SureWest Communications has selected and deployed IneoQuest service probes as part of its ongoing commitment to provide outstanding quality of experience to the large video subscriber base of its SureWest Broadband subsidiaries in the Sacramento region. SureWest initially relied upon IneoQuest's award-winning Singulus Lite Cricket service probe to help evaluate and test video performance on the SureWest Broadband IP Video vendor equipment in its test labs. These IneoQuest products also have played an active role in the evaluation performance testing of hardware from such vendors as Occam, Allied Telesyn and Cisco.

Impressed with the features offered by IneoQuest products, SureWest has elected to use the IneoQuest probes beyond its test lab-at the homes of IP Video subscribers. This strategy has enabled SureWest to reduce operational expenses (OPEX) related to dispatching service technicians for trouble calls and has improved the ability to install residential IPTV services with little delay.

Using IneoQuest's Cricket, a compact piece of hardware that fits neatly above a subscriber's set-top box, SureWest Broadband now has a real-time solution that empowers both the video provider and the customer. "Each Cricket features a call button that a subscriber can press as soon as a picture quality issue starts," Barber said. "We can set up thresholds to automatically capture the video feed, and allow the customer to manually hit the button to record the feed if they see an anomaly. This reduces the expenses associated with the customer call center and the truck roll-and more importantly, the customer has control over the situation."

In an industry where customer retention is the key to continued success, a solution that emphasizes quality of experie nce is a true market differentiator. "IneoQuest's products are unique in that they address two challenges within the IPTV marketplace: improvement of viewer quality of experience, and the reduction of operational expenses," said Marc A. Todd, president and CEO of IneoQuest. "We are extremely pleased that SureWest Communications has found a value in our quality and service assurance products-both in and out of the test lab."