Troubleshooting BIG PIPE: A Fluke Networks Case Study

Based in Calgary, Alberta, BIG PIPE Inc. is a leading provider of Internet and data-communication services for corporate and industrial customers in North America. The company manages the telecom backbone for its parent company, Shaw Communications, and provides bandwidth to commercial and industrial customers throughout North America. It has nearly 40 broadband field technicians performing four to seven installations a week, in addition to handling the usual follow-up service and support calls.

Growing service demands were creating logistical challenges for the company, according to Mike Hall, senior director or operations at BIG PIPE. “Regardless of the source of the issue, we’re always committed to helping the customer – and we always went to the site to find out what was wrong,” says Hall.

Technicians visiting the sites would set up their laptops and use software tools to generate network traffic to find the root cause of the problem. This was time-consuming, with troubleshooting often taking up to eight hours.

Service requirements were growing, and BIG PIPE knew that it had to find a faster, more efficient process. “We required testing equipment that went beyond our demarcation point into our customers’ networks in order to keep pace with increased business volumes and provide customers with advanced levels of service.”

The company decided to test the OptiView Integrated Network Analyzer (INA) from Fluke Networks. One reason for selecting the OptiView, says Hall, was its ability to simulate multiple types of traffic. “Before, we were never able to generate the kind of traffic we needed without hours of configuration on our laptops.”

The team started with four units, distributed in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary, plus one “floater” for shipping to other locations when needed. “That floater definitely gets a lot of air miles,” notes Hall.

Technicians armed with the OptiView INA now can run tests remotely by generating traffic before going to the customer site. “Since the OptiView can generate views on customer tags, the user is able to emulate that customer’s network anytime, anywhere,” say Hall.

OptiView also allows BIG PIPE to vary the size of packet traffic and emulate different traffic protocols to accommodate the volume of traffic the customer sends. “We can confirm that we are delivering the bandwidth the customer requires, because we can generate enough traffic with the OptiView to fill the pipe and confirm performance levels.”

An oil and gas customer reported its laptops were showing collisions and errors on the network based on information from a freeware program. Using OptiView INA, the technician found that the network was “clean,” and the problem was with a customer configuration on the router.

A television station with problems accessing its Internet service called BIG PIPE for assistance. Using the OptiView at the site, the technician quickly discovered that the customer was running a spanning tree protocol that automatically changed configurations each time a new device was plugged into the network.

Within a very short time of acquiring the OptiView units, they proved their worth in optimizing field deployment resources. For example:

• Typical time for troubleshooting customers’ networks using the OptiView was reduced from eight hours to a mere 20 minutes
• More rapid troubleshooting allowed BIG PIPE to speed response to multiple customers
• More efficient, timely diagnoses provides superior customer service

“Now when we go to the site, we already have a pretty good idea what’s going on with the network,” says Hall. “And the field technicians are also more confident that they won’t be blindsided by an unexpected problem. We are saving a lot of time and energy.”

This new process has been so successful that BIG PIPE is expanding it to all locations. The new service process had to demonstrate cost benefits, which Hall felt was proved in short order. “At the end of the day, it all comes down to what makes the best business sense and provides the best level of service to our customers.”

Dave Skingley is product marketing manager at Fluke Networks. He can be reached at dave.skingley@flukenetworks.com.

Fluke Networks www.flukenetworks.com

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