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Level 1

0 points

Here is why the activations are delayed.....ATT nor APPL to blame.

i work for att. i got an iphone last night as well and mine activated instantly...but i live in oklahoma, fewer people, fewer activations, fewer problems. okay whenever a new cellular phone is activated it is programmed through a computer and then sent to a piece of hardware called a "switch." think of a switch as a turnstall at a fair or a revolving door at a hotel. only one actication can go through the switch at a time, any other activations behind it are waiting in line like people at a ticket counter. activations aren't the only things that have to go through the switch. anytime you call in to your cell provider and make an account change such as adding/removing a feature, changing a rate plan, activating a new sim, anything like that, it goes through a switch.

sometimes, there are natural switch delays. it doesn't happen daily because in a matter of odds, thousands of people won't be making account changes simultaniously everyday. however, sometimes this happens and it creates a delay in the switch. when this happens, we alert our customers of the delay and advise them to wait a few hours, power cycle and try again. switch delays aren't a daily occourence, but not rare. now, lets talk about the iphones and switch delays.

the iphone is undoubtedly THE biggest thing to ever happen to a cellular industry. last night, hundreds of thousands of people purchased iphones at the EXACT same time, rushed home and tried to activate their phones asap. what happened was a massive bombarding of activations to switches that generally don't handle anything near last night's load. since the phones were sold at 6:00, everyone got home at about 7:00 and most likely overloaded the switches to the point of near exhaustion! it would be like 30,000 or so people throwing basketballs at one hoop and hoping to make it in! theoretically, larger metropolitan areas would have more problems due to more switch activity. granted our switches in new york city are heavy duty, but there are no switches in existance designed to handle that kind of load because with the exception of this weekend, there would never be that much activity!

is it apples fault? no, i think that their activation through itunes is ingenious. it keeps people from having to call into att and it was FAR less painless than in-store account set up! is it att's fault? no. they can't be blamed for overloaded switches due to iphones WILD success. our switches are adequate, it's just that this weekend was a rare-bird exception that would have dang-near blown out any switch. it was like christmas day X 100! i think that i got mine activated so soon because we got from the store to my house in about 20 minutes and completed the activation before the swarm began to get into full swing. so those of you who are still waiting, just hang in there! just think of your activation as being in line for a rollercoaster. you are 3/4 closer to the front than you were last night! having had over 24 hours to mess with this phone, i can assure you that it is well worth the wait. it's the most marvelous piece of technology i've ever had the pleasure of using.

i'm sorry to all of those who aren't active yet, but hang in there! your hour will come. i bet those switches are like hot stove-tops right now begging for a chance to breathe. it's like pouring liquid thorugh a funnel, pouring faster will just cause an overflow, gravitiy has to take it's course! it's not att's fault, it's just the hundreds of thousands of activations fighting for the chance to make that first call! hang in there.

24 imac Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 1, 2007 1:34 AM

155 replies

Conal Ho

Level 3

503 points

Jul 1, 2007 7:30 AM in response to anitas anger

This is an interesting post. Quite informative.

I guess the word to iPhone folks who queued up for hours or days...just consider this waiting part of the queue.

Conal Ho

Level 3

503 points

Jul 1, 2007 7:40 AM in response to anitas anger

I've been reading about half of these comments and let me suggest that it isn't AT&T's activation problems or Apple's "choice" of partnering with AT&T that is the problem.

None of those are problems.

Rather, if you're reacting with impatience and frustration, perhaps it is a good time to turn inwards and see that you can actually choose not to be impatient or frustrated. You may have those feelings of impatience and frustration, but you can choose not to react to them and you can choose to dis-identify with those feelings.

Try it. You'll feel a lot better. ; - )

barryjs

Level 1

0 points

Jul 1, 2007 7:52 AM in response to anitas anger

I beg to differ with you. Certainly Apple and AT&T knew that this iphone was going to generate this mass activation. They set it up through their marketing plan to sell as many as they can in a very short period of time. They created this mass hysteria over their product and then sat back with grins on their faces.

How could they possibly be surprised at the difficulties we are having in getting activated? Did they not think it through? A simple solution would have been to put a scheduled time in each box sold for people to go and activate. At least then I would have known that in 48 would be my opportunity to activate my phone. Now as it stands I was told go home and register and in 3 minutes you'll be up and running. Instead it has been 35 hours plus. and still no use of the iBrick.

I have spent several of those hours on the phone with reps from Apple and AT&T who are totally clueless as to what's going on, each with different excuses, and each blaming the other. As a manager of a contact center myself I find this situation totally appalling.

Knowing that I registered my phone within 2 hours of its release and 35 hours later I still can't use it, while others walked into the Apple store on Saturday and took ten minutes to purchase the phone and they have been activated before me and also ported their number from another provider , leaves me with a bad taste for the executives that planned this fiasco!

And for this I am being asked to pay a $26 activation fee! Do you really want to **** me off any further AT&T? Both you and Apple have some 'splaining' to do!

G5 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

JScott

Level 2

241 points

Jul 1, 2007 7:56 AM in response to anitas anger

This explanation makes sense to me.

We stood in line at one ATT store Friday night but they were sold out by 7. Went to another store that still had them and got our 8 gig iPhone by 8:30 pm. We came home and plugged it in to charge for a bit, and started looking at this forum and seeing so many people having issues.

We decided at that point, that it might make sense to just sit tight and wait awhile, let things settle down. So it is now Sunday morning and we have still not yet started the activation process. (Existing Cingular to ATT, family plan account, intending to keep same phone number). We are hoping this will prove to be a good decision.

I wonder whether people who did not START their activation process till after the first 12-24 hours did any better.

but Anitas' post makes me wish I had gone to Tulsa to buy ours!

Jul 1, 2007 8:23 AM in response to anitas anger

Anita:

Sorry, but the misinformation I have gotten from every AT & T employee I've tried to talk with since Friday has turned me off of getting an iPhone. Your fellow employees insist that the Frequently Asked Questions on your webpage are not correct and I have to pay massive penalties for wanting to switch my Treo to an iPhone. I'm also not allowed to port my number even though I have a commercial account with you. I don't appreciate AT & T's dishonest marketing.

AT & T is the problem. They've killed any desire I had for the iPhone

Malvarez

Level 1

0 points

Jul 1, 2007 8:46 AM in response to anitas anger

I got my phone 30 minutes after they opened and I am an At &t customer and it is sunday at 12 and I still do not have my phone active.

Jul 1, 2007 8:52 AM in response to anitas anger

I work for AT&T too and people are waiting on the iTunes activations to catch up. We got thousands of calls and it was crazy because we can see nothing regarding the iPhone but the billing information. We had never even see the phone until someone bought one in our call center and brought it to work. This is some Apple exclusive stuff. I know people are waiting and blaming AT&T but on this one, I would have to say that its AT&T fault for allowing the activations to go through iTunes and its Apple's fault for even thinking of it.

I would have suggested that the activations go like everything else. Call into customer service, have the phone activated. Once its activated and fully working, go and start an iTunes account to download the features. At least you would have had a working phone.

Chiatty

Level 1

20 points

Jul 1, 2007 8:56 AM in response to anitas anger

Thank you for your post, I am not one of those that encountered a problem, but am glad to hear that there is a technical description of why some are having trouble activating their service. Information is 1/2 of the battle, and perhaps AT&T should have a notice on their web site explaining the problem.

Also, if there other carriers are permitted ot put a hold on number porting for 28 hours, perhaps those that are thinking about returning to that provider should investigate that possibility. I know that I wouldn't want to return to a service provider that would play that sort of game with me.

shindigg

Level 1

15 points

Jul 1, 2007 9:16 AM in response to JScott

I had some other issues, which meant I didn't start my activation until 12:30PM PST on Saturday. I have/will have a new account and a new number. I seem to be in the same boat as everyone else.

Does Anitas's post mean that customers with existing service with AT&T will have no or less issues with this? That is, updating the switch is less of an issue or not an issue when AT&T just needs to point the number at a new SIM instead of updating the switch to point to a phone number to the new provider or adding a new number to the network?

There are definately issues with "current" subscribers, but it's not clear if that's because they used to be n Cingular or AT&T. What network is the iPhone running on?

Dive-RSQ

Level 1

10 points

Jul 1, 2007 9:26 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

It is absolutely unreasonable to expect AT & T to upgrade
equipment to handle this sort of event, since it is a
one-time thing.

Is it. Ok its also equally unreasonable to charge an activation fee for sloppy and out right miss handled service. The millions they made with their activation fee would have paid for a new switch or two.

Jul 1, 2007 9:28 AM in response to anitas anger

Anitas
Thanks for that info!!! I think everyone is just mad cause they paid for this phone and all we can say is that we have it. Sure I have one but I can't use it for an iPOD, DATEBOOK, OR ANY OTHER FEATURE THAT is not PHONE related web etc. all we have to show for it is THE PHONE aka iBrick, iPaperweight!!
Would be nice if they fix this problem to UNLOCK the phone so we could use some of the features and get it ready for ACTIVATION ... I myself got mine on Friday a little bit at 6:30ish I live 5 mins away from the store and now waiting still for the 2nd day. NOT GOOD PLANNING ON APPLES SIDE FOR LOCKING ALL OF THE FEATURES OUT!!!! AND I HOPE THEY READ THESE FOURMS AND LEARN FOR THIS MASSIVE MISTAKE. And good luck to all that have a phone up and running.

Jul 1, 2007 9:35 AM in response to Chiatty

I have to say this ... I'm not an ATT employee, but the wife of one. You have to realize there are other needs and other things going on in the world and at ATT than iPhone activation. They're handling problems all over with a variety of different things. AT&T is hardly sitting around on their laurels counting the money they are getting. While not in the wireless end of the company, my husband was out at 3 AM Saturday morning to take care of problems that came up somewhere. Last night we left a party at 10:45 PM so he could go handle a problem at a manhole somewhere. It's not like the company is sitting around not doing anything. They're doing what they can.

While I certainly feel for the people that are sitting there dependent on their cell phone because they have no land line, and are now without a phone at all, you knew that when you jumped into this with your eyes closed. You walked into a store and bought the first of a brand new product whose activation process was untested, and willingly left yourself open to problems, despite knowing you were dependent on it working or not working.

I have been watiing for this iPhone to come out as everyone else. Saving, hoping, marking days off the calendar. but there is a reason I don't have one yet. I intentionally am waiting for the problems to subside. I willingly waited, and am watching and reading forums and message boards until all the problems clear up so that I don't have to go through all that. I don't want to spend 48 hours on the phone.

You have to realize at some point that when you jump into an untested system with your eyes closed, you get what you get.

Jul 1, 2007 9:48 AM in response to anitas anger

i work for att. i got an iphone last night as well
and mine activated instantly...but i live in
oklahoma, fewer people, fewer activations, fewer
problems. okay whenever a new cellular phone is
activated it is programmed through a computer and
then sent to a piece of hardware called a "switch."
think of a switch as a turnstall at a fair or a
revolving door at a hotel. only one actication can go
through the switch at a time, ...>

24 imac Mac OS X
(10.4.10)

That is helpful information and serves to explain the situation. Your analysis, though, of whose 'fault' this is I would take issue with.

AT&T in particular should have prepared for this. You seem to suggest that no work was done to the switch mechanism prior to the release. Did AT&T assume it would be business as usual here? I'm sorry but that's insane. There should have been a plain - example, build and install more switches, program the computer so that existing AT&T customers go through first, and many other possible solutions that engineers can and do come up with.

On Apple's end, although the blame I would suggest is less, Apple still should have more closely monitored progress in the preparation for the launch. You can't just sign the papers and then walk away. That is poor management. Any good manager and business owner knows that you have to stay in the loop with projects that are going down - especially with new relationships like this one. Did Apple ask for regular updates and also to see the plan for the launch in order to assure itself that its product would be supported adequately? This experience suggests otherwise.

While I appreciate the explanation and some glitches are going to happen even had AT&T done the necessary prep, this amount of delay on the part of users is, to this investor, worrisome.

Jul 1, 2007 9:51 AM in response to LongBeachRep

When two AT & T Sales Representatives AND three AT & T Customer Service Representatives tell me your on line "Frequently Asked Questions" are incorrect, and they tell me I have to pay massive cancellation penalties if I want to transfer to an iPhone, I have major problems believing anything any AT & T employee says.

Jul 1, 2007 9:53 AM in response to anitas anger

Actually AT&T, and human error are to blame... See Post: Get Activated Now - Here's how"

Here is why the activations are delayed.....ATT nor APPL to blame.