FLOW offers rewards for customers who switch to new digital platform

Local cable company FLOW is urging persons to transition from the old Karib Cable platform to the new digital platform.

This call came at a press conference at Heritage Square yesterday when the company’s marketing and communication manager Corey Garrett announced a promotion to reward customers who make the transition.{{more}}

Customers on the older platform, by this promotion, will be eligible to win three major grand prizes, which include one year free digital extended basic video, an EC$1,000 voucher from Courts and a LG 55” TV.

The campaign, which was launched last Thursday, will run until March 21.

“I think it is a very good incentive to reward those customers for something at the end of the day that will become “mandatory,” but is yet not mandatory,” Garrett said.

“There will be time, for company reasons and strategic reasons, when the company will have to close one of those platforms down, that platform, of course, being the older platform or what we refer to as the legacy platform.”

Garrett said that the technology used on the legacy platform is at a point where it can no longer be upgraded and hence the company has made the decision to move on to the digital platform, or what they call the Internet protocol television (IPTV) platform.

He then defined Internet Protocol as the language which devices use to communicate over a network. IP technology allows information to descend and receive over any broadband or network connection.

“…You have a modem in your house, you have a digital set top box in your house; there is a way now for these devices to communicate with each other and deliver a superior and a much more highly advanced television viewing experience,” he explained further.

“We have always invited customers to evolve their digital world and understand the interactive experience and we speak about over 30 HD channels, improved stereo sound and quality and then, of course, what everyone is anxious to see, the advanced features that we speak about.”

Garrett also stated that the android TV boxes and the Roku boxes are not what Internet Protocol TV is.

“They only allow the user to watch the video like movies and previews and webcasts over the Internet.”

He said that the other methods of streaming do not deliver a key end user reality. “Basically the user is left on their own, and left on a island by themselves so to speak, with no service delivery quality or assurance,” which he says is not the case with Flow.

For the Netflix users, Flow has what Garrett describes as a “similar, but more user friendly platform,” that they are launching which is Flow’s video on demand.

He said this is a complete library of movies, documentaries, music videos etc by some of the world’s top companies such as Universal Studios, Disney, HBO etc, from which users can rent movies for a 24-hour period.

He added that Flow has enhanced customer service tools, such as a Parental Control.

“So this TV is all about the user experience and all about the user capabilities and that is what we continue to deliver via the digital TV platform.”

According to Garrett, markets such as Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, which launched the product over a year ago, are doing quite well and it is quite successful and “[they] are very anxious at Flow right now to get the product up and running here in the St Vincent market.”

Members of the media were then given a brief tour of the platform, which includes a (DVR) feature where users can record any particular show at their convenience.

Apart from that, they can also buy additional storage space, based on their requirements. If, for instance, someone wishes to record an entire series.

“This is an all cloud based technology; there’s no external device whatsoever that has to be hooked up to the digital set top box…it is totally cloud based and stored in a virtual cloud.”

Flow has also introduced a Bill View service, where customers can view their bill each month from the television set top box.

Garrett revealed that Flow is also planning to introduce something called “Catch Up TV,” where users can tape their programmes and be able to rewind shows they have missed.

More details on the promotion can be found at www.discoverflow.co. (AS)