As the pay TV business moves through its latest evolution, the product emphasis is primarily on speed and choice. But as subscription TV service gets more complicated — Verizon Communications’s Fios Mix & Match offering is the latest step toward the Holy Grail of a la carte programming — so, too, do the more mundane aspects of the business, like how to collect payment for the myriad content opportunities presented to consumers.

There is a handful of vendors that have controlled cable billing since the industry began, with CSG Systems, Amdocs and NEC’s Netcracker being among the largest. But as offerings continue to grow, so does the danger of confusing the customer. And for just about any industry, billing confusion and questions are usually at the top of the list when it comes to poor customer satisfaction.

On the surface, billing seems to be relatively straightforward: You order a package and you pay for it. But with telecom companies, there is a slew of hidden charges, fees, promotional offers and pricing that can puff up a monthly bill almost beyond recognition. And with the future expected to be rife with choice, that also means there are more opportunities to disrupt the relationship.

Top Reason for Customer Calls

“It's pretty much common knowledge that questions about billing are one of the top reasons for subscribers contacting their operator,” said Dr. Charles Patti, Cox chair in customer experience and senior fellow at The Cable Center in Denver.

In a September 2019 ranking of television service providers by J.D. Power, companies with a high number of billing complaints ranked low on the customer loyalty scale. Per J.D. Power, nearly 40% of television and internet customers who had a high bill complaint said they didn’t achieve a resolution. Additionally, 52% of internet subscribers who had a high bill complaint said they would switch carriers.

Cable did a lot better in the J.D. Power rankings as an internet provider than as a video distributor. Comcast was No. 1 in the North Central region among internet providers, No. 2 (behind AT&T) in the North Central and the South and No. 3 (behind AT&T and Cable One) in the West. But it ranked fifth in the East, third in the South, North Central and West regions as a television provider.

Part of that has to do with customer perceptions and the higher cost of cable video service (because of higher programming costs), as well as past federal fines for charging customers for services and equipment they didn’t authorize.

“Taking every opportunity to demonstrate transparency is a customer-focused outlook that improves the overall customer experience,” Ian Greenblatt, J.D. Power managing director and practice leader, technology, media and telecom intelligence, said in a press release announcing the rankings last year.

About 65% of North American pay TV subscribers run on CSG platforms, and the company counts Comcast, Charter Communications and most of the other large cable operators as customers, as well as about 20 direct-to-consumer platforms in the over-the-top space.

Billing questions are still at the top of customer complaints, said CSG head of global product management Chad Dunavant, and operators are making changes, especially around the concept of prorating. That can be the culprit when a customer calls to complain that they signed up for a $99 service, yet their first bill was much higher, he said.

Operators are either removing prorates and providing service for no cost during the time that the billing dates differ, or aligning the dates programmatically as part of the order process.

“Customers are more comfortable with the subscription model due to new entrants and are OK having service through the date of their service," Dunavant said. “Moreover, operators are starting to play around with base packages that have a recurring billing relationship and then ala carte services that are sold directly through a credit card with a separate billing relationship. All of these models are things the billing systems can support, and areas CSG has invested in to ensure our operator customers can meet the demands of the market.”

One thing CSG is doing to simplify the process is a product it calls the “video bill,” where it sends out a personalized interactive video tutorial of what a customer’s first bill looks like.

“We send out emails when you order; we send out emails when your statement processes; we send out emails when your second statement processes,” Dunavant said. “There are all of these interactions to try to make it easier for consumers to understand. As a la carte rolls out and is adopted, those techniques will become even more important.”

Comcast began implementing the video bill in 2015, spokesperson Katie Lubenow said. Customers can access it through the MyAccount app, by saying “explain my bill” into their X1 Voice Remote or through the Xfinity Assistant, an always-on virtual assistant that customers can access online or via the Xfinity mobile app.

Charter has a similar customer video on its website that breaks down billing statements. Elsewhere on its website, it explains the vagaries of franchise fees, sales taxes and other charges.

In 2018, Comcast redesigned its billing statements, with the help of customer feedback, to make them easier to read and understand. Bills broke out one-time and recurring charges and highlighted changes in service.

“We believe in a clear, transparent billing experience for our customers,” Lubenow said, adding that the changes have resulted in reduced calls about billing problems.

That could get a little more difficult as the video business evolves into a more a la carte model.

“We’ve definitely seen the industry evolve from just something that was basic pay television to cable television that included a lot more bundling and cross-promotional discounts into a multi-line-of-business universe,” Dunavant said. About six years ago, he said, CSG began offering an OTT billing product, and the move toward direct-to-consumer distribution actually simplifies the billing process.

“On the OTT front specifically, it’s less complex,” Dunavant said. “Typically with OTT, you’re dealing directly with a content provider or a studio, not an aggregator, so the plans are much simpler. And the way you think about billing is simpler, because in most cases they are just doing credit card-only. You’re looking at a line item that might show up on a credit card for $9.99 per month and it shows a content distributor on that line item. It’s pretty simple, versus these large-scale bundles that have multiple line items and franchise taxes and everything else that goes with it.”

While the Fios Mix & Match offering is seen by some as the next step toward a la carte, Sanford Bernstein media analyst Peter Supino wrote in a note to clients that the offering is more “evolution, not revolution.”

“With ‘custom’ video bundles, the marginal video customer gets what he/she wants (to not buy things that they won't watch), while Verizon optimizes its per subscriber video costs,” Supino wrote. “This additional margin opportunity funds Verizon's elimination of video's infamous add-on service fees (but NOT set-top box rentals charges).”

The Experience in Canada

A la carte, to some, is an inevitability, and CSG is already traveling down that road. Among its customers are Canadian operators that have been offering a la carte programming to customers since 2016 as part of a government mandate.

So far, a la carte hasn’t been a challenge on the billing side, Dunavant said, because not that many Canadian customers are taking advantage of it. Those who do are only selecting a few channels.

“We haven’t seen a huge uptake yet,” Dunavant said.

But in a scenario where customers are selecting hundreds of a la carte channels, it gets a lot trickier.

“That becomes complex, because now every single channel has a price,” Dunavant said. “And how do you display that to a call center agent or how do you display that to a customer?

“One of the things we’ve done within our applications is to put in search functions and put in toggles that allow you to group channels together and make it easier to find and identify the channels that you need,” he continued. “The other part of the challenge is how does that get displayed on a bill.

“Imagine a situation where somebody picked 100 a la carte channels. Now you have 100 line items on a bill for each a la carte channel,” Dunavant said. “When you’re doing a statement run and are trying to keep your costs down, that becomes costly.”

CSG Systems said it has extended a deal with Dish Network that is good through the end of 2021.

Under the four-year extension, CSG will continue to provide revenue management and customer care support for Dish’s residential video subscribers.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the new deal calls on Dish to tap CSG’s digital services platform, Ascendon, to enhance its ability to promote, market and sell digital packages, the companies said.

RELATED: CSG Blazes Digital Path With ‘Ascendon’

In addition to its satellite TV service, Dish also operates Sling TV, a digitally-focused OTT TV service.

CSG, which recently tweaked its deal with Charter Communications, also works with other major service providers, including AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, ESPN, Media-Saturn, Orange, Reliance, SingTel Optus, Telefonica, Telstra, Vodafone, Vivo and Verizon.

iflix, a multiscreen SVOD service for emerging markets, is using CSG Systems’s “Ascendon” digital services platform to consolidate and manage an array of payment options.

iflix, a service with about 3 million subs, offers thousands of TV shows and movies for streaming and download to multiple devices.

CSG said Ascendon will enable iflix to create a centralized eWallet that consolidates all payment options, including those made by credit card, PayPal, Google in-app purchasing, gift cards, vouchers and payments made through direct operator billing. Ascendon will also manage the redemption process for gift cards and vouchers for iflix.

iflix expects to launch the eWallet capabilities of Ascendon in late Spring of 2017.

CSG introduced its cloud-based Ascendon platform in March 2013, with Comcast on board as an early adopter.

RELATED: CSG Blazes Digital Path With ‘Ascendon’

“We have created a world-class Internet TV product with a customer focused approach and aim of providing individual users with the best experience possible. This commitment includes giving customers convenient payment options to best suit their preferences,” Emmanuel Frenehard, chief technology officer of iflix, said in a statement. “As we continue to enter new markets around the world, Ascendon allows us to quickly make new, local market payment options available to consumers, as part of our mission to deliver the world’s best content at a price that everyone can afford.” 

Shedding some light on the technical underpinnings of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s new 4K streaming service, "Ultra," CSG Systems International said its Ascendon digital service platform is helping to power the offering, which launched April 4.  

That service enables consumers to buy and stream movies and TV shows in the Ultra HD format via Sony Bravia 4K TVs that use Android TV, including some titles that employ High Dynamic Range (HDR). Customers can also visit the Sony Pictures Store site to redeem UltraViolet codes that come with the SPHE 4K UHD discs sold in the U.S.

Launched about a year ago, CSG’s Ascendon is a digital services platform that can be overlaid on existing business support systems to help service providers rapidly launch new digital services without uprooting existing infrastructure. Others using it include Comcast (for its Xfinity On Campus product), Cineplex Entertainment, and ESPN, among others.

“This latest step we’ve taken with CSG allows us to bring new 4K video to market in a way that pairs the highest possible TV viewing quality with an intuitive and powerful consumer experience,” said Jake Winett, vice president of Consumer Services and Platforms, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in a statement. “Sony Ultra4K brings together a strong catalog of content with a portfolio of devices that creates a stunning consumer experience that is unmatched in the industry.”

CSG Systems said CEO Peter Kalan has announced plans to retire on Jan. 1, 2016, and that the billing and customer care company has tapped Bret Griess, CSG’s current president and COO, to succeed him.

Griess, 47, will also be appointed to the CSG board effective January 1. He’s been with CSG for more than 19 years, and currently oversees the company’s global sales, operations and delivery, client relationships, product development and management.

Kalan (pictured), 56, has served as CSG CEO and president since December 2007. Kalan joined CSG in January 1997.

CSG’s customers include AT&T, Comcast, Dish Network, Orange, Reliance, SingTel Optus, Telecom New Zealand, Telefonica, Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Vodafone, among others.  Of recent note, Colorado-based CSG struck an extended deal with Charter Communications that covers residential billing, customer care services and its new digitally-focused Ascendon platform, through December 2019.

“On behalf of the CSG Board of Directors, I am extremely grateful to Peter for his outstanding leadership,” said Don Reed, chairman of CSG’s board, in a statement. “Under Peter’s leadership, CSG has become the leading business support solutions provider in the North American cable and satellite markets, expanded our presence internationally, invested in next generation solutions aimed at the changing video landscape, and groomed the next generation of CSG leaders to build upon this legacy. Bret’s appointment as chief executive officer by the board is the result of a robust succession planning process and the confidence that we have in this management team to continue to drive long-term shareholder value as has been done under Peter’s leadership.”

“I am honored to have worked with such a committed and dedicated group of employees,” Kalan added. “Over the years, I’m very proud of the work that we have done to enable our clients to compete in an extremely challenging and dynamic environment. This could not have been accomplished without an active and engaged board of directors and a highly qualified and talented executive team. Bret and his teams have played an integral role towards transforming our company into a trusted partner to the world’s leading communications providers. I am leaving the company in good hands with Bret and this broad and deep bench of experienced leaders within the company.”

“I am grateful to have the opportunity to lead CSG at this exciting moment in our history,” said Griess. “I look forward to working with the board, our customers, our leadership team and our highly talented employees as we continue to enhance our competitive position in the markets we serve, execute on our strategic plan and continue to deliver strong results benefitting our shareholders, customers, employees and communities in which we operate.”

It really is a technical marvel. In mere seconds, electromagnetic radiation zaps all the moisture out of last night’s leftovers, making what was the remnants of a memorable dining experience at least somewhat edible. Beyond my only means of what some would call cooking, the microwave has become a microcosm for how we as citizens of the Internet approach the world – in short bursts of time.

Video in its long form — movie content, serialized television dramas and half-hour network comedies — have become the bedrock of attracting the digital consumer who wants to catch up on their favorite entertainment on any number of devices, and often, when away from home.

Within the video market, the revolutionary opportunity is to find an innovative way to monetize short-form video content. Ask any 18-year-old – they don’t watch serialized TV, they watch short-form video on YouTube or Vimeo created by personalities to which they subscribe. The ability to partner and/or bring this content into a digital service provider (DSP) ecosystem, along with packaging this short-form content with higher margin offerings, may be the next big shift in content consumption.

Just like the amenities provided by digital service providers has evolved (HD, DVR, TV Everywhere), so too has what the consumer views as “television.”  Gone are the days of warming ourselves by the glow of the living room TV — today’s digital content consumer is just as likely to be sitting in that same living room bingeing their favorite series, or scrolling through their Vine feed watching original content from creators they determine.

Should digital service providers see the popularity of short-form content as a threat? Debatable. Should those same DSPs see this collection of long and short-form video content and avid consumption as an opportunity? Absolutely. The tales of the demise of the cord (cord-cutting) have been greatly exaggerated. Consumers still  and, if done properly, will always look to their digital service provider based on the trust engendered within that relationship. What has changed however is what those consumers expect to find when looking. It is not television or Internet service they seek in a vacuum – it is content, regardless of delivery mechanism, or its length.

So how do digital service providers capitalize on this microwave content consumption society without drifting from their core business? Easy – give them exactly what they want, content.

Droves of digital service providers already empower an on-demand view across devices for consumers. Start there. Those pure-play, other-the-top providers like Netflix and Hulu -- they are not the enemy (contrary to popular belief); they can be a strategic path to revenue.

We see examples across geographies and service tiers of DSPs bringing these content providers (and creators in many instances) into their ecosystem, and that is the key – in their ecosystem. Consumers interact with these services regardless; why not keep them within one singular ecosystem?

This strategy provides consumers that content they crave, all the while building stickiness with the digital service provider brand. What about content from non-traditional means like YouTube, Vine, and Vimeo? Where do the pipes that provide this new source of content come from? That is right, the digital service provider.

For DSPs, the ever shrinking attention span and evolving consumption habits of this new generation of consumers are not an obstacle, they are a gift. The long-term winners of monetizing short-form video will be those who make it easy for consumers to find the content they want, make it viewable on any device, anywhere, and allow for it to be paid for in the manner the customer wants.

In short, many of the necessary tools to monetize this microwave generation reside right there in the tool belt of the DSP. Building a successful short-form strategy starts with key pieces of what already works for long-form – offer compelling content that’s easy to browse, buy and consume. 

Brice Clinton is a Senior Engineer for CSG International and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University

Customer care and billing services company CSG Systems has launched Ascendon, a digital services platform for its raft of services partners,  a group that includes cable operators.

CSG said Ascendon can be overlaid on existing business support systems, enabling service providers to rapidly launch new digital services without uprooting existing infrastructure.

Ascendon supports a number of digital hooks, including support for elements such as digital lockers and device management, enabling services such as electronic sell-through, transactional video-on-demand and potential pay-for-bandwidth applications.

According to Kent Steffen, CSG’s president of digital services, Ascendon has three primary target markets – communications service providers, retailers that are also digital content aggregators, and content providers that are going direct to the consumer.

Some initial adopters of Ascendon include Comcast, which is using it for the MSO’s new IP-based multiscreen Xfinity On Campus service, which allows students to log in with their university credentials. ESPN is also using it to manage premium services such as ESPN Insider and its fantasy products, and  Sony is tapping in for EST offerings in multiple countries, using Ascendon in support of digital lockers and the service’s ties to UltraViolet.

“Service providers worldwide are seeking a less disruptive way to enter, maintain and compete for position in the digital services market to help them take advantage of immediate opportunities,” said Ken Kennedy, CSG’s chief technology officer and senior vice president of product management and software development, said in a statement. “Ascendon reflects a multi-year effort, working with some of the world's most innovative brands, to deliver digital services through various business models.”

Before the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo fades deeper into our memory banks, it’s a good time to bring up one of the show’s primary themes – improving the customer experience. 

And I don’t have to be the first person to tell anyone that cable could sure use some improvement in this area. It’s one of the reasons why Comcast now has an executive – Charlie Herrin, its new senior vice president, customer experience -- solely focused on this area.

And the industry’s lagging position in the area came up in one of the opening general sessions at this year's show in Denver, with Tony Werner, Comcast’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, acknowledging that companies like Amazon, Zappos and Uber are raising the bar on the consumer experience. “We haven’t lived up to the old bar,” Werner said.

Hey, to fix a problem, one must first admit that the problem exists, rather than hoping against hope that ignoring it will make it magically vanish.

So, Uber. Werner identified the car-hailing service as one of the prime examples cable should be living up to from an experience standpoint. A lot of people use it. I’ve used it. It’s nice to be able to track when my ride will show up, what kind of car my driver is driving, know what my driver looks like, and (gasp!) communicate directly with said driver. And the driver knows I’ll be submitting a rating based on how well he or she does the job, so there's an enhanced layer of accountability in play here. And I don’t have to worry about paying with cash. All-in-all, Uber’s provided me with a user experience (down to the smell) that’s better than what I usually get from a traditional taxi cab.

Given how Uber’s platform performs and its aren't-I-cool cache, it’s now popular for a company to say they’re going to Uber-ize whatever it is they do.

Cable’s no different. In fact, “the Uberi-zation of cable” was part of a pitch I got awhile back from CSG Systems, a billing and customer care company that works with Comcast and other MSOs, and is one of the companies in the industry that might have an actual say in how the industry can improve the customer experience.

According to Chad Dunavant, CSG’s vice president of North American products, his company and the cable guys are working on systems that can deliver an Uber-like experience – giving customers a way to track the truck, know when the technician will arrive, provide the customer with some knowledge about the person who is on the way, and, generally, enabling a tightening of the appointment window… things that can boost the overall experience.

And that sort of platform, enabled by enhanced field workforce apps that use geographic analytics and GPS info and algorithms can estimate things like drive time, can also improve an operator's bottom line -- for one, reducing call center, which can run $5 to $8, depending on the length of the call.

“The need for techs are increasing, not decreasing,” Dunavant said, noting that services are getting increasingly complex with the whole-home WiFi and home security and automation entering the mix.

And that’s just on the reactive end. By making better use of scheduling calendar data, systems will also be more proactive, making outbound calls or text messages to notify customer of appointments on the day before or the day of the appointment, and allowing customers to reschedule appointments directly from an app.

“It leads to that Uber-like experience,” Dunavant said, noting that some of those piece-parts, including real-time notifications, are already here today. CSG’s Workforce Express scheduling and resource allocation manager for field techs already store tech profiles, but more integration will be required to pull together the full vision.

“The entire ecosystem change starts to happen during the next nine-to-twelve months,” he said.

While Uber isn’t perfect (recent accounts of its vicious, over-the-top competitive tactics might lead some to view Uber as too cable-like in some areas), it does provide elements of an overall customer experience that cable can and should shoot for as the industry seeks ways to improve its tarnished and marred customer service legacy.

CSG Systems said it has extended its strategic partnership with Mediacom Communications that will enable the vendor to continue supplying billing and customer service support to the MSO and its 1.3 million customers.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the new multiyear contract will broaden CSG’s role, expanding it beyond voice, video and data and into home automation and other lines of businesses.

Specific services and products covered by the deal include CSG’s Customer Communication Center (CCC) and Financial Forecaster. The CCC will provide Mediacom with real-time “interactions” and data from multiple systems, including social channels. CSG Financial Forecaster, meanwhile, provides an automated schedule of financial reports.

 CSG and Mediacom have been working together for more than 15 years.

“CSG has been a great partner, and this new contract will help us bring advanced customer service solutions to the market quickly and build on our promise of simple and consistent customer care,” said Tapan Dandnaik, Mediacom’s senior vice president of customer service and financial operations, in a statement.

CSG and Comcast recently announced a deal that will expand the vendor's relationship with the MSO and include the handling of billing for an additional 2.3 million subscribers starting in early 2015.