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Few things make engineering managers happier than reducing truck rolls. Thus, when a company comes along that provides a compelling plan for curtailing these road trips?which cost $65 or more a pop?cable operators pay attention.
SupportSoft provides software that customer service representatives (CSRs) use to walk subscribers through problems. The idea is that structuring and organizing the exchange of information and giving CSRs access to detailed information increases the chances that the problem is solved without subsequent calls or dispatching technicians.
This is done with information trees. The answer to a yes/no question determines the subsequent question asked and, eventually, the suggestion that the CSR makes. Deep information logically connected to each step in the process increases the chances that the issue is dealt with successfully.
The point is that the likelihood of avoiding truck rolls no longer rests with the experience and knowledge of the CSR, and more on a structured and consistent set of responses.
SupportSoft already supplies the software for data services across the massive cumulative footprint of Comcast, Cox, Charter and Time Warner. In May, it teamed with Scientific-Atlanta to create a similar service for digital video. Trials are expected in two systems this fall, according to Bruce Mowery, SupportSoft?s vice president of marketing. Once the system is in general deployment, the digital video system will merge with the data system where the latter is already running.
Larry Bradner, the president of SciCare Broadband Services, says that the pairing is a natural extension of S-A?s networking knowledge and SupportSoft?s approach to controlling the information flow between the CSR and the customer.
The duo is taking direct aim at three elements: reducing truck rolls, cutting the number of calls into the contact center and the shortening each call.
S-A estimates that 15 percent of the digital subscriber base calls an MSO once per month on service-related questions. The majority of those calls?83 percent?deal with installation, video availability or video quality issues. Eliminating repeat phone calls could cut inbound contact center traffic by 10 percent, Bradner says.
Even more significantly, solving problems during the initial call could reduce truck rolls by 25 percent. "The more you can do from that phone intelligently, the less likely the CSR is to hit that big red button on the desk that says, `Roll a truck,?" Bradner says.
If these goals are accomplished, the equivalent of $15 per year per sub will be added to cash flow. Mowery adds a different number to the mix: Each time a CSR speaks to a customer costs the operator about $15. Thus, reducing the number of calls?while not as dramatic as axing truck rolls?significantly improves the bottom line.
The likely next step is to deepen the granularity of the information aimed at solving installation and picture availability/quality issues. This, Bradner says, is probably more sensible than turning the focus to other problems because other service related issues are far less common. He said the companies also will tackle self-installations and integrate an interactive Web-based element into the process.
?Carl Weinschenk
Headend racks are shedding their reputation as commodities.
Not that all cable techs are on board. "One of the things that?s mostly neglected is the infrastructure to support all the electronics in these facilities," Tim Fike, sales engineer with Sci-Care Broadband Services, says.
But two-post rack installs don?t quite cut it today. Racks are now part of a larger picture that entails numerous design and engineering considerations.
"The three things are power distribution within the rack, cooling within the rack and cable management," Ed Eacueo, product manager for APC?s NetShelter line, says. Security is another issue for racks in data centers, he adds.
As one innovation on the powering equation, APC designed its InfraStruXure architecture to include modular uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and power distribution units (PDU) in each of its NetShelter racks.
Eacueo says this design makes power distribution very clean, inexpensive and quick to deploy. It also reduces points of failure and, by displacing the traditional UPS setup, can recapture space.
In a testimonial, Time Warner Cable engineers in New York cite InfraStruXure?s front-to-back air cooling and remote power monitoring, as well as its scalability, as features enhancing its deployment of VOD.
Curiously, while VOD servers are increasingly linked to the idea of "off-the-shelf," racks are themselves riding a customization wave. APC uses a Web-based "build-out" tool to let customers input parameters.
ElectroRack, populated by former executives at Stantron (a division of APW), makes the ProE2001 auto-CAD tool available to its broadcast and broadband customers. It also includes such features as pre-installed grounding straps, which save on installation labor.
"Some of the things that we?ve done with companies like ElectroRack, and even APW, or any other cabinet manufacturer that?s out there, is try to help design a cabinet for what we think the customers need," Sci-Care?s Fike says.
?Jonathan Tombes
 Back to July 2003 Issue
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