Digital transformation has seen new technologies, such as advanced analytics, come to the forefront of the telecommunications industry. Telcos are uniquely positioned to use these advanced analytics to create new and exciting opportunities to drive business growth and revenue. Below we dive into how advanced analytics impact the industry and four crucial tips for success.
Advanced analytics in Telecoms
In today’s digital world, data and analytics are two of a Telcos’ biggest digital assets.
Telcos are utilising data to become truly transformative and more competitive. The business needs to focus on a data-driven strategy for this to happen effectively. In this way, data and analytical insights must be ingrained within the organisational processes, systems, culture, KPIs etc., to ensure continuous improvement and development of the business. This is made possible by advanced analytics tools that provide fast and accurate information related to customer behaviour, customer analysis, network performance, and more. With this insight, Telcos can make informed business decisions faster than ever.
Analytics challenges for Telecoms
There is no doubt that Advanced Analytics add immense value to a Telco, especially in terms of understanding customer preferences and identifying opportunities for differentiation. But there are a few challenges related to analytics and Telcos.
One of the most significant challenges for Telcos is the sheer volume of customer and network data that needs to be analysed. As computing and communication technologies have developed and advanced, it has become possible to collect large volumes of data from multiple sources. This includes Call Detail Records (CDR), network alarm data, customer preferences, CRM data, customer behaviour and preferences, social media usage, mobile network use and more. With this kind of data, Telcos can get a good understanding of customer needs and the performance of their networks, enabling effective decision-making and product development across the business.
The second significant challenge related to the need for accurate and complete data. To have true visibility over all elements affecting a Telco’s bottom line, it is essential to have accurate and reliable data. If the data is incomplete, there will be gaps in the insights that can negatively impact the business.
Managing these challenges is essential to getting the most value out of advanced analytics. We examine this in more detail below as we look at four tips that Telcos should implement when trying to take advantage of advanced analytics.
4 Crucial Analytic Tips You’re Probably Missing
From a Telco perspective, the value of advanced analytics lies in the ability to utilise the digital insights delivered from these analytics to differentiate services, provide an enhanced customer experience, improve marketing initiatives, make changes at a foundational level, reduce churn and enhance overall performance and profitability. The tips below are crucial in getting these insights.
Tip 1: Use all data sources available
As mentioned above, there are multiple data sources available today. For Telcos to get the most relevant information and insights, they need to access all possible data sources that can provide them with information related to network performance, customer preferences, new subscriber information, product and service performance and more. By utilising all existing and relevant data sources, Telcos can create rich data sets that can test complex hypotheses and uncover trends and patterns that would not be noticed with fewer data sources. The more relevant data sources, the more complete visibility the Telco has across the organisation.
Tip 2: Have a data office or data steward in place
To ensure data accuracy and relevance, it is essential to have a data office, often also referred to as a central data management team) and a data steward in place. These teams can get the best insights from the data by setting up the correct analytical models and defining the desired outcomes.
Tip 3: Express outcomes into action
Once the data has been analysed and the outcomes defined, it is essential for the data and insights to be measured against actionable plans. For Telcos to derive maximum value from their data, they need to implement plans that address the root causes of any problems identified and any trends or opportunities that have come to light. For a Telco to be truly digitally transformative, the insight identified should also be translated into how people work within the organisation, processes and systems. For example, if a problem were identified in relation to network performance, changes in maintenance schedules or workflows, etc., would need to be adjusted to minimise these problems or issues.
Tip 4: Have the right tools in place
For the above three tips to add value to a Telco, the right advanced analytics tool must be in place. Adapt IT Telecoms Advanced Analytics was specifically designed for the needs of the telecommunications industry and has been used by Telcos across Australia, South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
This is a data analytics professional service that is provided to Telcos to augment their in-house analytics team. The Adapt IT Telecoms Advanced Analytics solution provides the data and analytics necessary for a Telco to
- Improve network performance and network optimisation.
- Increase revenue and reduce costs.
- Transform the organisation.
- Handle increased complexity.
- Access key competencies.
- Focus on consumers.
This is made possible by delivering accurate and complete data related to all elements of the Telcos business, including:
- Financial and legal – network assurance, billing, fraud investigations, regulatory compliance and more.
- Product – device usage analysis, device performance, new product launch and more.
- Marketing – loyalty and retention, sales and acquisition, cross-selling, churn analysis, social network analysis, customer segmentation and more.
- Network – performance, network analytics usage analysis, fault analysis, capacity planning and more
- Executive – traffic overview, growth and churn, KPI dashboards and more.
- Customer care – subscriber investigation, bill shock analysis, call centre support and more.
Armed with these quality analytics, a Telco can future-proof its business, identify areas that are contributing to poor network performance and customer churn and ultimately put a plan of action in place to drive revenue and increase the overall competitiveness of Telco in the industry.
Conclusion
From the above four tips, there is no doubt that data analytics solutions are essential to a Telco’s success. With digital transformation impacting the industry, it is necessary to have an advanced analytics solution in place that can make sense of the mass volume of data available and provide accurate, relevant and actionable insights. Adapt IT Telecoms Advanced Analytics solution makes this possible and, in turn, assists Telcos in saving costs, reducing churn and increasing revenue. To find out more about this innovative solution, download the whitepaper here.
Explore the Power of CDR
Steven Sutherland experienced Adapt IT Divisional Executive, dynamic business leader for their Telecoms Division with a demonstrated 25-year history in the telecommunications and IoT sectors. Strong global marketing, sales, and business development professional with 15 plus years focused experience in the Southern and Rest-of-Africa markets and a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit combined with a passion for both technology and business.
At Adapt IT Steven is responsible for building and growing the Telecoms Division on top of its industry-proven software competencies including but not limited to Customer Experience and Self Service, NextGen VAS, IoT, FINTECH, and Advanced Analytics and always looking forward to an opportunity to demonstrate the value that their 20 plus years of experience in these disciplines can bring to your business
