In earlier articles, we have explored what makes a customer’s experience an “digital experience” so desired by Digital Natives and other tech-savvy users.

We also presented the initial results of a “Digital eXperience Index” (DXI) that rates how digitalised the experience various Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are providing to their consumer customers. But, as we have looked deeper into the digital experience, we have come to appreciate that a truly satisfying digital user interface is also dependent upon other, more back office functions. This has given rise to a more sophisticated method of scoring a CSP’s degree of digitalisation, the DXI-2.

What else is involved in a ‘digital’ experience?

The various BSS and OSS areas that contribute most strongly to the user experience are shown in Figure 1 below. The relative sizes of the segments represent the fraction of the overall score that we give to the different areas. Note that the largest fraction is given to Customer Care, which was the sole contributing area in the initial version of the DXI, says Mark H Mortensen, research director and practice head, Analysys Mason.

Customer Care

Customer care, the largest of the contributors, has the digital interface functions, personalisation, omni-channel, user service control, social media, and advanced interaction via chatbots and AI entities. It includes e-commerce, engagement and care-related capabilities.

Digital Strategy

A measure of the maturity and the depth of the strategy, including the existence of a digitally-focussed organisation and whether it commands a budget. Additionally, whether there is a standard method for measuring how ‘digital’ the experience is and goals for achieving it.

Analytics

Customer information derived from both the systems and the network, analysed to provide personalisation and context to each phase of the user journey. Also includes analysis of the omni-channel journey for both e-commerce to enhance ARPU and decrease abandonment and measurement of the efficacy of the service and operations quality of the support phase, which directly relates to user loyalty.

Revenue Management

Automated partner management for the quick onboarding of upstream partners providing third-party services and products as part of a super-bundle, as well as downstream partners who bundle the CSPs’ offerings with value-added services and products. Up-to-date information about accounts is also included here.

Service Fulfilment

The ability to rapidly create, implement, and offer new services. Automated order management and service orchestration to provide rapid delivery of services ordered by the customers.

Service Assurance

Service assurance scores revolve mainly around the existence and sophistication of self-diagnostics of network services and consumer devices and highly personalised, up-to-date information about the performance of the services used by the consumer.

Scoring the DXI-2

Scoring CSPs with the more detailed DXI-2 criteria, now underway, requires a deep understanding of the user front end as well as the underlying technology employed in the BSS and OSS systems involved. We are engaged in a series of interviews with CSPs around the world as well as studies of how the DXI scores correlate with customer satisfaction, internal KPIs, and, ultimately, business success.

The author of this blog is Mark H Mortensen, research director and practice head, Analysys Mason.

About the author

Dr. Mark H Mortensen, research director, Analysys Mason Mark is research director for Analysys Mason’s BSS systems, which are part of the Telecoms Software and Networks research stream. His interest areas include customer omni-channel self-service, operations systems enabling new CSP businesses in the digital economy value chain, and creation and support of differentiated services aimed at high-value customers.

Mark was chief scientist of Management Systems at Bell Labs, and has also been president of his own OSS strategy consulting company, CMO at the inventory specialist Granite Systems, VP of Product Strategy at Telcordia Technologies, and an professor of strategic management at UMass Lowell.

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