Beanfield · Mar 2026 to now
Support, diagnosis and knowledge
As the Tier 3 point for IPTV, I made diagnosis repeatable: a layered method that never reboots away the evidence, a physical test bench, remote access to boxes, a case index so no ticket starts from zero, and documentation that lets support fix problems without escalating.
My roleTier 3, author, trainer, vendor lead
Guides35 references, 33 SME guides
Case index333 indexed cases
VendorsSmartLabs, Nextologies, SimplyTV
Freeze and buffering method
Problem. Freezes were "fixed" by rebooting, which erases the evidence: the box log holds only 60 to 90 seconds.
- Wrote the "six things that will make you wrong" list: do not reboot first; re-authorisation is not a reboot; "accepted" is not "done"; loop hours do not predict command service.
- Defined the order: billing, then platform, then telemetry, then the box shell, then the fleet logs. A freeze on every box of one channel means the ingest side.
- Measured the fleet: 233 boxes looping in 24 hours; 375 over 48 hours, 47 hard looping; a reboot only suppresses the loop for hours.
- Fixed definitions so nobody re-derives them: buffer occupancy, zap time median about 534 ms and p95 about 2,159 ms.
- Wrote the guide-versus-picture check that tests five layers in order: source feed, mapping, guide import, delivery, box.
- Cleared 11 cases aged 3 to 5 months through root cause analysis; authored the escalation matrix and support routing RACI.
Hardware test bench
- A test TV behind a 3-input HDMI switch with two set-top boxes and a streaming stick, switched by an IR hub.
- A DIY IR remote with exact button names pressed over the API; the allow-list refuses locks, keypads and other devices in code.
- Smart-plug power control for cold boots, with a hard refusal for the plug that powers the home router.
- An HDMI capture card read by small helpers to screenshot the TV after each step, replacing a webcam.
- Used for real tests: isolation tests, cold boots, channel-list reloads, factory reset to capture the first-time setup wizard.
Remote box access
An SSH route to a customer's box through a cloud bastion tunnel, with reboot capability, plus a fibre-terminal route through the jump host, so a frozen box can be inspected without a truck roll. Demoed to the senior director on 28 Jul 2026.
Recording tools
- Captured the web-player API and built a tool that reads and repairs customers' series recordings, the base of the guide-migration repair runner.
- A recording log archive that is step zero for every recording ticket.
- A weekly search-and-record script for one customer as an interim fix for a firmware search defect, with the customer's written approval.
Vendor management
- Day-to-day technical contact for the platform, channel-feed and guide vendors.
- A separate vendor tracker so vendor latency does not count as project progress; chase rules (14 days without movement chase, 30 days escalate with responsiveness data).
- Mined 1,067 vendor tickets for failure signatures.
Knowledge estate
- One reference file per system (35) and a human SME guide per system (33), each with access, version history and a knowledge-base link.
- 28 bilingual (English and French) ServiceNow guides and 60+ knowledge articles; frontline support trained; about 70% fewer IPTV escalations in the first month (Monjur's figures).
- Four customer and field-technician TV guides (75 pages): setup, recording, home Wi-Fi, installation.
- A coverage matrix: 26 topics by 3 families against 78 knowledge articles and 292 local files, 19 gaps found and filled.
- An IPTV knowledge vault of 373 source-cited pages: systems, incidents, decisions, vendors, how-tos (full case study).
Stack
SmartCAREELK / KibanaSmartTUBEBOSSAirTiesNokia BeaconZhone ONT CLISSH bastionSwitchBot IRGoveeUGREEN captureServiceNow KBObsidian