Virgin Media UK Deploys Free Smart Support Service to All Broadband Users

Customers of UK ISP Virgin Media’s (O2) fixed broadband packages have today been told that the internet, TV and phone provider is now rolling out their new Smart Support diagnostics service – a 24/7 broadband speed and connection monitoring solution – to all of its customers “as standard and at no extra cost“. Initially only 330,000 customers had been able to benefit from it.

Readers might recall that Virgin Media first started deploying Smart Support a couple of years ago (here and here), which aimed to boost the reliability of internet connections by proactively identifying and tackling issues remotely. The itself service is built on technology from Cisco’s ThousandEyes platform (i.e. cloud-based data sets and advanced device ID technology) and is used to monitor for things like speed drops and disconnections.

“Using clever tech to check broadband performance in the background, we can catch serious issues – or anything amiss in your first 14 days with us – and try to get in touch with easy, proactive fixes as soon as possible … It also covers WiFi around the home, letting us know if you need a little help with your connectivity,” explains the provider’s website.

Smart support works by:

1. Monitoring broadband connectivity: Automatically checking broadband coverage and prioritising assistance for customers experiencing significant speed or connectivity issues.

2. Guiding customers through quick fixes: If connectivity issues are identified, smart support will suggest simple steps to help get things back on track.

3. Tackling problems remotely overnight: Smart support works in the background, implementing necessary fixes and updates overnight while the household is asleep to avoid disrupting the customer’s day.

4. Providing free engineer visits if needed: If those steps don’t resolve the issue, customers can book an engineer at no extra cost.

5. Assessing the need for a WiFi Pod or Hub upgrade: If smart support detects that extra help is needed to ensure strong coverage throughout a customer’s home, Virgin Media will proactively reach out and offer solutions like WiFi Pods to boost signal strength and improve connectivity.

One other benefit of this approach is that it could help to reduce calls to Virgin Media’s support lines, since customers won’t need to manually report all of their faults.

Gareth Lister, Director of Connectivity at VMO2, said:

“Every year, we see demand on our network continue to rise – and with it, the need for fast, reliable connectivity. smart support monitors broadband 24/7 and fixes issues quickly, giving our customers extra peace of mind they’ll stay connected. Combined with our ultrafast speeds and award-winning reliability, it’s just another way Virgin Media is keeping customers connected when it matters most.”

However, we should point out that proactive monitoring of broadband lines is something that other ISPs have also adopted, albeit to varying different levels of effectiveness and sophistication. Sometimes this comes as part of a premium add-on, while in other cases, like this one, it’s a default feature.

Sadly, it’s not easy to independently assess the performance of such systems, but Virgin Media have been seeing a fall in customer complaints of late (excluding when they hike their prices), which is a positive sign that changes like this are helping.

The provider did previously indicate that they may extend Smart Support in the future to help tackle other problems, such as digital TV issues (e.g. buffering), although there was no mention of that in today’s announcement.