Integra5 Survey Shows Service Improves Stickiness

In a recent survey of 3,500 residential subscribers of Comporium, a South Carolina-based IPTV provider, Integra5 found that TV Caller ID plays a significant role in subscriber retention. Integra5 is a software company that provides services on IPTV and cable networks that include TV Caller ID.

One group of subscribers surveyed have been using TV Calling ID already with 70% using the service for more than one year. This group was compared with feedback from another group of subscribers who do not receive the service.

Key survey highlights include:

• 25% state TV Caller ID is a "main reason” they stay with Comporium for their television, high speed data and phone services
• 30% more likely than non-subscribers to rate Comporium as “great”
• 78% said they like TV Caller ID as much as other types of popular services, specifically HDTV, while 71% reported the same for DVR

Respondents ranked interest in future real-time converged communications and content services that incorporate advanced interactivity, personalization and user management capabilities. Below are the top five, in order of interest:

1. 90% - Ability to manage which TVs and PCs display Caller ID
2. 81% - Personalization features, such as the ability to add pictures and photos to TV and PC Caller ID and to a network address book
3. 81% - Content alerts, which incorporate RSS and Web-based technology to display banners with local, national and international news, weather, sports and other information on TVs and PCs
4. 80% - “Click-to-call,” which enables users to place calls from the TV network address book, and call/voicemail logs via the TV remote control
5. 77% - Voicemail alerts and playback, which notify users – via TV/PC banner alerts – of landline or mobile phone voice mails. Users can also view a voicemail log and play back voice mails on their TVs/PCs

On average, TV Caller ID subscribers were 30% more likely than non-users to rate future converged services with the highest score of “like very much.”

As service providers begin to leverage TVs, PCs and mobile phones to provide consumers with a seamless, multi-device experience, the TV is the most popular and is buoyed by new services such as HDTV, VOD and interactive programming guides.

• Nearly 70% of respondents chose the TV as their preferred device for
• Over 40% said they would like to receive services on both TVs and PCs

Comporium’s subscribers rated IPTV Caller ID services highly:

• 82% rate the service as either “very good” or “great”
• 86% have shown or told friends and neighbors about it
• 94% leave it active all the time, even though it’s possible to disable it

Although Comporium offers the service free as part of their digital cable and phone bundle, over 40% said they would pay for TV Caller ID if they moved to another area where the operator charged for it; of these, 90% would pay at least $1 per month, 70% at least $2 per month and over 50% at least $3 per month

I have been hearing that Caller ID on the TV screen is a popular service ever since I started following this market five years ago. This survey confirms that. People really like getting information on the screen that tells them whether they can ignore or should answer an incoming call.