By Mike Gordish, Robert F. Cruickshank III, Dan Rice, C-COR
As MSOs accelerate efforts to satisfy strong market demand for cable digital voice services they have an opportunity to adopt new installation procedures that can contribute significantly to customer retention while reducing ongoing operational costs. Back office-based ‘Assurance’ software that delivers comprehensive analysis of voice service performance on the MTA (multimedia Terminal Adapter) across all household cable outlets with DOCSIS equipment installed, allows installers to quickly obtain a view of whole-home service quality that simplifies identification and repair of problems at installation and provides a reference base for use in future trouble shooting. By aggregating and interpreting DOCSIS-generated data on RF signal quality, jitter, packet loss and other parameters, these “house checks” provide easy-to-understand readouts on installer handhelds and give Customer Service Representatives, Dispatchers, Engineers and Network Operations Center (NOC) personnel a reliable record of the true state of performance before the installer leaves the premises.