Memos show AT&T in frantic preparaton for Apple's "iDay"
AT&T is taking no chances with the launch of the iPhone, and new information suggests that most staff will see their roles -- and their privileges -- turned upside-down to please customers.
While it's increasingly public knowledge that AT&T will temporarily close stores and is hiring crowd control to prevent chaos during the June 29th iPhone launch, the measures being taken to smooth out the release day -- known to AT&T as "iDay" -- are now known to be even more substantial than first thought.
AT&T guides obtained by AppleInsider reveal that the wireless carrier will pull existing staff from ordinary roles to streamline the anticipated workload. In many circumstances, the firm will ask even those that work the backrooms of its stores to temporarily fill new positions.
The corporate memo pays particular attention to those who will man the front lines of the launch. Besides bringing in the temporary workers hired just for the event, AT&T is recommending that its stores keep multiple existing staff available just to manage the queues expected outside of each shop. Marketing, sales, and regional staff will be added to the crowd control roster, even during the morning shifts. These same employees may also need to greet customers at the door, the note says.
Product experts will also be expected to shift their attention from ordinary duties during the crucial 3PM to 10PM phase. Marketers and floorwalkers alike should spend most of their time around the custom iPhone demo booths giving presentations to interested customers.
And unsurprisingly, extra care is being taken to watch inventory on the 29th, with at least one trusted staff member on hand at all times of the day to guard stock and deliver it to the front -- even if an assistant manager must fill in during a break, the company says. Third-party accessories are already beginning to arrive, as illustrated by photos below.
Moreover, virtually all employees will be asked to give up some of their typical comforts for the sake of the iPhone introduction. To discourage employees from exploiting their positions and buying iPhones intended for new customers, none of the discounts that normally apply to either devices or plans will hold true for Apple's cellphone.
Staffers will also have to accommodate Apple's characteristically high level of secrecy during this final week before the launch. Special updates, dubbed "iReady" messages, will reach company inboxes on a daily basis and will be necessary to keep tabs on last-minute launch details. Employees with cellphones will even have access to a special subscription that delivers brief versions of the notices to their handsets in off hours.
Regardless of the rush, all employees are expected to be in top form by Friday, knowing as much as possible before the device goes on sale.
"We all have a huge stake in the success of iPhone," AT&T says. "[We want] to make you a great ambassador for this game-changing product."
First iPhone accessories turn up at AT&T retail stores
While it's increasingly public knowledge that AT&T will temporarily close stores and is hiring crowd control to prevent chaos during the June 29th iPhone launch, the measures being taken to smooth out the release day -- known to AT&T as "iDay" -- are now known to be even more substantial than first thought.
AT&T guides obtained by AppleInsider reveal that the wireless carrier will pull existing staff from ordinary roles to streamline the anticipated workload. In many circumstances, the firm will ask even those that work the backrooms of its stores to temporarily fill new positions.
The corporate memo pays particular attention to those who will man the front lines of the launch. Besides bringing in the temporary workers hired just for the event, AT&T is recommending that its stores keep multiple existing staff available just to manage the queues expected outside of each shop. Marketing, sales, and regional staff will be added to the crowd control roster, even during the morning shifts. These same employees may also need to greet customers at the door, the note says.
Product experts will also be expected to shift their attention from ordinary duties during the crucial 3PM to 10PM phase. Marketers and floorwalkers alike should spend most of their time around the custom iPhone demo booths giving presentations to interested customers.
And unsurprisingly, extra care is being taken to watch inventory on the 29th, with at least one trusted staff member on hand at all times of the day to guard stock and deliver it to the front -- even if an assistant manager must fill in during a break, the company says. Third-party accessories are already beginning to arrive, as illustrated by photos below.
Moreover, virtually all employees will be asked to give up some of their typical comforts for the sake of the iPhone introduction. To discourage employees from exploiting their positions and buying iPhones intended for new customers, none of the discounts that normally apply to either devices or plans will hold true for Apple's cellphone.
Staffers will also have to accommodate Apple's characteristically high level of secrecy during this final week before the launch. Special updates, dubbed "iReady" messages, will reach company inboxes on a daily basis and will be necessary to keep tabs on last-minute launch details. Employees with cellphones will even have access to a special subscription that delivers brief versions of the notices to their handsets in off hours.
Regardless of the rush, all employees are expected to be in top form by Friday, knowing as much as possible before the device goes on sale.
"We all have a huge stake in the success of iPhone," AT&T says. "[We want] to make you a great ambassador for this game-changing product."
First iPhone accessories turn up at AT&T retail stores
Comments
And good luck to the AT&T people while Mac nerds swarm, swarm, swarm...
on Monday July 2 the stock price will be stratospheric!!
Me: "Hmm. Let me think... Sorry child I can't remember. Wait! I've got something better. Let me tell you about 6/29, oh child, what a glorious day. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was the day that the first iPhone went on sale."
Small Child: "The iPhone Grandpa, what's that?"
Me: "The first real cellphone..... Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, I see. A cellphone was a little box we held up to our heads to talk to other people."
Small Child: "Grandpa, you are making fun of me. Everybody knows you use an 'Apple iNPERSON' to talk to people."
Small Child: "Grandpa, I have a report for school. Do you remember what you were doing on 9/11, you know the airplane thing?"
Me: "Hmm. Let me think... Sorry child I can't remember. Wait! I've got something better. Let me tell you about 6/29, oh child, what a glorious day. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was the day that the first iPhone went on sale."
Small Child: "The iPhone Grandpa, what's that?"
Me: "The first real cellphone..... Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, I see. A cellphone was a little box we held up to our heads to talk to other people."
Small Child: "Grandpa, you are making fun of me. Everybody knows you use an 'Apple iNPERSON' to talk to people."
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
Wasn't meant to be offensive, but true to real life. We tend to forget the bad things in life, while cherishing the good.
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
It's not irony, it's sarcasm.
gawd, I hope the lineups are how AT&T expects them to be. It'll be horrible if nobody shows up.
If they had any fear of this, all they would have to announce is a drawing for one free iPhone. That would bring thousands. But they seem to be confident in its crowd-drawing ability, all the same.
If they had any fear of this, all they would have to announce is a drawing for one free iPhone. That would bring thousands. But they seem to be confident in its crowd-drawing ability, all the same.
It would even more even more horrible If there is a big line and all of the people don't buy the iphone after finding out there you have to buy a 2 year $100+ month plan with it.
It's not irony, it's sarcasm.
All this statement does is show that you don't know the definition of either word.
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
Oh, give it a rest. 9/11 will pass. Eventually no one will give it a thought. We'll likely group it in with memorial day or something and get over it. That's what people do, we move on. It's healthy.
My grandfather doesn't get all worked up when people don't appreciate Pearl Harbor. Time heals wounds and we move on.
Now I don't think that the iPhone product launch will leave such a lasting mark, but that was the humor of the whole comment. It's satire.
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
Oh come on! I'd say get a sense of humor but it's not even that... get a life! Do you want people to go on forever never mentioning that one event? Thousands of people die in catastrophic events dozens of times every year. Get over it.
Anyway, I'm getting nervous that AT&T is taking so many public steps to prepare for huge crowds. Apple would have a big hit on its hands if the iPhone simply sold briskly, day after day. Expecting a summer season of big crowds seems a little unrealistic, and could hurt the iPhone's image if those crowds don't show up.
In the end, I think Apple knows what its doing regarding this launch. I'm not sure that AT&T is quite there yet.
All this statement does is show that you don't know the definition of either word.
The wilco rolls on...
I'm all for irony and a little black comedy but that falls way short of tasteful. Maybe if someone you knew died in that horrific event you would think twice before posting that trash.
It was actually quite tasteful and fits the current hype well. As was said, people rarely dwell on the evil. Typically it only remains if a minority group was persecuted or something.
Small Child: "Grandpa, I have a report for school. Do you remember what you were doing on 9/11, you know the airplane thing?"
Me: "Hmm. Let me think... Sorry child I can't remember. Wait! I've got something better. Let me tell you about 6/29, oh child, what a glorious day. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was the day that the first iPhone went on sale."
Small Child: "The iPhone Grandpa, what's that?"
Me: "The first real cellphone..... Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, I see. A cellphone was a little box we held up to our heads to talk to other people."
Small Child: "Grandpa, you are making fun of me. Everybody knows you use an 'Apple iNPERSON' to talk to people."
Haha, that was funny, made me laugh in the midst of writing code...
While mobile phones have been around for a long time, no one cell phone has been dominant or revolutionized the mobile communications experience in the way that I believe the iPhone will.
I predict that in 5 years AT&T stores will sell at least 3 models of iPhones and won't offer many other phones to choose from. I see AT&T being able to offer better service by focusing primarily on the iPhone platform. At the same time being more profitable because they don't have to stock and support so many different phones.
It would even more even more horrible If there is a big line and all of the people don't buy the iphone after finding out there you have to buy a 2 year $100+ month plan with it.
The voice/data plan is the last "Kiler App" You are correct, at $100+ there will be a very small, if any line. But with plans starting in the 400min/unlimited Edge $70-75/month range there will be a line and a big one at that. Contrary to what the PC Fan Boys might think we Apple enthusiasts won't pay $100+/month to use a great phone on an average network. It's just not going to happen, no matter how much we appreciate Apple designed products.
Give us a great phone, on an okay network at a reasonable price and you'll have lines out the door.
I think a better analogy for the introduction of the iPhone is the introduction of color television.
Brilliant analogy.
The beauty of it is, there's perhaps nothing new in its individual elements (200 patents notwithstanding). It's all about how a whole salmagundi takes it all to the next level of adoption and use.
There - sorry guys. I know thats isn't what this is about but thought that it needed to be said. I'm a Mac newbie by the way, just bought my first mac (am loving it) and reading these forums were really helpful in my decision making, so cheers everyone
P.S. Being a brit I personally think the iPhone is a beautiful, highly desirable, highly priced, piece of kit....(you know like apple stuff is