Related Sections: Cellphones GPS iPhone
Want to complain to AT&T for bad service? Now there's an app for that
AT&T's free "Mark the Spot" app for the iPhone will allow users to do what they've no doubt been itching to do for a long, long time: hit a button that complains to AT&T. "Mark the Spot" will pinpoint where you are when you fire it up — using either GPS on the newer models or cell tower-triangulation for first gen iPhones — and then you've got three options: report poor service, poor voice quality or a dropped call.
You won't actually get anything by way of a response, however. AT&T will use the volume of data to analyze its network and find the problem areas.
From CNET (via CNN):
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said AT&T plans to use the data collected to identify trends and prioritize the company's network investments."We think this is a great way to get customer feedback to improve our network," Siegel said.
"We are always looking for ways to make it easy for customers to share their experiences. And this app lets customers report issues. It logs the time and location and automatically forwards the information to our network planning team."
Via CNN
By Savani at 7:46 PM ON 12/08/09
Finally, At&t are taking some actions instead of wasting money on ads and lawyers to respond to those verizon commercials. I personally don't like their service but it's good they're going in the right direction (I hate to see popular companies go down).
By Neotyguy40 at 7:59 PM ON 12/08/09
Now there truly is 'An app for that'.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but yay for AT&T!
By Mua'Dib at 8:07 PM ON 12/08/09
What if you Mark That Spot and there's no coverage at all in that area? How will AT&T get notified of that one, hmmm?
By Korben at 8:26 PM ON 12/08/09
@Mua'Dib- Well it does say GPS is used, if you don't have service for that, why are you there? Most places I've been that don't get GPS (a city because of the buildings or the deep forest because the trees are thick and a hundred feet high) There is usually cell service of some sort. I'm close to both situations and I'm rarely without one or both.
By Scott at 9:00 PM ON 12/08/09
I just don't get it. I've had AT&T service for years, and I've never had any problems with the service. I started out with Cingular, which of course ended up AT&T, and I'm now on my third iPhone and have no problems with service. Is it just in certain areas, cause I don't get it!
By Neotyguy40 at 10:26 PM ON 12/08/09
@Korben
Towers have a much longer range than cellphones. The thing is, for a cellphone to receive a call it needs two way communication, while triangulating a position needs one way communication.
While I have no idea how it will tell AT&T where it lost service (since it needs to communicate back to tell about it), it is very easy to triangulate the position of a cellphone even far out of range of a tower.
By Jerbo83 at 10:58 PM ON 12/08/09
they need this app for blackberry!
By wknight40 at 6:56 AM ON 12/09/09
As mentioned if the phone cannot pick up the signal, even if the tower knows where the phone is, it cannot tell anyone where the problem is. As for GPS it is pretty much one communication with a satellite, which has better coverage. The GPS on the phone will tell you where you are but not be able to make a call.
By gETaDroid at 7:55 AM ON 12/09/09
Typical of AT&T making their customers do all the work. Another reason why their Network drops out. How lazy is AT&T. Verizon Wireless spent money on the "test-man" which is why their network is alot more stable.
By iHATEsyfy at 12:22 PM ON 12/09/09
there's actually an easier (and real) solution to at&t's crappy service:
get a motorola droid with verizon.
By loveAT&T at 5:18 PM ON 12/09/09
What is with all the AT&T Haters at Syfy? I have had AT&T service for ten years have had the iPhone & now the iPhone 3Gs and I love the service.
Independent surveys have Verizons Network & AT&Ts tied in a dead heat for droped calls with TMobile and Sprint in dead last witht he most droped calls.
Maybe you all need to get a clue and understand how the tech works that you are reviewing and complaining about.
By AT&T is a big failure at 4:11 PM ON 12/11/09
My AT&T Yahoo Internet has been down for 26 hours since yesterday morning. After hours calls to AT&T customer support, they admitted there was an outage with one of their POPs in my area, and asked me to call back by COB.
I called again in the evening. Again, after hours on the phone with customer service, they said the outage was fixed, and everything worked fine at their end. So it was my modem, it was Netgear, not AT&T supported modem. Again, after hours calling AT&T, my Internet was “dead in the water”, unless (it appears) I change my modem….
So this morning I went out to the AT&T store and bought a brand new AT&T modem… well, same thing happened, my Internet still doesn't work, except THEIR modem said there was NO ATM Circuit!!! So I called AT&T again…. and again after hours on the phone, they seemed run out of Excuses, said they would have their “Advanced” programmer to take a look, and call me back....
If Google’s 5 minutes outage cost Google to credit all of their customers’ one FULL month fee, WHAT the HELL do you think AT&T ought to credit me for my 26 hours frustration, phone bills, plus two days valuable time????????
By Paul at 12:23 PM ON 12/24/09
Pretty sure these guys can "flash" your Iphone so that it will work on the CDMA (verizon) network=- get the best of both worlds
By Joel at 10:27 PM ON 01/02/10
If you think your ATT coverage is good, you need to leave your home once in awhile. I travel the whole US, and it is the worst. How do they even get away with claiming they are much better. Their only claim is you can talk and browse the web at the same time. No you cant, not unless your in a 3G area, which is rare.
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
Joel:
If you think your ATT coverage is good, you need to leave your home once in awhile. I travel the whole US, and it i...More »