Article: There’s a Cable Set-Top Revolution Goin’ On October 20, 2010

Posted by OnProcess Technology in Asset Retrieval.
Tags: cable industry, Cap Ex, capex, Comcast, CPE, Craig Leddy, Heavy Reading Cable industry Insider, MSOs, set top boxes, STBs, Xfinity
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Link to Original story in Light Reading: Cable

There’s a Cable Set-Top Revolution Goin’ On

OCTOBER 19, 2010

The traditional notion of the cable set-top box (STB) is being radically redefined. The STB, the primary cable component inside millions of US homes, is morphing, expanding, and extending with new features and functionality. STBs are shrinking into small devices that turn digital signals into analog, growing into intelligent boxes that can handle multiple types of video, and extending their capabilities through home networks, mobile smartphones, and broadband-connected devices such as the iPad.

Never before have cable multiple system operators (MSOs) had so many options from which to choose for their in-home customer premises equipment (CPE) at the same time as they are seeking to reduce capex and STB inventory, according to a new Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider, “Set-Tops Gone Wild: iPads & IP Revolutionize Cable Devices.”

Depending on the needs of a particular household, cable operators can deploy multi-room HD DVRs, digital terminal adapters (DTAs), next-generation STBs, digital gateways, smart remotes, or applications for connected devices. They can support interactive TV, IPTV, or even 3DTV.

Never before have cable multiple system operators (MSOs) had so many options from which to choose for their in-home customer premises equipment (CPE) at the same time as they are seeking to reduce capex and STB inventory

Most connected devices, including the recently reintroduced Apple TV and Android-fueled Google TV, are regarded as competitive to cable because they support over-the-top (OTT) video. However, as the report explains, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) demonstrated how the unique characteristics of a connected device can be complementary to cable when the company introduced its iPad application during the 2010 Cable Show. In a landmark demo, Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, showed how the iPad could be used to extend STB capability and become a remote control for Comcast’s Xfinity video services.

Many service providers are now developing iPad apps. Simultaneously, cable is exploring the advantages of providing customer access to more services that exist “in the cloud” of cable and Internet networks. Cable is seeking to add IP video support to STBs and add video support to cable modems, blurring the line between the two units, the report says. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing its own solution, called AllVid, that could result in a broadband-connected retail device by the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, major MSOs plan to reduce their overall inventory of leased STBs and rein in related capex. Next-generation network architecture and the range of available devices enable operators to tailor customer offerings using an inventory mix of thick intelligent boxes, thin clients, and retail devices.

The report takes a high-level view of cable’s strategic options with STBs and related video devices, and it profiles 12 leading companies in the STB market. The increasing options for cable CPE reflect the ongoing redefinition of what cable is and how the industry will deliver its services.

— Craig Leddy, Contributing Analyst, Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider

Article: Comcast “Twitter Guy” leaving July 28, 2010

Posted by OnProcess Technology in Customer Care, Customer Experience Management.
Tags: Comcast, Customer Experience, customer service, Frank Eliason, social media, Twitter
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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/business_breaking/20100728_Twitter_guy_leaving_Comcast.html

Article from Philadelphia Enquirer.

Goodbye, Comcast Twitter guy.

Frank Eliason, the social media apostle who responded to tens of thousands of online Comcast Corp. customer complaints over the last two years, is leaving the cable company for a new challenge – helping banking giant Citigroup navigate the Internet to connect with banking customers.

Eliason’s new title is senior vice president in New York, a sweet one for a 37-year-old who began his career stocking shelves in Clover, Strawbridge’s former discount chain, in the late 1980s.

Thursday is Eliason’s last day at Comcast. He chatted with chief executive Brian Roberts on Wednesday morning – not the typical departure in a company with 100,000 employees – and then a grateful public relations department threw him a party.

Said Roberts in an e-mail: “Frank has had a huge impact on Comcast. He literally made himself available to our customers 24 hours a day and he created a team of people who are dedicated to do the same thing.”

Why the fuss?

In the depths of Comcast’s customer-service woes, a time when an elderly Virginia woman busted up a Comcast office with a hammer because her phone had died and a blogger launched the website Comcastmustdie, Eliason began combing the Internet for Comcast references and responded to online rants. He found many of those on Twitter, the quick-blurb social media site.

Eliason hit the Twitter moment almost perfectly. One business news story about Eliason and his Twittering led to another story and another. Soon, people were talking about Comcast’s innovative use of social media to improve customer service, instead of about Comcast’s customer service fiascoes.

Eliason’s department grew from himself to his current ten employees. Eliason, who has 42,000 followers on Twitter, said the Comcast digital-media group will remain Twittering.

Contact staff writer Bob Fernandez at 215-854-5897 or bob.fernandez@phillynews.com.

Master Interviews: Frank Eliason ComcastCares September 1, 2009

Posted by OnProcess Technology in Customer Care, Customer Experience Management, Customer Understanding Research.
Tags: Comcast, comcastcares, Esteban Kolsky, Frank Eliason, social media
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http://www.estebankolsky.com/2009/08/31/master-interviews-frank-eliason-comcastcares/

Here is a great little interview with Comcast’s Frank Eliason, who has become the ‘face’ in front of Comcast’s very forward-looking approach to the use of social media to improve the Customer Experience.

Here are a couple of the most interesting quotes:

‘The ROI conversation cracks me up, as I hear it all the time. I wonder if other parts of an organization such as public relations or Customer Service had as many people question ROI as social media does. There are many way to measure it, such as amount of Customer helped on a given day, of course this misses the broader ways you may help on a day, such as broadcasting a message. Sometimes those, thanks to retweets, can hit millions of people in a matter of seconds. You can also measure sentiment and changes over time. I have been successful in both of these. Of course this is not the way Comcast measures success. We are striving to improve the overall experience. One of the best ways you can do that is through the Customer story. This is a great space for that. From there you can implement a great deal of changes in many areas of the company that improve the experience for all our valued Customers.”

“When you contact somebody and you admit that you made a mistake and then you fix the mistake, they become some of your biggest supporters. We took the lead and we are ahead of a lot of companies in America doing it…. I think it is a fact that that’s the way that people are communicating now, and I think if you want to serve your customers you have to go to where they are.”

Interesting not only in that a large organization such as Comcast (coincidentally one of our biggest clients here at OnProcess) was willing to go out early to use social media in a relatively non-bureaucratic way, but how they really are aiming for the big picture customer satisfaction issues.

Well done all around!

–sk