Like most high tech companies, WOW! maintains a thorough testing process as it releases products to its valued customer base. We don’t want customers to be the “guinea pig” for new products being introduced, and while we’re anxious to be on the “leading edge” of technology, we’ve always taken the tack that the “bleeding edge” is probably not a good thing….
That said, here are some of the testing phases that a product goes through before general release to the public.
Alpha–This is a testing phase where product is limited to the engineering teams that are involved in the development of the product. Here various aspects of the potential product are tested and corrective action taken, if necessary, but notably, this is the phase where all necessary ancillary systems are tested, particularly billing, provisioning, customer care interface, etc. Any bugs found are worked out, customer service scripts are developed, and internal processes are completed to support the product from every aspect. Once this is completed, the product moves into…
Beta–This testing phase includes rolling the product out to other (non-engineering) employees, and very occasionally, a very limited pool of customers who can “beat the product up”, and make sure that it is ready for prime time. This phase usually lasts a month or so–at least long enough to determine if the billing and provisioning systems are working properly with the product. Installation procedures are developed and vetted with the tech ops teams doing installation. Any small difficulties remaining are worked back through engineering for correction. Occasionally, vendor involvement is required as well to smooth out any remaining problems. The product then enters…
Limited release–this phase of testing may include a single market or portion thereof. During this phase, installation procedures are refined and training of the technician force is completed. Typically, tech trainers from all regions would converge on the “limited release” market to observe, make recommendations, and take their knowledge back to their home markets to prepare techs to install the new product as it is rolled out. Depending on a number of factors, this phase is ideally rather brief, allowing our customers in other areas to receive the product quickly. If, however, there is a customer learning curve on the product, markets are “rolled” gradually so that the customer service teams can effectively help and train customers in situ.
We have found over the years that this approach results in the best customer experience possible, and while change is always disruptive on some level, it is also the engine that drives our progress as a company.
Until next time…
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