We haven’t covered DOTA (Diagnostics Over-The-Air), but the Sanyo VI-2300 brings DOTA one step closer to implementation. This begs the question, what is DOTA? If you think of FOTA when you hear it, you’re already on the right track.
The goal of DOTA is to make a call to technical support as painless as possible, and make it advantageous to call from your handset that is having the problem. Gone will be the messages “if you are calling from your Vision device, please hangup and call customer service from a landline phone at 1-888-211-4727, as we made need you to press various buttons on the device during the troubleshooting process”.
Important note: The author of this article quoted that from sheer memory…
DOTA will empower initial technical support with as much information as possible about the device. For example, if the MDN and MSID are not completely correct, technical support can broadcast the correct information to the device. Any firmware updates will be alerted, not need to be checked. 3G provisioning issues will no longer be a problem, as the user’s NAI can be re-issued during the call, and matched to the device’s HCM NAI (the esn@hcm.sprintpcs.com NAI that all Sprint devices have, for example).
In addition, CSR error is reduced by what is known as a “rules based engine”. Theoretically, from the instant a user connects, the system can identify the device’s configuration information, and not only alert the CSR as to what is wrong with the device’s information (by instantly matching it with the correct information), but then tell the CSR what needs to be done. In addition, anomalies are forwarded automatically to a higher help desk to allow for consistencies to be tracked, and new rules added to the server.
Future versions of DOTA may even allow for this to be done automatically, through a function on the phone to diagnose programming information and correct it without any calls to technical support. Even more advanced versions may allow for this to be done on every 3G data event, allowing for even less intervention by both the user and Sprint.
As with FOTA, BitFone will play a large role in the development of DOTA, and will be featured in most Sprint phones with DOTA. For more DOTA-related information, check out BitFone’s SmartCare web site.
