diff --git a/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/CordModelCache.java b/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/CordModelCache.java
index 9b787ab..273bdec 100644
--- a/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/CordModelCache.java
+++ b/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/CordModelCache.java
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@
 public class CordModelCache extends JsonFactory {
 
     private static final String KEY_SSID_MAP = "ssidmap";
-    // FIXME: should not be a colon in the key..... Scott to fix on XOS
-    private static final String KEY_SSID = "service_specific_id:";
+    private static final String KEY_SSID = "service_specific_id";
+    // FIXME: remove once the key has been fixed
+    private static final String KEY_SSID_ALT = "service_specific_id:";
     private static final String KEY_SUB_ID = "subscriber_id";
 
     private static final int DEMO_SSID = 1234;
@@ -85,19 +86,34 @@
         ObjectNode map = XosManager.INSTANCE.initXosSubscriberLookups();
         initLookupMap(map);
         log.info("{} entries in SSID->SubID lookup map", LOOKUP.size());
+        // force DEMO subscriber to be installed by default
+        init("foo@bar");
     }
 
     private void initLookupMap(ObjectNode map) {
         ArrayNode array = (ArrayNode) map.get(KEY_SSID_MAP);
         Iterator<JsonNode> iter = array.elements();
+        StringBuilder msg = new StringBuilder();
         while (iter.hasNext()) {
             ObjectNode node = (ObjectNode) iter.next();
-            String ssidStr = node.get(KEY_SSID).asText();
+
+            // FIXME: clean up once the colon has been removed from the key
+            JsonNode s = node.get(KEY_SSID);
+            if (s == null) {
+                s = node.get(KEY_SSID_ALT);
+                if (s == null) {
+                    log.error("missing {} property!", KEY_SSID);
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+
+            String ssidStr = s.asText();
             int ssid = Integer.valueOf(ssidStr);
             int subId = node.get(KEY_SUB_ID).asInt();
             LOOKUP.put(ssid, subId);
-            log.info("... binding SSID {} to sub-id {}", ssid, subId);
+            msg.append(String.format("\n..binding SSID %s to sub-id %s", ssid, subId));
         }
+        log.info(msg.toString());
     }
 
     private int lookupSubId(int ssid) {
diff --git a/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/XosManagerRestUtils.java b/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/XosManagerRestUtils.java
index bd9f5ae..daa72d8 100644
--- a/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/XosManagerRestUtils.java
+++ b/apps/demo/cord-gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cord/gui/XosManagerRestUtils.java
@@ -120,10 +120,7 @@
             log.info("REST GET request returned error code {}",
                      response.getStatus());
         }
-        String jsonString = response.getEntity(String.class);
-        log.info("JSON read:\n{}", jsonString);
-
-        return jsonString;
+        return response.getEntity(String.class);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -157,10 +154,7 @@
             log.info("REST PUT request returned error code {}",
                      response.getStatus());
         }
-        String jsonString = response.getEntity(String.class);
-        log.info("JSON read:\n{}", jsonString);
-
-        return jsonString;
+        return response.getEntity(String.class);
     }
 
     /**