Video Probe

Using network probes for revenue and service assurance has always been a straightforward proposition. Stick a probe on the network, see what is happening, compare that to what should be happening, and if something is wrong go fix it. The downside is cost. For the price of one probe, you only see what is going on at one point in the network. Nevertheless, probes can make sense if you want an independent check on a sample basis, or if you can locate them cleverly to assure most of your traffic, or if you want to offer premium service, and reassurance, to high-end customers. That suggests it is only a matter of time before probes for newer services, like video, become as common as they are for voice. See here for the news that US firm IneoQuest’s video probes now support European QAM standards. In fact, probes may be destined to be more popular for premium services like video than they are for voice. For a start, video may generate higher revenues and hence better justify the investment in probes. In addition, customer satisfaction, and the price the customer is willing to pay, will be more closely tied to quality with video than it is with voice. A customer that may have been prepared to pay for a crackling phone call is less likely to tolerate a blurry video session. This may force providers to use video probes to stay competitive by assuring services and revenues at the same time.