Blog Posts

Sprint star (*) and pound (#) dialing codes are short cut calls to information and functions available right from your phone. Some are national, others are local to a certain are such as states or regions.  To use them, simply dial the * or # code to connect your call. Becuase these are call connects, there will be airtime charges for most of these functions.  If you are roaming, the codes may not work.

NOTE: There are a group of these codes which are free phone calls. Here is a list of them: *2, *3, *4, *5, *7, *911, #911, 611 and #ROAD.

Dialing Code: Description

*2: Access to the Care self-service IVR and Care call centers.

#222: Option 3 order accessories.

*3: Payments made through Sprint phones through the Pay by Phone Automated IVR.

*4: Get minutes used information for each category of usage in English, including text messaging and current bill cycle dates. Get information on current rate plan.

*5: Get minutes used information for each category of usage in Spanish, including text messaging and current bill cycle dates. Get information on current rate plan.

*11: Pennsylvania – PA Turnpikes: (Bucks, Montgomery, Lebanon, Daulphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Somerset, West Moreland, Allegheny, and ****** Counties) , Utah – Salt Lake and Utah Counties

*12: Pennsylvania – PA Turnpikes: Allegheny County, Parkway West, and Parkway East, *27: Louisiana – Lake Ponchatrain Causeway near New Orleans

*28: Turn on both: Conditional Call Forward – Busy and No Answer

*38: Turn off Conditional Call Forward – Busy and No Answer

*47: Alabama – Statewide, Kansas – Statewide, North Carolina – Statewide, South Carolina – Statewide

*55: State Police (on a per market basis only, implemented only upon city/state written requests) Missouri – Statewide, Oklahoma – Statewide

*64: State Police: New Hampshire – Statewide

*67: Plus the 10 digit phone number to block Caller ID on a single call basis

*70: Plus the 10 digit phone number to cancel Call Waiting on a single call basis

*72: Plus the forward to phone number to activate Call Forwarding

*720: To deactivate Call Forwarding

*73: Plus the forward to phone number to activate Call Forwarding No Answer (no voicemail service plan)

*730: To deactivate Call Forwarding No Answer

*74: Plus the forward to phone number to activate Call Forwarding Busy (no voicemail service plan)

*740: To deactivate Call Forwarding Busy

*77: State Police (on a per market basis only, implemented only upon city/state written requests) , Massachusetts- Statewide, Maryland – Statewide, Maine – Statewide, Rhode Island – Statewide

*82: Plus the 10 digit phone number to unblock Caller ID block on a single call basis

*277 (CSP) Colorado – Statewide

*347 (FHP) Florida – North, West, Central, and South

*394: Texas – Harris County

*477(GSP): Georgia – Statewide

*577(LSP): Louisiana – Statewide

*777: Ohio – Jefferson and Belmont Counties

*847: Tennessee – Statewide

*911: Emergency phone number (same as dialing 911)

*990: Ohio Turnpike (Williams, Fulton, Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage, Trumbull, and Mahoning Counties)

*HP: Highway Patrol (on a per market basis only, implemented only upon city/state written requests)

*THP: Tennessee Highway Patrol (per market basis only, implemented only upon city/state written requests)

#77: State Police (on a per market basis only, implemented only upon city/state written requests) New Jersey – Statewide, Virginia – Statewide

#911: Emergency phone number (same as dialing 911)

#CASH: Sprint PCS Payment Card (to find the nearest Prenet location to make a payment)

#ROAD: Roadside Assistance (available to customers with applicable service plan)

#WUN: Western Union (to find the nearest Western Union location that accepts PCS payments)

211: Community Relations

311: Non-emergency police and other government services, Texas – Harris County

511: Traffic information

611: Customer solutions – no charge for these calls (private-label services)

711: TTD or hearing impaired (Telecommunications Relay Service TRS)

811: Customer solutions (private-label services)

*8477: Texas – Houston (Harris County) Crime Stopper Line

As part of the recent discontinuation of Picture Mail online storage, on 6/18/12 you will lose your ability to use the custom email address you created using the @pm.sprint.com domain. We suggest you use your standard Picture Mail email address instead since it will remain active.

Urgent action is required:

1. Discontinue use of the custom email address before it expires.
2. Provide an alternate email address to companies or individuals that send you alerts or messages to this address.
   • We recommend you use your standard Picture Mail email address which is your wireless number preceding @pm.sprint.com.
   • You can also switch to another email address that allows you to receive messages directly to your phone or computer.

If you have questions, please visit www.sprint.com/contactus to email or chat with us or sign into your account online.

HTC EVO 4G LTE is set to make its debut later this week, but it already is drawing some great reviews.

The team at Techlicious.com gave the newest member of the EVO™ family “Best Smartphone” honors after taking in all of the phones and other technology featured this week at CTIA WIRELESS in New Orleans.

Techlicious.com “Best Smartphone: HTC EVO™ 4G LTE (Sprint)”

Sprint Stores nationwide will open at 8 a.m. local time Friday, May 18, for the arrival of HTC EVO 4G LTE, which will available for $199.99 (excluding taxes).

Pre-orders began May 7 at www.sprint.com/evo4glte.

More information:

HTC EVO 4G LTE debuts May 18

HTC EVO 4G LTE wasn’t the only Sprint phone attracting attention in New Orleans last week.

Galaxy Nexus by Samsung also received kudos.  It took home third in the CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards MOBILE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS – Smartphones & Handsets category.

More information:

Sprint News Release: "Sprint Debuts HTC EVO 4G LTE on May 18 for $199.99"

Sprint News Release: "HTC EVO 4G LTE, Exclusively from Sprint, First HD Voice-capable Smartphone Available in the U.S.; Offers Best-in-Class Features, including Beats Audio, Amazing Camera and HD Display"

Galaxy Nexus by Samsung fact sheet

Mobile apps help you get the most out of your phone.

Not long ago, we introduced @SprintApps on Twitter. It’s one way we share about apps that some of us use every day to have fun and get things done with our Sprint phones.

If you haven’t done so already, we hope you will follow @SprintApps to receive our suggestions. Please tell us about what types of apps you would like to learn more about. Even better, share your favorite apps recommendations with us.

GroupMe

GroupMe is one app that @SprintApps recently mentioned. It lets you put your friends, family members and coworkers into groups. Then you can send private messages to only the contacts within a specified group.

Some people like to send group text messages. There are some key differences between GroupMe and a group text. If you have received one before, have you ever replied to a group text message and received at least one inevitable “Who is this” response? Every GroupMe message shows the name of the user, followed by the text of the message. The app makes sending group messages  easier than replying all to an email or publishing your private plans for going out in the evening, including location information, on a social networking site.

Set the app to use SMS or as a chat application with push notifications. You can easily share locations and photos to let your friends know where an event is located and provide photographic evidence of how much fun you are having!

Once you head home for the evening, GroupMe gives you the option to mute the group so you can catch up on some much needed rest.

Sprint TV

SprintTV offers instant access to live broadcasts, special mobile programming and exclusive full-length, on-demand episodes of shows such as The Voice, 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, Austin and Ally and NCIS.

Recently, we tweeted about the Kentucky Derby, which was available to watch live through the Sprint TV app’s included NBC channel. We have also joined the excitement surrounding The Voice. If you missed the final episode where the winner was crowned, catch this and many other full episodes in the Sprint TV app. SprintTV>On Demand>Included>NBC>TheVoice

Sprint Music Plus

Sprint Music Plus is a music and tone manager that allows you to easily integrate your music with your Sprint phone. Create ringtone and music playlists and assign ringback tones to play for different callers. A key advantage of Sprint Music Plus is that the music tracks are DRM-free, which means that songs can be played anywhere—on a PC, burn to a CD and take it from phone to phone, phone to computer or other media players.

Among the tracks recently added to Sprint Music Plus are Kanye West’s “Mercy” and Carrie Underwood’s album, “Blown Away”.

The music store can be accessed from your phone or download digital, full-track music online from the Sprint Digital Lounge at www.sprint.com/digitallounge.

Feedback

What are your top app recommendations that we could feature in the future? Even if you don’t have specific apps in mind, tells us what categories of apps you would find interesting. Games? Productivity? Music?

Managing your small business is no easy task. Many days, you are the marketing director, accountant, HR manager, customer service rep and the CEO in a span of a few hours. While you are juggling all the balls, one thing that most business owners don’t have is a resident IT expert or the experience to do it themselves.  In addition, it can be costly to call an emergency service to assist.

After reviewing small businesses and IT capabilities, Frost & Sullivan found that many times when a computer or other peripherals break down, businesses essentially shut down until it is fixed. This could be minutes or hours depending on how long it takes to find help and remedy the issue.  This is precious time you could be serving existing customers or potentially losing new ones.  The good news for small business owners is that cutting-edge providers are now offering services that are both responsive and affordable.  With technical support plans, small business owners have options to elect services that can have them back in business in no time without breaking the bank.

As a small business owner, what do you need to look for in a provider of technical assistance? Frost & Sullivan recommends the following:

• Vendor agnostic – able to service devices regardless of provider or vendor
• Choice of plans – have at least a couple of options to fit your needs
• Remote assistance – technicians should be able to help customers 24/7 via the internet or phone to resolve many issues
• On-site support – for more complex issues, certified technicians should be available to be dispatched to customer location
• Security solutions – data protection products and assistance (online backup service)
• Affordable pricing – per-user/per-month pricing is preferred with no set-up fees and contracts

Based on the above recommendations, Sprint developed its offering to provide this and more. Sprint offers small business owners the help they need with IT Help Desk. It is designed to help with both emergency situations and the day-to-day issues that can pop up.  IT Help Desk is designed for companies with one to 25 employees and supports both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Key elements of Sprint’s IT Help Desk include:

• 24/7 phone support
• 24/7 remote technical support
• On-site support
• Anti-virus software
• Online data backup
• Best practices assessment
• Self-help database
• Monthly per-user pricing
• No contract or set up fee required
• Data loss protection guarantee
• Certified technical support personnel

Sprint IT Help Desk brings small business owners peace of mind in knowing they have selected a dependable program that will be able to answer their call and help when needed. In addition, this service is priced at two different levels and affordable to even the smallest firm – check this off of your list of things to worry about.

Learn More:

Frost & Sullivan article: Affordable, Expert Help Desk Support: IT Help Desk Service from Sprint

Sprint Biz 360 IT Help Desk

Sprint Newsroom Press Release: Sprint Announces IT Helpdesk for Small Businesses

There are a number of helpful resources and tools online as you consider becoming a Sprint customer. This information is something every customer should check out when switching to your services with Sprint to prevent any disappointing surprises.  It is definitely worth the time!  If you have questions about Sprint and our services, take advantage of the upcoming Web chat located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  If the icon is gone due to high chat volumes, check this link for another way to contact us.

Shopping for a Wireless Plan and Device

If you are shopping for wireless devices and plans, rest assured knowing Sprint offers a variety of programs, policies and tools to help them make informed buying decisions.

Sprint Free Guarantee

With the Sprint Free Guarantee, you can try Sprint for 14 days. If you are not completely satisfied, you can get reimbursed for the device purchase, activation fee, monthly recurring charges, and you can get the early termination fee and all associated taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with these charges waived. In addition, Sprint will waive the restocking fee for new customer exchanges.¹ 

Network Coverage

To set accurate expectations about network coverage before signing up for wireless coverage, Sprint provides street-level mapping at sprint.com/coverage. Coverage maps are also available at Sprint retail stores.

Right Plan Promise

With Sprint’s Right Plan Promise, should your wireless needs and usage change, you have the flexibility to change their plans at any time without any fees and without extending your contract.

Sprint.com

More than 59,000 customer-generated Ratings & Reviews across 126 devices are integrated into the Sprint shopping experience found at www.sprint.com/phones, where honest and candid feedback about Sprint devices and products from customers helps others make better buying decisions. It also includes links to third-party expert product reviews.

The Community
Sprint also hosts an online social networking community of more than 2.7 million registered users. Here, users interact with each other and Sprint employees in open forum discussions about products, services and all things wireless. In addition, Sprint customer care specialists will engage you to help answer questions and solve problems. To be a part of the conversation too just register with My Sprint on Sprint.com, validate your email address and join the Community.

Phone Information at Your Fingertips

Sprint.com provides phone and device details in the Support section of the website. Search for information about Apple, HTC, Kyocera, Sanyo, Samsung, Sierra Wireless or other brands.  Watch an overview video, check out the eGuide, look up additional functionality for devices of your choosing.

Ready Now

Sprint retail associates work one-on-one with you to personalize their phone, set up all of its features and demonstrate how it works - before you leave the store. Whether it’s showing someone how to send an e-mail, download a photo, text, or use a live search to find an address, with Ready Now Sprint retail associates teach you what your phone will do from the first day you own it. sprint.com/readynow.

Managing Bills and Wireless Usage

Sprint offers a number of tools and ways to assist you with the management of your wireless bills and voice, data and text usage.

All-inclusive Pricing Plans

Sprint’s worry-free all-inclusive pricing plans such as Simply Everything®, Everything Data and Any Mobile, Anytime^SM, make it easier for you to use all of the features of their phones. You have no need to get out a calculator to tally up prices for each feature or guess how much data you'll use in a month.

No-contract Options

Sprint also offers value and flexibility through its prepaid brands, including Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile, both of which offer smartphones without the requirement of annual contracts. Virgin Mobile USA’s Beyond Talk data plan at $25 per month (excluding taxes and surcharges) and Boost Mobile’s Monthly Unlimited with Shrinkage at $50 per month (excluding taxes and surcharges) both offer predictability and convenience. Both brands alert you to add money to your account for voice and other features as your balance gets low. You can also check your balance at any time on your new handset. For more information, visit www.virginmobileusa.com or www.boostmobile.com.

Usage Alerts

Sprint monitors the wireless usage of new and existing customers. If Sprint has an email address for new customers, during the first six months of service the company will notify them via email the first time they have incurred $10 or more in voice, text or data overage charges. Existing customers with email addresses on file will be notified if they incur $20 or more in voice, text or data overages in two of the last six months.   

Sprint also identifies and alerts customers through outbound calls or texts when they incur extremely and unusually high overages for the first time. In all cases, Sprint customer service agents will educate customers on how to avoid the overages in the future and will recommend a plan that will better meet their wireless needs.

Other alerts for mobile broadband and international usage include:

• Mobile Broadband Connection Plan Usage Status – provides mobile broadband customers email or text alerts when they reach 75 percent and 90 percent of their data caps.
• International Roaming – Sprint sends a “welcome message” when a subscriber first registers in a foreign country. It’s a text message that includes the rates for voice, texts and data in that particular country.

Sprint Plan Optimizer

Sprint Plan Optimizer gives you the power to analyze your own wireless usage trends and help make educated and informed decisions about your plan. The Sprint Plan Optimizer, available at www.sprint.com/planfit, also helps you understand unplanned costs, such as overages (if applicable), and provides a breakout of monthly costs and average monthly usage patterns for voice minutes, text messaging and data.

Wireless Account Information

Sprint customers can visit Sprint.com to check notifications and alerts about their activity on usage, billing, payment options, devices and more when they log onto My Sprint.

iGoogle and Facebook widgets
Sprint also offers widgets that iGoogle and Facebook users can download to stay informed on usage, call details and upgrade eligibility. In addition, at any point during a Sprint customer’s billing cycle, he or she may dial *4 from their handsets to get an automated tally of their voice minutes, text messages and data used to date. Customers also have the capability to have the information sent to them by text message.

Parental Controls

Sprint offers free account management tools to help parents restrict or limit phone use by minors. The tools, available at www.sprint.com/family enable parents to block texts and numbers, digital media downloads, Web access, Picture Mail and voice calls.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9  million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

¹ Refund excludes usage not included in the service plan, premium content, third-party billing and international charges. ETF waiver contingent on meeting the terms of the return policy.

Important Notes:

- Software updates may take approximately 5-10 minutes to download and install; updates complete faster when connected to Wi-Fi

- Battery should be charged to approximately 50% before starting the update and should not be removed during the update

- Released in stages with 100% of devices on the most current prior release having received the update within 10 days (unless otherwise specified). 
- Updates are available OTA (over the air) only and are 'pushed' to devices in stages.  Device selection is random.

- Refer to the Sprint.com/Support page for more information about this device

Update your software:

Software will be automatically downloaded to your phone

1.  A system update screen will prompt the user to 'install now' or 'install later'

     If 'install later' is selected, a reminder will be sent once or twice a day to install the update

     If 'install now' is selected, the phone will power off and back on to complete the software update

If you selected 'install later' and would like to apply the update prior to receiving the next update reminder,

1.  Go to the Home screen

2.  Tap Menu > Settings > About phone > System updates >Update Android

3. Your phone will automatically download and install any available updates.  You may need to power your phone off and back

    on to complete the software update.

Check the software version on your phone:

1.  Go to the Home screen

2.  Tap Menu > Settings > About phone

3.  The build number will show the current version on your phone and is displayed as Gingerbread.xxxx

Note:  Comments are restricted on this blog.  Please post any comments under the thread for the specific software update.

Teens texting on their phone at all hours of the night. Malicious web links threatening smartphones. The dangers of distracted driving.

In addition to all of the amazing benefits of mobile technology today, we also realize that it brings some challenges to consumers. Sprint is offering new tools intended to help families more easily manage them.

Sprint Guardian is a collection of mobile family safety and device security bundles providing families with relevant tools to help stay safe and secure. It features leading mobile applications from Safely and Lookout.

Inside Sprint Guardian: Safely and Lookout

The family safety tools from Safely bring together three applications to help parents keep their kids safe and focused on what matters whether they are at home, at school or on-the-go. These tools include:

• Sprint Mobile Controls -- Clearly understand your child’s talk, text and app use habits. Lock your child’s phone on demand or schedule locks – during dinner, school or late at night. Browse your child’s contacts and apps downloaded to the phone.

• Sprint Drive First -- Automatically locks your teenagers’ mobile phones when they’re traveling over 10 mph and unlocks when they stop driving. Direct incoming calls to voicemail and silence distracting alerts while driving.

• Sprint Family Locator -- Quickly and easily locate your family members on an interactive map. Set up automatic location checks to get notified that your kids made it to school safely and on time.

The Family Safety bundle will be available for $9.99 per month for up to five lines on the same account.

Lookout Family, a new offer designed for Sprint customers, offers a suite of services that protects mobile phones and tablets from threats such as identity theft and fraud, loss of the device as well as loss of precious information on the phone. Lookout Family includes:

• Security -- Protect smartphones from evolving mobile threats including malware, spyware, phishing and malicious websites.         

• Missing Device -- Find a family member’s lost phone on a map, sound an alarm, and lock or wipe your device to protect personal information.

• Management -- Easily protect and manage their family’s mobile devices at mylookout.com, including backing up photos, contacts and call history.

Lookout Family will be available for $4.99 per month, or up to $49.99 per year, for up to five lines on the same account.

Sprint customers also have the option to purchase both bundles for a single monthly fee of just $14.98.

For a family of five, that offers a 73 percent savings – more than $39 per month - over purchasing each application in the family safety and device security bundles separately.

Sprint Guardian will be available this summer on many  Sprint Android devices through Sprint Zone. Customers can find Sprint Zone as an icon on their device.

Quick Facts:

According to the NPD Group:  Eighty-two percent of users do not have safety or security applications installed on their device, and most are unaware of solutions that can better protect them and their family.

According to Lookout Mobile Security:  Four out of 10 people may encounter a malicious web link this year on their smartphone.

According to Safely:  Eighty-three percent of teens text late at night.

According to a University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center study:  Seventy-one percent of people admit to talking and texting while driving.

Analyst Quote:

Andy Castonguay, Principal Analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media

"The smartphone holds remarkable potential to address security and safety issues that are of increasing concern to families and individuals in the US.  Sprint’s new Sprint Guardian suite of security services addresses many of the key physical and digital safety issues in a manageable way and at a competitive price.  Sprint Guardian can help reduce the complexity of monitoring family mobile usage by providing a unique set of tools to manage family communications, to control how children download and use applications, as well as to set up dynamic safety mobile rules and alerts for driving.  By pulling so many tools together under a single platform, Sprint Guardian provides a simplified approach for families to manage their complex safety concerns in one package."

Executive Quotes:

Fared Adib, vice president-Product, Sprint

“With Sprint Guardian, we’re making it easy for individuals and families to help manage how their children are using their mobile phone and giving them the tools they need to protect their wireless devices from theft, loss and malware. Sprint is pleased to be the first in the industry to unify innovative safety and security applications from Safely and Lookout in two simple bundles at a great value for our customers.”

John Hering, CEO of Lookout

“Sprint is a leader in wireless communications, and we are excited to work together to bring mobile security to families through Sprint Guardian. Families want mobile security to be easy, and Sprint Guardian leverages Lookout to deliver a simple solution to safeguarding smartphones.”

Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO of Location Labs, the makers of Safely products.

“We are excited to be part of the Sprint Guardian service for families. Parents are concerned about children’s phone use, and Sprint’s solution, using Safely management tools, makes it even easier for families to have peace of mind about their children’s mobile experience.”