Getting Out of the Office to Find Inspiration in the Back Office

By Danica Cullins

Yesterday, I sat on a plane traveling to the TM Forum’s Management World Americas event, surrounded by crying babies and snoring men. Yet the environment of being confined to a seat without the benefit of email or phone oddly gives me more opportunity to think, sometimes even more than in a quiet office.

I have been working on the content for a video coming soon which will announce B/OSS’ exciting new direction for live events. No more trade show. No more trying to offer Industry 101 (OK, 301) on a variety of topics to a variety of professional roles. We’re talking quality peer interaction and a limited number of participants, in a smaller setting where availability to key professionals is fundamental. B/OSS is specific and focused. Specific to service providers when others are broadening their educational reach. Focused on utilizing our energy and resources for an event to talk in greater detail about a single topic while we’re together. We’ll be doing it a few times over different topics in different venues next year. More coming soon on that.

In recent weeks, I have found myself pondering again and again the term "360-degree view" as it relates to customer experience. Recently, B/OSS Editor-in-Chief Tim McElligott blogged about the arguable impossibility of a perfect 360-degree view, and the importance of achieving excellence in striving for it anyway.

I do believe our future holds near perfection in this regard; however, the question remains how long it will take to get there, and who will be the front-runner in setting the industry standard of greatness. On some level, I think the customers themselves will enable the process. When our plane was taking off and I was banned even from my laptop (gasp!), I grabbed the print magazine in the seat pocket, the Spirit of Southwest. There I found an article on subscription-based businesses, and some of the latest business models that are thriving on consumers’ basic needs – replenishing your toothpaste just before it runs out for instance, or automatically sending you a new pair of shoes just as yours are becoming worn.

Being surrounded by many different consumers was intriguing as I thought about it. I found myself wondering what I would want to know most about them in order to retain their business, if I were leading a service provider organization. How could I increase the revenue they contribute and what would bring them together to the brink of a tipping-point phenomenon? The sheer magnitude of our industry is so blatantly obvious, and the constant connection via mobile device is an incredible key to our professional potential. The couple next to me played Hangman on an iPhone. The guy across the aisle and one row up played a Scrabble app on his iPad. Even these very simple acts of passing time now come directly back to our industry. (I’m pretty sure I could beat the Scrabble guy, if you were wondering.)

It is not the first time I’ve thought about the realistic enormity of BSS and OSS systems, but yesterday it was particularly inspiring. Despite a career that revolves around utilizing technology to communicate, I love the power of human interaction.

This morning at TM Forum’s Management World Americas, I have already had a couple of great meetings. There is nothing that can replace live learning and personal interaction to further your professional goals and strengthen relationships.

I continue to look forward to all the meetings I have set for the next two days in Orlando. The opportunity to work in an industry of such amazing minds is great, and the chance to shake hands, share experience and form firmer relationships is, to me, the best part.

Danica Cullins is publisher of Billing & OSS World, part of VIRGO’s Communications Network.