How much longer can we expect legacy BSS to be an effective solution in the digital world? If today’s consumers have anything to do with it, not too much longer.
It’s their desire for control over their own data usage and spend that began the trend towards self-care app development that will support forecast growth in e-channels. As CSPs expose their businesses to this environment versus the old way of doing business through a call center, consumers are further pressuring them to deliver a digital experience that allows them to make service purchases on demand from the device. And that’s about to send a wave of change rippling back into CSPs that requires them to float rather than drown.
Throughout the advent of LTE, a new breed of customer has emerged. This customer is more demanding, accustomed to shopping, browsing, downloading and sharing from almost anywhere at any time of day. The immediate nature of the internet means that consumers have also come to expect real-time updates on the status of their service packages. If they’re nearing their data allowance limit then they want to know immediately, not 24 hours later and after they have incurred extra charges.
But, in the rush to embrace digital and improve customer experience many CSPs have implemented quick-fixes, installing glossy marketing and campaign management tools, and deploying questionable analytics capabilities. Regrettably, these solutions don’t solve the core issue of how to make things simple and transparent to the customer and give the customer a sense of control. They also don’t enable CSPs to monetise their LTE investments, nor do they provide the real-time insight into customer behavior necessary for truly delivering on consumers’ digital demands.
Luckily for subscribers, there are a number of forward thinking CSPs who anticipated the shift in customer behaviour driven by LTE and are adapting their operations for the digital world. As more CSPs make the leap from a traditional CSP to a Digital Service Provider (DSP), there are three common themes that will resonate throughout the industry:
- Out with the bad revenue, in with the good:
The multitude of recent bad press around customer bill shock emphasises the need to replace ‘bad revenue’ which is typically generated from overages and other unexpected costs. In the future, ‘good revenue’ will instead be generated by proactive decision making where customers have a choice at any moment over what they’re buying and how much they’re spending.
- An empowered customer
Using granular insights combined with real-time charging and policy, DSPs will be able to rapidly model and roll out new services and tariffs and empower customers with real-time self-care interfaces on their device that help them to understand their usage, tailor their services, and buy and share a multitude of digital services on demand.
- Digital channel enablement:
In the near future every digital service should be available for purchase, customisation and management direct from any device. This will lead to a scale down of call centers as customers will conduct most of their transactions online and in real-time, direct from the device. Going forward CSPs must combine human insight with the intelligence generated by next generation support systems, to enable them to quickly react to customer preferences and changes within the market.
Following this path will result in huge cost savings for DSPs, as well as customer satisfaction. Self-configuration and personalised services will increase customer retention rates. Simultaneously, the Digital Service Provider will be able to create exciting new products and business opportunities.
We’re in the midst of a data revolution and CSPs have a choice to follow one of two routes: either take no action and resign themselves to being regarded as a mere data access utility, or evolve and equip themselves with the structure and systems that will enable them to deliver the digital experience to its maximum potential.
The author is Jennifer Kyriakakis, founder and VP marketing at MATRIXX Software
Jennifer Kyriakakis is founder and VP of Marketing at MATRIXX Software, and brings to her role over 15 years’ experience working in the communications industry in Marketing, Sales and Systems Delivery.
