Rethink Mediation
It’s no secret that we are riding on a data tsunami and its waves are only amplified by the recent shut-down around the globe due to COVID-19. Like any surfer caught in it, operators must ride out the waves with good strategies. One of these strategies is to tame the data and to apply it effectively. For example, data in the form of new insights on customers and their behavior can drive new products, new solutions and new customer experiences.
This is one way data can shape a company’s growth. For this reason, the use of data is becoming central to every company’s playbook. However, just as crude oil without refinement cannot be used as fuel, data without any refinement is worthless to operators. This is where a mediation system comes in. It can ingest data and transform it to provide the data source for AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms. Mediation systems can help manage the data tsunami and enable operators to drive excellence in customer experience and network operations.
Data as fuel
Operators have to take full advantage of data that’s available to them from various sources. To do so, we must categorize data according to their origin. There are two key areas for applying data in telecom networks: customer experience management and network and business operations.
Smart data for customer management
Let’s understand the impact of data on customer experience with the help of customer journey maps.
A customer journey begins with discovery and purchase. During this stage, the customer provides important information that is used to build their genome in the master database. While in the usage stage, the customer’s transactions generate usage records. Then a mediation system can enrich these usage records with the customer genome before sending the data to an analytics application. Insights from analytics enable operators to identify the right products to offer to customers. Such personalized marketing allows operators to improve customer experience, hence boosting their sales.
Smart data for efficient operations
Telecoms played a pivotal role in tackling the side effects of covid-19. Here’s an example of how they used data to help society as an organization. This example shows how you put the focus on customers and align your network resources to ultimately benefit them. By mapping the customer journey, and relating to insights gleaned from the network, you can take action to remediate or amplify your network and business operations.
Roadblocks
But data comes with its set of challenges. Data security and privacy are the two prime concerns around managing data. The good news for operators is that customers have been more trusting of them with data than the internet companies. Which puts operators in a vantage seat to use data as a strategic asset for their operations and driving customer experience.
Here’s the new thinking
In the digital world, where data is the new currency, mediation platforms can play an instrumental role in gathering and refining data from the network and IT domain. This data allows operators to minimize operational overhead and transform customer experience.
Unlike traditional telecom service providers who relied on mediation systems solely to unify data from disparate systems for billing, the digital service providers of today can (and should) employ mediation platforms to make informed decisions to provide a great customer experience.
