Tech & Training to Drive Operational Success
From any point of view, this is an exciting time for our industry. While the video, broadband, voice and mobile products we offer continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers, the operator community has a defined roadmap for new services that will bring unprecedented benefits to residential and business customers. Vendors are embracing the challenge to take innovation to new levels. And consumers are anticipating the arrival of the new offerings that will ride the wave of the high speed, low latency network of cable’s 10G future.
At SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo a few months ago we showed just how far the industry has come and the promise that lies ahead. The vision of innovator Dean Kamen and FedEx’s Preetha Vijayakumar as well as the highly successful Smart Cities Day conversations with civic leaders showed us some of what is already happening today in large part because of the network this industry provides, but also gave glimmers of tomorrow and a world benefiting from the future realities of our 10G network architecture.
For all the sizzle, technology is only one of the keys to success. Just as important as the science that is making headlines is the science of the operational aspects that will ensure successful deployments and seamless delivery of services, most notably the continued advancement of workforce skills to help fill the cable product pipeline and ensure successful and reliable delivery of those products. At Cable-Tec Expo 2020 in Denver, we’ll be discussing how our success as an industry depends on the ability of our teams to deliver services that consumers can count on day in and day out to manage their digital lives.
At Charter, we’re taking bold new approaches to training that bring science into the classroom and the field to ensure that our workforce is highly-skilled, focused on delivering outstanding customer experiences — and safe. Our toolbox today includes 3D virtual reality training, mobile apps that help manage our techs’ day-to-day workflows, and technology that keeps our field professionals safe from the dangers that accompany working in live-wire conditions.
Many factors have contributed to our advanced, company-wide approach to training, among them: our transactions with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks created a need to integrate three disparate workforces; the industry’s accelerating transition from a video-first to broadband-centric model; and the rapid advances in technology that have made new training paradigms possible. All of these have contributed to a deeper focus on how to best train and equip our employees to provide the highest levels of craftsmanship to our customers.
Along the way, we’ve spent time not only on training materials, but on really understanding how people learn. In concert with SCTE•ISBE we’ve embarked on strategies that engage the learner through interactivity and experiential training that pays dividends in the field. We’ve demonstrated to our teams that the knowledge we’re sharing is relevant to the successful delivery of service to the customer, delivers a real benefit to us as a company and is important to fulfilment of their career aspirations.
Among our most notable advances has been our implementation of virtual reality as a training tool. We now have technicians who have the ability every day in the training to “see” and “feel” and “touch” the plant and to “touch” devices within the home without actually being there. These enhancements expedite training by providing a much more hands-on approach in the classroom than our technicians otherwise could achieve.
Outside of the learning environment, we’re using technology to boost outcomes from start to finish every day. Workforce management systems dispatch technicians and ensure the operational readiness of our networks and the performance our customers expect. Our TechMobile application provides detailed customer, network, and telemetry information that assist technicians in providing a superior customer experience. Geofencing with TechMobile helps to protect our technicians — many of whom are working alone — from unsafe conditions.
As our networks continue to evolve, become smarter and reach even deeper throughout our service areas, the expectations of our customers have risen. Technology is driving those changes but ultimately our success as an industry will hinge on the ability of our workforce teams to maintain high levels of operational excellence.
Join us in Denver next October 13-16 to be part of the conversation.
Tom Monaghan,
Senior Vice President,
Field Operations,
Charter Communications
Tom Monaghan is Senior Vice President, Field Operations at Charter Communications. Mr. Monaghan joined Charter as Vice President, Field Operations in 2014, was promoted to Group Vice President, Field Operations in 2016 and to his current role in 2018. He is responsible for Field Operations in five of Charter’s 11 geographic regions and leads all fulfillment, construction and maintenance activities, as well as the Standards & Compliance organization within Field Operations. He is co-chair of the Program Committee for SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2020.
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