Subject: Re: long -- Re: (usr-tc) 3com not doing V.90 as well as Ascends

From: John Mies <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2000 00:04:53 +0000

GMTA. Am buying a PM3 and hooking up another trunk just for these problems.

At 09:26 AM 8/21/99 -0500, you wrote:
>On Tue, 10 Aug 1999, Allen Marsalis wrote:
>
> > At 01:24 AM 8/10/99 -0400, Ed wrote:
> > >3com not doing V.90 as well as Ascend's.....
> > >
> > >We have tested and found it to be true that Ascend's authenticate and work
> > >at V.90 speeds much more often than 3com. It even happens when using a
> > >3com/USR modem. It takes certain a certain situation for this to 
> happen but
> > >it does happen...
> > >
> > >Just wondered if others out there have noticed it or had their competitors
> > >using Ascend's have customers that say "Well I get 56K speeds on so and so
> > >Internet Service, why not yours?"
> >
> > We have been 100% USR/3COM for 3 years and we recently received a Max
> > TNT for eval to address the above problem..  Both chassis will be
> > at the same NOC.  2 new PRI's for the TNT should be up this week..
> > I'll keep you posted as to the results and try to provide some statistical
> > data..
>
>Sorry for the length here, but I think it's a good read, eventhough I did
>write it myself :)
>
>We did some churn analysis for customers that are no longer active or no
>longer customers.  We looked at at customers lost since March 1999 because
>of:
>
>a) reported problems connecting, staying connected, or poor  performance
>b) unexplained non-payers/dead-beats
>c) customers cancelled but did not give a reason (and did not
>    return our calls when we tried to followed up).
>
>We had 103 total cancellations for these reasons since March 1999.
>
>We had enough data to determine that 57% of these 103 had problems were
>directly attributable to connection quality. Of these 59 (103*0.57)
>customers lost:
>
>   50% of them had not established a connection in 1999 (many of
>      them reported this trouble)
>
>   40% had a large number of <1 minute connections, and showed a pattern
>      of having to redial when they did stay on longer than a few minutes
>
>   10% had connect speeds that varied more than a few "rungs" between
>      2400-52000
>
>
>Let's see...If we had an alternate modem pool with a different NAS type,
>we might have saved these 59 customers. That's about $1000/month at an
>average revenue of $17/customer/month. We are still likely to continue
>loosing more if we don't take action.
>
>Alternatively Scot Desort <[email-masked]>, wrote:
>
>  "When all else
>   fails, pull $35 out of petty cash and send the customer a Paradise
>   Winmodem (LT chipset, PCI), for free. These things are GREAT, will save
>   you hours of tech support headaches, and inevitably win you over a
>   customer that, in the long run, is worth a lot more than the $35 you
>   spent  on the modem. We even offer to install it for free if they bring
>   the box in.  Let's remember that the goal is to KEEP the customer a
>   PAYING customer.  And nothing makes them more warm and fuzzy then getting
>   something for free."
>
>This is interesting. Upgrading these customer's modems would have cost us
>$2065 in hardware and perhaps $400-500 in labor estimated to retain the
>$1000/month in revenue if this actually fixed the problem. I can see
>several problems though. You could get a considerable number of calls from
>unhappy customers like "my friend got a free modem now he gets 52K but I
>only get 42K or 28.8K. I want one too." The customer's computer needs to
>be sufficiently powered to run with a winmodem. How much time is spent
>explaining that only certain customers qualify and how exactly are those
>qualifications set? This also doesn't account for telco line issues. Many
>customers now can't even tell you what kind of modem they have or what
>processor they have, others may guess or argue that their's _should_
>qualify for the free upgrade. For the program to not piss off any other
>customers, it needs to be made available to everyone. Otherwise trouble
>seems inevitable.
>
>On the other hand, although it takes some capital (not much with eq
>leasing and zero install PRIs) and increases network complexity a little,
>it's not that big of a deal for a reasonably clued provider to add another
>NAS and move PRIs over to them in a separate hunt or just install a couple
>new PRIs and gradually grow the alternate modem pool. But really doesn't
>add much cost to the operation in the long run and the customers are
>retained as well. Also:
>
>1) it's available to everyone,
>2) it only takes a minute to help them change phone numbers
>3) and in most cases, if this doesn't solve the problem, they're not
>    likely to be satisfied with anyone else and helps prove the problem
>    is theirs, motivating them to follow your recommedations.
>
>The main thing that tweaks me is having to take this action in the first
>place. Not to mention that we've got 7 or 8 hdsps from quad trades and arc
>upgrades and such that we are paying for but won't be using this year now,
>depending on the demand for the alternate pool. Cost of doing business.
>
>Time to get a MAX on eval and give it a whirl.
>
>============================================================================
>Jeffrey A. Lynch                | JORSM Internet, Regional Internet Services
>email: [email-masked]           | 7 Area Codes in Chicagoland and NW Indiana
>Voice: (219)322-2180            | 100Mbps+ Connectivity, 56K-DS3, V.90, ISDN
>Autoresponse: [email-masked]    | Quality Service, Affordable Prices
>http://www.jorsm.com            | Serving Gov, Biz, Indivds Since 1995
>
>
>
>
>
>
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