Charter Communications Inc., the parent company of cable and internet provider Spectrum, says it is increasingly using technology to provide maintenance to fix service issues before they affect customers.
Charter (Nasdaq: CHTR) has launched a new “proactive maintenance” program designed to spot minor issues before they noticeably impact customers’ service. Charter launched the program in 2022 and says it provided 600,000 “proactive maintenance” service calls nationwide last year, with the expectation of completing 1 million-plus in 2023 across its cable, internet and voice services in the 41 states where it operates.
Stamford, Connecticut-based Charter formerly had its headquarters in St. Louis and continues to have a large base of employees locally. It has more than 6,200 employees in the region across roles in customer operations, finance, field operations, human resources, sales and information technology.
Robert Burton, area vice president of field operations, said the proactive maintenance program builds off investments Charter has made to track its large-scale networks and address potential problems before they impact customers.
“As a company, we’re always looking at ways to make sure we can deliver reliable service to our customers, and we’re at a point after doing it for many years on the network side to where we can expand that down to the individual level,” he said.
Burton said the proactive maintenance program involves tracking data generated from customer devices to spot any issues they may be experiencing. Spectrum contacts customers if any issues are flagged to set up an appointment to provide repairs. Burton said issues spotted through the data it receives could range from faulty wiring to a device not providing the level of service it should to a customer.
Charter said its proactive maintenance program aims to shift its customer service operations from a “reactive, on-demand model” in which customers contact the company when a problem arises to an approach focused on fixing issues before a customer experiences adverse service because of them. Burton likened the proactive approach to that of an automobile's check-engine light in how it alerts customers to seek out service when an issue first arises.
“It’s a similar premise in that perspective when you think about it for your devices in your home," Burton said. "We can look at it and say, 'Hey are they performing in the way we designed them to perform?' and if not, how do we proactively reach out to our customers to say there’s an impairment going on and we want to get out and fix that for you before you actually experience a degrade in your service?"
Burton said the proactive maintenance program has received positive feedback from customers who have had issues fixed through it. Charter said that more than 40% of customers served through the program who have been surveyed told the company they hadn’t noticed issues with service prior to being contacted by the company. It said other customers have said they had been meaning to contact the company to set up a service call when approached through the proactive maintenance program about needing service. Charter said there’s no cost to the customer for a proactive maintenance service call.
A Charter spokesperson said the company’s new maintenance approach builds off investments it has made in advanced network monitoring and expanding its team of technicians in the markets where it operates. In Missouri, Charter has hired more than 160 new employees for its St. Louis field operations team since January 2022, the company said. Burton said financially the proactive maintenance provides an advantage for Charter because of how it can improve a customer's experience.
“That’s really the return on investment — building that loyal base and providing the service that we’re capable of providing to the customers,” he said.
Charter for the quarter end June 30 reported net income attributable to shareholders of $1.2 billion, down 17% from the prior-year's quarter, and revenue of $13.7 billion, up 0.5% from the year-ago period. It said it has more than 32 million customers in its 41-state footprint.
