This page contains answers to frequently asked questions about ICSS. If you seek troubleshooting tips or technical support questions, please visit our Support Pages.

 

FutureDial's Integrated Cellphone Service Station, or ICSS, is a tool for transferring phonebooks between cellphones and for loading system data into a cellphone, such as: firmware, PRL, account information, and settings. The Retail Version of the ICSS program is capable of processing up to 5 phones or devices simultaneously, even with different tasks.

 

You can connect up to 5 phones at a time and process them simultaneously, even with different tasks.

 

• PC with Windows XP with Service Pack 2
• Processor: Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz or higher
• Memory: 512 MB of RAM required, 1 GB recommended
• Hard Disk: 6 GB of free space
• Internet Connection (only for PST functions): DSL or higher speed recommended
• Internet Browser: Internet Explorer version 6 or 7
• Java Runtime 1.4.2.9
• FutureDial-brand phone data cables for the phones you will process
• Recommended PC Monitor Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels and higher

 

FutureDial ICSS is typically set up in Sprint stores with two USB data cable hubs, which are both connected directly into two separate USB ports on the PC, and a toggle switchbox which is also connected directly to the PC to the serial port. The various phone data cables that you will use with your ICSS system will plug into the USB hubs and the toggle switchbox, instead of directly to the PC. The USB phone data cables will be plugged into the two USB hubs, and the Serial phone data cables will be connected to the back of the toggle switchbox. Phones can be easily connected to the ICSS system through the hubs or the switchbox for processing.

 

Tasks you can perform are divided into two classes of operations:

 

• Phonebook Management : Tasks such as new phone transfers, phone transfers, printing phonebooks, backing up phonebook data, restoring phonebook data, and erasing phonebooks.

• Phone Support Operations: this includes tasks like software downloads for phones, PRL updates, provisioning, settings, and refurbishing.

 

The two classes of operational buttons are color coded for your ease of reference (see the example shown below). The buttons are arranged into 5 columns, with each column featuring the operational task buttons for servicing a single handset or device.

 

ICSS helps support stores which offer advanced exchange services to their customers. For those stores, ICSS is designed to automatically process phone data through the Sprint network (in the background) during an operation, so when you handle an advanced exchange task, ICSS makes the process go smoother. The advantage of this is that if a customer brings in a phone under warranty for an exchange, by using ICSS the replacement phone can be pre-loaded with the customer's phone data and settings so that the new phone can be used right out of the box.

NOTE: For store locations which will be offering advanced exchange services, those stores will have a special edition of ICSS with features that support their advanced exchange operations. Some screens in this special advanced exchange edition of ICSS will differ slightly from the screens in the regular version of ICSS.

Advanced Exchange functions supported:

1. Print Phonebook: If this feature is selected, ICSS will automatically print out the phonebook to the local printer for the customer when a phonebook is backed up to the server.
2. Automatic Backup of Phonebook: If this feature is selected, the system will perform an automatic backup of the phonebook to the server.
3. Automatic Restoration of the Phonebook: If this feature is selected, a previously saved phonebook can be restored automatically to the phone from the server.

 

The main ICSS Operation Task Menu screen indicates the progress of each task as it progresses. The buttons in each Task Column will be replaced by a Progress Panel to show how an operation is coming along.

 

When a task is running its column will show the progress of the operation.

When a task is successfully completed, the task column will turn green.

 

When a task is successfully completed, the Progress Panel in the Task Column will turn green, like the example shown here. If an operation encounters a problem or does not complete successfully, the Task Column will turn red.

 

ICSS lets you quickly transfer a phonebook to a new phone that has never been used before. The operation involves connecting a new phone called the "Target" Phone, and an old phone called the "Source" Phone, to the ICSS system with data cables to the Hubs. The ICSS screens guide you on the process of selecting and connecting the phones, as shown in this screen example:

 

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Please keep the following in mind when you use the New Phone Transfer function:

ONLY use this New Phone Transfer function for NEW or EMPTY phones, because the phonebook of the old or "Source" phone will over-write the phonebook (if any) of the new "Target" phone.

 

This button in ICSS safely synchronizes, merges or transfers phonebooks to a "Target" Phone that may already have phone contacts on it. This function merges and transfers existing phonebook contacts from two phones into one phone. This would be used when you want to merge or combine phonebooks of the "Source" and "Target" phones, so the "Target" phone will have the combined phonebook information from both phones.

 

As a service to your customers and as a safeguard measure in your process operations, you can create and save a backup copy of a phone's phonebook with the Phonebook Backup function. Use this function when you need to create a copy to safeguard customer phonebooks against loss. When performing other process operations and you want to make a backup copy, you can also use this Phonebook backup function. The back-up copy can be exported to MS Outlook® and other third-party programs, or used to restore the phonebook later to a new phone if the previous phone is ever lost or damaged. Also, in the event when you only have one cable of a certain phone manufacturer and you need to do a transfer between the same manufacturer phones, you can use this feature to back-up the phonebook of the "Source" phone and then restore the phonebook to the "Target" phone.

 

If a customer's phone is ever lost, stolen or damaged and needs a new replacement phone but has a great number of contacts to put into the new phone, ICSS enables you to quickly restore previously-saved phonebooks to new replacement phones. You will need a new replacement phone for the customer, and you must have a previously-saved backup copy of the customer's phonebook (typically on a CD, or in a directory file on the computer). Simply connect the phone to the ICSS system, and click on the Phonebook Restore button.

 

Yes. There may be times when you need to erase a phone's phonebook, wiping it clean. A customer may turn in an old phone and wants the phonebook to be erased prior to the phone being shipped back for refurbishing. For this operation, you would use the Phonebook Erase function in ICSS.

 

NOTE: If you want to thoroughly remove data from the phone, use the “Refurbish” function instead.

 

Firmware updates (or "re-flashing the phones") are frequent tasks performed at stores. ICSS makes it easy to load firmware into a phone with the Software Download function. You may also be called upon to load PRL (Preferred Roaming List) files onto phones, and ICSS is the universal tool to process these updates for all your phones. Just use the PRL Update button.

 

Provisioning is a form of customer service which involves the process of loading account information into a phone to activate and enable it for voice and data use, pulling the information directly from the network. Provisioning is also a very good tool to assist in resolving programming issues, especially those associated with data. ICSS makes this process easy to perform as a customer service.

 

NOTE: Sprint's "Service Pro" OTA provisioning is an alternative; however, it may take up to 6 hours to correctly activate a phone, depending on network traffic and task priority.

 

ICSS is a handy tool for seamlessly changing the settings on a phone, such as ringer volume, calendar alarms, ringer types, and more. Just click on the blue “Settings” button in the main ICSS Task Operation Menu Window. You'll be presented with a screen to select the settings you want to change on the phone.

 

You may be called upon from time to time to renew or to restore a phone to a new condition. This usually involves resetting the phone back to its original factory settings or specific wireless carrier default settings. This process is called "refurbishing." ICSS makes refurbishing an easy operation to perform with the Refurbish button. This function provides a more thorough and automated method of resetting the phone than by manually keying-in a reset code on the phone.