Hi, my name is Ralph Minow and I'm part of the Service Operations Center of WebTV Networks, Inc. The Service Operations Center serves three major functions. First, we monitor the availability of both our services and World Wide Web content. Secondly, we monitor the access numbers your WebTV Internet terminal dials to connect to our service. Our third important function is to support our growing Customer Care group by providing research data, statistics, and troubleshooting ideas in a team effort to diagnose any problems that may arise when you use the WebTV Internet terminal.

WebTV Networks has over one hundred powerful computers called servers that provide services like e-mail, web pages, audio, newsgroups, and many others. We also monitor our Internet connections to our many content partners like Internet leaders Excite, TV Guide, and Discovery Online. We accomplish this task by using state of the art computer tools; if we need a new tool to fix things specific to the WebTV Network, we will often make it on the spot!

In less than a year, WebTV Networks has been able to provide local access numbers to over 54,000 telephone exchanges across the United States, more than any other Internet Service Provider (ISP). This has been a formidable task. There are hundreds of local telephone companies and thousands of Internet Access Providers; plus, area codes are changing every week! Last month, we delivered on our promise to bring OpenISP to all WebTV Networks customers. OpenISP will allow every WebTV Networks user the option to connect to the great WebTV Network content and services using nearly any ISP they choose. The local ISP only needs to use PPP and PAP, two very standard methods of identifying users, to authenticate its customers.

The Service Operations Center works with our access partners, themselves leaders in their businesses, as well as the smaller, regional Internet Access Providers. We also work with telephone companies and internal WebTV Networks groups. All of us work together to make sure the phone numbers your WebTV Internet terminal dials are the most appropriate for your area and are always working properly.

We do whatever it takes. We constantly monitor our Internet Access Providers (IAPs) like Concentric Corporation, UUNET, Compuworld, PSI, and many other smaller regional partners to identify problems with their equipment. We provide invaluable information including detailed performance statistics to these partners. And, we also help the smaller, local Internet Service Providers that provide local access numbers for telephone exchanges we have not been able to offer yet. We are in constant contact with telephone companies to insure they are billing properly and to insure that their phone lines are clean and stable.

The members of the WebTV Networks Service Operations Center are affectionately known as SOC (pronounced "Sock"). We are proud to work with the other highly skilled professionals here at WebTV Networks that are responsible for bringing the Internet into you living room. Happy surfing!