A friend walks up to you and asks, “How do I get that wonderful service I saw your company advertising the other day during Dancing with the Stars?” You respond with: “I don’t know, but what is your exact address and I will check with our sales department.” You do your research and find the wonderful service is available for your friend’s address. Great news! But, with just a few disclaimers (and small print):

• Restrictions apply. Available in select areas. Actual speeds and coverage areas vary and are not guaranteed.

• Not all programming available in all areas.

• Geographic and service restrictions apply.

• Advertised services and Internet speed options not available in all areas.

• The coverage areas shown do not guarantee service availability and may include locations with limited or no coverage.

We, with network backgrounds, know that when a company comes up with a new product, that you do not just flip a switch and it becomes ubiquitously available across the service area of the company -- especially when a major network build must be accomplished. The new product is rolled out in a controlled, methodical, well-conceived manner with defined boundaries and accurate databases showing the specific coverage area for the new product.

Yeah, right.

All communications companies face the same dilemma when rolling out a new network-based service regardless whether it is voice, data, video, or wireless. Trying to keep the physical geographic network deployment synced up with the company’s sales inventory database is very challenging. Products delivered over a fiber-to-the-home/-business network can be better managed than products with “fuzzy” distance sensitive or physical boundaries such as DSL, IPTV, and Wireless.

So, what do the disclaimers above and “fuzzy” services mean to the Frontline?

• An installer faced with an irate customer when a service order for a particular product cannot be turned up at the customer’s home.

• A repair technician spending hours trying to re-sync a customer’s service that was installed on the fringe of the product’s reach.

• The customer service representative having to try to save a customer who wishes to disconnect and go to another carrier due to poor coverage or dropped calls.

All of these are, unfortunately, common occurrences with fuzzy services. It not only takes a toll on the Frontline, but can do damage to the company brand if not handled appropriately.

What can we, as network professionals, do to eliminate or minimize these occurrences? First, continue to support investment in the network infrastructure with more fiber-to-the-home, more electronic node deployment shortening the copper loop, and additional cell site deployment with 4G and LTE. This above all else will reduce the necessity for these disclaimers.

Second, build the network with Quality First as your objective. Engineer it correctly, construct it correctly, record it correctly, and install it correctly.

And lastly, support vendor development and field trials of network enhancements to help eliminate the fuzziness from certain products and services.

The Frontline is faced with many challenges; fuzziness should not be one of them.

Restrictions apply to the comments above. They are not guaranteed, may not be available to all geographies, and speed of reading may vary.

Byron retired as a senior manager of AT&T with more than 29 years of service and now is an Independent Consultant in Telecom Operations. During the last 12 years of his career, he held the position of Vice President - Construction and Engineering for AT&T West. Reach Byron at byron-mc@att.net.

What is your experience with this? Tell your fellow readers now!