Category: Modem returns

Jump modem returns – alert for Auckland Libraries

Philip Miles from Auckland Libraries has alerted me to a problem with one of the modem return forms. This one has been created by the Spark Foundation using ‘tfaforms’ and any forms using this platform have been blocked by the Auckland Council ICT Department. Philip suspects that a phisher might have used this platform to penetrate corporate networks and this could be the reason why it has been blocked.

Philip has asked for this particular form to be unblocked, but is advising the Auckland libraries team to use a device off the Council network in the meantime.

Library staff in other Councils might like to check if this form has also been blocked for them and if so, ask their IT team to unblock. The specific form in question is http://tfaforms.com/4864829

Jump modem returns – to re-issue or recycle?

Sally Ann Hardwick from Helensville Library raised an interesting point this morning and this made me realise that others might also be confused. Sally had read by blog posts from earlier this week (made my day to know that someone reads them!) and she was following my specific instructions by requesting a Sims courier label to return modems for recycling that had been returned prior to 5 January 2021 (the new procedures date for ‘modem returns’).

However, when I discovered that the returned modem had only been issued on 30 November 2020, I thought this should be managed under our new ‘de-link and reset’ procedures rather than sent for recycling.

So, I think there is a need to revise my instructions to provide more flexibility:

(1) Any returned modems that you are holding (whether they were returned before or after 5 January) and look to be in an OK condition – with packaging, power supply and ethernet cable – should be treated as potentially available for re-issue. You should use the Modems Return form to get the modem de-linked and reset, ready for re-issue.

(2) Any returned modems that are dirty, defaced or have missing parts should be treated as faulty, and you should use the Faulty Modems form.

Modem returns: a new year and a new Google form – just what you are waiting for!

You might think that Google rules our lives and you might not be that wrong. Certainly for us at DIAA, we simply couldn’t manage programmes like Skinny Jump without Google forms and Google Sheets.

And so, let me introduce you to a new Google Form – MOE Modem Activations and Returns. This is to be used by public Stepping UP partners whenever a customer returns a modem that was supplied by the Ministry of Education (MoE) during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns. When schools were required to close as part of our national response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education made a herculean effort to ensure that students were able to continue their learning from their homes. This involved providing internet connections to households with students, where there were no existing connections. Families were offered a fully subsidised connection for 6 months, which was subsequently extended until the end of February 2021.

Some families received modems that they didn’t need, while others never got around to activating their modems. As the subsidised period comes to an end, the Ministry expects that some families may not wish to retain their internet connection and are seeking assistance from our Stepping UP partner network to recover unwanted modems. We know that some partners have already been receiving these modems.

Families are being encouraged by the Ministry of Education to return any unwanted modems to a nearby Stepping UP partner and we (DIAA) will provide prepaid courier labels for these to be returned to us.

For families who have not yet activated their modems, they can still do this until 31 January 2021 and receive a 6-month subsidy, but time is running out on this option. If you receive any requests for assistance to activate modems supplied by the Ministry of Education, you can help by directing families to the relevant ISP – see list below. Of course if you are a Skinny Jump partner and a family needs help activate their Jump modem, you can use the same procedures as for any other Jump connection.

Ministry of Education – subsidised internet connection providers and modem types:

  1. Vocus (Slingshot) 0800 892 843: Netcom device (NF18s), TPL link modem
  2. MediaTribe (Bryte) 0800 890 105: D Link modem
  3. Spark (fixed line) 0800 733 033: Akadian or Huawei Smart Modem
  4. Spark (Skinny) 0800 475 4669: Huawei B618
  5. Vodafone (Farmside) 0800 852 850: Huawei B525
  6. 2Degrees 0800 544 889: ADM Fritz Box or Huawei B535
  7. Fusion Networks 0800 368 324: TP Link Archer VR300
  8. Compass 0800 640 840: D-Link DIR 853 Gigabit or Netcom NF10WV
  9. Ash Net 0800 274 638: TP Link – Archer C20

So that makes three new Google Forms for 2021:

  1. Jump Modem Returns Form – to be used whenever a Jump modem is returned or when you have trouble setting up a new Jump modem for a customer. This form is used to de-link the modem from the customer’s Skinny account and reset the modem, ready for re-issue.
  2. Faulty Jump Modem Returns – to be used when a customer returns a faulty modem and if required, is issued with a replacement modem.
  3. MOE Modem Activations and Returns – to be used when any modem issued as part of the MOE Covid-19 connection programme is activated or returned.

New process for faulty Jump modems implemented yesterday (5 January 2021)

Thank you to Jo Cocker from Te Manawa Library in Massey Auckland, who was the first to discover a glitch with the new faulty modem process that took effect yesterday. The tiny URL for the Faulty Modem form was linking to an old version of the form; needless to say, this has been fixed. But we do appreciate this sort of feedback. As one of our famous Wellington retailers (LV Martin) used to say “It’s the putting right that counts!”.

So, to summarise the new process:

  1. Customers must contact the Skinny Helpdesk Care Team (0800 475 4669) if they suspect their modem is faulty; the Care Team will attempt to resolve the fault remotely, but if they can’t, they will advise the customer to return their faulty modem to a nearby Jump partner and pick up a replacement. The Care team will also initiate an internal Skinny process to de-link the faulty modem from the customer’s account (this means that by the time the customer arrives at a Jump partner to get a replacement modem, the modem will already be de-linked and the customer can use their same email to set up a new Skinny account with the new modem).
  2. For customers who for any reason are unable to visit a Jump partner, e.g. rural location, disability or otherwise house-bound, the Skinny Care Team will log the fault report with DIAA and we will send a return courier bag and replacement modem to them.
  3. When customers turn up with their faulty modem, Jump partners must complete the Faulty Jump Modem Returns form. There is also a link to this form on the Stepping UP website in the drop down Jump menu.
  4. Customers must use the same email address to set up a new Skinny account and they will then be able to transfer any unused credit balance on their old account to their new account. Note that customers can only use the same email address after the faulty modem has been de-linked, which is why this process is now automatically initiated by the Skinny Care Team when the fault is first reported.
  5. There should be no need for partners to email the Skinny Support Team (support-team@skinny.co.nz) to make a request for modem de-linking.
  6. All faulty Jump modems (B315s and B618s) are now to be returned to Telegistics, where efforts will be made to repair them; those that cannot be repaired will be sent to Sims for recycling.
  7. When DIAA receives a completed Faulty Jump Modem Returns form, we will send a pre-addressed courier label to the Jump Partner for sending the modem to Telegistics. Our goal is to send Telegistics courier labels at least weekly, so if you have more than one faulty return in any week, you can box them and send them together (the courier costs of sending 5 or 6 in a box is less than sending a single modem in a satchel).
  8. If partners are holding any B315s for recycling, that you received before 5 January 2021, these can still be sent to Sims for recycling. Please contact us on jump@diaa.nz and we will send you a Sims label.

Any questions or clarifications about the new process, please contact us at jump@diaa.nz

New processes for faulty and returned Jump modems starts today (5 January 2021)

Hopefully, some partners are already aware of the new processes that started today for faulty and returned Jump modems. Anna Paterson from Rangiora Library has been first to try out the new processes. Today, she assisted a customer set up their Skinny account, activate the modem and complete the Jump profile form – but Anna was then taken by surprise when the customer announced they had changed their mind and didn’t want the modem after all!

I suspect that Anna is not the first Jump partner to encounter customers who change their mind. But rather than consign the modem to the recycling bin, like we have been doing for the last 12 months, Anna was able to log the modem as a “returned modem” using the form here.

This form raises an alert with the Skinny Support team (not to be confused with the Skinny Care Team, who handle calls to the Skinny 0800 number). A Support Team member will de-link the modem from the customer’s account and reset it, ready for reissue, i.e. ensure that the initial 30GB data is available for a new user. When this has been actioned, Anna will receive an email from the Support team, advising her that the modem is now ready for reissue.

As this is only day one of our new processes, we are not exactly sure how long it will take for Anna to receive this email – she is going to let me know (and I will update this blog post accordingly). But we understand it should be ‘pretty quick’, like the same or next day.

6 January UPDATE: Anna has just advised me that she received confirmation from Skinny of the de-linking within 24 hours, so that’s pretty good.

In the meantime, we (DIAA) will add a comment to Column H in the partner’s GDoc Jump Register for the modem in question and mark Column B as ‘pending reset’. This has the short-term effect of reducing your stock levels by one. When we receive advice that the modem has been reset, we will remove these notes and the modem is added back as available stock, ready for reissue.