Allow for more than 1 PVR on an account, without charging for a second set of services

DVM01

Optik TV is coming to my parent's neighbourhood. My parent's have 3 TV's in their house. With Shaw we receive the TV signal for the bedroom and kitchen TV's via an Arris Gateway box. The living room TV receives it's signal via a Motorola PVR that we purchased several years ago. My father likes to keep his living room PVR empty and immediately watches and deletes any shows he records. My mother is the opposite and has more than 60 shows she has recorded/watched/saved on her kitchen/bedroom PVR at any one time. With Shaw they are only billed once for the TV signal that goes to all 3 boxes. I asked Telus customer service if my parents switched to Telus if they would be able to maintain the same set up and I was told they could not. Telus only allows for 1 PVR on an account and they would have to pay for a second set of services if they want to have a second PVR on the account. They are going to have to pay to either rent or purchase a receiver for the signal for their third tv anyways, so I am not entirely clear why they would have to pay double to receive the same TV signal/services to the third tv if the receiver is a PVR instead of a digital box. If possible, please reconsider this restriction. Thank you

NFtoBC

With the current Optik setup, you father can watch and delete his shows on one TV, and you mother can watch and keep her shows on another TV. They can also watch their shows from any of the other TVs in the house. The only caveat being that your mother would need to control joint shows.

DVM01

Thanks for responding. When my father looks at his PVR list will it show that it is empty or will it also show the shows that my mother has recorded/saved?

NFtoBC

I would need to check, and have no access to an Optik set right now. I don’t believe you can create separate recordings ’banks’, though.

DVM01

I was told by customer service that it is not possible to have separate PVR libraries. I would assume that the HD digital box would list all shows recorded by any of the 3 TV’s connected to the account.

I want to buy him his own HD PVR instead of my parents buying/renting a HD digital box for his TV, so that he can have the option of keeping his library empty and my Mom can have her own library with lots of shows. But they don’t want to pay double the price.

NFtoBC

The system is designed to host only one PVR. It is an Internet connected device, which can only be operated from one location, based on IP address. There is no possibility of adding a second PVR, as the technological design of the system prevents it, which is why your parents would need two accounts to have two PVR units.

DVM01

Thank you for explaining the technological design of the system that makes two accounts necessary if we choose to have two PVR’s.

I will revise my request to Telus and ask if there is an accounting/billing work around that will allow my parents to have 2 PVRs on Optik TV without paying twice for TV or Internet service?

Is there a new service Telus could create that would allow for a 2nd IP address for a household that can be used for Optik TV only, that has zero data associated with it and that does not result in the doubling of TV and/or internet service costs?

psl

@DVM01 Great idea. It is correct that currently we only allow one PVR per account. And if I understood you correctly, you would like to see us either offering 2 PVRs, or the funtionality of having separate PVR playlist for different users, ie. one for mom, and one for dad.

I will submit your idea as such, feel free to correct me, or add more to the idea.

DVM01

Thank you for considering my idea.

In the case of my parents, they would want the option of having 2 separate PVRs so that my Mom and Dad don’t have access to each other’s libraries. They each have their “own” TV’s so their 2 PVR set up has worked perfectly for them.

But I am sure other Telus customers would love to be able to have different playlists for different users so that is a great idea too.

Thanks again

psl

@DVM01 We just heard back from our product team on this idea. This is an opportunity that had been identitfied, and we are already working towards a solution. Status has been changed to in progress, once we know more, we will send an update

81net

@psl are there any updates on this request? I'm looking to accomplish the same configuration with a roommate.

Thx.

xray

I think the feature that is being requested is similar to the profiles in Netflix. Each STB would remember which profile it is using and keep a separate recordings list with the ability to easily switch profiles. Perhaps optionally set PINs for profiles to keep the kids out if necessary. Shouldn't be that hard to implement.