Cablefax The Magazine - July 2015 - 23

2015 Top Ops Awards
INDEPENDENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD
SingleView
Implementation
Cable ONE
To the public it might seem simple-a cable, voice and Internet
provider changes its billing system from one it has used for 25plus
years to a state-of-the-art product called SingleView. A large
independent operator with systems in 42 markets, Cable ONE made
the switch so smoothly last year it seemed effortless to its 700K
customers. That's how it should appear to the public, our Cablefax
judges decided as they honored Cable ONE with this year's Customer
Service Award. But like a Hitchcock fi lm, things aren't always
as they appear.
What looked like a simple conversion involved 12 months of planning
and juggling, especially by Cable ONE's customer-service
representatives (CSRs).
And unlike services such as water, heat/air conditioning etc., which
are interrupted for a period of time while they are checked and/or
repaired, that wasn't going to happen at Cable ONE. As director of
public relations Trish Niemann says, " The key from an operations
perspective was separating the conversions from running business
as usual. Business as usual could not stop or suffer. "
The heavy lifting in preparation for the conversion involved " migrating
data out of our old billing system and into the new, " Niemann
says. " While much of this could be done automatically, large portions
required manual intervention, such as old packages, adjustments
because of new processes in SingleView and, of course, backlog. "
Just as it sounds, manual intervention called for CSRs to do this
project " off the side of their desks, " she says, while they continued
doing their normal job-helping customers. " Our associates rose to
the challenge, " Niemann says.
Aside from data migration, converting to SingleView included reporting,
dual operations, rate code mapping and account provisioning.
Again, appearances were deceptive-what looked like one large
task in fact involved coordinating nearly every Cable ONE employee.
That required workers to receive clear, concise communications.
" We delineated who owned each portion [of the job] and strove to
fi nd the sweet spot in our communication-not too much or too
little-making sure it was appropriate to the group for which it was
intended, " Niemann says. There also were communication and education
efforts aimed at customers. Before the conversion, subscribers
received a letter, email and messages in their bills. There also
was material on Cable ONE's website.
Prior to the conversion, Cable ONE soft-launched SingleView to
friends and family in its smallest system. That " proved invaluable in
terms of understanding what system modifi cations were absolute
necessities vs what were wishlist items, " Niemann says.
Cablefax: The Magazine
It worked. With about 80% of Cable ONE systems converted, only
minimal customer disruptions have occurred, the company says. CSRs
report SingleView makes them more effi cient-they see on one screen
what previously required opening several screens. It's also more intuitive
and adaptive and customers receive a bill that's cleaner, easier to read.
Not everything worked, of course, yet Cable ONE has responded quickly,
communicating to customers " while the car is moving, " Niemann says.
That the SingleView conversion has seemed seamless is hardly
a surprise. Cable ONE switched to all-digital earlier this year. This
month came another change-as Cable ONE went public. As Cable
ONE President & COO Julie Laulis says, " We believe our associates
are the best at what they do... our associates have taken these
changes in stride and with grace while continuing to provide worldclass
service to our customers. "
- Seth Arenstein
FAST FACTS
Fast Facts
uCable ONE is among the top-10-largest cable companies in the
U.S. Previously it was a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co.
u Cable ONE has nearly 700K subs in 19 states: Alabama,
Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, South
Dakota and Washington.
July 2015
cablefaxmag.com
23
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - July 2015

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