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THROUGH THE PORTAL - SMARTLY |
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Refining Interactive Portals for
Telecommunications Carriers |
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April 2004 - IGB Grant +1 514 849 3508
& Brian Sharwood +1
416 413 9381
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS: |
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- Carriers’ customers want more control – control of their
networks, control of their purchasing, and more control of management
of their inventory. Customer portals into carrier systems and networks
are one of the ways carriers are addressing these needs. There are positive
benefits for both customer and carrier. For carriers, portals reduce
costs for, and improve the efficiency of, network development and deployment
in an era where new products are evolving quickly and customers need
to adapt in rapid real-time mode.
- Customer portals provide a window into the carrier’s world and
the delights of a self-service experience. Customer portals can allow
a customer to create a command module for their networks. These modules
can handle everything from placing an order, to
managing inventory, to performing basic network maintenance and troubleshooting,
all while minimizing account team supervision. Carrier account teams are
freed up to work with more clients on a more complex range of problems,
to anticipate developments, and to educate their clients about new solutions.
- Elements of portal excellence:
> Depth – customers get more than
the appearance of control over a carrier’s resources.
> Integration – between the portal and the carrier’s back-end
systems.
> Adaptability – the portal is designed to flex according to your (the
customer’s) needs.
- AT&T Global Service’s Business
Direct portal demonstrates each of the above
characteristics – it has not been released to customers as of yet.
The high degree of
back-end integration of Level 3’s ONTAP portal makes it a superior
portal for
wholesale customers. British Telecom’s VBC and Equant’s Webvision
portal’s are highly adaptable and deep, and are excellent working examples
of portals geared to
Enterprise customers.
- As portals change the way carrier services
are being delivered, carriers have three options. The first is to ignore
the new tool. The second is to compensate in the direct
opposite direction, by which we mean traditional delivery: for example doubling
the
senior customer service force and, likewise, doubling face time – not
an insignificant
investment. A carrier's third option is to forecast the savings and efficiency
gains that a portal promises to deliver to customer and carrier alike – and
to dive right in. The
delivery of telecom services is being completely tranformed through full
service portals. Carriers can stay competitive – and stably reposition
themselves in a rapidly changing industry – by embracing the change.
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