WEHCO Video: Transitioning to a New Managed Broadband Service Provider
“I was unexpectedly surprised. The pre-planning that Scott and Buddy did obviously paid off. I can’t tell you what they might have done different to have made it any smoother, which is a testimony to how well it went. We’re very happy with the level of service we and our customers now receive from ZCorum. We are also big fans of their TruVizion diagnostics software, which is much better than what we had before.“–Bob Young, WEHCO’s Vice President of Engineering
WEHCO Video operates cable systems in four southern states, where they provide Cable TV service, Broadband access, and digital voice to their subscribers. WEHCO Video’s parent company is WEHCO Media, which also owns and operates several newspapers.
Problem: Desire to Transfer to a New Managed Broadband Service Provider with Minimal Customer Impact
In 2010 WEHCO Video was looking for a new provider of managed broadband services. The company they had used for several years was acquired and they were not happy with the level of service from the new provider. WEHCO was relying on the provider for provisioning of cable modems, diagnostics software for their cable modem network, as well as email services and support for their data subscribers. After the acquisition it became apparent they would not be receiving the level of customer service and engineering assistance they were accustomed to. Also, the diagnostics software they had been using was no longer being actively supported.
There were other reasons for considering a switch. WEHCO wanted to increase redundancy by having multiple, local servers that were backed up regionally. This was not something the current provider was willing to do. Also, when they needed a static IP address for a business subscriber it would take days to get one.
As WEHCO looked for a new provider, an overarching goal was to find a partner, not just a vendor—a company that would be willing to work with them on their specific needs—one that would not be stagnant, but that would be responsive and ready to grow as they grew.
While WEHCO had good reasons to make a switch, they were also mindful of how a conversion could negatively impact their customers. They knew that a project of that magnitude was complicated. Their large customer base was distributed among nine separate cable systems in four states. If they were going to make a change, choosing the right partner was imperative, as was extensive planning. They did not want their subscribers to experience extended outages, and they wanted the conversion to be completed in a timely manner, so it was important to find a well-established and reliable partner they could count on.
Solution: Expertise and Extensive Planning Brings About a Successful Transition
Months before the conversion ZCorum sent their Vice President of Technology, Scott Helms and their Director of Technology, Buddy Bertram to WEHCO to get an understanding of the lay of the land. Scott and Buddy were involved early on in the technical aspects of the move, and spent an extensive amount of time studying each system. As part of that process they worked closely with Bob Young, WEHCO’s Vice President of Engineering. “I was very impressed with Scott and Buddy, and the time they put in beforehand to make sure they knew exactly how we do things here and what would be needed to ensure a smooth transition.”
From these initial meetings a detailed project plan was developed with all the necessary tasks, including how to convert WEHCO subscriber email accounts and cable-modem provisioning with minimal customer impact. It was determined that the change of the provisioning and management of cable modems needed to occur over time to ensure a smooth transition of broadband service at each cable system. WEHCO and ZCorum wanted to get the overall conversion done quickly, because they wanted to minimize the amount of time that subscribers would be receiving services and support from two organizations. However, they also wanted to ensure that there was sufficient time to plan prior converting each system, as well as time after to handle any issues. The decision was made to convert two systems per week until all were transitioned over. The customer email needed to be transitioned all at once, and would be done just prior to the conversion of the first cable system.
While planning the conversion ZCorum also began a project to integrate their subscriber management system with WEHCO’s ICOMS billing system so that link would be in place by the time the transition began. Staff at ZCorum also began working on the messaging that would be used to communicate with WEHCO’s customers to ensure that all subscribers were kept in the loop regarding changes to email, as well as the scheduled maintenance windows and expected service impact prior to each system’s conversion.
Evaluation: A smooth transition helps build a winning partnership
The email conversion went smoothly and was transparent to WEHCO’s customers. All customer-impacting work was scheduled in the early morning hours so any outages would affect the least number of subscribers. Outages during the scheduled maintenance windows did not last more than thirty minutes to an hour, and the morning after each conversion WEHCO customers were able to connect and use their broadband service just as they did before. After each conversion ZCorum tested the system throughout the next day to ensure everything was working properly.
WEHCO is very pleased with how ZCorum handled the conversion of their broadband and email services, and is happy with their decision to switch to ZCorum. According to Bob Young, everything went smoothly, with no real issues. “I was unexpectedly surprised. The pre-planning that Scott and Buddy did obviously paid off. I can’t tell you what they might have done different to have made it any smoother, which is a testimony to how well it went. We’re very happy with the level of service we and our customers now receive from ZCorum. We are also big fans of their TruVizion diagnostics software, which is much better than what we had before.”
WEHCO and ZCorum continue to work together to ensure the best possible broadband service for WEHCO’s subscribers. The two companies have a weekly conference call to go over current projects and processes, as well as to discuss potential projects and new features. Also, WEHCO corporate staff and the individual General Managers at each cable system now have an Account Manager that they can contact directly for help, and they are able to get a static IP set up in hours rather than days. Needless to say, WEHCO is now receiving the attention they were lacking and both companies are pleased with their winning partnership.