Laurence Zwimpfer

Watch out for the “86” IMEI trap!

A number of families, when completing their JUMP Kawa of Care online form, are falling into the trap of repeating the leading “86” in the IMEI number. These two digits auto-fill in the Kawa of Care form and there is no need for families to re-enter “86”. When families do enter it, they are unable to enter the last two digits of the IMEI number, as the field is limited to a total of 15 digits. This makes it difficult, and at times impossible, to uniquely identify the family’s modem.

To mitigate this problem we have recommended to Spark Foundation that the auto-fill feature is removed, but until this happens can you remind families when completing their Kawa of Care not to enter the leading “86”. One other thing you can do to help is to always enter the family’s name in columns B and C of the Google sheet (yellow shaded columns). We can then advise Spark Foundation of the correct IMEI.

Glen Innes reaches 200 JUMP Signups

Today marked a special milestone when Glen Innes Library reached 200 JUMP signups (and today isn’t over yet!). In recent months, they have consistently topped the country for the number of sign-ups each month. Glen Innes Library supports one of the lowest socio-economic communities in New Zealand, so maybe this high demand for affordable internet is not all that surprising. It has been recognised for 20 years that families living in low socio-economic are less likely to be connected to the internet and a new survey by Network for Learning (N4L) has revealed that this is still the case. The survey found that at one in six of the poorest schools less than a quarter of the students had home access to the internet.

But this achievement is also a result of the commitment of staff at Glen Innes Library, all of whom have been trained to help families set up their JUMP modems. So, every day of week, people are turning up at the library to sign-up for JUMP. Nearly half of the sign-ups (48.5%) are the result of a referral from a friend; another 41% find out about JUMP when they visit the library.

The top 10 JUMP delivery partners are:

Glen Innes Library, Auckland 200

Masterton Library 187

Whanau Resource Centre, Pukekohe 147

Linwood Library, Christchurch 106

Whangarei Library 98

Kaitaia Library 78

Whanganui Libraries 77

Rotorua Library 74

Ngai Tai o te Awa, Whanganui 67

Timaru Library 60

TechMate, Christchurch 60

Faulty and Returned Modem Processes

Spark Foundation and Skinny are currently reviewing their processes for the handling of faulty and returned modems. While all the details are still being worked through, Skinny has requested that all faulty and returned modems be reported to them using their 0800 number (0800 475 4669).

All JUMP families should be encouraged to call the Skinny Helpdesk whenever they encounter a problem with their modem. Helpdesk staff will carry out a remote test if possible and provide advice to families about how to fix the problem, or in the case of a faulty modem, families will be asked to return the modem to the place where they set it up.

When families bring in their faulty modems, or even ones they no longer require, it is important to check with the Skinny Helpdesk that the modem has been de-linked from the family’s account before attempting to register a replacement modem using the same email address. Another option is for families to set up a new account using a different email address.

Families must also complete a new Kawa of Care when receiving a replacement modem.

The part of the process still being discussed is what JUMP delivery partners do with returned modems; Skinny would prefer a collection scheme, where modems are held by delivery partners until the end of each month, and then returned using a pre-paid courier pack. In the meantime, partners are asked to continue completing the modem return form, and set aside the modems until courier return instructions are received.

Speed Test Voucher Delay

Families who complete a speed test when they get home and enter the results into the speed test form are sent a complimentary $10 JUMP voucher. There is a temporary delay in sending these vouchers, while we await new supplies. This currently affects over 50 families who have sent in speed test results since 1 May 2019. We are aware that some families have been asking about when they can expect their voucher; all we can advise them at this stage is that they should receive this before the expiry of their first $10 – 30 days after activating their modems.

New batch of complimentary JUMP vouchers ready for distribution

We have received the latest batch of complimentary $10 JUMP vouchers, thanks to the generosity of Spark employees (through the Spark Give payroll scheme) and the Spark Foundation. Spark employees in the Spark Give scheme nominate the regions of the country they would like to support and we distribute the vouchers accordingly.

JUMP delivery partners have the discretion to distribute the vouchers as they see fit – the aim being to support families who can benefit the most.

According to our records, a number of partners have not yet distributed all their vouchers from the previous quarter. This could simply be because the Gsheet records have not been updated, but we are reluctant to issue further vouchers if previous ones have not yet been issued.

So this is a request to all partners who are holding complimentary JUMP vouchers – please make sure your GSheet record is up to date no later than Tuesday 12 February, when we expect to make the next allocation. All you have to do in the ‘Vouchers’ tab of your GSheet is add the names of the families you allocate vouchers to in column A, and the date and number of vouchers allocated to each family in columns I and J(for the new allocation). If you have forgotten to keep a record of who you have allocated vouchers to, I suggested you enter “Jump Families” as the name and the total number allocated to date in column H. Cell B2 records the total number of vouchers allocated to you and the number unallocated is automatically reported in Cell B1.

Stunning JUMP Achievement by Glen Innes Library

Our congratulations to Olivia Bender and the team at Glen Innes Library. They signed up a total of 38 families during January, making this a new record for a single partner in one month. While most of New Zealand has been on holiday, we were delighted to see 39 of our partners were signing up new families to JUMP, achieving a monthly total of 150 new connections. In January 2018, we had 22 active partners and between them they issued 65 modems. So this is a giant leap forward. If we keep this up, we can easily reach 2000 new connections for 2019, but our goal is ten times this – 20,000!

As at the start of this year, there were 108 active JUMP delivery partners, with another 31 in the pipeline. If every partner connected four families a week, we can easily achieve 20,000! Olivia has demonstrated that she can connect nearly 10 families every week, so do let us know how we can help all our partners achieve this.

Credit on returned JUMP modems can not be transferred

When families return a faulty JUMP modem, some ask about transferring remaining credit on the faulty modem to their new modem. As the credit is directly associated with the SIM card in the modem, any remaining credit does not transfer to the new modem (which has a different SIM card). Families will receive a new $10 30GB credit when they are allocated a new modem, so we think this should more than compensate them for any loss of credit on their old modem.

Modem returns and resets

There has been some confusion about the processes for dealing with:

modems being set up for families who are then unable to activate them because they can’t remember their email password to complete the final step of the setup process or they already have a Skinny mobile phone account;
modems returned because they are faulty;
modems returned by families because they are no longer required.

Scenario 1: New Jump family, first time sign-up

If anything goes wrong during the set-up process, you should contact the Skinny Help Desk by phone:

Ring 0800 4 SKINNY (0800 754 669) Select 9 for Help; 2 for Broadband and 3 for Jump

The Help Desk will be able to delete any registration details that have already been entered, so that you can start the process again. Or in the case of a family with an existing Skinny mobile account, help recover any forgotten passwords.

Scenario 2: Family returns a faulty modem and wants a replacement

Partners should complete the online Modems Return form with details of the fault reported by the family. Skinny will then arrange for a pre-paid courier bag to be sent to the partner for the return of the modem.
The family can be provided immediately with a replacement modem. This needs to be activated on the Skinny Network (steps 2.1 to 2.5 in DS29 Spark Jump Stepping UP module) and the family must complete a new Kawa of Care.
Partners must then send an email to the Skinny Helpdesk (support-team@skinny.co.nz) requesting that the faulty modem be de-linked from the family’s account and the new modem linked to their account. You should provide the following details to Skinny:
- the family’s name and email
- current home address
- the modem Broadband number (the one starting with ‘0204’), for both the faulty modem and the new one issued
Partners should then update their Spark Jump Register by entering the family name and date the new modem has been issued.

Scenario 3: Family returns a modem, no longer required

Partners should complete the online Modems Return form (also linked from cell F2 in the Partner Jump Registers) explaining that the modem has simply been returned. Skinny will then arrange for a pre-paid courier bag to be sent to the partner for the return of the modem. Please include all the items returned by the family, i.e. modem, power supply, ethernet cable and packaging.
Skinny will arrange for the modem to be de-linked from the family’s account, refurbished as required and reloaded with 30GB of data. These modems will then be added back into the new modem supply chain.

There appear to be ongoing delays in sending out courier bags for the return of modems – we are continuing to follow this up with the Skinny team. Please advise us (sparkjump@diaa.nz) if you do not receive a courier bag within 10 days of submitting a Modems Return form.

D-Day for Spark Jump Modem Firmware Upgrades

Today’s the day that Skinny turns off the internet service for anyone who hasn’t completed the firmware upgrade. This morning, we have already received calls from families in Kaikohe, Whangarei and Rotorua that their service has stopped and the Skinny Helpdesk has confirmed they are are having some problems.

Our advice at this stage is that Spark Jump families who have no internet service:

(1) go the Skinny website and follow the instructions for upgrading their modem’s firmware; we understand families should still be able to do this as the Skinny website is zero-rated (this is how families top up their accounts even though their data package has expired);

(2) contact the Skinny Helpdesk 0800 4754669 (08004SKINNY) for support; tell families to make sure they choose the right menu options, i.e.

for Help, press 9
then for Broadband, press 2
then Spark Jump customers press 3

(3) contact the library or community centre where they set up their modems and arrange a time to take the modem in for updating. Partners will need to be able to use one of their computers to WiFi connect to the family’s Spark Jump modem to do the auto update.

Some Modems not have not been set up correctly for Spark Jump

One of our partners has had the unfortunate experience of receiving two boxes of modems (at different times) that are not being recognised as Spark Jump modems. This means that the modems cannot be registered with Skinny for the Spark Jump service. If this happens, it pays to check first of all with the Skinny Helpdesk (0800 475 4669) – they will want to know the Broadband number of the modem and they can then quickly tell you if the modem has been initialised for Spark Jump or if there is some other problem.

If Skinny advises that the modem is not recognised as a Spark Jump modem, please advise us at DIAA immediately, including the IMEI number of the modem (sparkjump@diaa.nz or 0800 463 422). We will contact Spark’s engine room and they will put it right. If you find one modem in a box like this, then it is highly likely that all five modems will have the same problem.