The Skinny Jump team has just advised me that the timeout error that some partners were experiencing with the Jump App has been fixed.
Thank you to the partners who alerted us to this issue. Please let us know if this reoccurs by sending an email to jump@diaa.nz
Some partners have received a timeout message today when helping customers set up their Jump accounts using the Jump App.
The Jump team has raised this with the App developers and expect an update, and hopefully a solution, within 3 days.
In the meantime, if Partners encounter this message, the advice from the Jump team is as follows:
Partners are welcome to issue returned Jump modems without the packaging.
Our goal is keep as many modems in circulation as possible and we certainly want to keep encouraging customers to return unwanted modems. However, we know that many people dispose of packaging materials as soon as modems are activated and we don’t want them to feel they can’t return it because they have sent the box for recycling.
When it comes to re-issuing the modem, the packaging is a ‘nice to have’ rather than a mandatory requirement.
Since July 2022, over 1500 Jump modems have been returned, either because they are faulty or no longer required. Just under 40% of these have been remotely reset by the Skinny team and made available for re-issue within 24 hours. So we don’t want the lack of packaging to result in these modems gathering dust.
To reissue a modem the following items are essential:
(1) the modem itself (provided it is not defaced or physically damaged);
(2) a power supply;
(3) a short ethernet cable (usually yellow or blue);
(4) a User Guide booklet.
We can generally supply spares for items 2, 3 and 4. So just drop us a line at jump@diaa.nz and we’ll get spares on their way to you. If you require a replacement power supply, please specify the IMEI number of the modem as the power units do differ by modem type.
Earlier this week, we encountered a situation where the Skinny Jump address checker wasn’t working and not surprisingly this generated a number of inquiries from Jump partners.
I was probably the first to discover this, as I start processing Jump online applications first thing every morning. By 7.30am I had raised an alert with Alan in Spark’s Jump squad and hoped this might have been fixed while you were still having your breakfast.
Alan was onto this superfast and had his finger poised to do a red alert (I think they call it Priority One alert). Meanwhile many of you had finished your breakfasts and were on the job – did you know that every day Jump partners sign up around 50 Jump customers.
Thank you to everyone who contacted me on our jump@diaa.nz email – you absolutely did the right thing. I’m just sorry that you had customers before the issue was resolved.
At 2:17pm we were notified that the issue had been fixed – it had been caused by an overnight software update.
Should this ever happen again, please do what I did to keep the Jump wheels turning – I went to the Skinny main site (not Jump) and checked the address there (under Broadband tab). This does take a bit of care because almost every address that is typed into the main Skinny site gives the green light. You need to scroll down and look at what broadband services are available and sometimes you will find that a fixed line fibre solution is available, but not the 4G wireless option.
Skinny Jump relies on 4G wireless capacity, so if the main Skinny site says there is no 4G available, then you can safely deduce that Jump is not available either.
Having said all that, this might never happen again – it is some years since we have had any problems with the Jump address checker, so it is good to know there is a work-around should this ever happen again.
Spark and Ciena have today announced the extension of the Ciena Fund for Students. This provides eligible students with a free Jump internet connection (capped at 210GB per month) until the end of 2023.
46 Jump delivery partners have agreed to assist students at schools in their area sign up for the Ciena Plan. These partners are identified on the Jump website as a Ciena Partner. Schools need to refer students to one on these partners to get their Jump connections provisioned for the Ciena Plan.
Akaroa Library
Ashburton Library
Buller District Library
DIGITS
Epsom Library
Greater Christchurch Schools Network
Geraldine Library
Glen Eden Library
Glen Innes Library
Glenview Community Centre
Hamilton Central Library
Hastings War Memorial Library
Hornby Library
Kawakawa Library
Linwood Library
Mangakino Central Charitable Trust
Mangere East Library
Manukau Library
Manurewa Library
Motueka Library
New Brighton Library
Onehunga Library
Otahuhu Library
Otara Library
Porirua Library
Ranui Library
Richmond Library
Shannon Library
Shirley Library
Stratford Library
Takaka Library
Tararua Library
Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom Foxton
Te Manawa (pending)
Te Matariki Clendon
Te Takere Levin
Temuka Library
Thames Library
Timaru Library
Tolaga Bay Innovation (pending)
Upper Hutt City Library
Wainuiomata Community Library
Wairoa Library
Waiuku Library
Waitakere Central Library
Wellsford War Memorial Library
Whanganui Davis Library
ZEAL
It appears that from time to time a Skinny Care agent refers a customer with a faulty modem to a Jump Delivery partner for a replacement modem.
This is not the currently agreed procedure.
During the last six months the Skinny Care Team have correctly processed over 400 requests for replacement modems, but every now and again it appears one or two agents inadvertently advise customers to contact their local Jump partner for a replacement modem.
When this does happen and a customer turns up for a replacement modem after having reported the fault to Skinny, partners are welcome to supply a new one, provided of course that you have stock available. Just complete a Modem Returns form to record both the faulty modem details and those of the replacement.
If you don’t have stock available, please make sure the customer really has reported the fault to Skinny. If so, a replacement will be sent by DIAA directly to the customer along with a pre-paid courier bag to return the faulty unit.
Our standing instruction to the Skinny Care Team is that they never refer a customer to a Jump partner if they require a replacement modem. This will continue until such time that all partners have sufficient modem stocks to start supplying replacement modems again.
Earlier this week, Jo Cocker, Auckland Libraries’ Digital Literacy Specialist, convened a webinar for Auckland Library Jump partners engaging in the new Ciena Jump delivery processes. This generated a number of excellent questions that could be on the minds of other partners who have signed up to support this expanded initiative.
Q: How do we find out which schools are already participating in the CIENA programme?
A: Most of the schools already participating in the Ciena programme are in Auckland and Christchurch. You can find a schedule of both existing and potential Ciena schools here, together with their nearest Jump partner. In Christchurch this has been managed to date by the Greater Christchurch Schools Network (GCSN). From 31 January 2023, the sign-up process changed with modems now being issued by 37 selected (for the trial) Jump partners. Students seeking to participate must have a referral from their school or Jump partner as well as parent/guardian permission.
Q: Who initiates the process to sign students up for the Ciena plan?
A: From 31 January 2023, existing Ciena schools have been asked to send all student referrals to a nearby Ciena Jump Delivery Partner to get a Jump modem and complete the online signup processes (Skinny Jump and the Jump Profile Form (2023 version). Late in 2022, all Jump partners were invited to consider becoming a Ciena Jump Delivery Partner, and just under 40 partners were selected for the trial. These partners identified schools where they believed there would be students who could benefit from the Ciena assistance. It is now up to the partners to approach schools and explain the opportunity. We encourage partners to start with one or two schools in their community, as we are uncertain about how much demand there will be, but the programme is open to all schools (primary and intermediate as well as secondary). Briefing materials (including referral forms for distributing to schools) have now been sent to partners and the first signups are underway.
Q: If a student moves from a CIENA-school to a non-CIENA school, can they still be part of the programme?
A:Yes. The CIENA plan is associated with an individual household (not a school) where the student lives. If the family moves to a new address, they must follow standard Jump protocol, i.e. check that their new address has Jump coverage and then notify the Skinny Care Team (0800 475 4669).
Q: How many schools can we support with this CIENA offer?
As many as you like, but giving priority to secondary school students. While the internet can be important for learning at all levels, secondary school students face special challenges with assessments such as NCEA and the more successful they are during their school years, the more choices they will have in moving to tertiary studies or into the workforce.
Q: Will existing CIENA schools already have helped all their students get access to the internet, so should we focus on other schools?
A: All schools have new students arriving every year; many of these might be from households that can’t afford commercial internet plans, so it is better to not make any assumptions and just help raise awareness of the CIENA opportunity in schools and families in your community.
Q: What happens when the scheme ends in December 2023?
CIENA families will have the option of retaining the Jump modems and migrating to a standard Skinny Jump service (currently capped at 225GB with 6 $5 x 35GB top ups) or returning their modems to a Jump partner.
Q: What happens if CIENA families use all their 210GB allowance before the end of each calendar month?
A: The internet will stop working until the next monthly 210GB allowance is added to their accounts on the first day of the next month. We know that some households do use more than 210GB each month, especially households with a large number of family members. If this becomes a problem, we need to make it clear to participants that there is no penalty in terminating their Ciena Jump connection; we only ask that the modem be returned to a Jump partner so that it can be reprovisioned for another family.
Q: There is no provision on the Referral Form for a teacher or staff member to ‘authorise’ a student’s eligibility, yet the Profile Form requires the student to name the person who invited them to join the Ciena plan.
A: This is a question we expect partners to ask applicants before issuing a modem – who provided them with the Referral Form? This should be a named person from the student’s school or can be a Jump partner staff member. This is an extra step to validate the application, especially if there are any concerns about the student’s eligibility. We may contact this person if we have any concerns before provisioning the modem for Ciena. The important thing is to provide an actual name, not a generic position.
Q: I am doing a regular Jump sign-up and am aware that the applicant family could benefit from the CIENA plan. Can I sign them up or do I need to get approval from their school?
A: Any CIENA Jump Partner with access to the CIENA Referral forms can give approval and simply enter the name of the staff member completing the application on the Profile Form.
Q: How do families know their modem has been provisioned for CIENA?
A: This will generally happen within 1 working day of the modem being issued and the Profile Form and Referral Form being submitted. An email will be sent to the customer by DIAA confirming that their modem has been provisioned for Ciena and customers will notice the data bar on their dashboards change from the startup 35GB to 210GB.
Q: How do schools and the general public know where to find a CIENA Jump Delivery Partner?
The Skinny Jump website has been updated identifying trial partners as Ciena Jump Delivery partners, as per the example below:
Malcolm Foster, the Jump coordinator at Shirley Library in Christchurch, has successfully submitted a Jump profile form requesting CIENA provisioning for one of his customers. The Skinny team has actioned the request and a confirming email has been sent to the student.
As one of the first Ciena Jump partners to road test the new processes, Malcolm discovered a problem with our new cunning plan (suggested by one of our Auckland library partners) to provide an option to upload the Ciena Jump for Students Referral Form as part of the Profile Form. We didn’t know until we tried it either that in order to use the file upload feature with Google Forms, people completing the Form must be signed into a Google account.
We quickly decided that this is a complication that partners don’t need and withdrew this option. This means that the only option now is for partners to email a scanned or photographed copy of the Referral Form to jump@diaa.nz
These Referral Forms will be kept securely by DIAA; our advice to Ciena Jump delivery partners is that the original copy be returned to the customer, as this contains useful information about the Terms and Conditions.
The recent weather events in Auckland and Northland have forced many people out of their homes and into temporary accommodation. If customers seek your advice, suggest they check for Jump coverage at their temporary address and if there is coverage they can take their Jump modem with them. Remind them to also contact the Skinny Care team on 0800 475 4669 to advise their change of address and avoid being disconnected.
Any existing Jump customer who has been displaced from their home or is facing additional financial hardship should be encouraged to contact the Skinny Care team and discuss the forms of support that are available.
We are also aware that some fixed line internet services (copper and fibre) to individual homes have been disrupted by flooding and landslides. Households in Jump coverage areas can apply for a wireless Jump modem, as it could be some time before fixed line services are reinstated. Applicants should be advised to check with their internet provider first to understand how long it might take to reinstate their existing service.
From 8.00am on Tuesday 31 January Jump partners will notice a change in the Skinny Jump Profile form that you complete whenever you issue a modem. From 31 January a new process is being used for students to sign up for the CIENA programme, which for the last two years has been managed by participating schools.
We have upgraded the Profile Form to capture the additional information needed by the Skinny team to provision Jump modems issued by existing Jump delivery partners for the CIENA plan.
32 partners are participating in the CIENA Jump for Students Fund trial; these partners have already received an information pack on the programme. Depending on how things go this may be extended to other partners.
Most Jump signups will continue as normal and provided you select “Standard Skinny Jump” instead of the sponsored plans, the signup process should look much the same. The one change that you will notice however is that we are now asking every applicant to indicate the address where they plan to use their Jump modem. This is to help with our modem returns process; we are frequently being asked to send replacements for faulty modems, but no address is being given.
We hope this change will be seamless; you can continue to use the same URL for the new Profile Form.
Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa 