AT&T Data Plans, Your iPhone, & International Travel

[Updated April 12, 2010]

If, like me, you’re a smart phone user and you travel outside the country, you’ll need to figure out how to deal with your AT&T data plan lest you find yourself with a ridiculously high mobile phone bill.

My best-known methods

Here are my current best practices (told through the lens of an iPhone user – if you use a different smart phone, you can make these changes by accessing your account through the AT&T Wireless web site):

• Install the free AT&T myWireless iPhone app on your phone. This will let you change your account settings on demand, right from your phone.
• The day you leave (preferrably, while still in the US), use the app to add an international data plan to your phone (see screen shot). You’ll notice I also turn on the “World Traveler” feature, which gets me discounted rates for calls while I’m traveling abroad. These changes will go into effect the day you make the change, and will be pro-rated on your bill based on the start and end dates for each feature.
• [Update April 12, 2010: AT&T is unpredictable about how quickly you get the benefit of your data plan, as I found out when I got an unexpectedly high bill after a recent trip. They can fix it up afterward if you rant enough, but it is easier to call them right after you add the feature and let them know you need the all of the extra data *right now* and not over time. They can do that - don't take no for an answer.]
• Be careful while traveling abroad, as wireless data usage can mount quickly. Some data hogs:
• • Synchronizing your email, especially if you receive a lot of email
  • Uploading pictures (whether to Twitter, sending via email, or otherwise sending them to anyone else)
  • Using your phone for Skype calls over the 3G data network (using it over Wi-Fi is fine)
  • Downloading large apps or songs over the 3G data network (again, not a problem on Wi-Fi)
  • Using Google Maps a lot (it is very “chatty” and downloads lots of map data, etc.)
  • Listening or watching streaming media (YouTube, internet radio, etc.)
• Use Wi-Fi (especially free hotspots) where you can, as this will allow you to handle large amounts of data in an unmetered way.
• When you return to the US, wait a day (just to be safe) then use the AT&T myWireless app to turn off the international data plan. Again, you’ll pay a pro-rated fee based on the start & end dates for which the plan was in effect.

What if you forget?

AT&T has gotten better at helping users understand this, it seems. I landed in Amsterdam this week and, upon turning on my phone and joining the mobile network, I received the following text message:

I was tired, so I ignored this message. After a nap, I wandered around Amsterdam, looking up things on Google maps and Bing (yes, there’s an app for Bing), etc. That evening I got second text message from AT&T:

Act Now!

When you get the “data usage is very high” message, it means you’ve gone over 20Mb of cellular data which, if you do the math, will cost you nearly $400! If you see this message, call the number immediately and ask them to add the International Data Plan to your phone right away! If it’s before midnight in the US, the data plan will apply to all your usage earlier in the day, back to the previous midnight – this can help drastically reduce your charges (I happened to have only about $5 of data that wasn’t covered when I called them).

I’m documenting this here in the hopes I can make someone else’s international travel a bit less stressful. Happy landings!

Gadgets

Use your iPhone headset on your MacBook

I'm becoming familiar with my new MacBook Pro, which I've had for about 6 weeks. Today I was listening to the No Agenda podcast on my iPhone and was wondering if my iPhone earbuds would work with my MacBook. I knew I could use them to listen to music, but today I found myself wondering if the volume control and "clicker button" would work with iTunes on my computer.

The good news is in: Yes, you can use your iPod / iPhone earbuds with your MacBook Pro, and the controls work just like they do on the iPhone - one click to play / pause, 2 clicks to skip forward, 3 clicks to skip backward, and full use of the volume controls if your earbuds have one. That is very cool.

This has the added advantage of allowing me to use my iPhone earbuds for Skype calls while traveling, to record voice notes, and things like that.

In a quick poll of my Mac-using friends, none of them realized you could do this, so I figured others might find this useful.

Do you have a MacBook but your earbuds don't have a volume control? Click the image on the left, and order a pair.

Gadgets

A new season

Well, I didn't set out to give up blogging for Lent, but it looks like that's how things ended up. A few interesting things have happened to cause this - or at least they've been interesting to me.

I've received great notes of encouragement from many of you, and wanted to a) let you know I appreciate your support and prodding for me to start blogging again; and b) let you know some of the things I've been up to:

• I took on a new role at work - now being general manager of a product we just launched. This is a new line of business in what was previously a single-product company. As a result, I've got a new team and we are blazing new trails in the company. There is a lot to learn in a process like that, and I'll be sharing some of that learning in upcoming posts.
  
  
• I switched to a Macbook Pro as my primary computer. I still use Windows (and so does everyone else in my family) so you could say I'm bilingual in that respect.
• I've begun to travel heavily again. This means I'll have more time to read & blog on flights and that I'll start collecting more travel & packing tips again.
• I'm still experimenting with video, and am eager to integrate some of that into the blog in the future, as well.

There's more, of course (I took a nice vacation with the family and enjoyed Springtime in Louisiana), but suffice it to say it was a nice (although very active) break.

Stay tuned for the "regularly scheduled programming" here on the blog including quite a bit on GTD - I've found that the busier I get, the more I need to be organized.

If you have any requests for topic areas (or if you want me to stay away from any that have bored you in the past), do let me know - either in the comments here, or by email (you can find my email link on the About page).

Blogging

Too friendly, too fast

Traveling on the east coast this week, I’ve spent time using a number of car services, hotels, etc. in which the employees were very friendly (the rude New Yorker stereotype is not the norm, from my experiences, by the way).  The problem is that they got a little too friendly, too quickly. 

What do I mean?  On several occasions, the employees engaged me in conversations about very personal topics, or made inappropriate comments (to or about me and my traveling companions).

Many businesses strive to achieve “customer intimacy,” which means you know a lot about your customers and both sides feel engaged in a relationship.  The problem is that it takes time to earn the right to be intimate with your customers, and businesses need to make sure all customer-facing employees understand that.

Earning the intimacy

So how in the heck does a business earn your intimacy? There is no one answer, but some of the things that come to mind:

• Ask and listen: Ask your customer for feedback, ask about their expectations, and then listen to what they say.
• Pay attention : If your customer expresses a preference, try to honor it (better yet, remember that so they don’t have to express it again)
• Do a little extra at any opportunity: In Louisiana, we used the term “Lagniappe” to mean '”a little something extra.”  If you give your customers a little extra attention, they will notice.  Even little things like a bottle of water before they ask for it.
• Be respectful: Customers can tell when you are handling them with care, and taking them seriously.  Don’t just treat them like you want to be treated, do that plus a bit more.
• Anticipate their needs: Some hotels stand out because they give me what I like (such as coffee in the room, a great fitness center, room darkening shades, really comfortable beds, “emergency” supplies for when I forget a toothbrush, easy access to healthy late night snacks or light meals, and so forth.  When I see these things I think, “these folks understand me.”  When you’re dog tired on the road, that’s a nice feeling.  (Hey hotels:  I really love free WiFi…)

What kinds of things have you encountered that helped build customer intimacy?  Please share them here in comments (and any juicy stories of customer intimacy gone bad are welcome, of course!)

Rewards and habits

I was visiting Aubrey Daniels’ blog today and saw a fascinating video, below (link here):

This shows the power of “reward” in getting people to change their behaviors.  The challenge:  what is enough to get people to change?  They say that people generally change in order to move toward pleasure, or away from pain.

This is a good thing to keep in mind when motivating yourself and others – is there enough “pleasure” in the change you’re asking people to make?  And is it enough for them to want to bring others along?

How do you carry the load?

I saw an interesting quote from former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holz this week that got me thinking:

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

I think that is very true from a few, important perspectives:

Perception

• Once upon a time, I worked with a product manager who always seemed overwhelmed.  He hurried from meeting to meeting, walked a bit hunched over, didn’t make much eye contact, and just sounded “down” when you tried to talk with him.  His product was doing “OK, but not great” and you could say the same about him.  The way he acted did not give me or others in the company the confidence that he was the one to help us drive great success in the market.  In short, he didn’t seem to be able to carry his load very well.
• In contrast I have worked with people who, even when everything is hitting the fan, come across as “in control” and exhibit a “can do” attitude.  They are better able to bring people into their world and get them to help create a successful outcome.
• Remember – people want to be part of a winning team’s success.  Does your team feel like a winning one?

Attitude

• Are you a “glass half empty,” “glass half full,” or a “you could do with a smaller glass” kind of person?  Your outlook and attitude will color your actions, so the better your attitude the better your results (in my experience).
• To go back to the product manager example, I have also had the pleasure of working with product managers who sought opportunity at every turn – even competitive losses – and managed to drive a successful business against the odds.  How?  A great attitude, hard work, and a compelling vision.  If that’s doesn’t describe you, maybe you’re in the wrong role.

Belief

• Underlying all of this is whether you believe you can succeed or not, which is rooted in whether you believe in yourself.  Do you?  It’s OK to be afraid, but you need to be on your own team – no matter what.
• If you believe in yourself but don’t believe in what you’re doing, it’s time to switch to something you do believe in.

Remember:  when you interact with people, you typically either add energy or drain energy during the interaction.  Which describes you?  What can you do to recognize when you’re draining the energy from the room?  What can you do to up the level of positive energy you emit?