Pace plc, a global leader for digital TV and broadband technologies, is launching an enhanced version of its ECO Service Management platform, designed to optimise and simplify the delivery and management of triple-play and connected home services.  The enhanced service management platform comprises pre-integrated software and services delivered by Pace’s global team of experienced professionals.  It offers support for multi-vendor hardware and software networks, comprising of remote configuration, trouble-shooting, device management and customer analytics to reduce opex and capex costs and improve the subscriber experience.

Deployed by leading tier one operators including: AT&T, Telmex, Bell Canada, Telstra, and BskyB; ECO’s Service Management platform is founded on Pace’s 30 years industry knowledge and builds on their first-hand experience of handling over 6 million customer calls a year in their next generation customer care centres. Based on industry standards such as TR-069 and SNMP  the platform delivers reduced time to market for new services, offers capital savings based on reduced Return Merchandise Authorisations (RMAs), faster problem resolution and fewer truck rolls.  This is of particular importance as the connected home becomes more complex and the need to effectively manage and support the customer becomes greater.

The eight services falling within the ECO management platform include:

• ECO Monitor – Used by network operations staff to oversee subscriber service availability and quality
• ECO Manage – to oversee the management and support of services and devices
• ECO Collect – Assesses service quality and provides insight into subscriber experiences through the collection and analysis of subscriber and device data
• ECO Connect – Provides connected home applications with presence, location, message routing and transport services
• ECO Assist – Used by customer support agents to remotely troubleshoot and resolve complex subscriber issues
• ECO Self-Service – Allows subscribers to manage and resolve their own service issues
• ECO Dispatch – Used by field technicians to diagnose quality issues and verify installation
• ECO Inquire – Used by marketing personnel to gain insight into subscriber behaviour, preferences and experiences.

According to Jon Cobb, Pace’s President of Software and Services “Service providers are under immense pressure from greater competition and increasing costs, combined with customer demand for richer functionality and support for multiple devices in the home.  ECO Service Management helps address these challenges, whilst giving greater visibility, control and automation of devices and services to improve both the customer and operator efficiency.”  He adds, “It also offers the potential for increased operator revenue by improving time to market of new services as well as providing valuable insight and analytics into subscriber behaviour, paving the way for a better, more personalised consumer experience.”