Cable Onda, one of Panama's largest providers of cable television and broadband services, has installed two Observer RPM-200 systems to automatically scan and troubleshoot the company's complete lineup of more than 200 digital and 100 analog channels. Manufactured by Volicon, the Observer RPM systems enable Cable Onda to monitor its transmission proactively from its central NOC for more efficient operations and a better quality of service.
"Previously, we had to check the lineup manually at least six times in every 24-hour period, a task that was tying up two to four engineers for 20 to 40 minutes each time," said Harold Brady, Cable Onda's headend manager. "Now, those engineers are free to concentrate on verifying other equipment, and since the Observers are constantly scanning, we have a much more consistent and reliable method for identifying and correcting failures before they become customer complaints."
Cable Onda has installed the two Observer RPM systems (one each for the analog and digital lineup) at the company's headend in Panama City, with plans to deploy the system to remote hub sites located throughout Panama. The RPM systems cycle through the entire channel lineup 24 hours a day, briefly scanning each channel to detect faults, such as low or missing audio, black or static screen video or missing video.
When a problem is detected, the system automatically generates and sends a text message to the responsible operator's cell phone and an e-mail with a direct link to the problematic content, enabling the operator to actively diagnose the problem. At the same time, the Observer RPM creates a video log and a clip to provide a visual reference of the fault. When the faulty channel recovers, the RPM sends another text notification to the operator. The Observer RPM system's Web-based interface gives operators total video control with the ability to search, retrieve, view, analyze, annotate, share and export video from the desktop.
For more information, visit www.volicon.com.
