Business intelligence derived from telecom network and operational data gives carrier executives a better understanding of customer behavior, which in turn reduces costs and maximizes profitability, Jim Hayden, vice president of Business Intelligence for Vibrant Solutions, told Billing World & OSS Today in its October 2005 issue.

In an article entitled, “Using Business Intelligence to Improve Profit Margins,” Hayden said that carriers “should get to a point where they can pull important data into a central location for one view of what’s going on as their baseline. By considering all the pertinent data from all of their silos, carriers can derive one view – separated by customer, by product or by region.”

But, he noted, to attain this vital information, carriers must go “beyond an audit report dumped on a desk. Rather carriers have to focus on attaining partners who help them recover the assets hidden in the pages of those reports.”

Vibrant Solutions assists carriers in mining these valuable, profit-maximizing gems from the raw data provided by billing and OSS systems, as well as other databases. Vibrant Solutions combines its industry expertise, innovative data mining techniques, tera-scale processing technology with unmatched speed and scale, and expert project management to deliver unprecedented business insight into the data produced by carriers’ network and systems.

Intec Telecom Systems, a leading OSS/BSS software vendor for fixed, mobile and next-generation services, joins a leading group of vendors in demonstrating the interoperability of their products under the TeleManagement Forum’s (TMF) NGOSS programme.

The “Managing IPTV Services with NGOSS” catalyst, featured in the TeleManagement World Catalyst Showcase in Dallas, 08-10 November, addresses the challenge of real-time provisioning and service billing for advanced video over IP (IPTV) services. It focuses on automated, user-based service enablement for voice, video and data (triple play) over IP with residential access via DSL technologies.

Service providers face major challenges in on-demand activation, rating and charging when deploying advanced IP services. In today’s highly competitive markets pricing is always under pressure, so the costs associated with acquiring and keeping customers must stay as low as possible. The problem is that the more advanced the service – such as IPTV – the more complex it is to manage.

Intec, renowned for supporting carriers’ telephony operations, is already working on a number of IPTV initiatives with carriers around the globe. Intec solutions enable service providers to manage the business of interactive television by transforming user requests into revenue opportunities, such as content, advertising, viewer polling, a la carte programming, and online purchase fees.

Visitors to the TMW Showcase will be able to view a demonstration of a subscriber-based IPTV scenario, which begins with a subscriber logging into a service provider web portal to order IPTV service. The request is verified and authorized, the service is activated, and the service policy package is displayed to the subscriber via the web portal. The subscriber then orders a video on demand, such as a movie, and the request flows through to the activation and billing systems. When the order is placed, the inventory system is queried for resource availability and the appropriate resources are provisioned as needed. The subscriber then views the video item and the web portal displays the real-time billing information.

Intec IPTV, only a portion of which is featured in the demonstration, includes functionality for:

Charging for events in real time;
Activating services;
Managing content partners;
Active mediation and session management;
Interactive self-care.
Intec along with telco software and system providers Broadhop, Cisco Systems, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Digital Fairway, Fujitsu, Spirent Communications and Telcordia are participating in the demonstration of provisioning and activating IPTV services. The IPNM Catalyst project is sponsored by BT and IPDR.org.

Vibrant Solutions today announced key upgrades to ViewLogic 7, its third-generation cost management and analytics system. ViewLogic Release 7.2 delivers improved workflow performance, better auditing visibility, additional system security and upgraded industry-standard technology platforms. Two Tier 1 North American carriers are currently implementing ViewLogic 7.2.

“Vibrant Solutions introduced ViewLogic 7 on May 1, 2004, and at the same time announced Verizon Services Organization as one of its first customers. Since then nine carriers have purchased our cost management solutions,” said Simon Krieger, Vibrant Solutions’ Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We developed this new release in collaboration with our customers.”

Enhancements to ViewLogic in Release 7.2 include:

Better audit visibility – Network circuit and feature auditing details are now visible to the analyst in a simpler way; thus allowing the analyst to make dispute decisions in an easier, faster manner.

Automated database management and improved system performance – supported by Oracle® 10g.

Improved reporting, tracking and analytics – delivered through a sophisticated, user-friendly, web interface, incorporating Business ObjectsTM 6.5 Web Intelligence.

Expanded security – In addition to row-level security and encryption features in the ViewLogic platform, carrier security administrators are now afforded additional password management options and improved transaction logging. These improvements will help carriers meet stringent control requirements, such as those suggested by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Intec Telecom Systems, a leading OSS/BSS software vendor for fixed, mobile and next-generation networks, has launched its new, pre-integrated IPTV solution, Intec IPTV. Intec IPTV addresses key service provider challenges surrounding customer interaction and the management and charging of IPTV services. These include rating, charging and balance management for different payment models; real-time service activation and provisioning; interactive customer self-care; and content partner management for revenue sharing and settlement. Intec IPTV, which is available immediately, is already undergoing deployment at a major carrier in Asia Pacific, a region that is leading the world in the rollout of IPTV services, according to industry analyst Informa.

Unlike the traditional unidirectional model of broadcast TV, IPTV creates new revenue opportunities for service providers such as customised advertising, on-demand programming, on-line purchasing, viewer polling, and content downloads. This interactive, real-time, personalised capability entails a huge impact on an IPTV carrier’s existing OSS and BSS. The Intec IPTV solution builds on the company’s global expertise in OSS/BSS to create a comprehensive, pre-integrated solution that supports the business model for this new television experience. Critically, Intec IPTV can be installed alongside, and integrate with, existing systems to minimize disruption and time-to-market.

“IPTV is the next stage in the evolution of communications - one provider for all services, from voice to the most sophisticated interactive entertainment offerings,” said Rick Woods, Intec vice president of product management. “Intec solutions have always been at the heart of our customers’ business and operational support systems. Intec IPTV helps create the business model our customers will need to allow them to compete in a new era of communications and to ensure they are realising maximum revenue from their network resources and the new opportunities that IPTV brings.”

Critical to the adoption of IPTV by consumers is the ability of the service provider to differentiate its IPTV offering from traditional television services and providers. Viewer interaction and service customiaation are seen as the keys to driving widespread consumer adoption. Intec IPTV enables both viewer management and package management directly through the TV interface, allowing consumers to interactively change their profiles and services, as well as enabling such capabilities as real-time voting.

On-demand services, more advanced than those currently offered by traditional television service providers, are also critical elements of a successful IPTV offering. The proven, real-time capabilities of Intec IPTV support the management and delivery of all types of on-demand digital services as well as complementary offerings such as payment wallets, gift certificates, and TV voting. The popularity and attractiveness of these latter offerings will stimulate customer spend and demand for additional products and product bundles, thus driving the proliferation of the IPTV service model.

The personalisation and interactivity of the IPTV experience is expected also to trigger a new generation of targeted digital advertising. Through Intec IPTV, viewing statistics can be collected as part of the IPTV customer record, generating a wealth of market intelligence that can be offered to advertisers as an incentive and value-add service. Accurate user data helps increase advertising placement through tailored campaigns and subsequently the success of that advertising by allowing the advertiser to target viewer interests. Combined with new content partnership models supported by Intec IPTV, the solution allows service providers to take a complete, targeted offering to potential advertisers.

Intec IPTV includes functionality for:
Charging for events in real time;
Activating services;
Managing content partners;
Active mediation and session management;
Interactive self-care

Martin Group, a leading software, business services, and engineering provider for the telecommunications industry, today announced that PrairieWave Communications deployed Martin Group’s Business Support System (BSS), OMNIAâ„¢, and Operations Support System (OSS), OASIS, to support all lines of business and all customers with a pre-integrated, end-to-end solution. OMNIA and OASIS allow PrairieWave to go to market with competitive offerings that will be supported throughout total operations. PrairieWave is now able to automate provisioning for services (previously done manually) integrated with billing, customer care, and plant management. (more…)