• 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.