Page 366 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

Network Management and Administration 3-157

TABl E 3.6.4 Summary of Principal Processes Used in the Practice of eTOM
Process or Function Name Definition
Customer Relationship These processes use the knowledge of customers’ needs and include all functions
Management (CRM) necessary for the acquisition, enhancement, and retention of a customer by
supporting storefront, telephone, Web, or field services. It also involves churn
analysis, cross-selling/up-selling, and direct marketing activities targeted to
increasing sales. CRM applies to both conventional retail customer interactions
and wholesale interactions.
Assurance Once a service is operational, the telecommunications service provider’s primary
responsibilities are to ensure that the service stays operational, to provide data to
the customer on the performance of their service, and to provide customer support
in the use of the service.
The Assurance processes are responsible for the execution of proactive and reactive
maintenance activities to ensure that services provided to customers are
continuously available and to SLA or QoS performance levels. It performs
continuous resource status and performance monitoring to proactively detect
possible failures. It collects performance data and analyzes it to identify potential
problems and resolve them without impact to the customer. This process manages
the SLAs and reports service performance to the customer. It receives trouble
reports from the customer, informs the customer of the trouble status, and ensures
restoration and repair, as well as a delighted customer.
Fulfillment The fulfillment end-to-end process is responsible for providing customers with their
requested products in a timely and correct manner. It translates the customer’s
business or personal need into a solution, which can be delivered using the specific
products in the enterprise’s portfolio. This process informs the customers of the
status of their purchase order, ensures completion on time, as well as a delighted
customer.
Service fulfillment refers to the complete process from receiving the customer order
(e.g., for broadband or business VPN, Internet, VoIP, etc.) to activating and testing
the service in network. The fulfillment process is initiated predominantly by the
customer. Thus, fulfillment systems are those systems that are used to receive and
handle orders, provision service, and create/update information for customer
billing.
Customer Contact, Retention, & Customer contact management, retention, and loyalty are a varied group of
Loyalty functions that are generally part of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
suite. It allows an operator to create, update, and view the customer’s information,
record and view all customer interactions across different communication
channels and departments, so that whoever is speaking to a customer can see the
history of issues that have concerned that customer. More sophisticated systems
allow capabilities to highlight customers as risks of switching to an alternative
carrier (churn indicator).
Customer Information Allows the creation, update, lookup/search, and view of customer information.
Management
Customer Interface Management These processes directly interact with customers and translate customer requests
and inquiries into appropriate events, such as the creation of an order or trouble
ticket or the adjustment of a bill. The process logs customer contacts, directs
inquiries to the appropriate party, and tracks the status to completion.
Selling/Sales This process encompasses learning about the needs of each customer, and educating
the customer about the communications services that are available to meet those
needs.
Continued