Focus On the Customer Experience

Any communications service provider knows that it’s the customer experience going forward that will be its biggest differentiator. The customer is central and controls the relationship much more so than at any time in the past. Gone are the days of providing one connection into the home for the delivery of operator-specific services; now, an army of devices and a slew of new third-party content and apps have customers engaging with a number of new players in the value chain before even considering their carrier. Going forward, armed with multi-channel service options, budgetary and family controls and smart devices, the customer will be significantly more engaged and significantly more aware of their entire experience with communications services.

So it’s no wonder that one whole track at B/OSS Live! explored how service providers can best measure and maintain a quality experience at all levels: network performance, customer care and fulfillment, to name a few. Some of these presentations were videotaped; all of them will be reviewed individually on the B/OSS website in the coming days. For now, we offer a recap.

It’s a Brave New World

It’s blatantly obvious to most in the industry that the carrier’s role is changing, as technology innovation continues to accelerate. This new world was at the heart of many of the track’s sessions.

For instance, “How to Use Social Media and Not Let It Use You" took a look at leveraging Twitter, Facebook and other platforms for not just brand awareness and promotions, but also a way to improve customer service and network performance. Tom Erskine, director of comms & utility solutions at Pegasystems; Shai Shamir, marketing manager at Amdocs; and Erik Larson, strategic director of social media and online care at AT&T Inc., went through a variety of strategies that carriers can employ for social media.

Also taking a look at the new marketplace realities, “Chain Chain Chain: Securing a Place in the Delivery, Revenue and Value Chains" explored the premise that there are many shifting sands when it comes to the role carriers play in delivering service in a broadband – and especially mobile broadband. Over-the-top players and apps developers are largely seen as the ones delivering the compelling, personalized communications experience that consumers are looking for. This is especially relevant as the need to monetize the network is an increasing issue as carriers build out better broadband and yet fail to find new revenue-generating services to go along with it. Arturo Pereyra, senior director for telecom and media marketing and business development at Oracle Corp.; Monica Ricci, director of product marketing at Intec Billing Inc./CSG Systems; and Shira Levine, directing analyst for next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics Research, each explored how carriers can avoid a fate as a dumb pipe.

Also, “Policy in Motion: Moving from Policy 1.0 to Policy 2.0" explored the new world of data monetization schemes. Revenue will be realized through integration of charging and policy management to offer new price plans and packages that create a differentiated experience for the customer. However, this will require moving from policy management applied at a network level to converged policy management. But there are challenges to integrating BSS and policy – a theme that Rafi Kretchmer, director of product marketing for revenue management at Amdocs Management Ltd., explored thoroughly.

“Ensuring the Customer Experience by Integrating OSS and Network Monitoring" took a look at the migration to all-IP architectures. That transformation is mandatory for many reasons, primarily for the deployment of data-based services. However, this migration has caused a natural decoupling between the service delivered and the network infrastructure. One problem for the OSS is that it must now map network elements to services, which it was not designed to do. Paolo Trevisan, CMO at Accanto Systems, and Florence Weber, OSS Solution Manager for HP Communications and Media Services, explored how the integration of OSS and monitoring systems is required to bridge this gap.

Going forward, leveraging the data a carrier has about its customers will spell viability in a world where it is increasingly disintermediated from the customer. That was the subject of “Tapping Into Data to Create a Competitive Advantage." The session looked at data warehouse technology as a key tool to allow service providers to manage information about their business efficiently and effectively. That leads to improved decision making and, ultimately, improved profitability, argued Tony Velcich, director of product management at Oracle Communications.

The Drive to Cost Management

As margins shrink, the recession lingers and the long tail becomes an imperative to support, efficiency and cost management are often at the heart of customer operations, despite best-laid intentions to serve the customer as well as is possible. “Improving the Customer Experience in a Cost-Cutting Age" brought together Scott Kolman, marketing director for Amdocs’ CM Division, and Susan McNeice, vice president of software research at Yankee Group, to discuss if the two are mutually exclusive or can be used to enhance each other.

Diving deeper, automation and optimization to meet those twin goals of achieving an enhanced customer experience while maintaining efficiency was the subject of  “No Swivel Chairs Allowed: Automating Multi-Channel Selling and Ordering." Chad Dunavant, vice president of product management at CSG, took a look at what it takes to create a more automated, flexible customer experience. Drive multiple sales channels from a central offer and order application using rules and analytics, automated up-sell processes, and the extension of the Web experience to the TV using Tru2way and EBIF over the same ordering platform used for Web self-care and enable retail partners to sell for you with service-enabled ordering widgets. Then, put the Excedrin away and watch the money flow.

And, “Transforming Global Billing Operations to Drive Cost Management Strategy" focused on how BT Global Services transformed to refocus on profitability. David Lee, vice president of finance at BT Global Services, and Shannon Hladky, vice president of Synaptitude, ran through the case study.

Bill Presentment

And finally, two sessions, “Executing on Digital Postal Mail" and “The Power of Personalization and Communication" rounded out the curriculum with a look at bill presentment. Frank Delfer, CTO at DST Output, and John Payne, CEO at Zumbox, talked about how digital postal mail is more than electronic bill payment. It is an alternative electronic output that uses the existing print stream to create a digital facsimile of paper mail. Consumers can now aggregate their mail in one place online and overcome their reluctance to go paperless — entirely paperless. This session showed how to dramatically cut mailing costs by delivering digital postal mail and providing additional value. Attendees learned how to start delivering digital postal mail with minimal effort and no additional infrastructure.

Neil Metviner, CMO at OSG Billing Services, discussed the “Power of Personalization and Communication" when it comes to the paper bill. Everyone knows it’s possible to deliver relevant, accurate and targeted content and marketing messages that engage the customer base through the invoice – but it’s also possible to expand customer communications stream to boost revenue, enhance customer loyalty and create greater brand awareness.