Companies in the telecommunications industry are facing
conditions that are unlike those that exist in any other sector. Consolidation is happening at a record
pace, allowing businesses to instantly expand their product lines and enter new
markets. And convergence
strategies are emerging quickly, as carriers strive to serve as “all in one”
providers, offering everything from voice and Internet, to video, data, and
multi-media services.
These shifting business models have made the need for
business intelligence extremely critical for telecommunications companies –
perhaps more so than in any other industry today. For example, mergers and
acquisitions make it quite difficult for organizations to achieve a complete
view of operations and activities across the entire business. Information from
fragmented systems, housed in various geographically dispersed locations, must
be collected, aggregated, and formatted in order for executives to monitor key
performance indicators, and departmental managers and employees to generate the
types of operational reports needed to support day-to-day decision-making. Without a business intelligence
solution in place, this will be nearly impossible.
Additionally, as telecommunications providers seek to expand
market share and capture new audiences, customer and marketing intelligence has
become more important than ever before.
With a BI tool in place, these organizations have the insight they need
to sell more services to more people.
For example, they can analyze existing accounts to identify
opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell other products from their portfolio. They can also gain greater insight into
the demographics of their potential clients, so they can develop more effective
and compelling campaigns and promotions.
And, perhaps most importantly, they can obtain a full understanding of
customer needs and wants, so they can enhance existing offerings, and develop
new ones, to drive more sales.
As the telecommunication industry experiences intensifying
competition and rising churn rates, firms can leverage business intelligence to
boost customer service levels, thus increasing satisfaction and retention. By monitoring key performance
indicators such as peak usage volumes, as well as other network activity patterns,
service providers can make sure that their infrastructure is optimized to
ensure maximum reliability and performance. Additionally, trends in activities such as technical support
calls and call center interactions can be analyzed in detail, to assess service
levels and identify – and correct – areas in which customers may not be
receiving the kind of experience that is conducive to ongoing loyalty.
The ways in which telecommunications firms can benefit from business intelligence are endless. By implementing a comprehensive BI environment, and leveraging it across the organization, telecommunications firms can improve service delivery, boost sales and revenues, enhance customer loyalty, increase the efficiency of core operations, and gain a significant competitive advantage.