Service Updates And Internet Settings

When we say "service issue" we mean something that is wrong with the network, not something that is affecting individual members. Unless there is a post in the Service Updates section of the community, members should always assume that their problem is just affecting them and should look for Help in the Help section. Of course, if you think you've found a trending problem that might just be a service problem you should report it at giff.ly/unreported.

There is a problem with that service and we're looking into it. It's not affecting all members all the time though. Affected members should make sure they read the thread to check for workarounds or to see if there is anything they need to do.

A Service Issue is an issue that giffgaff recognise as unusual and are working towards solving. An issue with someones service is a problem with an individual member. It might be caused by a Service Issue, but members should always ask about their problem in the Help section unless there is an open service thread in the Service Updates section

There are a lot of reasons why a member's internet might not work. Don't always jump to the same conclusion. Offer them the setting advice first if they're too vague, but always explain why they need to install their settings, how to do it and what to try if that didn't work.

Don't bother asking an agent, they might not see if for up to 24 hours and it's the Educators' job to report on Service Issues that might have become evident from the community. All of the Educators are subscribed to the Unreported thread so we all get an email when you post in it. This is quicker than PMing one of us in case we're off shift, are busy doing something else or just have a rather full PM inbox. We all keep on top of our emails, so the message/'s will be seen sooner.

Giving a link on it's own is good, but it's also important to remember to explain what is going wrong and why they should check the service thread. Just saying that there is an issue without a link or explanation is just infuriating for the member.

This is just a shameless plug to say "It's a lot of work, yo!" If you reckon you've found a trending issue then the more information you can give us the quicker we can get the issue escalated and resolved. When telling us about it make sure you include who/what you think is affected, some links to threads and any other information otherwise we'll end up doing investigation that you've already done, which is a waste of time which could be spent solving the issue.

All the educators get an email when you post in the Unreported Issues sticky thread. This means we're instantly notified if you think there is a problem. If you post that in a different thread then we're not likely to see it for at least a couple of hours. We can't read every thread (although we try to) so it's important to post this sort of time sensitive post in the right place

The best place for unrelated issues is in the Help section, they won't get much help at all in the service thread. It's fine if a member posts an FYI that they're having trouble with a related service in the thread, but they should still ask for help in the Help section if giffgaff have not acknowledged that there is a problem with that service.

While both status.o2.co.uk and giff.ly/ggservice both do the same thing it's important to keep the members on the giffgaff community so that they don't find themselves on the wrong site if they need more help.

Only the iPhone and iPad apps install settings, so he will have to install them manually.

For all devices the correct settings are:

APN: giffgaff.com
Username: giffgaff
Password: [Leave blank]
Proxy: [Leave blank]

The proxy field should be blank, it's not the end of the world if it has something in it, but it's better to not have anything.

If a green indicator is showing next to a service in the service thread it means that no members are affected by it. We'll never mark it green if some members are still affected, even if we fixed the underlying problem

Only the iOS app can install settings, so it is best to do it manually. 2020 doesn't install settings for any phone any more so that won't work either.

Please don't make a new thread, it will likely get buried in the Help section and members should be directed to the Service Updates section anyway. Post a link in response to questions that pop up about it and explain what is going on in there.

Technically they're all the right answer as they all do exactly the same thing, but it's a good idea to keep people on the community so that they can find more help if they need it, rather than sending them to the O2 site. giff.ly/ggservice is more memorable than the long link though, so it's good to get in a habit of giving it out.

In order for an educator to report an issue we need to find "enough" cases to justify a service issue. This is usually close to 10-20ish. If a member is reporting a service issue to the educators then they should find at least 5 so that we have a solid place to start our investigation. This way we can jump into the investigation and hit the ground running.

All phones now have the same settings, including iPhones.

From April 23rd 2014 settings to 2020 will no longer work for any phone. Instead the member should try updating their software to see if giffgaff is listed as a carrier.

We won't resolve a thread until the members themselves are experiencing as normal. Even if the underlying cause has been dealt with we won't mark the thread as resolved until all members are fixed.

From 23rd April 2014 all phones have the same settings.

If a related service is having trouble as a recognised service issue then it's useful for us to know about for our investigations. You shouldn't leave it at that though. Until giffgaff confirm that there is a problem with the related you should assume that it is an unrelated cause and so you should try to solve the problem through the Help section

It takes the Educators quite a bit of time to look into service issues and we need sufficient justification before we can raise it to the technical teams. If you clearly state what the issue is and give us some examples of cases then we can investigate this much more quickly and ultimately get the issue fixed quicker.

From 23rd April 2014 texting the word "settings" to 2020 will no longer send any settings through. Instead you should try to update your software and see if giffgaff is listed as a carrier.

It's fine to offer this as a first troubleshooting step, but you need to walk them through manually configuring their internet or mms settings.

And for pity's sake, please make sure that you put quotation marks around the word "settings" otherwise they may not understand what you mean.