The world of telecommunications is a competitive one, as is the industry of operations software for telcos. As one such vendor, we’ve learnt a really important lesson over the years – that our strongest competitor is not other vendors but a potential client that chooses to do nothing.
The telecommunications industry is a fiercely competitive space and customer loyalty is seen as a factor that can make or break a company. This is true to an extent. However, this article on Forbes by Jon Picoult refers to 5 commonly-held myths around customer loyalty that the telecommunications industry can definitely learn from. Not only that, but the telco industry can learn a lot about customer loyalty by dispelling these 5 common myths – in part by using Operational Support Systems (OSS) as upstream systems to solve downstream loyalty ‘problems.’
Following our exploration of generative AI in the first part of this series, we now turn our attention to another AI technique in this second article. This article considers how discriminative AI models also have the potential to play a crucial role in the telecommunications sector, especially via OSS/BSS solutions
Have you ever jumped out of a fifth-storey window whilst working with an OSS? Have you ever felt like you wanted to?Traditional network designs created with OSS solutions have been very much two dimensional (2D) in nature. Two-dimensional design packs have sufficed because that’s what was available. It was the best we had. However, they’ve never given a complete context about how to turn design into build in a three-dimensional world that has depth (underground networks), height (towers and poles) and height layers (multi-storey buildings).
Systems Integration Testing (SIT) and/or Shake-out Testing is an important element of each OSS transformation or implementation project. However, it’s a complex task to plan a SIT test, so we like to compare it to the design and construction of a high-rise building.
In the dynamic sphere of telecommunications, the dawn of 5G is heralding the possibility of exciting changes. One important change involves amplifying the prominence of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in the business and delivery models of Telcos. We’re not just talking a mere evolution – it holds the potential to form a full-scale revolution. Various Telco API initiatives are evolving rapidly, seeking to reinvent interactions between telcos, developers, third-party players, customers and even traditional competitors.
The vast array of assets that combine to form telecommunications networks makes the traditional telco business model highly capital-intensive (i.e. expensive – to build, operate and maintain). Moreover, due to the challenge of managing a range of parallel tasks such as customer orders, field work / workers / activities, network capacity, network health and customer payments, there is a pronounced, but often under-recognised, reliance on asset management data.
Automations of all shapes and sizes have long been seen as the panacea for all telco network operations problems. They are intended to deliver swift and precise network planning, deployment, and management, reducing the potential for human error and optimising workflows. Network Lifecycle Automation (NLA) is a relatively new term being used in the telecommunication industry to incorporate the many different forms of telco ops automations. NLA aims to categorise the automations that change the way that networks are designed, deployed and managed. Many of these forms leverage the power of AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help network operators to be more efficient and effective.
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