I thought we should have a single thread to deal with any issues coming up with regards to the call center changes. Please post in this thread if you continue to have difficulty with the new system

Starting with a message from the Call Center Operations Manager:
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New Technology is currently being installed in our call centers to provide a simplified and streamlined call flow. These changes will allow us to more quickly match customer calls to knowledgeable representatives. We understand that there have been a few bugs with the implementation and we apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this has caused. .

The new phone system is designed to recognize the customer phone number and automatically display Mileage Plan account information to the call center representative. This will eliminate the need for the entry of the MP number on a phone keypad. Our representatives will simply verify the MP member�s identity and move immediately to handling their requests. If you are calling from a number our system doesn't recognize, you will be prompted for your Mileage Plan number.

To fully take advantage of the efficiencies this new system can provide, MP members should update the primary phone contact in the Contact Information area of their MyAccount profile with a current and unique number. Then when calling Alaska or Horizon on this primary phone contact, they will receive faster service.

MVP, Gold and Gold 75k member calls will continue to be prioritized and handled by a select, highly skilled group of representatives.

If you are a 2010 MVP or Gold, please continue to use the phone numbers listed on your membership card. All other customers may continue to use any of our published reservations phone numbers.

Kudos to the folks who got the new ACD system online! One of the reasons why I love AS/QX is because of the customer service--both on the phone, gate agents, etc. I had experiences like this [link] on a couple of other carriers who will remain nameless.

[N.B. The e-mail customer service side of things could use some work.]

My understanding is that the new system is designed to recognize your phone number and should no longer prompt you to enter your mileage plan #. For some reason this feature isn't working for me even though my phone number is in my profile. I call from that phone number and still get the prompt to enter my MP #. Not the end of the world, but it sounds like a neato feature that just isn't working for me. Anyone else experiencing this?

I have the same issue. My cell phone number is in my AS profile, yet I'm prompted to enter my MVPG number (even though I haven't blocked Caller ID). However, the cell phone number I usually call from is not listed as my primary number (my home number is primary). Which may be the reason.

One other issue: When I called last Friday to inquire about a ticket and dutifully entered my information into the keypad, I was put on hold and then got a fast busy instead of a transfer. Had to do the whole thing over again. Not a graceful failure.

the phone number you call from does have to be your *primary* number and it has to be a *unique* number. If multiple people are using the same # as their primary, it won't work.

They are still working out bugs in the new system ... I'll find out about the fast busy signal

Well, I can safely say both my numbers are unique. Primary is home, secondary is cell. So that's odd -- cell was not recognized. I did just switch it today to primary, just in case.

Was curious about this... can we have the 'codes' on FT to overrride the system

whats odd? It wasn't the primary number... so it wasnt recognized. is it working now??

I thought you wrote "doesn't" rather than "does" earlier. So the only odd thing here is my ability to read.

But it's not recognizing it, even though my cell number is now primary. It still prompts me for my Mileage Plan number when I call from my cell.

However, when I just called from my "old" primary number -- my home number -- the AS system did recognize it.

There appears to be a delay of at least a day between switching the primary number on the AS website and having the AS phone system recognize the new primary, since it's not recognizing my cell today after I made it primary yesterday.

I am on hold listening to muzak and still don't know if I am in the right Q for the partner desk.

With the new call center "improvements" what prompts do I use to get me into the right area?

Thanks.

P.S. After a 5 minute wait...turns out I was not in the right area and the CSR couldn't tell me the right prompts when I called back to get there.

did it ask you if you were making an award reservation?

Not sure if this is related to the new system (depends on which parts were replaced), but I was just talking with a call-center representative on my landline home phone, and the line dropped dead after talking with her for barely 30 seconds. This was mildly aggravating, as since I am not quite MVP, I had just been on hold for probably 15-20 minutes. I am now back on hold again waiting for an agent.

Also, BOB W mentioned at our mini-DO last night that he could not get the system to recognize his MVPG status despite his cell being listed as the primary and calling from his cell. (He's also tried calling from home and work to no avail.) Thought I'd mention that here for reference.

that could have something to do with his provider. When Bob calls my cell...it never recognizes him... just displays the number. But when I hit redial... my phone will then pick it up and recognize it as him.

These are -not- improvements, but 'enhancements'.

1. First off, calls -are- being dropped. Is AS now using VOIP for their voice traffic?

2. The 'enhanced' system appears to be keyed onto the telephone number tied to the last credit card used for booking. In my case, I use several clients' cards (w/ different numbers) to book flights for myself and others, making it neigh impossible for me to ever be recognized as an MVP Gold by the system.

For a corporate traveller, the CC associated telephone number is almost never the cell or direct line of that person.

3. What's up with AS and Idaho? The last time I called I ended-up with some rube from Boise on the line. Maybe AS is boycotting Arizona (former home of the Phoenix MVP Gold Desk) over that state's curious immigration policies?

The old system of rotating 'secret' Gold numbers worked just fine. I'd like to meet the slick consultant who sold AS this shoddy bill of goods.

And when it is a drunk phone call from a group of AS FT'ers we couldn't wake you up at O dark thirty Saturday morning