BT TV Box Pro - comments/questions

[SRB]

I'd fully agree if this was a new concept to BT TV but it isn't, they've been delivering IP channels for years and previously experimented with HD delivery of the main PSB channels over IP. It just comes across as another halfbaked idea, which, going on past customer experience, could see the plug pulled on it at a moment's notice.

[scointer]

And how long has IP mode been in development for this bare bones option?

I appreciate getting the rights tied up is a bit out of BT’s control at times but the development should be ultra quick these days. If BT don’t wise up to that and sort themselves out they will be extinct before they release anything.

[DarrenDev]

BT hasn't previously "experimented" with delivery of PSB channels over IP. We implemented a temporary solution on the old boxes (before YouView launched) to provide access to HD channels on a box that didn't have a DVB-T2 tuner - i.e. no other option to show HD channels. Absolutely nothing about that old solution was reusable here.
We've launched IP channels now and provided a solution for a very large number of customers who otherwise had no other option. We'll improve it when we can, to satisfy the tiny proportion of those customers who need more.
If we waited until everything was 100% ready, we'd never launch anything.
It's not half baked ... it's iterative. You're welcome to go back to DTT to restore the service that you had before - something that many other people didn't have the option of doing.

[DarrenDev]

but the development should be ultra quick these days

Comments like this really frustrate me. Do you really believe that we're intentionally NOT delivering these things to annoy people?

Do you not believe that we're doing everything we possibly can to deliver the best possible solution to customers?

It ISN'T easy - it takes a LOT of work from a LOT of people across multiple companies to deliver products like this.

[davidwindle9]

I understand people's frustration, but Rome wasn't built in a day. 

I just don't want to get in the ear from the Mrs because she can't record long lost family, married at first sight and Corrie at the same time 🤣

[albacore]

Darren, unfortunately you are at the pointed end, getting the flack - and apologies for that, but I think users get frustrated when long standing problems like the surround sound & volume level issue show no signs of resolution, no progress report, no eta for a fix - we don't even know if anyone is working on it.

[chrispw1]

Don't be discouraged @DarrenDev I actually think the IP proposition is really good - more HD Channels, great picture quality. 

Recording is becoming less of a thing with all the catch up options, I think we will probably just record non BBC content purely so we can skip the ads - BBC shows we can watch on iPlayer either via the guide or the app.

[DarrenDev]

Totally agree with you on that one @albacore - I am the WORST dev team lead, as when one of my team don't deliver what I want or not quick enough, I just end up doing it myself. Having to rely on other teams to deliver updates really stresses me out, and the surround sound bug is high up my list of stresses. I've done all I can ... it's with the right people, and has an engineer assigned to it. I don't have visibility of how high up their list it is though.

[scointer]

@DarrenDev  No one said you were not delivering what you could when you could. My comment was that software these days (which BT are happy to spout themselves) should allow for changes to made quickly and easily and development should be fast paced. Do you think the IP mode has been delivered in what you would call a modern way and at a good speed for 2020’s

[why_oh_why]

@DarrenDev 

I was like you when I was in retail management. I'd jump in if something wasn't being done quick enough by someone else. Trust me, it's not worth it, I ran myself into ill health because of it.