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Customer Outreach and Education

This workshop focuses on residential products and services that require commercial power, how to educate customers about the need for backup batteries, and ensuring effective communication.

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Customer Outreach and Education

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  1. Customer Outreach and Education Getting the Message to our Customers R. 07-04-015 Phase 2 Workshop Colin Petheram AT&T California November 24, 2008

  2. OVERVIEW • Residential products and services that require commercial power • How those products and services are ordered and installed • Replacement battery • How should education programs address the special needs of groups such as the deaf, disabled or visually impaired regarding options available to them, such as extending the life of the back up battery? • How do we make sure customers get the message? Page 2

  3. AT&T residential products that require commercial power at the customer premises • Plain Old Telephone Service (“POTS”) provisioned over Fiber to the Premises (“FTTP”) • Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) • Other services, depending on the equipment • Cordless phones • TTY and other devices for disabled persons Page 3

  4. Example of point of sale disclosure: • Opening verbiage given by service representatives when placing order for customer for FTTP: • “Mr./Mrs. customer, your telephone service functions on electrical power. If a power outage occurs, you won't be able to make or receive calls, including 911 calls, unless you have a back-up battery. We are providing an initial back-up battery so your service keeps working for up to 8 hours. You will need to replace the back-up battery, when necessary. You may purchase replacements through the vendor by calling the 800 number on the battery label. Or you may purchase replacements through another vendor.” Page 4

  5. Example of website disclosure: • “AT&T U-verse Voice, like other Voice over Internet Protocol ("Voice over IP" or "VoIP") services, requires electrical power at your home to operate. “Your AT&T U-verse Voice service will include an initial Residential Gateway** Battery Backup unit ("BBU") with an initial backup battery, to help maintain your AT&T U-verse Voice service in the event of a short disruption to your commercial power. The BBU provides approximately 4 hours of battery backup time with a new, fully charged battery.*** Note: If you have an Optical Network Terminal ("ONT"), an equipment box generally attached to the outside of your home, which terminates AT&T's fiber network, you must also have battery backup power at the ONT for AT&T U-verse Voice to function in the event of a power outage.”

  6. Example of confirmation letter disclosure: • Confirmation letter sent to customer for FTTP states: “Your telephone service requires electrical power from your home to operate. If a power outage occurs, you will not be able to make or receive calls, including 911 calls, unless you have battery backup power for the Optical Network Terminal (ONT)--an equipment box typically installed on the outside of your home, where AT&T’s fiber network terminates. AT&T provides a power supply unit for the ONT, which is installed inside your home or garage. AT&T also provides an initial backup battery for the power supply unit to the first resident who orders services at a premises. (If a prior resident of your premises was the first resident to order services, you should check the battery at service initiation and replace if necessary).” • eConfirmation sent to customer states: “The initial battery for the Residential Gateway Battery Backup Unit will take approximately 18 hours to charge. During this period especially, and at all times in general, you should have an alternative means of accessing 911 emergency services, such as via a cellular telephone. Your AT&T U-verse Voice service will not function during a power outage without battery backup power for the Residential Gateway and, if applicable, your Optical Network Terminal (equipment box on outside of home where AT&T’s fiber network terminates). If a power outage occurs, you will need battery backup power for voice services, including 911, and for your home alarm to function. AT&T provides the initial battery.” Page 6

  7. Examples of disclosure at time of installation: Flyers provided by the technician also explain about the battery for FTTP: “The following is important follow-up information from AT&T, your local service provider. Please retain this information for your records. “Required Back-up Battery – Your telephone service functions on electrical power. If a power outage occurs, you will not be able to make or receive calls, including 911 calls, unless you have a functional back-up battery. We are providing an initial back-up battery in the power supply so your service continues for up to eight hours. To conserve battery power during an outage, we suggest you not use high speed Internet access.”

  8. Examples of disclosure at time of installation: (Cont’d) • Feature guide given to customer at the time of installation states: “AT&T U-verse VoiceSM requires electrical power at your home to operate. An AT&T U-verseSM Residential Gateway (RG) battery backup unit (BBU) was set up by the AT&T technician at installation to help maintain your service in the event of a short disruption to your power. Please be aware of the following: “Typical battery backup time for the BBU is 4 hours with a new, fully charged CSB- or YUSA-branded battery or other battery recommended or supplied by Belkin, with one corded single-line touch-tone phone connected to the RG, directly or through your in-home wiring, and with no other equipment and no service other than AT&T U-verse Voice service drawing power from the BBU. Actual results will vary, depending, among other things, on battery age, usage patterns, and environmental conditions.” • Terms of Service state (among other things): “Power Outages and Backup Batteries. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTAND THAT AT&T U-VERSE VOICE REQUIRES ELECTRICAL POWER TO FUNCTION AND THAT YOU THEREFORE MUST AT ALL TIMES MAINTAIN A WORKING BACKUP BATTERY FOR BOTH YOUR RG AND YOUR ONT (IF YOU HAVE ONE).”

  9. Examples of disclosure at time of installation: (Cont’d) At installation, the customer signs an AT&T U-verse 911 Acknowledgement   There are critical differences between 911 service with AT&T U-verse Voice and 911 service with traditional wireline telephone service.Electrical Power. Historically, telephone service has been powered by electrical power within the telephone network. By contrast, AT&T U-verse Voice is powered by electrical power in your home.1. If you have an Optical Network Terminal (ONT)-- a box typically located on the side of your house or in your garage, where AT&T's fiber network terminates--you also have a power supply, typically located inside your garage, that powers the ONT. In addition, you have a Residential Gateway (RG) inside your home that uses electrical power to operate all your U-verse services. During a power outage, you will not be able to make or receive calls with AT&T U-verse Voice, including 911 calls, unless you have a functioning backup battery for both the ONT and the RG. To conserve battery power for AT&T U-verse Voice, DO NOT use any U-verse service other than AT&T U-verse Voice during the power outage. AT&T recommends that you use a corded phone with AT&T U-verse Voice during a power outage. (Cordless phones require electrical power to work and may not be equipped with backup batteries). AT&T also recommends that you always have an alternative means of accessing 911 during a power outage, such as via a cellular phone.

  10. Examples of disclosure at time of installation: (Cont’d) AT&T U-Verse 911 Acknowledgement (cont’d) 2. If you do not have an ONT, you do not have a power supply for the ONT. Instead, you have a Network Interface Device (NID)-- a box typically located on the side of your house or in your garage, where AT&T's network terminates. You do not have a power supply for the NID itself, because the NID is powered by electrical power within AT&T's network. However, you do have a Residential Gateway (RG) inside your house that uses electrical power to operate all your U-verse services. During a power outage, you will not be able to make or receive calls, including 911 calls, unless you have a functioning backup battery for the RG. To conserve battery power for AT&T U-verse Voice, DO NOT use any U-verse service other than AT&T U-verse Voice during the power outage. AT&T recommends that you use a corded phone with AT&T U-verse Voice during a power outage. (Cordless phones require electrical power to work and may not be equipped with backup batteries). AT&T also recommends that you always have an alternative means of accessing 911 during a power outage, such as via a cellular phone. Broadband Network. AT&T U-Verse Voice is provided to you over a broadband (Internet Protocol or "IP") network. If there is a broadband network outage, your AT&T U-verse Voice service will not function and you will not be able to make 911 calls with this service. AT&T recommends that you always have an alternative means of accessing 911 during a broadband outage, such as via a cellular phone.

  11. Examples of disclosure at time of installation (Cont’d) AT&T U-Verse 911 Acknowledgement (cont’d) Additional Limitations. Please note that AT&T U-verse Voice will work only in your home. You will not be able to make any calls, including 911 calls, from any other location, even if you move your Residential Gateway (RG) or an external Telephone Adapter (TA) to the new location.I have read and understand that there are critical differences between 911 service with AT&T U-verse Voice and 911 service with traditional wireline telephone service. I have been advised which paragraph above, paragraph numbered "1" or paragraph numbered "2," describes the electrical power differences applicable to my AT&T U-verse Voice service. In addition, I have been provided with stickers that describe all the above differences and have been instructed to place the stickers on all telephones/equipment used for AT&T U-verse Voice service.

  12. Replacement battery • POTS provisioned over FTTP: Letter mailed to customer “Replacement batteries can be purchased from the power supply vendor, whose toll-free number is noted on the power supply unit, or you can purchase an equivalent battery through other vendors. When contacting the vendor, choose the “battery replacement” option. You will need the model and serial numbers of the power supply unit, located on a decal behind the power plug found under the power supply unit cover. Unplug the power cord inside the unit to view the decal. The battery should be replaced when the status light on the far right of the power supply unit is red and/or an audible alarm sounds. You should check your battery periodically on an ongoing basis. To conserve battery power, you should not use Internet service during a power outage. “ Note: If you have a monitored home alarm that uses your telephone line, your home alarm will not function during a power outage without battery backup power for the ONT. • VoIP: Brochure given to customer “It is your responsibility to maintain the BBU and ONT batteries so that battery backup power is available at all times. For BBU battery replacement and recycling information, call Belkin at 1-866-539-5791 or visit belkin.com/gatewaybattery. For ONT battery replacement information, call APC at 1-800-4APC or 1-800-4272, or visit www.apc.com.” Page 12

  13. Replacement battery

  14. Replacement battery

  15. How should education programs address the special needs of groups such as the deaf, disabled or visually impaired regarding options available to them, such as extending the life of the back up battery? • General customer education plans should be sufficiently broad to educate all customers and include information on visual and audible alarms that are used by people with disabilities and other customers. - AT&T’s Customer materials in Accessible Formats For our non-English speaking customers we often use 800 numbers as an efficient means to distribute information. The same system could enable customers to order back-up power information in accessible formats. By dialing an 800 number the customer could request a document in Braille or large font or via email to be read by screen reader software such as JAWS. - California Telephone Access Program The California Telephone Access Program equipment loan program, funded by Californians, could be a vehicle to reach customers with disabilities with assistive Customer Provided Equipment. CTAP is under the purview of the CPUC and could be a great channel to provide information in alternative formats such as Braille or Compact Disc.

  16. How should education programs address the special needs of groups such as the deaf, disabled or visually impaired regarding options available to them, such as extending the life of the back up battery? (Cont’d) - Community based groups, the CPUC and other interested parties. • Disabilities cross all cultural and linguistic boundaries. The CPUC could address this through its statewide outreach program, Telecommunications Education & Assistance in multiple languages (TEAM). • The 30 plus “community based” organizations in the TEAM project could provide information to their clients regarding back-up power and include how people with disabilities can access that information The TEAM project could also share information about the CTAP equipment loan program. • www.calphoneinfo.com already includes a primer on “Back up power during a power outage”. The Calphone website provides valuable generic information that can help customers learn about phone use during an emergency or power outage.

  17. In conclusion -- • How do we make sure customers get the message? • The service representative discusses at point of sale • The website explains need for backup battery • Customer receives confirmation letters • Technician leaves behind literature/brochures • Customer signs written acknowledgement Page 17

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