Great networks require great infrastructure. This is predicated on ensuring there is outstanding planning and execution to complete the infrastructure project on time and on budget. The concept of building a great network seems easy enough until, of course, you’ve tried building a few. The field execution of even the greatest plans can be riddled with error and cost overruns if the implementation team is not well prepared. Consider a backbone fiber builder with incorrect equipment, materials, or skill set or a central office installer not trained on proper power connections, grounding best practices, or testing procedures. Mistakes will be made, which can result in unfortunate and costly consequences.
What happens after your deployment teams and contractors have already installed equipment in your central office and remote terminals? Now, your network is carrying subscriber traffic and you’re starting to see adverse impacts that the skills gap and lack of standards have on network performance, reliability, and ease of maintenance. You’re faced with the potential for a myriad of network rework costs and subscriber satisfaction issues that could have been avoided and now pose a threat that could damage your brand.
Having experienced some of these scenarios, allow me to shift to a more proactive approach to enabling deployments for success. While it is universally understood that adhering to standards and executing quality buildouts is a top priority for service providers, it can be a very difficult feat without the right tools, guidance, and processes. A solution that has created substantive success in over 2,000 Calix-led deployments is a collection of service offerings that make up Deployment Enablement Services. They include
- Calix Project Playbooks: Project Playbooks equip field personnel, installers, and contractors with best practices and guidelines that drive consistent, repeatable, and high-quality execution of inside plant, outside plant, and premise deployment projects.
- MobilePRO App: The MobilePRO app is an online tool for electronically managing and documenting projects, inventory, and quality and can be used by service provider field personnel and contractors to reduce errors, streamline project deployments, and enable remote quality reviews.
- Calix Quality Assessment: A Calix quality assessment engineer will remotely analyze and validate network deployments in real time, making sure the buildout conforms to standards and best practices.
These tools act as an always on system of accountability for remote teams, effectively equipping each user for success. The Playbooks and MobilePRO App can be used alone, however, they have a compounding effect when deployed together along with the Calix Quality Assessment Service.
Thinking back to our previous examples… now imagine if that backbone fiber builder had all the right material and team skillsets using a standard set of best practices across all installation sites. Imagine if they had the ability to guide their field technicians through a pre-set battery of tests and data collection steps to automatically and electronically record the data. And then what if they could share that information immediately with a team of quality experts who could validate the work and provide immediate feedback. And finally, imagine if they could continue to do this on an ongoing basis in a repeatable and consistent manner!
Calix Deployment Enablement Services makes equipping your teams with the right tools, processes, and best practices a reality. Not only are your outside plant teams are now empowered, but inside plant and central office installers are as well. You can arm your central office technicians with standard dictated measures and tools that allow them to capture location, date, and site-specific information and perform the steps needed to document and close installation projects on the spot. Your ONT installers can take advantage of the automation and best practices for repeatable, consistent, and fast deployment of subscriber installations as well. And your maintenance organization now can review your subscriber’s entire physical installation prior to ever dispatching a tech on a trouble case.
I encourage you to check out a video on the Deployment Enablement Services and contact Calix Services experts to set up a demo on the offerings and the benefits they can provide your installation, construction, and operations teams.