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AT&T Asks Its Customers to Become Unpaid Network Testers

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Why is it a manual process?

BluetoothGuy

Dec 7, 2009, 1:16 PM
The phone knows when a call is dropped. The phone knows when there is no coverage (or poor coverage). Why can't the phone automatically send the data back to AT&T automatically?
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Rhino1

Dec 7, 2009, 1:59 PM
Manual process gives the user the choice (and avoids the Big Brother outcries that would inevitably accompany any announcement by any carrier that this 'feature' had been enabled on their phone without their consent.
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Rich Brome

Dec 8, 2009, 11:57 AM
Exactly. The real purpose of the app is to give users a feeling of satisfaction when they report the issue. And cut down on support calls of people complaining.
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cannibalslug

Dec 8, 2009, 12:17 PM
Agreed. An app that does the job for you just isn't the same as one that empowers you. "I, an AT&T consumer, have dropped a call, I MUST tell someone!" This will help them with that. If said app did the job for them their frustration doesn't voluntarily go anywhere, it festers and potentially gets shoved into the nearest person's ear...BAD PUBLICITY. It all seems like a ruse to me but hey, when you put the "power" in the consumer's hand they are happier, and are more willing to say it.
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thickjake

Dec 8, 2009, 2:58 PM
not exactly true...
If I wait 20+ seconds for a call to set up and get discouraged and end the call then redial, that is a bad experience. AT&T does not know that was technically a blocked call because you terminated it.

Same holds true that if my voice quality sucked so bad that I had to end the call or I am sitting listening to dead air and decide to hang up. Would that call have eventually dropped? yes. Is it recorded as a drop? No. You terminated it.
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Globhead

Dec 9, 2009, 3:14 AM
What kind of multi-tasking ability does the iPhone have? I thought one of its big flaws was not being able to run one application in the background while doing something else (like a phone call?).
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Rich Brome

Dec 9, 2009, 9:14 AM
Technically, the iPhone multi-tasks like a champ. Nearly all Apple apps can (and do) run in the background. iPod, Phone, and Voice Memo are the useful ones, but even Safari will keep loading web pages in the background while you use other apps. It's third-party apps that are prohibited from running in the background.

Therefore, if Apple agreed, Apple technically could put an AT&T network quality app on AT&T iPhones that ran in the background. I tend to doubt Apple would allow it - they don't seem inclined to do that sort of thing - but it's technically possible.

There's nothing stopping AT&T from releasing a Windows Mobile app that runs in the background, though. They could also bake it into the software on their feature phones.
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Globhead

Dec 10, 2009, 1:05 PM
So there's no way around it...

Apple sucks.
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Slammer

Dec 9, 2009, 6:46 AM
Does this have anything to do with the iphone having up to a 30% percent dropped call ratio? If not, then why don't the other 70 million ATT subs get to participate?

Since the iphone experiences a more dropped call ratio, it would seem that this measure would almost be retorical unless it is solely used to improve Apple's issue, not AT&T's.
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flagrantmisuse

Dec 9, 2009, 11:25 AM
iphone 3g's have a known issue of when on a call the device has a problem maintaining the service when tranfering from 3g to 2g tower. the 3gs SUPPOSEDLY corrected that issue. a buddy of mine went from 3g to 3gs and noticed significant call quality improvement.
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