Recent years have witnessed the evolution of remarkably advanced video and audio services - such as Video on Demand (VoD) - streaming over highly improved network infrastructures. This has allowed customers to select and enjoy preferred viewing format, timeframe and even choose the delivery mode.

Customers now expect seamless, high quality services across managed / unmanaged networks and devices. Clearly, it is difficult for content and service providers to map user experiences on unmanaged systems and ensure absolute Quality of Service (QoS). It is also necessary to support multiple Adaptive Bit-rates (ABRs) so that customers can seamlessly make transition between different bandwidths and enjoy a consistent viewing quality.

Quality of Experience (QoE) helps organizations engineer an end-to-end roadmap for top notch service and recalibrated quality, defining cutting-edge measurement techniques and monitoring mechanisms.

This PoV identifies key consumer issues and discusses the principal areas for strategic QoE intervention. It is created in close confluence with end-user expectations and explains the fundamental ideas driving QoE as an approach.

Emerging Customer Expectations

As a modern telecommunications customer, how often have you been concerned with service quality? As you gravitate between different delivery models, isn’t your primary concern the precision and purity of audio and visual outputs?

Customers are consistently switching between managed / unmanaged devices (Refer to Figure1.1) and networks. While managed systems allow greater control over navigation, regular usage monitoring and a set of SNMPs (Simple Network Management Protocols) that streamline delivery and unmanaged systems offer a simpler, plug-n-play approach, perfect when there are no advanced applications.

As we break down the levers in this discussion (rapid technological advancement, innovative, new systems, and evolving network management concepts) it is critical to factor in an extremely important element - the human factor.

Managed Devices

STB provided by Cable/ Satellite/IPTV Company

Unmanaged Devices

Mobiles, Tablets, DTV, IP Streaming Boxes

Managed Network

• Internet Service provided by AT&T for AT&T Video services
• Internet provided by Comcast (using Cable) for Comcast Services

Unmanaged Network

• Netflix delivered over a regular ISP
• Satellite Provider using an ISP for delivering VoD content

For any service or product, customers are the true indicators for quality. The engineeringNXT landscape is evolving and constantly aligning itself to consumer perception.

Also, modern businesses need to regularly monitor and take into account customer comments/views expressed across social media channels, creating positive or negative clouds around a particular product at lightning-fast speeds - at times even before a service provider can get around to addressing the criticism.

QoE as a fast-rising, multi-disciplinary science (combining social psychology, cognitive science, economics and engineering) is becoming more relevant by the day. In fact, with consumers expecting refined experiences, QoE helps to define several essential consumer-measurement characteristics.

Let’s begin with a basic checklist of core customer expectations

Overall Service Quality

• Consistent availability with low delay/latency
•  Consistent playback quality with minimal artifacts or buffering

Ease-of-use

• Simplified navigability
•  Simplified clickability - fast access, reduced disruptions

End-to-end Device Support

• Manage multiple devices - managed and unmanaged
•  Manage multiple devices on multiple platforms

Comprehensive Network Management

• Run on managed or unmanaged networks
• Run smoothly despite network interruptions / bad network conditions

Managing Expectations - Key Customer Challenges

As a customer, what matters the most is unhindered, uninterrupted service, regardless of the device, platform, network or availability.

As we understand it, some of the critical challenges include the following:

Demystifying QoE - Core Concepts and Ideas

Everyone wants stabilized systems and optimized performance. So, what does QoE mean to you and your business? How does it help your cause?

Most QoE models are built on a four pronged approach, viz., four domains regularly interacting with each other to create a paradigm - Human, Context, Technology and Business. Each domain is further segmented into a number of sub-factors determining response and / or expectations:

Human QoE factors - Needs, Feelings, Performance, Intentions

Subjective QoE factors - Quantitative and Qualitative expectations and requirements

Objective QoE factors - Physiological, Psycho-physical, Cognitive capabilties

Human role and demographic attributes - Age, Gender, Usage, Individual or Group tendencies

As one analyzes the QoE blueprint, we must consider another element: customers very often source material on multiple devices (regularly interchanged / refreshed / renewed) with variable requirements and locations.

This has resulted in a large-scale migration in service engineering - from ‘design and develop for each platform’ to ‘design once and deploy in many’ by employing web technologies aiding rapid synchronization.

The four pillars pivotal to an end-to-end QoE report card are the following:

• Applications
• Devices
• Network
• Service

The Principal Causes for Customer Dissatisfaction

So, what’s your biggest concern with the video and audio you stream? How can this be solved?

The following is a compilation of the most common customer complaints:

Examining the above, draws attention to three essential considerations pivotal to re-wiring networks and strengthening service quality:

• Multi-bandwidth and device content availability
• Multi-platform application availability – with emphasis on popular devices for a specific region
• Sustained importance on content delivery – boosted by a strong ISP provider

The Road Ahead

Effectively, QoE must be able to deliver composite monitoring - a consolidated focus on all components and tools affecting customer experience, viz., devices, applications, network, backend services and the like. The real challenge is the ability to measure subjective “customer experiences” – with multiple vantage points and opinions.

So how do you measure subjective QoE aspects? Are there user-tests that are carried out for analysis? What are the costs and timelines involved? Are there innovative tools which can simplify this complex environment?

Part II of this series throws light on measurement principles and best practices underlying an effective QoE framework. It also discusses cutting-edge tools at the forefront of QoE applications.