Internet Access Down? Log on for Help!

Yep, that's what the recorded tech support message suggested when I called last night. Human technicians are now available by phone only during "extended business hours" (theirs, not mine), trimmed from 24/7 because the call volume didn't warrant it, I learned later. But if you're having trouble with your Internet connection, the recorded message suggested, try going online for the FAQ and to chat with a technician.

Great idea, if only my Internet connection worked.

I was one of the early customers of Clearwire, the semi-portable WiMax Internet service provider. The service launched in several locations in Washington state, and has only recently spread, partly because of its alliance with Sprint.

Basically, it's available wherever Clearwire has installed transmitters, which send the access signal to the customer's sleek modem. It's been generally reliable for nearly two years, with an occasional blip. I especially appreciate being able to unplug it and take my broadband connection with me when I visit Internet-free family members.

We may be atypical customers; as a PC World editor and a founder of a wireless company, we were able to troubleshoot the problem fairly thoroughly before reaching tech support on a Sunday morning (humans are available on weekends, if not evenings), and after a short sequence of yes, dammit, we did try unplugging, waiting, rebooting, and on and on, Clearwire has agreed that our modem is dead. They'll ship a new one in a few days.

A few days? What part of "always on" didn't I understand about your marketing? Fortunately, I could make do for my newsdesk shift this weekend, because the university town where I live has an abundance of hot spots -- although they're not as ubiquitous as my former home in Silicon Valley, where Google placed a free WiMax transmitter right outside my door (hm, miss you, Google!).

In fairness, Clearwire's telephone tech support is available from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. "local time" -- fairly generous. But now that Clearwire has installations in New York, Ohio and Florida as well as in Maui and Honolulu, shouldn't I be able to reach someone from 5 a.m. until midnight Pacific Time? Nope, the technician said; you get a human or a recording depending on business hours where you are -- and he wouldn't say, but we're guessing Clearwire determines your location based on the area code of the phone you're calling from. Better be sure your cell phone area code matches the place your Clearwire equipment resides, or your call may be ignored even during business hours. And in our case, "cell phone" is the correct term since we've abandoned a landline in favor of VoIP and when our Clearwire modem died, so did the telephone -- and the option of dial-up access. (Yes, I knew it was a risk, but it seemed a pretty safe bet -- until I heard the part about replacing the modem in a few days).

It should also be noted that the Clearwire personnel we reached have been professional and receptive, even if they didn't always have the answers we wanted.

After a little pushing, a Clearwire manager agreed to swap our modem if we returned the broken one to the store in the morning. During business hours, of course.

What, exactly, are business hours in an always-on culture? I posted a story this weekend about businesses and employees scuffling about off-hours work, and when it's reasonable to expect responses to digital messages during downtime. Journalists (and many other professions) are accustomed to crazy hours. Not ISPs? In our increasingly connected world, reliability is ever more important. And, since the restructured Clearwire (with partners Sprint, Intel and others) plan to deploy this technology nationwide, it may need to reconsider its business hour support plan-especially if it expects to service business customers, or consumers working from home.

Postscript and Happy Ending

Sunday evening: Clearwire's customer care didn't think of it, but we did: Clearwire has a kiosk at a nearby mall that defines business hours the same as the mall -- late on weekdays and open on weekends.

The tech support manager probably didn't know about the kiosk because it's not on Clearwire's website -- it's considered part of the local store, which is on the site but, as it turns out, lists the wrong hours; it's open Sundays after all.

But we learned that after a successful visit to the kiosk, where the sole sales rep at the booth swiftly appraised the situation and swapped our defunct modem for a working model. He even called the Clearwire mothership to switch the serial numbers on our account and ensure operation. We're back online.

Thanks to Curt Rutland, who'll enter his junior year studying business at Western Washington University in the fall. He demonstrated technical savvy and customer service smarts. Clearwire should hang onto him.

Comments

It seems Clearwire is heavier on PR than implementation. It is amazing how much $$ companies spend to keep stock prices...down?

For those interested in grass roots efforts, check out Celairo. Top notch management with a get it done mentality. They are quietly taking over Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston.

Their service offering is available late July.

jlew22

June 29, 2008

9:01 PM PT