Spark / Covid / Working from home

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark / Covid / Working from home

gzt

17157 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#268388 17-Mar-2020 08:15

I'm wondering what Spark's attitude to broadband customers working from home will be during this period.

In the past any hint of business use tends to cause a Spark CSA to suggest a business line. I'm not entirely opposed to that, I'm not sure I want to go down that road for only a month's use or similar.

Some kind of spark community statement or directive to CSA might be helpful during this period.

lxsw20

3555 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2439725 17-Mar-2020 08:45

What services do you want to use from home you see being an issue?

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2439728 17-Mar-2020 08:49

Can't imagine it being an issue unless you're doing something insane from home - as mentioned, what do you actually need to do?

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2439731 17-Mar-2020 09:00

I can't comment too much without asking the right folk what i can say.

but i will say that with everything going on, there are impacts everywhere and we are doing our best to ensure people are avalible for support.

to answer your question generically.
The Business teams are taking consumer calls (they have done this for ages now), and Consumer shouldn't be redirecting unless it's outside of their ability (eg a customer with a BS3 Corperate line, i'd expect front line to pass that to the right folk.)

Do you have an actual issue though or are you just spinning up the discussion?

Update, PR as of 12pm 17/3

Spark has today announced the temporary closure of its customer care centres in Manila due to precautions put in place by the Philippines Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The closure is a result of the Government decision, not due to an identified case of COVID-19 within the call centres.

In the interim, customers will be directed to Spark’s New Zealand-based customer care agents. While Spark is currently experiencing normal call volumes, the Company advises customers that they may experience longer wait times than usual.

Wherever possible, and for faster troubleshooting, Spark encourages customers to log in to their MySpark app to access account details and make changes to their service, or alternatively to visit their nearest Spark Retail store.

The geographical spread of Spark’s customer care teams, with agents situated in multiple locations off-shore and multiple locations in New Zealand, as well as agents working from home, ensures diversity in Spark’s call centre network and business continuity in unexpected situations such as the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19.

Spark’s Customer Director, Grant McBeath, says that the main priority for Spark is the health and wellbeing of all its people and maintaining support services for customers.

“As the COVID-19 situation develops we are focused on ensuring the health and safety of all our people – including those working in New Zealand and our call centre agents offshore. We are grateful to New Zealanders for their patience and understanding while we work through this situation, and we will keep our customers updated as the situation evolves.”

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

SpartanVXL

1319 posts

Uber Geek

#2439733 17-Mar-2020 09:04

You’re not running a business from home, you’re accessing business resources from your home connection which is perfectly fine.

Unless you ARE running business services off you home connection then maybe you might want to consider it.

jonb

1772 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2439754 17-Mar-2020 09:44

Agree, you are worrying over nothing here. I've been working from home on a resifential connection for years, so are thousands of over people.

antoniosk

2358 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2439756 17-Mar-2020 09:51

gzt: I'm wondering what Spark's attitude to broadband customers working from home will be during this period.

In the past any hint of business use tends to cause a Spark CSA to suggest a business line. I'm not entirely opposed to that, I'm not sure I want to go down that road for only a month's use or similar.

Some kind of spark community statement or directive to CSA might be helpful during this period.

is your concern around getting support in the event a connection goes down, a power supply or modem burns out, etc?

Perfectly valid question - consumer UFB was reset to 5 days support min, but we live in extraordinary times. I wonder if UFB orders have surged?

________

Antoniosk

wellygary

8333 posts

Uber Geek

#2439771 17-Mar-2020 09:57

Just relax and take up the Free Spark sport offer :)

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

dfnt

1514 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2439840 17-Mar-2020 10:51

Honestly I think you should be more worried about your place of employments infrastructure, and its ability to cope with the extra demand of people working from home, than Spark UFB imo

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2439914 17-Mar-2020 12:30

PR has gone out now, Sorry for the Double post mercuro.

Spark has today announced the temporary closure of its customer care centres in Manila due to precautions put in place by the Philippines Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The closure is a result of the Government decision, not due to an identified case of COVID-19 within the call centres.

In the interim, customers will be directed to Spark’s New Zealand-based customer care agents. While Spark is currently experiencing normal call volumes, the Company advises customers that they may experience longer wait times than usual.

Wherever possible, and for faster troubleshooting, Spark encourages customers to log in to their MySpark app to access account details and make changes to their service, or alternatively to visit their nearest Spark Retail store.

The geographical spread of Spark’s customer care teams, with agents situated in multiple locations off-shore and multiple locations in New Zealand, as well as agents working from home, ensures diversity in Spark’s call centre network and business continuity in unexpected situations such as the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19.

Spark’s Customer Director, Grant McBeath, says that the main priority for Spark is the health and wellbeing of all its people and maintaining support services for customers.

“As the COVID-19 situation develops we are focused on ensuring the health and safety of all our people – including those working in New Zealand and our call centre agents offshore. We are grateful to New Zealanders for their patience and understanding while we work through this situation, and we will keep our customers updated as the situation evolves.”

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

boosacnoodle

963 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2439920 17-Mar-2020 12:46

How many are still working from home after the redundancies back in November / December?

Looks like a 140 minute wait time on Spark's webpage. Not a good time to be having a fault, that's for sure.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#2440014 17-Mar-2020 14:48

The old telecom 'home business package' was essentially the same product and price as a home connection. Although you could also pay an extra $20 per month to get an additional phone line it.

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2440045 17-Mar-2020 15:42

mattwnz:

The old telecom 'home business package' was essentially the same product and price as a home connection. Although you could also pay an extra $20 per month to get an additional phone line it.

Those two plans had different terms etc.

Although the underlying conectivity wasnt different, the product did have reason for the seperation.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

gzt

17157 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2440474 18-Mar-2020 07:39

Thanks for the replies. I get the impression it's a non-issue.