Category: Skinny Jump

Partner Pathways a hit!

Did you miss Sue Kini’s Jump eNewsletter sent earlier this week? We know that half of all Jump partners have read the exciting news about the Partner Pathways now being live, but maybe the other half are still on holiday and just catching up with their emails?

Anyway, this is absolutely something you don’t want to miss, especially for partners where new team members are helping with Jump sign-ups. 

Just one day after the new online training materials were launched, 83 Jump partners had registered. We want to see all 312 active Jump partners register by 23 February and have a chance to win some treats (check out Sue’s Newsletter to find out more about these treats).

And the feedback coming from partners who have dipped into Partner Pathways is fantastic:

“I think that the information around the 3 C’s was excellent, as it really explains the ethos and how to approach conversations with care, compassion and empathy, while also being firm to ensure that those who need it most are most likely to receive service”

“I absolutely love this new portal, and think that this will be a truly invaluable tool for all jump partner organizations to keep on top of training! I would love to have the opportunity to help if at all possible.”

“I feel completing the course will improve my delivery of Skinny Jump to customers.”

Keep it coming – we love getting your feedback – the good and the bad!

Now to get to the point of my post this morning – next week, starting on Tuesday 30 January, Sue and Tawera are hosting a short webinar every day at 11.00am for any partners who have questions about the new Jump training programme. Sign up here to join one of these sessions and we’ll send you the zoom link.

Urgent update for Jump modem stock take

Congratulations to the 28 Jump partners who have completed their modem stock takes and are now on the Jump ‘nice’ list. I have forwarded your details to the person in the red suit and he has advised that because of global traffic congestion, he is leaving for his Christmas duties at midday tomorrow (Wednesday 20 December). 

So while he has made it clear that he welcomes Jump partners onto the ‘nice’ list at any time during the year, he asked me to send his apologies to anyone who doesn’t make the list by midday tomorrow. He can’t guarantee he’ll meet the Monday deadline, when the world takes a pause.

Jump Modem Summer Stocktake – make sure you are on the Christmas ‘nice’ list!

Once every year, we ask all Jump partners to check that their modem stocks match our GSheet records. A match means that you should never run out of modems. Our modem supply process relies on a customer Profile Form being completed for every modem issued; we then use this information to update your Jump GSheet, which then alerts us when your modem supplies are dropping and we order some more for you.

Easy as! What could possibly go wrong? Many things it seems, but a stocktake can quickly put things right.

We are asking all Jump partners to carry out a simple stocktake over the summer holiday period, so that we start the new year with a clean slate. All you need to do is count the number of modems you have available for issue and check cell W2 (Actual Stock on hand) in your Jump GSheet. If these two numbers are the same – Bingo! You are definitely on Jump’s ‘nice’ Christmas list.

If the numbers differ, just send us an email (jump@diaa.nz) listing the IMEI numbers of the modems you are holding, so that we can mark the others as ‘allocated’ and you are automatically added to the ‘nice’ list.

If you are scratching your head, wondering how to access your Jump Sheet to find cell W2, we have created a mirror copy here that you can check – note columns B, C and D in particular.

We are worried that some partners appear to be still holding the older B315 and B618 modems (columns E and F in the mirror copy) and that might prevent them getting on the ‘nice’ list. Our records indicate there are nearly 200 of these older modems still in partners’ stocks. We know some of these will be reset modems and provided they are suitable for re-issue, that is fine, but we ask you to issue these ahead of any of the newer Smart modems. However, we suspect that in some cases, this could just be a matter of modems being issued without Profile Forms being completed. Your stocktake will solve this problem and you automatically join the ‘nice’ list.

So, just to make sure you make it to the 2023 ‘nice’ list, please send an email to jump@diaa.nz confirming your Jump modem stock matches our records or advising us where there a differences – either way you join the ‘nice’ list for the Jump Summer Stocktake.

And we all know what happens for people on ‘nice’ lists at Christmas!

Skinny Jump stocktake is coming to town

With a little help from ChatGPT!

Ho ho ho! The Jump stocktake’s on its way,
Gathering data to ensure no delay.
For each modem issued, are your forms complete and firm?
Hurry now, the stocktake’s near, it’s time to confirm!

We’re making a list, checking it twice,
Gonna find out who’s been naughty or nice.
So complete your Jump Profile forms right now,
To make the stocktake wow!

So be good for goodness sake,
Don’t delay, there’s a lot at stake.
For every modem that you’ve issued out,
A form’s needed, without a doubt!

You better watch out, stay on your toes,
The Skinny Jump stocktake, everyone knows.
So let’s get those forms filled out right,
Stocktake’s coming, to bring the light!

Shout it from the rooftops – Ciena extended for another year!!

The Skinny Jump team has been negotiating with Ciena, one of Spark’s equipment suppliers, to extend the Ciena programme for another year.

Today, Ciena said yes! Thank you to the partners who provided feedback on how much the programme is appreciated by their communities. This feedback was shared with Ciena and I am sure this helped secure the extension.

All Jump customers with an existing Ciena plan (over 800 families) will automatically have their free internet connection extended for a further 12 months and all new signups will receive a free connection until the end of December 2024. An email was sent today to all existing families advising them of the good news.

While the number of new connections is limited, we are keen to accelerate the signup rate so that as many families as possible get the benefit of a full-year’s sponsorship. We are working on some ideas with the Skinny Jump team, but do let us know if you have any suggestions. 

Free Jump data boost for Summer

The Skinny Jump team is gifting all regular Jump customers a free data boost for the next two months – the standard 15GB free data allowance has been doubled to 30GB for the 2023/2024 holiday period. Jump customers received their first 30GB data boost on 1 December 2023 and another one will be applied on 1 January 2024. On 1 February 2023 it returns back to 15GB.

This data boost is only available to standard Skinny Jump customers, not those on sponsored plans like Ciena, MoE or OCHT.

The data boost is provided on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis, i.e. unused data doesn’t rollover at the end of the month.

For new customers signing up during December, the 30GB is not applied at the time of modem activation but is automatically added on the 1st of January 2024 (around 12:00 AM for late night revelers*)

All eligible Skinny Jump customers were sent an email, advising them of this data boost, informing them of this great news! But please pass this on to any Jump customers you come across.

*reveler: a person who is enjoying themselves in a lively and noisy way

Possible delays with Jump modem de-linking

The Skinny Care team has advised that there could be some delays in de-linking and resetting modems; some staff have been temporarily diverted to assist with call queues.

Their goal is to action all de-linking/ reset requests lodged through the Modem Return form within 36 hours.

This is just a heads up in case your customers expect you to arrange instant de-linking of faulty and returned modems. Do remind them that the correct procedure is to report the fault to the Care team and this will trigger a replacement modem being couriered to them. By the time it arrives they can be 100% sure that their faulty modem has been de-linked and they can use the same email to set up a new Skinny account with their replacement modem.

When are Jump modems unsuitable for re-issue?

A Jump delivery partner was cleaning out a storage cupboard today and came across three “reset” modems; they were “pretty old and not looking in the best of condition”; one was missing cables and another had very dirty cables. The label with the Broadband number had come off the other modem and had been stuck back on with cellotape.

In her assessment, as well as the person who assigned the modems to the storage cupboard in the first place, these modems were not fit for reissue. Hence they had been assigned to the storage cupboard awaiting a courier bag to return them for repair or recycling. But after about 6 months, when no courier bag had arrived, they were discovered by another staff member.

So what went wrong with our Modem Return process?

When a customer reports a faulty modem to the Skinny Care Team, the agent does their best to fix the problem remotely, but if they determine the modem has a technical fault, they complete a Modem Return form to arrange for a replacement to be sent and the faulty unit recovered.

However if a customer just turns up on a Jump delivery partner’s doorstep with what they claim is a faulty modem, partners have to take this at face value – we do not expect you to try and diagnose the problem or fix it in any way. All we ask partners to do is to complete a Modem Return form and wait for Skinny to reset the modem so that it can be re-issued, or assessed as faulty so that it needs to be returned for repair, e.g. because the SIM card has expired.

Now comes the interesting part. The Skinny Care team can not determine the physical state of the modem; some returned modems have been used as an artist’s canvas (not always to everyone’s taste); others have missing parts and many are physically dirty. Some even come loaded with cockroaches!

So we need Jump partners to make a judgement call – is the modem physically suitable for re-issue? For our library partners, this is something they are used to – at what point are books withdrawn from circulation and send for repair?

Even if the modem gets the green (technical) tick from the Skinny Care Team, partners may need to override the ‘reissue’ judgement with ‘return for repair’, based on a physical assessment.

If it is just a missing ethernet cable or even a missing power supply, we (DIAA), can send you a replacement. But if it is dirty or defaced, then the modem is immediately classified as faulty (based on being unsuitable for re-issue to another customer).

One of the questions asked in the Modem Return form is “Why is the modem to be delinked and reset?”. If you feel the modem is unsuitable for re-issue, please add a comment to this effect. This will result in a recovery courier bag being sent to you. If we don’t have this information, we act on Skinny’s technical evaluation, which often means the modem is relisted in your Google sheet ready for reissue, but in reality it is sitting in a cupboard.

To cut a long story short, please keep an eye on unallocated reset modems in your Google sheets and please advise jump@diaa.nz if the Google sheet does not align with actual stock on hand. And remember, reset modems should always be issued before new stock.

Jump Android App bug fixed

Some partners reported problems when signing up customers using the Jump Android App. They would get through to last part of the sign up process, but when the customer tried to enter their address, they would get an error message.

This proved to be a software bug, that has now been fixed and uploaded to Google Play on 6 November 2023.

Thank you to the partners who reported this problem.

GMail+ solves dual email issues

At times, a customer’s email address may already be linked to a Skinny service, and signing-up for Skinny Jump will require the use of a different email address.  If your customer uses Gmail, there is a handy solution for utilising their existing Gmail account.

Gmail provides a feature known as ‘plus addressing.’   With this feature, they can add a ‘+’ symbol followed by any word or number of their choice to their email address, and emails will still be delivered to the original Gmail inbox.   For example, if the customer’s email address is mike@gmail.com, they could use:

  • mike+jump@gmail.com
  • Mike+2023@gmail.com
  • mike+skinnyjump@gmail.com

All of these email addresses will reach their inbox, and the Skinny Jump platform (both browser & app) will recognise it as a separate email address from the original.

An extra bonus of ‘plus addressing’ is that it simplifies tracking the origin of spam emails.  By creating a distinct email address for any online account or service, Gmail users can readily determine which website is the source of spam by examining the ‘from’ field in an email they’ve received.  This method allows them to take action to prevent spam and maintain a clutter-free inbox.

So, the next time a customer’s Gmail address is not accepted during the Skinny Jump sign-up process, try adding a + and any word/number that works for them @gmail.com and the verification email will go to their existing Gmail inbox!