[VLM]

Its the difference between the airplane flight reservation model and the taxi reservation model.

Taxi model = you call and a on call guy is dispatched and if they're busy its first come first serve.

Airline model = you call and make a reservation onto an overbooked quota slot next week. Staffing is "optimized" next week to an acceptable level, to a monopoly, of overbooking and predicted failure.

People expect/demand the taxi model and don't understand the inherent results of the airline model.

The system is operating as designed. They just don't like the design.

The telecom hicap / biz side operated under the taxi model but residential telecom and cable has always operated under the airline reservation model as far as I know. I know from personal experience that both natgas and water and electricity operate under the taxi model, so its not something inherently impossible about visiting people's homes.

I wonder if anyone's ever tried the taxi model for residential services? Or if its a startup opportunity?