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New Activation Portal

Melinda_H
Customer Support Agent

Hey Community, 

 

As you may recall, in November 2019, we invited you to help us understand how we could improve the activation experience here at Public Mobile, and we were blown away by your enthusiasm. After months of rigorous design and testing, we’re excited to announce the launch of our new Activation Portal! 

 

What’s new? 

 

  • Modernized look & feel - We took away the clutter and updated the look and feel of the activation portal to bring it more into the 21st century. We also included graphics to help guide users.
  • Mobile friendly - Say goodbye to pinch and zoom with our more mobile-friendly user interface. We recognize that mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular as shopping tools, so we’ve taken the time to make sure activating from your phone is easy and accessible.
  • Simplification and Intuitive Fields - Simplification was a key theme to improving the activation portal. To save time and help you get connected to our network ASAP, we removed fields that we felt were surplus to requirements. Further, we’ve redesigned certain steps in the process to allow us to get it done right the first time, such as information related to number porting. 

 

Example: Street address is no longer required to activate. 

Before:

Melinda_H_0-1614695740692.png

 

 

After:

Melinda_H_1-1614695740696.png

 

  • Improved speed & reliability - We heard loud and clear about how frustrating it is to get timed out during the activation process and having to start all over again. We’ve taken steps to streamline our back-end code and take preventative measures which means that fewer issues will be encountered in the activation process. As well, in the off-chance an error does happen, we’re presenting clearer and actionable messaging to our customers.

Although you might not be using the new activation flow directly, a better activation experience means less repetitive activation questions on the Community and saving time and effort on common issues, which helps keep costs low at Public. It also means less headaches for your friends and family to become Public Mobile customers.

At Public Mobile, we are constantly working towards providing the best experience for our customers and this launch is one of a few more enhancements we will be introducing over the next 18 months, including an improved Self-Serve experience. As with before, the new activation portal can be accessed at publicmobile.ca/activate.  

 

If you happen to refer a friend, or need to activate a new line, we hope it’ll knock your socks off! Feel free to share any feedback in the thread below.

 

- The Public Mobile Team



 

62 REPLIES 62

kaytus
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

Hopefully, the new activation site will make it easier and an error-free way for new accounts.

BearFBI
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

About time ! The activation portal is actually being worked on. 

 

It looks much better ! Thanks for your effort in making PM more mobile friendly !

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@Melinda_H 

Great job on simplifying the form and process to activate. A few comments in regards to the new form. Some of which have been previously mentioned but to stress their importance I have included them as well.

 

  1. The full address has been eliminated so to verify an account holder thru private messaging pm has eliminated one of the more personal verifiers leaving only the postal code which is not account holder specific. Makes it a little easier for a fraudster to impersonate and account holder. This is worrisome given the high rate of simjacking that occurs at public mobile.
  2. Same issue as above.....no date of birth? Another verifier eliminated? I realize neither of these had to be truthful but they were additional verifiers for the many, many, many customers who forget their pin #. Let alone their password and security question and answer. Leaving account info for verification down to very few personal identifiers and much of the other information is easily accessible by simply entering anyones phone number when dialing  1 855 4PUBLIC.
  3. The elimination of far too easy to guess pin #'s. While this is a good thing does it affect customers that have chosen any easy number to remember? ie 1234 or 9999?
  4.  Like many who have already mentioned this.....the return of the referral code to the first page would be ideal.
  5. It would be nice to review each activation page ahead of time by simply clicking on each example already at the  top of the screen. Having "sample" stamped on each page would eliminate any confusion that pages could be filled in out of order.
  6. Does pm still not accept mastercard/debit? While less popular it is still a secure option. Listing some of the pre-paid cards accepted would be helpful along with mentioning that you must register for autopay during activation to recieve the autopay reward for the first month. 
  7. Having to confirm ones password and pin# along with your answer to your security question would help eliminate mistakes/ mistypes. This has been a problem with answers that have numbers like year if birth like 1942 can be easily mistyped as 1941,1943, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1841, 1842, 1843 and so on......and not noticed by person activating.
  8. A reminder about having a clear browser, using secret/incognito mode etc..... along with the specifics of the credit card address would help eliminate these errors/questions.

Otherwise nice work. Looking forward to improvements with the self serve portal. I don't need an app I already have far too many of them forced on me.

XionBunny
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Long overdue overhaul, great work, I look forward to the future upgrades to the system, keep it up!

SomeFriend
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

The improvement is awesome, I love the new layout...  But please add back the referral code field to the first page of the activation process!!!  I'd like to know if I have a valid code before starting please!

Staliger
Mayor / Maire

Looks way better and easier now! Thanks for improvement! Way to go😊


@computergeek541 wrote:

I would prefer that the referral code box be added back to the first page. With the new activation portal I cannot see any way of checking the valdity of a code without

I'd also like to know if the old referral activation links are still working or if all requests proceeding past the first page. 

to load anything from activate.publicmobile.ca are simply be redirected.  I tried now to to load an example such as activate.publicmobile.ca/nhumghunmfh (clearly nonsense after the /) and I was still taken to the new activation portal.


Excellent point. I just logged in after a huge wait and numerous on/off flashes of screen. 

It should be back on the first screen as @computergeek541 says, @Melinda_H as the link still works in bringing up the Activation Page but why do any entry of pertinent information  if you cannot see if the referral code has taken or is correct?????? No one wants to be in the position of finding out that their SIM cannot be entered for the second time when they find out there is an issue with the referral code. 

 

How well was this tested in a beta version...who tested it.....did you have oracles and mayors test it? Is it time to roll back and do a better job??

 

Don't get me wrong...the "intended" improvement is good. 

 


@RosieR wrote:

Also, showing total amount due including taxes, is great move.  So many new customers question why their cc statement shows different amount paid.  

payment include tax.png

 

Well this "might" be an improvement for those that don't understand that mobile service is taxable is what it boils down to. Top up or renewal for $15 in BC costs you $15 + $1.80 = $16.80. Sooooooo let's say I have a balance of $50 (that has had tax paid on it) and those that do understand taxes will now be alarmed to "think" they might have $16.80 deducted from their balance. Once again a poorly thought out description to compliment the improvement. It needs to be much more thorough and in the example that, (I cannot get because the system has slooooowed down so much), would have been better  described as Due Today: $16.95 will be charged to your auto-pay....but there needs to be a mention, if you have a balance NO TAX will be charged on any of the funds taken from your BALANCE. Some where it needs to be clarified all in the same spot.  Also it needs to also be mentioned that your BALANCE has had taxes paid. This is inherent poor wording that has existed for many many years on the Telus prepaid system as well. PM is self serve....let's make sure it is understood and in black and white for every type of scenario of a payment. 

 

PM is on the the right track....but the standard set for having the best "informing" web Self Serve needs to be heightened significantly. 

 

 

edit....I guess this is totally irrelevant as I only skimmed what was being said and assumed (that so dangerous word) that this is what you would see on your My Account when your 30 cycle payment was due.....sorry!!!

I would prefer that the referral code box be added back to the first page. With the new activation portal I cannot see any way of checking the valdity of a code without proceeding past the first page. 

 

I'd also like to know if the old referral activation links are still working or if all requests to load anything from activate.publicmobile.ca are simply being redirected.  I tried now to to load an example such as activate.publicmobile.ca/nhumghunmfh (clearly nonsense after the /) and I was still taken to the new activation portal.

kselmak
Mayor / Maire

This is very good news. I always felt helpless when people hit the wall right at the start, it's much harder to convince them you don't need classic customer service to be happy with your cellphone provider when they struggle with something activation.

I would also suggest to have those back buttons actually fictional so if you notice typo you actually can go back to fix without error message and session locking in the sim. 

Great progress

 

fdrcamb519
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Amazing, keep it simple.!!!!!!!!

RosieR
Mayor / Maire

Hey Community, 

 

As you may recall, in November 2019, we invited you to help us understand how we could improve the activation experience here at Public Mobile, and we were blown away by your enthusiasm. After months of rigorous design and testing, we’re excited to announce the launch of our new Activation Portal! 


@Melinda_H congratulations on your promotion to Product Manager.  I wish you all the best in your new adventure 🎈🎆🎇🧨🎉🌹🌹🌹

 

Awesome changes!  I love the new streamlined activation process.

 

I'm not sure if the Account PIN requirement were there before. If not, good addition.

Account PIN.png  

It would be better if you confirming the Account PIN and password is included, as suggested by @JK8 above.

 

Step 2 Phone Number is so easy to use whether picking a new number or porting one's number from another provider. 

Turn back option.png

 

^^^^ love love love to be able to turn back without being timed out.  awesome awesome awesome!!! 👍👍👍

 

Also, showing total amount due including taxes, is great move.  So many new customers question why their cc statement shows different amount paid.  

payment include tax.png

 

Thank you @Catherine_T for all your hard work to get these changes done! 🌹🌹🌹

 

Great job!

 

RosieR

 

 

RosieR
Mayor / Maire

@JK8 wrote:

I would suggest confirming your password and pin. Customers may mistype.

 

confirm.jpg


@JK8 great suggestion 👍


@JK8 wrote:

I would suggest confirming your password and pin. Customers may mistype.

 

confirm.jpg


Maybe after one types the first field, the 'Confirm' dialogue box populates to prompt a 2nd entering of the same information.   If not, great suggestion @JK8 

 

EDIT:    Just tried - doesn't seem to prompt 2nd entering of info in password & PIN fields... it certainly should like the e-mail address field.   

JK8
Mayor / Maire

I would suggest confirming your password and pin. Customers may mistype.

 

confirm.jpg

Gunner123
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@Melinda_H Well this is great news well done to all it can be a frustrating experience for some during activation 😁

LEGO
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@HALIMACS wrote:

if Public Mobile throws us a bone...


A bone? Where is the bone?! (🐕 sniffs the air...)

I'm looking forward for some as well. 😁

HALIMACS
Mayor / Maire

PERFECT!!!

 

I hope to use it by end of year for a remaining 'family' activation(s).   [if Public Mobile throws us a bone...]

 

Fortunately for us, our 3 activations in recent several months have gone extremely smoothly, with no service issues thus far.


@LEGO wrote:

"Simplification was a key"
Now it becomes too simple > Community is dismissed! 😢

Illuminating "Timed outs" during the activation is a big step that is welcomed. 😀


The initial layout looks good. And is great that can be done on a phone too. The question is...time outs....and errors in the new layout. 

Looking at the very first page.....4 easy steps.......it is clear that porting a number can be part of the process. Does  that include any mobile number (including Telus or Koodo)? Also should there be a warning of any numbers that may take a period of time to complete the port...ie land line, VoIP etc?

LEGO
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

"Simplification was a key"
Now it becomes too simple > Community is dismissed! 😢

Illuminating "Timed outs" during the activation is a big step that is welcomed. 😀

sa7375
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

Glad to read that. The one slide "After" does highlight the changes that will make activation easier. Great job. 👍

SD08
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Nice. Thanks to PM for the new activation portal.  Improvements may take time with PM but they are appreciated when they arrive.

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

I just did a test drive on the desktop and phone.  I like it.  The front end provides good queues on the steps and what to have in hand prior to starting.  Everything is intuitive.  Definitely a step in the right direction.  

WoW.. this could be a big improvement! If it does turn out to be a big improvement, please give the programmers a FULL TIME JOB at Public Mobile!

 

So many annoying glitches that if they could be fixed would save us the Community and you the Moderators so much time not to mention reducing the frustration in particular for brand new Public Mobile customers.

 

AE_Collector

softech
Oracle
Oracle

>Improved speed & reliability -

I hope this really work this time.  Sooooooooooooooooo many complains about the timeout issue... timeout is ok.. as long as you didn't charge the card and activated the account.   

 

Many poor new customers already got the CC charged and activated but they still thought it wasn't and keep trying and trying.

 

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Nice. Trying it out on desktop...

General Step 2: Why talk about payment methods here when step 4 does in more detail including vouchers?

Select a number: last 4 digit search no longer available?

Really like the go back a step button.

Did the referral code used to check for validity? If not, nice add.

The last button appeared active...I didn't click it for obvious reasons. I hadn't checked I read stuff and I hadn't made a payment.

 

Now off to make self-serve mobile friendly.

@Melinda_H 

 

Well done!! How about showing in your post every screen page? By seeing it all, it will allow a new customer to prepare ahead of time to know what is needed and allow a smoother and faster transaction. 

 

Thanks. 

LurganIeUk
Mayor / Maire

That is a very good and welcoming improvement. 

 

Well done!!!

ankitmehta
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Good to see Public Mobile's constant initiative with working in background and improving the service and keeping the costs low !!! Way to go ahead.

 

Suggestion for future improvement: Can develop a public mobile community app as it will make more easy and faster (with notifications on cellphone) to answer questions in community and it feels good when you ask a question and people respond instantly.

Need Help? Let's chat.