Field Service Automation

With operators facing intense competition for customers and pressure to reduce costs one solution that can improve the service delivery channel is Field Service Automation (FSA) whilst also providing the additional benefit of boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty. If your organization suffers from disjointed communication with field service staff, over/under-scheduled resources and under-skilled technicians then you may very well want to consider an FSA solution. Note you should employ a universal technician model so that a technician can install all services and ensure that the components of the Home Area Network (HAN) reduce further truck roles when the customer request additional services.

Back to FSA

At a basic level an FSA solution should provide the following features:

• Cross-Platform Mobile Technician Application that can work offline
• Intelligent Route Optimization
• GPS enabled
• Easy to Use scheduling and dispatch (Alerts and escalation workflow)
• Service Management features for contracts, parts/inventory and assets
• Seamless integration of mobile into a back office application
• Inspection capabilities
• Service reporting and analysis capabilities (e.g.: time tracking, job status updates)

Most providers either have an FSA solution implemented or are well on the way to implementing same. However, as with anything the right tool needs to be selected for the job as there are many vendors in this space, but the key is to ensure the chosen FSA solution can integrate with your operations support systems/business support systems (OSS/BSS) to provide the stated return on investment (ROI). What product does your company use?

Customer Service woes part 2

So waiting at the mobile repair store another customer comes up and asks if the owner can repair his phone. The owner of the store asks the customer a few questions and directs the customer to a dealer as the device was still under warranty. In about 5 minutes the customer returns, this time furious and indicates that the representative at the mobile dealership stated that he would have to write down his 200 phone contacts, as they would be lost, as they could not transfer the data to the new phone. The customer decides that he will purchase the phone from the mobile repair shop and owner as promised copied the contacts in less than two minutes. (Note entire transaction would have taken about 10 minutes) 

The mobile repair operator then went on to say that 25% of one operator’s customers complain about service offered whilst in the case of another it’s around 10%. Do we have a customer service problem nationally?

Rate your provider's customer service

Customer Service woes part 1

I was at a popular mall with my daughter changing her phone and took the opportunity to listen to some of the complaints customers had with their providers. One mobile customer indicated she “couldn’t wait for Number Portability (NP) to be implemented” as she would move her entire company’s business from her current provider as the service she receives from the account executives attached to this mobile operator was nothing short of frustrating hence the reason she came to the dealer to fix her phone even though it was under warranty as she was not prepared to interact with her operator for much longer.

NP allows a mobile or fixed line user to switch from one telecoms provider to another while maintaining their current telephone number, thus eliminating the undesirable task of a customer having to notify all his or her contacts that their number has changed.


The last communication from TATT to customers on NP was in July 2014 where the authority indicated that mobile to mobile NP will commence no later than the 26th February 2015 and fixed to fixed NP will follow by 1st May 2015. Ten months later and no word from TATT. Obviously some subscribers can’t wait as once implemented providers will offer a broad range of inducements for customers to switch, as was the case in Jamaica when they launched NP in June 2015.

Will you switch once NP is implemented ?

Potential buyer for Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC)

On the heels of the recent acquisition of Columbus International by CWC, Liberty Global is seeking to acquire CWC for US $ 5.5 billion. Liberty Global presence in this region is limited to Chile and Puerto Rico but most of the operations are centered in Europe. With revenues of $18.2 billion it’s the largest international cable company.

Liberty Global has until 5:00 p.m. on November 19, 2015 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for CWC or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.

If Liberty Global decides to purchase then the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) and other Caribbean regulators would have to review and approve before the acquisition can take place. Once Liberty Global gets regulator approval, then the next steps will be optimization of resources across territories, potential rebranding etc. Rolling forward a year from now how does this impact the local landscape and will we see a similar merger/acquisition between TSTT and Massy Communications?

Wi-Fi Calling.

So with WhatsApp and Skype impacting revenues what do mobile operators have up their sleeves? Well, here comes Wi-Fi calling, which enables mobile phone users to make regular calls and text using the native phone dialer and text application and does not require a separate application additionally, the mobile phone is reachable via the normal phone number.

One issue that has come up is the absence of TTY (Text Telephone) support which lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. Instead, some companies like AT&T are pursuing an alternative protocol called real-time text (RTT), which is compatible with IP networking.

A concern by most users is what happens when I am out of Wi-Fi range. If your carrier provides VoLTE (See previous post) then your mobile device will seamlessly connect to the VoLTE network and call continues. In a recent study done by Ericsson 4 out of 5 Wi-Fi calling users interviewed in the US are very satisfied with the service. Whilst 53% of users replaced WhatsApp usage with voice calls.

So let’s see who will be first to market in Trinidad and Tobago as it promises increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Business Analytics in Telcos

In todays telecom environment, there is much conversation surrounding analytics.  Having data exposed to a reporting tool (yes IT folks I am purposely keeping the blog simple) and producing reports that offer no insight into customer behavior adds no business value. Actually, I hold the view that having IT folks produce adhoc reports is a waste of a resource when business analyst are embedded in the business but that's for another post. For your analytics solution to add value it must provide the following:

Predictive analytics

Provide meaningful insights into customer’s behavior. Will the customer churn, if so, why and when (Identification of customer service issues), will they accept an upselling offer (target marketing).

Customer lifetime value segmentation

Identify customers by use of customer segmentation techniques, inclusive of scoring customers in these segments based on transactional data as well as providing real time information to the relevant customer service staff during interactions with customers.

Decision management

Recommend specific interactions for each individual customer along with targeted configurations and content

Gartner’s 2015 Magic Quadrants for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms as well as Advanced Analytics Platforms are provided for additional reading. Is your company using analytics and if so how?