HTC Touch Pro swap experience and OMA

One thing sure is apparent when it comes to swapping out a data enabled phone: It takes a long time and multiple syncs to get the data onto the new phone.

In this case, we are talking about the Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks folders with their default content.

The e-mail was set to synchronize the last two weeks of e-mail in about 30 sub folders and nested folders.

The whole process took at least 2-3 hours with the need to initiate a Sync from within the ActiveSync application on numerous occasions to get things moving again.

When working with client's data enabled devices, the amount of data to synchronize is something to keep in mind if there is a need to get another phone working for their SBS based Outlook Mobile Access.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Ever been "yelled" at by a (Telus) "Customer Service" rep?

This post is in the midst of a "brewing and stewing" time after having one of the more surprising conversations with a "customer service" representative that I have had in a long time.

Please keep that in mind while reading this post.

I went out to the TelusMobility store where I purchased the HTC Touch Pro in mid-December to get this current bricked phone replaced.

Now, if you are keeping track, the phone in hand is phone #2 after phone #1 decided it was in a mid-seventies disco mode with the backlight pulsating.

Phone #2 was found locked up one morning. So, after soft resetting the phone, it proceeded to run a half-baked reinstall as though it was hard reset.

Today's phone, #3, was to replace #2.

But, phone #3 is all scratched up and most certainly used.

The dealer is unfortunately helpless in the way of being able to help me out here. So, in goes the call to Telus to try and get a new phone.

Asking for a new replacement phone is not out of line with my current experience with two bad units. Having replacement phone #3 come to me in the condition it was in was certainly quite surprising.

We operate our own business here. And, we strive to supply our clients with the best possible product experience. When things fall flat on their face, we do our best to make up for that experience, even if it means spending a lot of time and money to fix the problem (previous blog post).

When I called into Telus, the front line technician was not able to follow through on my request. I was transferred to a "Client Loyalty and Retention" manager by the name of Joe out of Calgary.

Now, keep in mind that I spent a couple of years collaborating and working with a TelusMobility dealer here in St. Albert just before Monique and I incorporated MPECS Inc. So, we got to see first hand what kind of struggles the dealer had to put up with along with the hoops they were forced to jump through by Telus.

The essence of my "conversation" with Joe:

• "It is the dealer's responsibility as they sold you the phone." I purchased the phone from TelusMobility, whom the dealer represents. Joe's point did not wash.
• "You purchased the phone outright, sign a 3 year contract and we will give you a new phone at a steeply discounted price". Now how about that! Stiff the dealer out of his sale (defective phone has to go back somewhere) and force me, the customer, into signing a contract I did not want to sign in the first place.
• "It is HTC's problem, take it up with them". I proceeded to explain to him that, as a business owner myself, if my client went through what I was going through at this point with a defective product, our business would be replacing the problematic product without any questions.

By the last point that Joe had become quite exasperated with me and his voice had definitely stepped up a number of decibels during the latter part of the phone call. I was told by Joe, "I just can't understand how anyone can expect us, Telus, to give them another phone when they will not demonstrate any kind of commitment [by signing a contract I did not want to sign in the first place]".

When Joe was told that, "The customer is always right", I was essentially told to go take a flying leap and the call ended there.

My "business" relationship with Telus has been somewhat like/hate since I signed up for my first phone about eight years ago. Recently, my HTC PPC6700 (~2.5yrs old) was on its last legs, and no real offer was available short of $150 off for signing another 3 year contract. This was unacceptable to me.

So, where does this leave me? I need to go back to my friend, yes I have known him for a long time, that runs the TelusMobility store where the phone was originally purchased and see if we can obtain a suitable replacement for this phone ... again. If not, then where does that leave me? My contract with Telus is up in June.

The credit card used to purchase the phone has terms and conditions that are pretty clear when it comes to purchasing a product that does not work properly with no resolution. It allows us to refute the charge. Unfortunately, the store owner gets caught in the middle, but what are the choices?

Maybe BellMobility? At least I can pick up another HTC Touch Pro. I like the phone ... at this point the cell provider is less than stellar ... and, HTC seems to be having quality control issues. Though the bricking of phone #2 may very well be due to the carrier mucking about in the default Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro OS.

Perhaps it is time to look seriously at an iPhone 3G?!?

*Very Deep Breath*

Previous posts:

• Hard reset the HTC Touch Pro on Telus (phone bricked itself)
• HTC Touch Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 Review (pulsating backlight)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Hard reset the HTC Touch Pro on Telus

Apparently the stock HTC Touch Pro hard reset instructions have been slightly modified by Telus.

To hard reset the HTC Touch Pro on a Telus network:

1. Make sure the phone is one.
2. Pull the stylus.
3. Turn the phone upside down.
4. Hold both Volume UP and Volume Down buttons simultaneously.
5. Hold the Enter (round button). (Step 1 and 2 at the same time)
6. Reset the phone using the stylus.
7. Wait for the "Are you sure message" and release the volume buttons.
8. Use the Volume Up button to confirm the hard reset.

The phone will run through a blanket reinstall of everything just as it did when it was first fired up.

The reason we know this?

The first HTC Touch Pro we received had a pulsating backlight: HTC Touch Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 Review.

This second one decided that it was going to lock up sometime between plugging it in to charge at night and the morning. When the phone was reset, it ran through the initialization routine with a choke mid way through.

The phone still works, but the data connection and the display theme are toast. Not only that, there are missing icons and software on the phone or most of the "installed" software will not run.

While on the phone with the Telus technician, the phone would not hard reset. The icon for Clear Storage was also missing, so we could not reset the phone that way either. We could not even set up the cellular data connection manually as those settings had seemingly disappeared too.

We are now onto HTC Touch Pro phone number three!

The phone's features are great, but the hardware is starting to show quality issues. Whether this problem is related to the carrier and their "modifications" or HTC is not known.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

HTC Touch Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 Review

We needed to replace one of our ageing HTC PPC6700 series mobile phones due to its reliability heading south.

The CDMA carriers up here recently introduced the HTC Touch Pro.

It is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional phone with a full slide out keyboard. Big thumbs means the keyboard is a prerequisite.

It has pretty good reception, though it struggles a bit more in enclosed areas such as a basement or server closet than the old HTC PPC6700 did. The PPC6700 gave warning that things were not working as they should with the way it behaved. The HTC Touch Pro gives a quiet snapping sound in the ear and the call is gone.

The high resolution screen is nice. Everything is crisp and clear, though at night there is a noticeable pulsing dim-bright-dim-bright cycle with the back light. So, this particular unit may end up heading back to the store for a replacement.

Add to that a 3MP camera that takes reasonably good pictures. Low light seems to cause a bit of a struggle, but that is expected with a built-in camera like this.

Integration into our existing SBS 2003 R2 Premium Outlook Mobile Access was quick and painless with the first sync taking under an hour to pull everything down.

The Touch Pro is noticeably quicker than the old PPC6700. That is refreshing as the stalls in between tasks on the PPC6700 were painful at times.

After adding in an 8GB SanDisk Ultra Micro-SD (Class 6) into the mix, we were good to go. The Class 6 level means the card will transfer data around 6MB/sec. Not nearly as fast as a USB flash drive, but will do in a pinch.

Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro has the ability to encrypt the entire contents of the storage card which is valuable for us when we need to move client data about.

The Touch Pro has a USB HDD feature that, when enabled, allows the phone to be plugged into a PC and be seen as a USB HDD with access to the storage card. This is a good thing to have because the Windows Mobile Device Center would otherwise be trying to sync with the phone.

The Touch Pro Bluetooth integrated with the HHR's in-car hands free system seamlessly. Once out of the car and then back in after a client visit, the Touch Pro recreates the connection with the car very quickly. The PPC6700 needed a call in or out to reestablish a connection with the in-car Bluetooth hands free.

All in all, the HTC Touch Pro is a very nice phone that will do the job for us.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.