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November 1999 Issue
Features

Serve Yourself
MediaOne Subs Test Cable Modem Self-Installation
By Bruce F. Bahlmann

• Self-installs
• What it is, what it isn't
• Our goals
• Field study
• The process
• Screening participants in advance
• Fail-safes established
• E-mail authorization
• RF installation
• Our results
• Survey conclusions
• Remaining challenges
• Yes, it's worth it
• Bottom Line

So, you're all set to kick off your cable modem service, and scads of customers are clamoring for it. Life is good, right? Well, maybe not. Where are you going to find enough technicians to install service for all these fledgling super-surfers?

An all-too-likely scenario is that your once-eager customers will face long wait times for installation, and in the meantime, many of them may either change their minds or go over to your competition. What to do?

Self-installs

For MediaOne, a possible answer is to have our cable modem customers do their own installations. In our Minnesota region, we conducted a test among technically savvy subscribers to see whether self-installs were a viable proposition. We found self-installs quite workable, effectively growing the subscriber base and streamlining activation.

Figure 1 represents the sequence of events facing each cable modem customer. Today, many multiple systems operators (MSOs) must rely on internal employees to process each phase of the customer care process. If unaltered, this fact will limit their ability to scale the business.

The long-term goal of many MSOs is to provide an efficient self-service environment for customers. Although this self-service environment initially is intended for high-speed data, eventually it could support all products that use the broadband pipe, such as high-speed data, core video, telephony and so on.

What it is, what it isn't

The self-service environment is not intended to replace "traditional" MSO installations with self-service installations. Instead, the self-service environment merely provides additional installation and support options for customers. The combination of the proposed self-service environment as well as other MSO employee-driven efforts to install and support customers will provide a more scalable and cost-effective solution for expanding the Internet service customer base.

The result of customers' choosing some or all of these options will be an increase in overall customer care efficiency. When developing a self-service program, here are some possible metrics you can use to measure your success.

• Installation time: Self-installation can reduce average installation time spent by MSO personnel.
• Average installation cost: Because the average installation cost represents all high-speed data installations, this figure ought to decrease as the number of self-installations increases.
• Percentage of customers self-installed: This refers to the portion of the total number of high-speed data installations that were completed entirely by customers. The availability of a fully functional self-service environment ought to increase the number of self-installs.
• Support calls per customer: As more maintenance tools become available through the self-service environment, the average number of support calls per customer ought to decrease.

A self-service environment must address all aspects of the customer care process and allow customers to independently select and then activate their Internet or other services. Once activated, the self-service environment must enable subscribers to make specific maintenance modifications to their Internet accounts without having to call technical support. Subscribers must be able to perform activation and maintenance operations via a convenient platform-independent (Web browser) application.

Most of this functionality also can be used to provide self-service subscriber maintenance (changing e-mail passwords, swapping network cards and so on). Achieving self-service subscriber activation involves automating existing "manual" activation tasks. It does not include wiring the home or installing the network card in the subscriber's computer. These tasks will be the customer's responsibility (in a self-installation) or an MSO installation technician's responsibility (in a traditional installation).

Simply allowing customers to activate their Internet service on their own is not synonymous with the primary goal of self-service activation, but rather just an additional way of installing high-speed data customers. In the end, the best self-service activation program supports a variety of options for customers with varying amounts of support from the MSO. A phased approach could continually add self-install options that require decreasing degrees of MSO support.

Our goals

The objective of our field study was to provide a means by which technically skilled individuals could wire, install, configure and activate high-speed data service on their own. We supplied qualified individuals (skilled in wiring and computer configuration) with an install kit and instructions that they could check out from a MediaOne service center.

Customers went home and installed the service at their convenience. Once complete, all customers answered a survey in which they provided feedback on their comfort level with the self-install. We used the survey results to help determine the proper costs (motivation/incentives) for this option, as well as to learn how to improve this process.

Field study

We conducted the study in our Minnesota region, with approximately 571,000 homes passed, all of which were high-speed data-capable. Minnesota had recently launched telco-return cable modem services, which were available to all the homes passed. The maximum possible throughput was approximately 1.5 Mbps forward and 33.6 kbps in the return.

Because of the recent launch of high-speed data services, we had a three-week backlog of new signups. A majority of the "earlier-adopters" were technically savvy, and many of them asked if they could do the install themselves. This initial customer demand prompted us to begin the field study. We had two goals in mind: Save the company money, and increase the number of installs that field technicians could do in a day.

The process

After approval of a project plan, we developed detailed processes to assemble the self-install kits, create our customer survey and distribute the kits. We defined a variety of steps for activating a self-install. They include:

• Tier 1 representative qualifies the customer's skills and dwelling
• Tier 1 representative initializes billing account and high-speed data services (select e-mail names and so on)
• Tier 1 representative schedules a "traditional" high-speed data install (See fail-safes.)
• Tier 1 representative arranges for pickup
• Customer picks up kit at service site
• Customer signs service contract and equipment release form
• Local coordinator reviews install steps with customer
• Local coordinator ensures customer's account is established and will enable customer to receive Internet service once install is complete
• Customer returns home to install kit
• Once installation is complete, customer answers the online survey
• Completed survey informs Tier 1 representative, who closes the install (without a truck roll), cancels the "traditional" install and activates the discounted service
• Tier 1 representative notifies customer, acknowledging receipt of the survey, cancels the now-unnecessary scheduled install and applies the discount

Screening participants in advance

Because our installation documents were not geared for casual to average computer users (many troubleshooting steps were not included), we screened customers for technical skill and the presence of required cabling in the home. Some of our screening questions included:

• Do you currently have MediaOne cable TV service?
• Are you comfortable opening a computer?
• Are you experienced in resolving interrupt requests (IRQs)?
• Do you know how to back out of changes made on a computer?
• Do you have a browser installed in your computer?
• Do you know how to terminate cable TV wire?
• Do you have access to the necessary tools (listed in manual)?
• Would you like to participate in the test, complete survey and so on?

We accepted customers who answered "yes" to all the questions into the self-install test group and proceeded with the next step in the process.

Fail-safes established

Additionally, we developed several fail-safes to ensure that the self-install ended with a satisfied and working customer. We put the following measures in place:

Traditional install date: We still scheduled customers who selected the self-install option for a "traditional" install. This date served two purposes. First, it preserved customers' installation priorities, allowing them to be installed at that date if they elected not to proceed with the self-install or couldn't complete it.

Second, it served as an end point for a given customer's opportunity to be part of the test group and be eligible for the discount. If customers failed to let us know that they had completed the install, and our technicians arrived at their homes, we billed them for the portion of the install that we had to complete. We then removed them from the test group and did not give them the discount.

Failed install: If customers couldn't complete the install because of a non-MediaOne problem (a buggy computer, for instance), they could request a service call from MediaOne to complete the install. If the service call was minor, we charged customers for time and materials, but they remained part of the test group and received the discount. If the service call was more like a full install, we charged the customers for an install and excluded them from the test group and its discounts.

Opt out: Customers who received the kit but no longer felt comfortable with the cabling could elect to have MediaOne install an additional outlet (AO). Because AO service orders come from the core video side of MediaOne, such a request likely could be serviced before the high-speed data install date. The customer would have to complete the customer premise equipment (CPE) installation and configuration and ensure the cable TV was connected per the self-install kit instructions.

Once complete, we charged the customer only for an AO service call, which generally is cheaper than a high-speed data service call.

Defective parts: If, for whatever reason, the customer suspected that any component in the self-install kit was defective, the customer could freely replace the component at any MediaOne service site.

Providing fail-safes allowed more people to become part of the test group while incurring minimum charges in exchange for MediaOne's performing some parts of the install. As a result, customers who did partial self-installs still saved money, just not as much as those who did everything on their own.

E-mail authorization

An important part of the qualification/ scheduling process was customer selection of an e-mail account over the phone. Once we created this e-mail account, we pre-authorized the customer to use MediaOne Internet service. The e-mail username and password allowed the customer to access the service from home once he or she had completed cabling and computer configuration.

The local coordinator confirmed this step before the customer left the service site. Additionally, the Tier 1 person recommended the customer do some general measuring in the home before coming to pick up the kit. The general measuring allowed MediaOne to provide the customer with lengths of wire most suitable to the dwelling, offering any length of wire needed to proceed.

RF installation

During the actual installation, the customer simply followed instructions contained in the kits and connected the preterminated wire lengths as instructed. Our goal with the RF installation documentation was to have the customer make "home-runs" from where the cable entered the premises (demarcation point was the ground block) to the room where the cable modem would be located. (See Figure 2).

By making these cable runs and following additional instructions, the dwelling would be capable of both one-way and two-way cable modem service. At the de-marc, the customer rerouted the wire leading to dwelling's video distribution system (some kind of splitter) through either a directional coupler or a two-way splitter depending on signal strength. (See Figure 3.)

The customer then connected the splitter/coupler to the home-run lead from the cable modem and a high-pass filter connected to the remaining receptacle. (See Figure 4.)

The other side of the filter was connected to the video distribution system. (See Figure 5.) Traps and amps can be placed between the filter and the video distribution system if needed to block premium channels or boost signal.

Note: The benefits of high-pass filters can be overshadowed by problems they cause for self-service. A filter anywhere between the cable modem and the broadband plant can terminate high-speed data service. It also can prevent self-service installs if it's out of the customer's reach (at the pole).

Our results

We closed the self-install test program after 83 participants had completed the process and become regular paying high-speed data customers. Of the 83 customers, only one couldn't activate the service, but this person proceeded through the fail-safes and later became a regular high-speed data customer.

Surprisingly, the ease of the RF installation portion of the self-install ranked very close to that of configuring the personal computer (PC). Our customers had the most problems with cable modem and browser configuration.

A majority of the test participants completed the installation within two hours. While slightly more than half of the participants experienced technical difficulties during the installation, less than a third of those had to contact technical support.

The top reasons for choosing self-installation were fast activation (no waiting for MediaOne to install the service) and cost savings. Installation was free, and we gave participants $10 off service for the first three months.

Participants in the test were highly involved in computers. A self-assessment of skills revealed that participants were quite comfortable with opening a PC, installing a computer expansion card, and installing/configuring software.

Test participants generally owned more than one PC, with at least a Pentium processor in the newest one, and worked in the PC industry. All participants were male, but education and age varied.

Survey conclusions

It is likely that the positive experience with self-installation of MediaOne Internet service was directly related to the capability of the people completing the self-installation.

We used advanced authorization to set up the customer's account prior to the self-install. This pre-activated Internet account enabled the service to be immediately used once the customer completed cabling and CPE configuration. Field tests proved this was an effective method of leveraging existing practices to expand the number of ways to install high-speed data customers.

True "no-truck" high-speed data installs are possible in a variety of cases depending on the skill of the customer and the type of dwelling. For example, an apartment can be one of the easiest wiring jobs and one that a majority of customers can accomplish. Likewise, a customer with technician-equivalent skills often prefers to do the install himself.

Self-install is viable and has a bright future. Currently, about 5 percent of all installs could be self-installs. Selection of self-install candidates is a key to being successful. Asking the right questions to ensure customer is comfortable is worth the time taken.

Remaining challenges

For average, below average and beginning computer users, high-speed data installation represents a significant challenge. Although the process is being simplified, some underestimated and unresolved issues remain:

Software, or lack thereof: A common misconception is that high-speed data service is as easy to install as other dialup Internet service providers. Up to a point, this is true. MSOs provide a network rather than a dialup connection. Dialup connections have been around for years and have several tried-and-true install applications for a dialup Internet service provider (ISP) to configure a customer for service.

However, no tried-and-true applications exist for network cards, which are the basis for MSO installs. Instead, MSOs must manually configure this hardware, which reduces the number of individuals who possess the skills for self-activation.

Developing a network configuration application for high-speed data installs would take at least a year and would need to keep up with current network technologies and drivers. In other words, network installs will be more difficult than dialup installs in the short term because of changes in network cards, drivers and networking technologies. Such network installation tools must be created.

In-house wiring: Most rooms used for home computing already have telephone jacks, but they lack cable TV outlets. Thus, outlets must be added, or cabling must be routed in from elsewhere in the dwelling. Until in-house wiring in new construction supports cable TV, high-speed data and telephony, installing high-speed data will be more complex than activating dialup services.

Universal hardware support: High-speed data also lacks hardware support. Because more than 90 percent of PCs lack a factory-installed network card, the install must provide it and sometimes software to activate it. Unfortunately, the average homeowner is uncomfortable opening a PC and installing additional hardware. Also, aspiring cable modem customers must prequalify their PCs because not all computers can handle additional hardware (slot or IRQ deficiency).

The hardware support problem cannot be solved in the short term. Based on an average three-year ownership of a PC before upgrading, only three years after all PCs come standard with a built-in network card, universal serial bus (USB) or IEEE 1394 bus will this problem dwindle.

Billing issues: Activating cable modems is fairly easy. The hard part of self-activation is interfacing with a billing system. The success of a self-service installation program depends on how well it performs the necessary checks and balances to qualify a customer financially and interfaces with the MSO's billing system. A vendor-independent application interface (API) is needed for billing systems. Without this, complete self-activation (no MSO intervention) is not possible. A phased approach is necessary to reach some level of self-activation.

Yet, it's worth it

A self-install option enables additional installs without increasing field technicians' workloads. Techs can concentrate on things that actually need their attention, rather than performing installs for people who can (and prefer to) do it themselves.

MSOs must streamline existing install options and continue to expand into new areas. Because the base of customers who qualify for self-install is limited, the best way to add high-speed data customers is to provide many different ways for them to get activated. That is, MSOs must cater installation options to the skills and needs of their customers.

This piece is adapted and reprinted with permission from the 1999 National Cable Television Association Technical Papers.

Bruce Bahlmann is senior systems engineer for MediaOne Interactive Services group in Roseville, Minn. He may be reached at via phone at or via e-mail at .

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