Did you know that Americans will spend 9% more with companies that provide excellent customer service?* That’s fantastic news -- IF your company is one who invests more than just lip service to delight your customer.

The bad news is this: only 37% of Americans believe that companies have increased their focus on providing quality service. And almost a third of them (27%) feel businesses have not changed their attitude toward customer service. In fact, 48% feel companies are helpful but don’t do anything extra to keep their business, and 21% believe that companies take their business for granted.

This new data shares the underlying theme to what we are discussing in this final 2010 Thought Leaders special section: how do we reduce the pain of doing business in this economy while we increase the potential for future revenue?

Our Thought Leaders have much to say about reducing operating expenses. They speak their mind about new processes and software that can help communicate pain points in their network maintenance. They share their commitment to the customer and call for the same from their teams.

And when it comes to potential, these execs are not biting their tongue. They have definite opinions about the future of the digital home and “owning” the customer. They know that Smart Grid initiatives must be integrated into their To-Do List instead of remaining theoretical on their Wish List.

These leaders are taking action to help their teams increase the quality of experience for their customers. Why? Because even without hard data, they know that customer bliss translates into big dollars. (But, 9%? Wow!)

Read our 2010 Thought Leaders insights, priorities, and commitment. Then, send me some questions YOU’D like to ask them at OSP EXPO’s LIVE Thought Leaders 2010 Panel Discussion.  I’m ready to ask the hard questions. Email me today:
sharon@ospmag.com.

* American Express Global Customer Service Barometer released July 2010. Source: www.marketingcharts.com

Question #1: The legacy network is going to be around for many years to come. Infonetics Research says it now costs $52+ a year to maintain a copper phone line today (Source: www.infonetics.com). What are some of the ways you are reducing costs to operate the copper network while evolving it to deliver higher bandwidths?

Question #2: If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.

Question #3: When do you think providers will weave initiatives like Smart Grid into their business plans?

Question #4: In-Stat recently released data that proves consumers want the best of both worlds in terms of entertainment: Pay TV and Over-the-Top Video. Based on In-Stat’s new multi-client research study, 26% of U.S. consumer respondents report viewing Internet TV more than once per week. However, rather than a substitute for traditional pay TV services, consumers want their Over-the-Top (OTT) Internet video to compliment their traditional TV offerings. “Consumers want the best of both worlds: Pay TV and Over-the-Top Video,” says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst. “Nearly 40% of consumer broadband household respondents want a combination of linear TV and on-demand TV, and nearly three quarters want to acquire all their video content from their pay TV service provider.” (Source: www.in-stat.com) Has there been any change in your company’s strategy to dominate the digital home? What are the new initiatives your company is focusing on to help customers feel supported as they attempt to wire their homes for everything on demand so your ARPU will increase?

Question #5: As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?

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Michelle T. Simpson, Vice President, Field Operations, Cincinnati Bell

What are some of the ways you are reducing costs to operate the copper network while evolving it to deliver higher bandwidths?
Cincinnati Bell has redirected the focus of proactive maintenance in the traditional plant to more of a concentrated approach on the identified areas of greatest need through several different software applications. These applications triangulate our repair tickets so that we allocate our maintenance spend on those areas of the plant needing it the most. We also use these reports to communicate these areas of plant “pain” with the fiber product planning team. This ensures we increase the customer’s satisfaction with improved network performance without us pouring any additional spend into the plant in any of the areas that can be upgraded with fiber.

Along with reviewing the repair ticket data, we are also constantly reviewing and considering our customer’s feedback to determine the areas where we should deploy more capital for the most significant retention of customers. We may add network cards to allow for more customers to be added to our traditional high-speed Internet service or we may change the type of hardware used to ensure the customer is training at higher speeds. Mostly, we are more holistic with our approach to attract and retain our most profitable customers by looking at all of our routing options and thinking broadly about the future of our network, both copper and fiber.

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why?
It is tough to narrow our focus to only these attributes. However, I believe the 3 most important attributes for Cincinnati Bell at this time are People Management, Quality of Products and Services, and Innovation. With the focus on our people and their daily contributions to the business, we know we can make the experience for our customers better and retain their business thus ensuring the longevity of our company. Daily management of our people requires endless focus on every interaction with the customer and the development of any and all areas needing improvement.

Simultaneously, we must also be improving the quality of our products and services. It is our responsibility to ensure the most efficient use of our resources to keep the costs low while offering those products and services. Customers demand a better, cheaper, and faster solution from our industry and the company that can offer the most comprehensive solution will be the most preferred by the customer.

Once you are confident that your people are focused on taking care of your customers, and your customers prefer your products and services, you must allocate time to innovation. Your customers will be your customers only if you continue to attract them with new products and services that creatively meet their needs like no other provider.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
The most challenging component of morphing our network into more of an IP-based network is managing all of the monitoring components necessary to provide an exceptional experience for our customers. As you add the equipment to the network, to the customer’s premises, and to the network operation center, you must also ensure to develop or add to the intelligence and/or experience among your employees. It is the employees who are responsible for implementing, monitoring, and repairing the IP-based network. Understanding the quality of service, the IP gateway, the timing, the possible congestion, and the prioritization of the packets is “mission critical” for successful deployment and maintenance of the IP network.

It is obvious we must always challenge our vendors to be pro-active with their solutions to us of various hardware and software components to manage our IP network. However, it is imperative that the company provide our employees with the best training opportunities to ensure their development and confidence needed to maintain a complicated and sensitive network. Without their customer focus and technical competence, the network is simply bandwidth without purpose or value to our customers.

Since December 2009, Michelle Simpson, Vice President of Field Operations, has been responsible for leading a team of professionals charged with the Construction, Outside Plant Maintenance, Engineering, Installation, Repair, and operational systems for all of Cincinnati Bell’s wireline products and services. Previously, she was the company’s Director of Employee Relations and Recruiting, since 2005, responsible for labor negotiations with the CWA, managing all of employee relations, and overseeing the internal and external recruiting needs for all positions throughout the company. Michelle can be reached at michelle.simpson@cinbell.com.

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Joy Eldred, Regional VP – Engineering, Frontier Communications

What are some of the ways you are reducing costs to operate the copper network while evolving it to deliver higher bandwidths?
In order to be successful, today’s business environment requires an emphasis on balance. Legacy plant is often looked at as a disadvantage when considering high-speed Internet. However, with today’s evolving technology, we are able to reach up/down speeds that were not thought possible. At Frontier, we enjoy the benefit of having an experienced workforce with years of expertise in maintaining legacy plant. This in itself is an inherent advantage with respect to reducing troubles and reducing costs. The challenge is to find the correct balance of cash flow towards maintenance without compromising the quality of the product.

Actions that can be taken are:
1. Identify defective cable sections with high trouble and repeat trouble history in order to prioritize and target for replacement.
2. Improve labor efficiency by cross-training I&R techs on cable maintenance.
3. Initiate a quality inspection program on new construction to ensure proper installation methods have been used.

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.
It is hard to select only 3 attributes when all of these attributes are important to Frontier’s Mission, Values, and Priorities. It’s the combination of the 6 that fosters a positive, successful environment -- whether you are relating to employees, working with a new customer who wants to try a new service, or having shareholders invest in your ideas. It’s the people that work with us, for us, and around us, and their collective ideas, that make and define our success.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
Unlike proprietary solutions that existed in the past for TDM networks and services, IP networks and services are based on open standards and are vendor independent. The main benefit for a service provider is that this single IP network will support voice, video, and high-speed Internet services. The main challenge is in providing consistent Quality of Service (QoS) from a network perspective and quality of experience from an end-user perspective. This is mainly due to the reshaping of all aspects of the network: network planning, deployment, monitoring, and management.

Joy Eldred is Regional Vice President of Engineering at Frontier Communications, overseeing its service territories in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Her responsibilities include planning and design of voice and data networks, OSP engineering, and network provisioning. Since joining the Company in 1977, Joy has held progressive management positions in operations, construction management, accounting, and engineering. She was appointed Regional Vice President in July 2008. Joy can be reached at email Joy.Eldred@frontiercorp.com.

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Dean Mischke, P.E., V.P., Finley Engineering

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.
At Finley, we believe innovation drives business. Our tagline is “Innovation To The Next Power”. Technologies have evolved rapidly over the past two decades, driving a demand for innovative ideas that provide our partners the means to compete within this very challenging environment.

We also believe innovation cannot be accomplished without a quality management team focused on providing an environment whereby we can establish long-term relationships with our business partners. This long-term relationship is essential for building a level of trust between all parties -- management, staff, and partners -- allowing Finley to explore innovative solutions. Trust also provides empowerment at all levels of staff, driving a strong desire for quality throughout the entire Finley team.

While it is a good exercise to quantify performance, a truer measure can be found in the results. In 2009, Finley was recognized by ZiegWhite as one of the Top 200 Fastest Growing Consulting Firms in the U.S., and included in Broadband Property’s Top 100 list of Broadband Companies in America.

When do you think providers will weave initiatives like Smart Grid into their business plans?
I believe that communication providers should already be considering how Smart Grid will impact their future. While many equate Smart Grid to just data-enabled meters, to the Power Utility Industry, Smart Grid is a holistic concept that integrates the traditionally disparate parts of managing generation, transmission, local distribution, and end-user demands into a unified management system. Faced with the almost impossible task of building new generation and transport lines, Power Utilities see Smart Grid as an essential element for them to be successful in the future. While many have a few pieces of the necessary data network in place, there is still a lot of work that still needs to be done. Communications providers stand the chance to provide the missing links if they can prove their networks will provide the necessary reliability, security, data trained technicians, and coverage the Power Utilities need.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
The headlong rush to replace the traditional communications network with an IP centric network has challenged both disciplines with a significant learning curve on how to merge the five 9s of always available, on-time voice, with the best effort design of IP. The evolution has also resulted in the transition of a highly centralized service provider based voice/video network to the decentralized peer-to-peer enabled IP network. I believe that the migration of intelligence to the edge of the network will have two significant effects. The consumer can now order services from anywhere instead of being limited to what the local service provider can offer. On the other hand, the consumer is not ready to manage their own equipment providing the local service provider an opportunity to manage the consumer’s network and sell value added services to the customer, especially in the areas of security and data backup.

Dean has been with Finley Engineering for more than 19 years. Dean is a BSEEE graduate of California State University and earned his Professional Engineer License in 1994, maintaining active licenses in 5 states where he provides consulting and engineering services. Dean is the Vice President and General Manager of Finley’s Wisconsin office. He has been active in designing fiber networks since his first project at Finley. In addition, Dean works in all aspects of central office, IP, and video implementation. For more information, email d.mischke@fecinc.com or info@fecinc.com.

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Mike Edl, Senior VP, Network Services, Hawaiian Telcom

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.
While all of these are very important, I believe that Innovation, Quality of Products and Services, and People Management are the most important.

Innovation is important because we need to differentiate ourselves from other service providers. With next-generation network (NGN) we are more in control of applications and services than in the legacy networks, and need to take advantage of this capability.

Quality of Products and Services is important because in a competitive environment, customers are looking for products and services that work all the time and are reasonably priced. You have one chance to make it right and you have to do it right out of the gate.

The technologies of today and the future work because of people and service is provided by our people, so providing a healthy environment for our employees to learn and grow is very important.

Has there been any change in your company’s strategy to dominate the digital home? What are the new initiatives your company is focusing on to help customers feel supported as they attempt to wire their homes for everything on demand so your ARPU will increase?
It is not just dominating the digital home, but owning the customer. Companies need to look at their products and services to bundle and integrate so services become sticky for the customer. Creating a portal for customers to control their decisions without having to come to the provider becomes more important as more people want to complete transactions on line. Providing real-time customer service all the time, and going beyond the traditional service, is critical.

We continue to look at ways to exceed customer’s expectations so they want to buy more from our Company. We want to build strong relationships, have a strong product portfolio, and services which the customer wants. We are deploying fiber-to-the-premises to our greenfield deployments and completing a strategy to build fiber to brownfield communities as bandwidth demands continue to increase.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
The benefit of an IP network is really the ability to provide new services over a resilient network. We will be able to provide increased bandwidth over this network and additional services, like video. We will also be able to gradually move away from our legacy TDM network which will reduce our costs, thereby, increasing our profitability on our products.

The biggest challenge is our workforce: the ability to transition the knowledge of our employees from the TDM world, in which most have grown up, to an IP-centric employee base. This is by far our biggest challenge. While we need to keep the physical-layer skill set for IP services to sit on, our growth is in the Layer 2 (and above) services, and which products have and will be developed.

As Senior Vice President of Network Services for Hawaiian Telcom, Mike Edl oversees Network Planning, Engineering, and Operations. He joined the company in August 2008. Mr. Edl brings more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications operations to Hawaiian Telcom. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President of Network Operations at PAETEC, a New York-based telecommunications company that purchased McLeodUSA in February 2008. To contact Mike, email mike.edl@hawaiiantel.com.

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Larry Boehm, Director - Network Implementations, TDS Telecommunications Corp.

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.
Obviously all 6 of these are important for any company’s success in this competitive world.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
When margins are tight and competition is at your door, you must keep an eye on the skilled people with the most abilities to help the company be successful. Technology transitions require complete retooling of the workforce, tools, and processes. People are resilient, so if you show them a path they are willing to change.

LONG-TERM INVESTMENT
TDS has been and continues to be very committed to the customers in our service areas. We continue to invest in the latest services available to keep up with demand. This investment strategy keeps the company very vibrant and provides growth opportunities for our employees.

QUALITY OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Service and quality have always been foundational aspects of TDS’ strategy. Provide high-quality services at a fair price and the customers will stay with you.

What are some of the ways you are reducing costs to operate the copper network while evolving it to deliver higher bandwidths?
The cost of copper network is reducing its own costs by new technology deployments allowing reuse of that asset for higher bandwidth services or loop reduction with VDSL deployment. Copper plant is very resilient when properly maintained, which is another part of the equation to control costs.

So this is really a question of maximizing your copper assets by squeezing every bit of revenue out of them. A deployable VDSL2 technology suitable for less-dense populations is just coming out. With those deployments we must make market-by-market decisions on how customer demand will trend before FTTH is required.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
Going from TDM to IP is proving to be the same type transition as analog to digital was more than 20 years ago. While our resources are very good at trouble resolution for digitally transmitted calls, the complexity of IP-based calls makes you go back to the drawing board to isolate the potential trouble areas. Understanding call flow and network topology is key, along with new IP-based tools deployed in key areas of your network. Adding to this complexity is a redundant national network which injects many more pieces of network gear that must be eliminated while troubleshooting.

Some of the biggest benefits are providing IP-based services customers are demanding. They want the latest phone features but still need to optimize their monthly expenses. Consistent product sets across the nation also allow reduced costs for marketing, provisioning, or support.

Larry Boehm leads a team of 94 employees and numerous professional contracted engineers in the Network Services department at TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS) in Madison, Wis. He started his 28-year career at TDS as a Technician and has worked his way up to a Director level position for the 8th largest telecom company in the U.S. For more information, visit www.tdstelecom.com.
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Jon Beckman, Dir. of Strategy for Test Instruments, JDSU Communications Test & Measurement

What are some of the ways you are reducing costs to operate the copper network while evolving it to deliver higher bandwidths?
There is no question that despite the rapid growth in deployment FTTH/P, copper is going to be around for years to come, and the current state-of-the-art in access technology enables some very competitive, high-speed service offerings over twisted copper pair. Clearly, shortening copper loops by pushing fiber deeper into the network and pair bonding afford both greater bandwidth performance and increased headroom. Many of the more difficult to diagnose, time-consuming, and costly troubles encountered in the field occur when the circuit is running at or near the limit of the technology employed. Often, these problems occur as the combined result of a number of less severe casual factors coming together (e.g., longer loop length, mixed gauge, cross-talk from adjacent pairs, etc.), making diagnosis and resolution more difficult. Implementing strong copper testing methods and procedures helps improve efficiency by enabling more proactive and rapid trouble diagnosis, fault identification, location, and removal.

Has there been any change in your company’s strategy to dominate the digital home? What are the new initiatives your company is focusing on to help customers feel supported as they attempt to wire their homes for everything on demand so your ARPU will increase?
JDSU has been very aware now for some time that our service provider customers have an increasingly important stake in the evolution of the digital home. We have and will continue to invest in R&D towards innovative new products that encompass testing the in-home component of the next-generation network as well as the more traditional “outside” access plant segment. Additionally, as a test solution provider to both the telecom and cable industries for many years, we’ve been able to successfully share lessons learned between the two as the industry as a whole continues to converge. While providing top-notch support to the customer, minimizing churn and maximizing ARPU are widely understood needs, support of the in-home component of the network on a continuing but cost-effective basis can be more elusive.

As your network becomes more IP-network based, what are the challenges, as well as the benefits, that you foresee? How is IP reshaping the network?
The migration to Ethernet and IP brings several well-known benefits including reduced costs, greater scalability and flexibility, and faster time-to-market for new service offerings, and is enabling the rapid realization of a dizzying array of new applications and capabilities almost as quickly as they can be conceived. One of the principal challenges of this migration to IP is increased complexity. Though inherently more flexible, IP networks (and services) can be more complex to configure and troubleshoot, and service level agreements (SLA) are becoming more advanced in terms of QoS requirements. Especially at Layer 3 and above, these tasks have historically often required the use of a protocol analyzer as well as the corresponding level of user expertise to solve. Clearly this approach doesn’t scale in cost-effectiveness or capability to match the aggressive growth of Ethernet/IP networks. JDSU works closely with our customers to develop solutions that simplify the more complex aspects of Ethernet and IP network installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting on a cost-effective and everyday usable basis.

Jon Beckman is director of strategy for test instruments, JDSU Communications Test & Measurement. With more than 10 years in the communications test and measurements industry, Jon has served in product management and marketing roles with a focus on access network and broadband technologies and applications. JDSU enables broadband and optical innovation in communications, commercial, and consumer markets, and is a provider of communications test and measurement solutions and optical products for telecommunications service providers, cable operators, and network equipment manufacturers. For more information, email jon.beckman@jdsu.com.

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Kenneth W. Trawick, President -- Telecommunications and Cable Television Operations, Quanta Services, Inc.

When do you think providers will weave initiatives like Smart Grid into their business plans?
Smart Grid is already well entrenched into the business plans of providers. While it has been considered for many years, implementation of these Smart Grid initiatives is now becoming reality. Recent developments are fueled partly by consumer demand, advanced devices and new technology, as well as the increased commitment by utilities to “smarten” the grid. The question of “when” has several drivers. Stimulus funding is speeding up deployment of Smart Grid initiatives. Meanwhile, service providers work to secure regulatory approvals. These are simply steps in the process and rarely serve as impediments.

Quanta plays a large role in the many aspects of Smart Grid. While intelligent meters are at the core of the consumer’s interaction with the system, a true intelligent network may incorporate fiber and wireless networks in addition to the remote switching systems. These technologies collectively bring the Smart Grid to life, and enable providers to better manage their system load and more quickly identify and smoothly resolve issues. Since its inception, Quanta has been leveraging its roots in the power industry to better serve telecom services providers. Today, its fiber and wireless expertise is being applied across the power system.

If you were to rate yourself and your company on these 6 attributes, which 3 do you feel are most important and why? Attributes: 1. Innovation, 2. People Management, 3. Use of Corporate Assets, 4. Quality of Management, 5. Long-Term Investment, and 6. Quality of Products and Services.
INNOVATION
Quanta’s commitment to innovation spans the varied industries in which it operates. The company’s innovative approach ensures the delivery of advanced offerings and solidifies the company’s competitive position in the market.

For example, the company revolutionized the micro-trenching process with the launch of its Q-Trench Solution in 2009. The technology cuts and vacuums a trench 12 inches deep and less than 1 inch wide in a single pass. The trench is then filled with a proprietary backfill component that is environmentally safe and designed not to shrink, erode, or weather. This innovative solution facilitates the telecom service provider’s need to rapidly expand its broadband fiber networks in highly populated areas.

PEOPLE
Quanta places the highest value in its people. The skills, intellect, and experience of its workforce have advanced Quanta’s growth, success, and reputation. Strategic management, advancement, and leadership development will ensure an even more successful future.

QUALITY
Our formula combines innovation with the best talent to ensure the delivery of quality products and services to our customers. This formula results in delivering an exceptional safety record, thorough project management, and efficient delivery of services for customers throughout the company’s operations.

President of Quanta Services’ Telecommunications and Cable Television Operations, Kenneth W. Trawick oversees telecommunications and cable television operations. Prior to being named to his current position in June 2004, Trawick served as president of Trawick Construction Company, Inc., a telecommunications specialty contractor and a subsidiary of Quanta. Trawick joined Trawick Construction in 1974, and served as its executive vice president from January 2000 until May 2001. For more information, email ktrawick@quantaservices.com.

What’s your take on the third installment of the Thought Leaders? Leave a comment and get the conversation going.