Business Intelligence (BI) technology plays an important role in providing Telcos with relevant analytics that can be used to make data-driven decisions that improve the business and its overall competitiveness. Below we examine how BI is used in the telecommunications industry and what benefits this technology provides Telcos.
Overview of Business Intelligence
To understand the importance and value that Business intelligence (BI) offers the Telecommunication industry, we first need to understand what it is.
BI is a technological process that analyses data and delivers actionable information and insights. The BI process collects data from various data sources, prepares it for analysis, runs queries against the data, and creates data visualisations. This complete and reliable data is then presented in the form of analytics on dashboards or in reports.
Simply put, business intelligence is the technological process that allows for the creation of advanced analytics by aligning with data management principles and applying them to reporting tool implementation.
The main goal of utilising this technology within a Telco business is to enhance operational decision-making and strategic planning. BI provides Telcos with critical insight and information that can be used to increase revenue, improve operational efficiency, and enhance competitiveness.
Why is Business Intelligence important in the telecommunication industry?
The telecommunications industry is dynamic and ever-changing, meaning that Telcos always need to be on top of their game in terms of their services and offerings. Telcos are in a competitive market with many dynamic components, in which the MNO needs to be able to set themselves apart.. Now you may be asking what role does BI play in this?
Our simple answer is that BI technology ensures that Telcos can make data-driven business decisions backed up by relevant, complete, and accurate data. This allows Telcos to gain insight into elements that could affect operational and network entities as well as the business as a whole. This includes:
- Improving customer experience – with the data analytics provided by BI, Telcos can access information related to their customer base, their likes, demographics, needs, wants etc. This valuable insight can be used to personalise experiences and reduce customer churn.
- Network optimisation – BI processes can provide insight into the quality of the services and offerings provided by the Telco as well as customer usage patterns. With this insight, Telcos can identify or predict problems that may occur and prevent these, thus improving customer experience.
- Enhancing operational efficiency – Telcos can use the analytics provided by BI technology for analysing and modifying operations. This includes monitoring near real-time network traffic and increasing or decreasing bandwidth during peak hours. Telcos can also monitor their usage of resources and identify opportunities for savings.
BI analytics can also assist Telcos in gaining insight into various customer segments to better target and market their products and services and to create new revenue streams that will meet the needs of consumers. This technology can be used for fraud detection and to detect revenue leakage, which both significantly impact the Telco business in a negative way.
Each of the elements mentioned above improves the overall performance of the Telco business and enhances its competitiveness. Â
Business Intelligence and CDRlive
From the above, it is clear that BI plays an essential role in providing Telcos with the insight needed to enhance operational and network efficiency, customer experience and ultimately drive overall profitability. The question that now needs to be asked is what BI solution should Telcos choose to implement?
With so many BI tools and solutions on the market, choosing the right solution is often incredibly challenging. Our top tip for managing this is to look for a service provider with extensive experience within the telecommunications industry. They will understand the unique challenges you, as a Telco, experience daily.
At Adapt IT Telecoms, we have over 20 years of experience within the industry and have built an innovative Advanced Analytics solution using BI technology called the CDRlive platform.At the centre of the CDRlive platform is essential business data which comes from a collection of business-critical information, referred to as Call Detail Records (CDRs).
CDRs provide data regarding how users utilise a phone system, the internet, video calls, SMS, etc. CDRs provide hundreds of fields for each call record and provide information related to each call type. They may also include other forms of communication transmission information.Â
BI technology assists taking this unstructured data and ensuring that it is clean, cataloged and reliable so that it can be used fo reporting and technical and analytical data exploration. Telcos are then able to take out valuable insights from these analytics and use them to improve all industry-specific requirements related to operations, performance, offerings, service delivery, and profitability. This includes:
- For billing purposes which include invoicing reconciliation and validation.
- The tracking of revenue, usage, and conducting an exploratory analysis of profitability drivers.Â
- To identifying the risk of fraud across voice, data, and digital services. Providing regulatory support, information, and understanding around optimising system usage, network integration, and planning.
- The monitoring of network performance in almost real-time, which is utilised to ensure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met.
- Gaining insight into customer behaviour to track, predict and reduce customer churn.Â
- Planning and managing the Next Best Action (NBA) from descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. This provides essential information to support strategic planning and informed decision making.
- Reporting related to traffic analysis and revenue generation from roaming and interconnect traffic. This assists in facility capacity planning as well as device performance analysis.
- The effective tracking and management of ASPU, ARPU and mobile money.
Conclusion
Business Intelligence (BI) plays an important role in providing Telcos with relevant analytics that can enhance every aspect of the business as well as increase profitability and overall competitiveness in the market. Choosing the right business intelligence tool and service provider is essential to this success and will significantly impact the analytics you can access. Adapt IT Telecom’s CDRlive solution has been specifically developed with the telecommunication industry in mind. It utilises business intelligence technology in conjunction with alignment to Data management principles, to provide analytics that allows Telcos to make informed decisions related to the business. Download the CDRlive whitepaper for more information on how this technology is benefiting Telcos.
Future-Proof your Business and Increase your Revenue with CDRlive
Discover how CDR is key to making effective revenue and churn decisions in the Telco industry and why call data records are the lifeblood of telecommunications.
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. Steven is always looking forward to an opportunity to demonstrate the value that his 20 plus years of experience in these disciplines can bring to your business
