We’ve spent the last couple of blogs blue-sky thinking about future developments in OSS Mediation. The reality is that there are as many possible use cases as there network elements and OSS stack-applications; where there’s a data integration or data management requirement on the network side, there’s at least an opportunity to address it via OSS-M technology. But life, particularly business life, rarely follows a logical course so the next four blogs will focus on how OSS Mediation is actually being deployed, rather than speculating about how it could be in future.
And make no mistake, OSS Mediation IS being deployed. The solution was launched into the telco market roughly 30 months ago; today two of the largest tier 1 carrier groups in the industry (on two different continents) are using it. What’s interesting today is how it’s being deployed. Early Use Cases that are gaining traction relate to what might be called both the “old”and the “new” of telecoms, says Keith Brody, director of Global Marketing at DigitalRoute.
The old is operational efficiency, always a priority for the CSP but an ever more important one with new generations of network technology (not to mention the Internet of Things) arriving at record-breaking pace and presenting integration challenges. Operational efficiency is multi-faceted; it might be deployed integrating multi-vendor probes into legacy infrastructure; it might be fine-tuning network performance. In either event (and other applications) the core challenge is collecting and using data effectively to improve performance.
The new is Event-Based Charging, a Use Case that applies OSS Mediation technology to address a growing, and mission-critical problem for CSPs: Churn in an age where customers act instead of complain. Put another way, how can you solve a problem when you don’t know there is a problem?
Well, this (and it’s the way many businesses have run for many years) presumes that awareness of a problem is the root of solving it. And historically, this has been the case but in future, it won’t be (in fact, it already isn’t). Telcos who respond quickly and effectively to customer complaints may soon find themselves with not very many subscribers left. Why? Because they’ll churn to telcos who solve problems pro-actively, without a complaint of any sort being, or needing to be made.
The reality is that by collecting performance data from the network and enriching it with customer data, OSS Mediation puts the power to act proactively at the CSPs disposal. Where’s a problem, a solution or ameliorative action can be offered to the customer near immediately. Ask yourself which of the following two simple scenarios is more appealing.
You have a:
- Netflix problem. Poor streaming, Customer calls the 800 number. Complains. CSP acts rapidly and decisively. Within 24 hours account has been credited with increased data allowance and bill has been zero rated. Great customer service? Or outdated customer service?
- Netflix problem. Poor streaming. CSP immediately (in near real-time) sends to text to customer saying “We know you’ve just had a problem. We’ve just increased your data allowance and zero-rated the movie to compensate. You can see this in your online account viewer right now.
Option 2 wins, right? In this way, OSS Mediation is redefining what the customer experience can deliver.
The author of this blog is Keith Brody, director of Global Marketing at DigitalRoute
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