access
Includes BES service
Access to enterprise or corporate server
 
 Stand-Alone Plan

iDEN: PDS1091
Vision: PDS2544B
Power Vision: PDS2544BE
Attachable Plan

iDEN: PDSBKBUEW
Vision: PDSBU4999
Power Vision: PDSB4999E
 Unlimited
 Yes
 1 year
 Included
 
$69.99 Worldwide BlackBerry Plan

CDMA International travelers only.
Includes domestic data and internet access
Includes CDMA data roaming in Canada, Mexico, Israel, China, and India.
Includes GPRS Data Roaming
Includes data/internet access
Includes BES service
Access to enterprise or corporate server
 
 Stand-Alone Plan

Power Vision Only: PDSB2560
Optional $15.00 PAM service: PAMADDON
Attachable Plan

Power Vision only: PDSBWW69E
Optional $15.00 PAM service: PAMADDON
 Unlimited
 Yes
 1 year
 Can be added for $15.00
 
$40.00 Add Worldwide BlackBerry Data

For Simply Everything, Simply Everything Plus, and Talk/Message/Data Share plans only.
CDMA International travelers only.
Includes CDMA data roaming in Canada, Mexico, Israel, China, and India.
Includes GPRS Data Roaming
Includes data and internet access
Includes BES service
Access to enterprise or corporate server
 Attachable Plan Only

Power Vision Only: PDSBWW40E
 
 Unlimited
 Yes
 N/A
 Not Available
 

Attachable plans are used when there is a voice plan on the subscription.
Stand-alone plans are used when there is not a voice plan on the subscription.
Voice Charges
Attachable plan:
Voice minutes pull from the primary voice plan that is on the subscription.
Stand-alone plan:
On-network voice:
Casual voice charges are $0.20 per minute with additional $0.25 per minute for Long Distance.
Off-network voice roaming (capable devices only):
Domestic voice roaming: $0.69 per minute with additional $0.25 per minute for Long Distance.
International casual usage rates apply.
Data Overage
No data overage charges apply for plans that include unlimited data.
Data overage charges for 10MB plan are $0.001 per kilobyte with a cap at $60.00.
Customer will not pay over $99.99 for MRC plus data overage charges.
First month of data overage is free.
See applicable SOCs in the Blackberry Data Plan Options grid above.
Off-Network Data Roaming (CDMA only)
Domestic Data Roaming:
Included in all plans; no additional charges apply.
International Data Roaming
Available in Canada, Mexico, Israel, China, and India.
Limited to the 7130, 8703e, 8130, and 8830.
Included in the Worldwide plan; all other plans charge $0.002 per kilobyte.
Off-Network Data Roaming (GPRS Network only)
GPRS International Data Roaming is limited to the BlackBerry 8830 only.
Included in the Worldwide plan; all other plans charge $0.016 per kilobyte.
Direct Connect, Text Messages, and Multimedia services (capable devices only)
Standard casual rates apply.
Attachable plans should be added to avoid casual charges.
Phone as Modem (PAM) service (CDMA only)
PAM service is built-in to CDMA BlackBerry plans with the following exceptions:
$30.00 Power Vision BlackBerry Data Pack (can be added for $15.00). 
$69.99 Worldwide BlackBerry Plan (can be added for $15.00).
$40.00 Add Worldwide BlackBerry Data (not available). 
PAM plans are not needed on iDEN BlackBerry devices.
Message Charges
No message charges apply for the $30.00 Power Vision BlackBerry Data Pack.
Casual message charges apply for all other BlackBerry plans (unless another message service is added to the line).
Requirements:

To provision and use BlackBerry data services, a BlackBerry data plan is required on the subscription.
A 1 or 2-year subscriber agreement is required for stand-alone plans on a brand new line of service.
A new subscriber agreement is not required for:
Existing lines of service.
Attachable or buy-up options.
See Blackberry Data Plan Options grid above.
$40.00 Worldwide Data Plans can only be combined with one of the following plans:
Simply Everything ($69.99, $89.99, $99.99)
Simply Everything Plus/SERO Replacement ($59.99, $79.99)
Talk/Message/Data Share ($129.99, $169.99)
Attachable option plans must be combined on the same line as the primary voice plan.
Exceptions:

iDEN devices only: The $39.99 Promotional Plan is only available as an attachable plan.
It is not available as a stand-alone plan.
BlackBerry plans cannot be combined with data pack plan options except for:
$30.00 Power Vision BlackBerry Data Pack
$20.00 BlackBerry BES buy-up option.
Nationwide Volume Pricing (NVP) discounts do not apply on the $39.99 BlackBerry Unlimited Promotional Plan.
NVP discounts apply on the non-promotional plans.
Actions:

Select the appropriate attachable option versus stand-alone option based on the customers needs.
Offer the stand-alone option to customers who do not want to use voice minutes on their device.
iDEN devices only: The $39.99 Promotional Plan is only available as an attachable plan.
It's not available as a stand-alone plan.
Inform customers that if they use voice minutes without a primary voice plan on the subscription, they will be charged:
$0.20 per minute casual voice charges with an additional $0.20 per minute for Long Distance.
$0.65 per minute domestic off-network roaming calls with additional $0.25 per minute for Long Distance.
Transfer customers who will be travelling internationally or who have questions about international roaming to Sprint or Nextel Worldwide Roaming Care located under the General Toll Free Numbers section of the Sprint Phonebook. 

How to fix delayed messages - Nextel & Boost (iDEN)

With the popularity of the Boost $50/Unlimited Everything plan, there's been a lot of  chatter regarding delayed text messages. In case you didn't know, Boost is owned by Sprint/Nextel, and this plan is being run on the Nextel side of the network, which operates on the iDEN network (Sprint side is CDMA). Well, if your phone has been provisioned(activated) for at least 72 hours, then there is one fix that may help you get that 'boost' you need for the delivery of your messages on time.

NOTE: If your account is under 72 hours old, then you will just have to be patient. Welcome to iDEN. Messaging works a bit funny on this side of the world, and we happen to like it that way, lol, so for 3 days you're just going to have to deal. During this initial provisioning period, you will also likely not have any headers in the messages you receive("who sent me this?!?"), nor will you likely know that they are arriving in the wrong part of your inbox (but that's another post entirely!).

So, if your account is over 72 hours old, and your messages seem to be slow or heavily delayed, here's one option you can try that usually helps. (Note that YMMV* and if you're fresh out of your 72 hours, you may require a manual refresh from Boost Mobile Care before everything's working as intended). Most people have to have this done every month or two, but for those that use messaging functions heavily, the fequency could be greater. Of course, most folks never know this is what's happening while they're on hold with the tech or care agent.

Use Urgent Page to clear pending messages from the SMS box.

1. Dial the NPA-NXX-7243 for your phone number
   Basically, you'll replace the last 4 digits of your cell number with '7243', which is 'PAGE'. NOTE: due to the portability of wireless numbers, this is not always available for every number. the NPA-NXX dialed does not have to be the same one as the number being paged, they all go to the same central system.


2. Enter the 10-Digit Number of the device to be paged


3. Press '1' to c onfirm the number entered.


4. Press '1' to leave the callback number (if desired), then '#' 


5. Press '1' to send the message


6. Press '2' to mark as 'Urgent', then press '1' for confirmation

If the cause of your delay is that another message is 'stuck' for whatever reason, then this will correct the issue, and your messages will be delivered without delay until the problem reoccurs. This helps about 75% of the boost 'delayed text' issues that I've seen, so use the comments to let me know if this helped!

*YMMV - 'your mileage may vary'

ScanLife EZcode

There's a new addition in the sidebar - it's a ScanLife EZcode. The concept is pretty simple, and it allows you to instantly visit and share this blog with others. Currently it's only set to take you directly here to the blog, but it can also have options such a 'Contact' or 'Sumbit a Tip' - both of which may be implemented in the future.

To use it, you simply have to have the ScanLife app installed on your phone (available from the digital lounge @ Sprint since November, and available on most other carriers too, I assume). Then a snap of the image with your camera phone is all it takes. One quick use would be if someone had printed out a post, or if someone secretly pinned only the EZcode on your bulletin board, you could pull out your device and be instantly connected to the blog, or given contact options, too.

Here's a larger version, in case your phone's image quality is too low for the smaller version:



I'm yet sure what options may be enabled in the future, but I think the contact and tips menu items will be likely targets in the near future.

Go ahead - cut it out and leave only the EZcode in random places around the Sprint Campus - I know you're dying to!