3SS updates UI for Kabel Deutschland Select Video VOD service

Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Chooses 3 Screen Solutions To Deliver New Select Video VOD Service

LUDWIGSBURG, Germany — 3 Screen Solutions (3SS), a leading provider of customized software solutions and services to the multiscreen digital entertainment industry, today announced that it was selected by Germany’s largest cable operator, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland, to dramatically enhance the attractiveness and functionality of its Select Video VOD service.

Building on system middleware already deployed at Vodafone, 3 Screen Solutions delivered software innovations which successfully enhanced the functionality and usability of the existing Select Video VOD service, comprehensively refurbishing the video on demand application.

In the first step of a staged Select Video launch, Vodafone this month enabled the newly enhanced VOD store for the operator’s approximately 1.7 million subscribers with legacy digital set-top boxes (STBs). These legacy STBs were manufactured by multiple providers including Technicolor, Sagemcom, Humax and Samsung.

Vodafone set 3SS the task of delivering a high quality VOD service that would be faster, with quicker start-up and speedier loading rates, as well as being easier and more intuitive to use, with a new state-of-the-art interface to deliver a superior viewing experience. The Select Video service includes a variety of engaging features including a catch-up service offering top class content through Vodafone’s rights agreements with leading broadcasters including RTL Group, ProSiebenSat.1, and others.

A top priority set for 3 Screen Solutions by Vodafone Kabel Deutschland was the need for enhancements which would greatly encourage VOD content purchasing, and therefore increase the potential for content monetization. 3 Screen Solutions needed to deliver a more seamless and easier user process for purchasing content.

Thanks to the new Vodafone-defined service structure and design, complemented by extensive development work from 3SS, with the new Select Video, the subscriber can acquire a program in as few as three steps. This is a significant improvement on the previous version in which the viewer had to carry out up to seven interactions to complete a content purchase. With the new enhanced service, the time it typically takes a viewer to select, buy and access his or her desired content has been dramatically decreased.

3SS created the completely new HTML and JavaScript based front end application. The new UI is now easier to navigate, and features much more imagery, therefore affording the operator a greatly increased opportunity to cross-sell, recommend and up-sell content.

In addition to first supporting subscribers with all-legacy STBs, Select Video will subsequently launch on STBs that have been upgraded with newer firmware, which will enable the enhanced Select Video service.

As part of its commitment to complete customer satisfaction, and the highest standards of software development methodology, 3 Screen Solutions employed rigorous engineering processes to ensure consistent quality of the product it delivered.

In its Romania development centre, 3SS set up a complete test lab which simulates the Vodafone Kabel Deutschland network and in-home environment including all models of deployed set-top boxes, operating in accordance with DVB standards, and running on current and upcoming STB software. The lab incorporates automated interface testing using Selenium automation testing framework.

With this testing environment, 3SS can ensure the necessary quality with maximum efficiency, and seamless maintenance releases in the future.

3SS carried out HTML and JavaScript application developments to enable Select Video to be more flexible for Vodafone to manage than the previous version of the service was, including making catalogue loading and back end processes easier, thereby benefiting the cable operator through better resource efficiency.

From the user standpoint, the reinvogorated VOD service is much more intuitive and enjoyable to use, giving subscribers a superior content discovery, selection and consumption experience.

“Select Video now operates faster and more smoothly than ever, and viewers can discover, purchase and enjoy content in a fraction of the time,” said Hagen Bossert, Head of the Select Video Team.

He added: “We are particularly impressed with the superior look and feel of the new interface – put simply, it looks amazing and the many new enhancements firmly position Select Video as a high quality, world-class VOD service offering for our customers.”

“It’s an honor to have been selected by Vodafone to deliver the new Select Video service,” said Kai-Christian Borchers, 3 Screen Solutions Managing Director. “In our competitive media landscape, we know how important it is to offer subscribers a really attractive VOD service. To keep those viewers happy long term, it’s vital that the user can navigate and transact with the service smoothly, and we are so glad to help make this a reality for the Vodafone Kabel Deutschland audience.”