HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/11/2006 � �
Telecommunications Advisory Committee
City of Apple Valley
September 11, 2006
6:30 P.M. Municipal Center
Minutes
L Call to Order
Chair David Westbrook called the ineeting to order at 6:31 p.in.
Members Present: Rollin Bible, Jerry Brown, John Magnusson, Dale Rodell, David
Westbrook
Members Absent: Scott Hugstad-Vaa
Others Present: Charles Grawe, Marlc Moore, Todd Oliver, Tucker Carlson
2. Auuroval of A eg nda
Mr. Westbroolc asked for changes to the agenda and there were none offered.
MOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Magnusson, to approve the agenda as
presented. Motion passed unanimously.
3. At�proval Minutes of June 5 2006 and June 22, 2006
MOTION: Mr. Bible moved, second by Mr. Rodell, to approve the minutes of June 5,
2006. Motion passed unaniinously.
MOTION: Mr. Bible moved, second by Mr. Rodell, to approve the minutes of June 22,
2006. Motion passed unanimously.
4. 3 Quarter Complaint Lo�
Mr. Westbrook expressed concern over the level of complaints. Mr. Moore noted that
there was a significant increase over the sununer. Prior to July, the City had received
tYuee complaints in 2006. In the three summer months, the City received 11 complaints.
Most related to line drops that were not buried, missed service appointments, failuie to
return customer calls, and uninfonned customer service representatives. Mr. Moore said
he communicated his concerns to Mr. Carlson and changes were implemented. Mr.
WestUrook noted that prompt service response times are important for people working
from home and using the service for their work.
Mr. Carlson said that Charter is planning to launch its new phone service in October.
This initiative required a series of upgrades to the system. Charter also reorganized is
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corporate call centers, with a number of the centers consolidated or closed. The new call
center organization includes some outsourcing. He said that there were some initial
problems with customer service representatives incorrectly coding the complaints so that
were not directly appropriately. Charter has since assigned a liaison to the outsourcing
companies to resolve this problem. He said there have been improvements over the past
month. Mr. Carlson also said that some billing centers are located outside of the United
States. He said that part of the reorganization included limiting customer service staff
access to potentially sensitive customer infonnation. Mr. Carlson explained that the
company's policy if a single customer has a service outage after 5:00 p.m. is to repair the
problem the next day, but if three or more customers in the area have an outage, it
becomes an emergency repair response. Mr. Moore asked for clarification on the repair
calls that were scheduled for one week out. Mr. Carlson said that during the system
upgrades, there may have been several business days of downed service if a customer
service representative miscoded the type of problem. He said the staf�ng plan is
adequate, Uut depends on the staff to correctly code the problems. Mr. Westbrook
requested that City staff notify the Committee members if there is not a decrease in the
number of customer coni�laints. Mr. Bible said he appreciated that Charter has resolved
the complaints.
5. 3` Ouarter Coordinator's Report
Mr. Moore said he entered a Police Departinent training video into a competition to gain
production feedbacic. He said he is working with the Police Department to develop a
new regular Police program. He is also working on plans to webcast meetings and had
proposed funding in the 2007 budget for that project. Mr. Moore said the FCC is
considering possible requirement of closed captioning for access channels. He is
monitoring this issue. He noted that after quick passage in the House of Representatives,
the telecommunications legislation has bogged down in the Senate. At this time, the
bill's author is attempting to gather 60 votes in favor so the bill can be moved to the floor
for a vote. Mr. Moore expects this process inay continue into 2007.
Mr. Moore noted that he would register Committee members for the Fall MACTA
conference if they were interested.
6. E-Cominerce and Business Development Issues
Mr. Grawe noted there were several new wireless articles distributed with the packet.
Mr. Oliver said that he ex�ected Frontier to approach the City with a revised wireless
network proposal within the next few weeks.
Mr. Carlson said that Charter is offering ten MB modem service and will be launching its
telephony product soon. The new Uase level of modem service will be three MB. Mr.
Carlson also noted that Charter is waiting for improvements in the Wi-Max technology
before launching any wireless services.
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Mr. Carlson said the NFL network will soon feature regular season football games and is
negotiating to become part of the Expanded Basic Tier. Charter does not believe that the
subscriber demand justi�es such a change to the tier.
7. Adj ourn
1VIOTION: Mr. Rodell moved, second by Mr. Brown to adjourn the meeting. Motion
passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.