An frank email sent by Foxtel Corporate Affairs has revealed the problems the Company is facing in the move to a new customer database.
In a frank letter to SmartHouse Foxtel say that with a constructive view to providing a helpful up to date brief here is the position: the FOXTEL billing system recently saw complete replacement with a modern and better service which will transform our ability to respond in a timely fashion to the millions of inquiries of a program, technical, billing or other service nature raised by our subscriber base annually. With the installation of the system we have experienced some inevitable ‘teething’ issues during the transition process from the old system to the new one which has resulted in variable call waiting times.
Let me be clear that at no stage has FOXTEL ‘lost’ any customer records. As you will I am sure appreciate, when a company such as FOXTEL has in a new system like this literally millions of lines of code representing active records for over 1.5 million installations and associated monthly billing transactions; inventory for over 2 million set top units; managing over 150,000 phone inquiries weekly; with 20,000 accounts that are due for imminent installation at any one time; and managing over 22,000 person hours of workforce training there are quite a few data processes that need to be calibrated simultaneously!
Regrettably the introduction of such a large and complex set of processes does have some temporary issues which arise and I can assure you and your readers that every issue that has arisen has a relevant piece of software or operational correction in train and that we will have all the system operating smoothly in the near future. The billing system is operating perfectly but we do have a small number of accounts that require manual re-entry and checking which is being done currently.
The reference to Telstra is not correct. The changeover to a new customer service system is a separate issue from Telstra’s database as the new system for FOXTEL customers is a separate one from the Telstra systems and appropriate arrangements are in train for those customers who source their FOXTEL through Telstra which will ensure minimal disruption during the changeover.
A substantial range of additional staff during the changeover period have been rostered and trained to meet the demanding period of crossover and for customers with connection issues we have set up a dedicated email address to urgently attend to them which is: connect@foxtel.com.au
FOXTEL is committed to providing the best customer service to our subscribers and has a good record in that regard, unfortunately with all the best will in the world it is not possible to introduce a new system of this type without some settling issues. We will have the usual seamless service operation fully operational in the very near future and in the interim can only be honest and open about the reasons that have led to this short term diminution in our service responsiveness.
The email was signed by Kristen Foster Director Of Corporate Affairs at Foxtel.
