Page 517 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

4-48 CRC Handbook of Modern Telecommunications, Second Edition

view of its operations if its SCM is a stand-alone system. BI has also made inroads in providing a consoli-
dated view of the company including its supply chain.
This has helped reduce the traditional limited view of the supply side of operations. With this new
approach of BPM, the BI system also acts as an intermediary between the organization’s CRM and SCM
systems. The consolidated view aside, this approach helps the company manage its supply to match the
demands of its customers. It can also help the customer tailor product attributes to match changing
customer needs.

4.3.8.5 Self-Service
Economic success and prosperity for businesses in the twenty-first century owe their origin to customer
empowerment brought about by one overriding development: the introduction of self-service in almost
every business area. The deployment of next-generation services, such as broadband, VoIP, IPTV, wire-
less TV, and Fiber to the Home (FTTH) will create customer pressure on telecommunications service
providers to provide for customers’ self-control of their own services and support. Self-service enables
service providers to not only reduce the cost of interaction, but also collect more customer information
to enable more personalized service. This, in turn, can increase customer retention and revenue. From
the customer’s perspective, self-service is valuable because it is convenient and flexible. A well-designed
self-service system can help companies not only reduce customer-care costs, but also help retain cus-
tomers and provide up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.
Although self-service technology is now widely taken for granted, it has transformed the way busi-
ness operates, with business intelligence at the heart of any successful self-service initiative. Business
intelligence tools improve overall customer satisfaction by making self-services more interactive and
productive by making available and using information from multiple sources. It also makes such initia-
tives more relevant by applying experience and assumptions to develop an accurate understanding of
customer usage dynamics.
Business intelligence tools enable service providers to achieve optimal effectiveness, while investing
in self-service initiatives by assisting them in:
• Collecting sufficient, current, and accurate data
• Ensuring information and content are up to date and effective
• Integrating front-end and back-end systems
• Providing customers with features that enable control, customization, and ease of use
• Ensuring flexibility for service providers for offering new services and promotions

4.3.8.6 Risk Resolution and Management
Risk management is increasingly viewed as an integral element of the risk and decision making by
organizations. Risk management may be undertaken prior to the decision itself (e.g., insuring against
certain risks) or after the decision (i.e., effective management of relationships with customers to reduce
the likely incidence of disputes).
These uncertainties and risks place new demands on the field of risk management, indicating that the
conventional methods of managing uncertainty (e.g., buffer stocks, spare capacity, quoted lead times)
are likely to be less effective in meeting the new demands and uncertainties.
With BPM and BI tools, managers are now equipped with improved knowledge, skills, and under-
standing to be able to identify, analyze, and manage these developments and to assess the consequences
and risks arising from the more diverse range of markets contexts. BI provides the resources and solu-
tions to facilitate this improvement in risk management.
4.3.8.7 Pre- and Postpaid Convergence
Traditional segmentation of wireless subscribers based on their payment modes has resulted in sepa-
rate OSS/BSS systems. Fierce global competition is now challenging the basis of this segmentation. The