EVERETT — When cable television was younger, a generation ago, there was just one thing to do when customers called to complain the cable had gone out: send a repair truck.
With fuel selling well above $4 a gallon and new competitors taking on the cable company, Comcast is pushing forward its technology to solve problems faster and, when possible, more cheaply.
That’s the mission of a specialized team inside Comcast’s operations center in south Everett. Surrounded by dozens of computers and TV monitors, team members keep an around-the-clock eye on the 5,200-mile network that carries cable television, data and telephone calls around Washington and Oregon.
“When we first built the cable systems years ago, we were completely dependent on our customers to let us know there was a problem. Even 10 years ago, we were blind to everything. Now we can look at the system down to the modem in a customer’s house,” said Matt Durand, Comcast’s director of engineering operations for Washington.
The local management center he oversees was set up in Everett less than a year ago. Before that, a smaller monitoring center in Puyallup tracked Comcast’s network.
But with the cable company’s expansion of high-speed Internet service and relatively new digital telephone offerings, keeping the network up and running is more important than ever to Comcast’s customers.
Accordingly, the Everett center resembles a command center, with more than a half dozen huge monitoring screens hung around the room and displaying data gathered from thousands of monitoring points and devices around the network. Each employee has two computers and at least four screens at their desks for the same purpose.
Durand said the center, which employs 40 people, is one of 14 such centers Comcast has around the nation. In addition to its high-tech tools, the earthquake-resistant Everett center has a backup generator that can keep it running for up to three days, as well as the latest fire suppression and vapor-barrier systems. A nearby “war room” is ready for big problems, such as big storms that knock out huge portions of the network.
The facility represents a substantial investment, but it also seems to be paying off.
In practical terms, if the technicians in the management center can take care of network problems right from their computer keyboards, that’s one less issue for the repair trucks to fix.
With that approach, Comcast says it reduced technicians’ repair visits across Washington by 15,000 during the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 2007. That helped Comcast’s statewide operation use 10 percent less fuel in this year’s first quarter.
Harder to measure is customer satisfaction. But it’s clearly a competitive advantage if Comcast can detect problems in its network before they cause big inconveniences for customers.
Accomplishing that is done with a big assist from high-tech software tools. For example, the management center’s computers will relay complaint messages about network problems from Comcast’s call centers in Fife, Lynnwood and Everett. Or, if two callers or more in the same area report similar problems, that information is automatically relayed to the team, which can investigate to see if there’s a bigger problem emerging.
“We’re finding these tools very, very useful to help us get out and repair any problems in the network before the customer even sees it,” Durand said.
With their technology, technicians can sit at their desks and test out customers’ cable modems for problems. To keep even better tabs on the network, Comcast is testing out new cable boxes that also can be monitored or fixed remotely, Durand said.
He added that the company does not use the technology to monitor customers’ Internet browsing or what channel they might be watching. Also, the local center does not interfere with the type of traffic going over Comcast’s network, a widely publicized practice criticized by the Federal Communications Commission. Last week, a majority of FCC commissioners signed an order finding Comcast violated federal rules by purposely slowing the transmission of some video files.
The people watching Comcast’s network come from a variety of backgrounds within the company. Many have experience repairing problems in the field, which helps as they try to solve network glitches from behind a desk.
Jennifer Jensen of Everett came to the monitoring center eight months ago, after working in Comcast’s call center and then as a dispatcher for the company. She said the job is a daily learning experience that also allows her to use her years of training.
Nearby, Matt Baker kept a wary eye last week on his array of computer screens as he talked about the variety of the job.
“It’s definitely not monotonous,” Baker said. “It’s something different every day.”
Durand said the Everett management center is set up to handle growth in Comcast’s network over the next year or two. Beyond that, it may be necessary to add more jobs to the center, he said.
“We’re kind of a work in progress. We’re continuously adding to our tools here.”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com
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