Everyone in-industry would have received an email yesterday from Paul Bradbury Chief Executive Officer The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) – it reads:
Offical Statement From TOTSCo
“We did it!
Yesterday marked a major milestone for industry with the successful launch of One Touch Switch. After many months of preparation and hard work across industry, we were all pleased to see OTS in action.
On launch day, we opened with 167 brands in the live directory (up from 21 pre-launch). Over 130 brands joined us via a MAP, demonstrating the crucial role MAPs play in allowing large sectors of industry to implement OTS.
More than 90 brands used the hub to send messages, and users placed 4,233 switch orders during the day, with 271 successful completions. In total, 43,000 messages were processed through the hub which performed well-within expected latency.
We expect that the number of daily switch orders will increase still further in the coming days as technical and business processes bed down across industry, and we will continue to report the statistics on our website.
Yesterday, I attended Connected Britain to provide an update in person. It was a pleasure to meet so many of you and hear about your first-hand experiences. All your comments and feedback were immensely helpful as we plan for the days ahead. I understand there’s a thirst for information, and we’ll be adding more content to our website, which we update daily, as we continue to make progress.
While the initial launch has gone smoothly, there’s still much work ahead. Most importantly, there needs to be a focus on improving match success rates as we move towards the revised NOT+ decommissioning date, and any remaining CP-side system issues need to be resolved. For those CPs who weren’t quite ready by Thursday, please rest assured that we remain committed to supporting everyone as they progress through testing to join the live environment.
Last, and most importantly, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who have been with us from the very beginning. Your dedication and tireless work to adapt your systems and processes have been crucial to making this happen. The team and I are incredibly proud to be a part of this journey and to work alongside you. I’m excited about what’s ahead and look forward to the next chapter with great anticipation.
Many thanks,
Paul”
What is One Touch Switching?
For those unaware, the One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) is a not-for-profit organization that helps customers switch broadband and voice services quickly and easily. Pre-TOTSCo, switching providers was a painstaking process. It went something like this…
Customer: “Hi new provider, I’ve seen a great deal online, can I move my broadband to you?”
New Supplier: “Sure. Let’s get you signed up! Fill out this contract.”
Customer: “Okay, great, that’s done. How long will the broadband take to switch?”
New Supplier: “Actually, it’s not a switch. It’ll be a new installation since you’re migrating from a part fibre product to a full fibre one.”
Customer: “Okay, no worries, let’s get started.”
New Supplier: “Great, you’re all booked in.”
Customer: “My service has just been installed, but my phone line has stopped working! And my alarm system too!”
New Supplier: “Oh dear, full fibre removes traditional line services. It operates solely on fibre, so no traditional copper services for calls.”
Customer: “Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me?”
New Supplier: “It was in your contract.”
Customer: “What! And I’ve just received a contract termination fee from my current provider for £180.00!”
New Supplier: “Well, we asked if you were in contract, and you said you didn’t think so, since you’ve had the service for years.”
Customer: “Why didn’t you check that?”
New Supplier: “Unfortunately, we can’t check those details. That’s for you to check.”
You see, that’s exactly what TOTSCo’s new service will prevent.
- Knowing what service you currently have with your existing provider so your new ISP can inform you about installation or migration.
- Understanding your current contract length, so you know if it’s worth switching, i.e., if there’s a termination fee.
The switching tool works for digital sign-ups online and behind the scenes for telephone switches.
Yesterday marked a huge day for broadband in the UK, and according to Paul’s email, it’s working really well!
TOTSCo faced harsh feedback from the industry over the past 12-18 months, with delays and a “we can do it better” mentality (which happens with non-profits). But I can imagine plenty of high fives and smiles as the launch rolled out and successful switch requests started coming in.
So, from us at Fibrenews, hats off to everyone at TOTSCo for their hard work and thick skin!
