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Intact Support SMS update

Following industry consultation, we ran a trial with RSPs that opted in by sending an Intact Support SMS for remote ONT activations from January 2022 to July 2022. The SMS directs customers to a Chorus website with basic information aimed at helping them with their setup when their ONT status is black/grey. Post the successful trial, Chorus has implemented the sending of a SMS to end customers when their ONT displays a Black/Grey ONTs status where they have requested a remote fibre intact activation to be scheduled.  

This year we ran a trial with some RSPs from January 2022 to July 2022 to extend this SMS to be sent for all ONT statuses. Despite disruptions to our field services due to covid, lockdowns, contract changes, as well as contact centre staffing challenges across the industry, the trial was successful with a 0.8 uplift in customer experience (CX) scores compared to the control group. 

However, we are still seeing a high number of customers (around 10%) reporting that they are having problems connecting after their service given date has passed, and majority of these problems are not fault related. To address these problems, we want to provide the information below to support their remote connection order: 

  • Refer to their order with a service provider, so they understand that Chorus is working on behalf of a provider (although not named specifically) 
  • Provide the  address the order is for and activation date; if the information is incorrect, they can have it corrected before the activation date and reduce the risk of failed activation on the day 
  • Inform the customer it is a remote connection, so they are aware they don’t need to be home or take a day off work. 
  • Provide the port number they need to connect to (important for multiple primaries orders) 
  • Provide the ONT serial number, so they can validate and alleviate any address concerns, especially in multiple ONT situations 
  • Provide a link to the Chorus end user terms and our privacy policy. 

We are planning to make changes to the SMS detailed below from 19 January 2023 to all RSPs. We believe these changes will help higher percentage of end-customers connect on their day of activation, allow customers to troubleshoot basic issues and provide RSPs & end customers the opportunity to resolve address inaccuracies prior to connection date.

Current Message 

Proposed New Message  

“Hi, CHORUS here confirming your request to join our fibre network. Please follow the steps at chorus.co.nz/connect to get yourself up and running.”

Hi, Chorus here. Your broadband provider has requested us to activate your fibre connection at [Address] on [DD Mon]. This is a remote activation, so a Chorus technician won’t visit, and you do not need to be home.  When setting up, you’ll need to plug your modem into port [X] on the Chorus fibre box (SN: [XXXXXXXXXXXX]). To check that your fibre box is ready to connect visit chorus.co.nz/connect. For questions or support, contact your broadband provider. Your Chorus fibre connection is subject to Chorus’ End User Terms and privacy policy chorus.co.nz/terms-and-conditions

We have tested this message against different phone types and networks to check that it sends as one message. We will also be updating the connect pages to provide more information about what to do if the address doesn’t match, and how to check the serial number on the ONT to ensure it is accurate.  

We will continue to monitor the impact of the updates to the SMS and will be scheduling industry sessions post launch to share our insights and get further feedback. Please contact your account team for further queries.  

*SMS are not sent for same day activations or to customers that have a technician visit booked.