Archive for August, 2009
Suddenlink Reaches 250,000 Phone Milestone
Suddenlink customers are now placing and receiving up to six million calls a day, about twice as many daily calls as the company’s network handled 14 months ago and six times as many as it did two years ago.
Suddenlink Phone uses IP technology to transport calls over the company’s private, managed, IP-based network. As a standard part of its residential service, Suddenlink offers unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls, plus a set of popular calling features. Suddenlink Phone also provides automatic access to the FCC-mandated Enhanced 911 system and is compatible with most modern alarm monitoring equipment.
Earlier this year, the company launched an enhanced Business Class Phone service for larger commercial accounts with more complex requirements.
ESPN360 Now Free to Suddenlink ‘Net Customers
Suddenlink Internet customers can access ESPN360.com for no charge from any computer connected to Suddenlink Internet service. They can also access ESPN360.com from the Suddenlink.net home page.
If Suddenlink Internet customers wish to access ESPN360.com when they are away from home or out of town, they must complete an initial, no-charge registration at ESPN360.com and do so while they’re on a computer connected to Suddenlink Internet service. After that initial registration at ESPN360.com (again, from a computer connected to Suddenlink service) customers will have a validated username and password they can use to access ESPN360.com anywhere, at any time, for no charge.
ESPN360.com features live online sports coverage from a broad array of global events including, but not limited to …
Facebook Challenges Twitter
… Several [Facebook] users were notified yesterday that they were being given access to the project site as testers for a new concept that was basically a slimmed down version of Facebook that had its focus on friend updates — kind of like the tweets on a Twitter profile page.
Hedging our bets, Suddenlink is active on Twitter and Facebook, in addition to this blog. We are also active on a variety of user forums across the Web. You know the rule: Go where your customers are.
Twitter Here, Twitter There
While we may not be as important as any of those things, you can communicate with Suddenlink via Twitter, if you’re also signed up there.
Microsoft Security Flaws Fixed
Microsoft today issued a raft of software updates to plug at least 19 security holes in its various Windows operating systems and other software, 15 of which earned the company’s most dire “critical” rating.
This month’s batch of patches fix some fairly dangerous flaws. Redmond labels a security flaw “critical” if attackers could use it to seize control over a vulnerable system without any help from the victim. What’s more, a dozen of the flaws earned the highest rating on Microsoft’s “exploitability index,” which is the software maker’s best estimation of the likelihood that criminals will soon develop reliable ways to exploit them to break into Windows-based machines.
Buyer Beware
The CBS affiliate in Midland, Texas, recently aired a report about some local TV viewers’ displeasure with not getting certain local channels on DirecTV — and apparently not being told the truth about the lack of those channels when they asked. You can watch the report at the station’s Web site (look in the right column) — or on YouTube:
This issue may not be unique to West Texas. As the saying goes: “Buyer beware.”
NOTE: To help avoid such confusion, Suddenlink publishes its local channel line-ups online. Go to our main site, enter your zip code, then look for the option, “See your channel line-up,” and press the “Go” button.
DVR, i-Guide ‘Over Recording’ Issue
If you’re among the customers who have encountered this problem, we apologize for the inconvenience. This problem is not unique to Suddenlink or its customers. From what we understand, many other service providers and their customers are experiencing the same issue.
In short, here’s what’s happening:
The digital video recorder or DVR relies on the i-Guide (digital channel guide) to tell it which TV show episodes are “new” and which are “repeats.” If a particular show is a repeat, but it’s not marked as a repeat in the i-Guide, the DVR assumes the show is new and records it.
Rovi Corporation (formerly known as Macrovision) is the company responsible for the i-Guide. We have asked them repeatedly to correct this problem; ideally, by labeling every show as either “new” or “repeat,” so the DVR can tell the difference between them. In addition, every time a customer calls us to report this problem, we are making note of the details and sharing them with Rovi staff, so they fully understand the scope and urgency of the issue. Our senior executives have also had discussions with Rovi’s senior executives, to impress upon them the need to promptely resolve this issue.
Mt. Home Gets Phone
Suddenlink Phone includes unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls, plus the most popular calling features, such as Caller ID, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling, Anonymous Call Rejection and Call Forwarding. Voice Mail and international calls are also available at competitive rates.
Importantly, Suddenlink Phone provides automatic access to the FCC-mandated Enhanced 911 system and is compatible with most modern alarm monitoring equipment. In fact, Suddenlink Phone meets the characteristics outlined by ADT Security Services to be acceptable as a primary method of transmitting alarm signals to ADT’s monitoring centers for that security company’s home and small business customers.
Time Online Stabilizing
The average American spends around 12 hours each week using the Internet, according to a recent study released by Forrester Research. And while that amount of time has increased around 117 percent since 2004, the amount of time spent online changed little between 2008 and 2009.
Bundles are Good
Suddenlink offers a number of compelling, cost-saving bundles. Contact a Suddenlink rep today to learn more.
