mnp – network implementation & systems integration
TRANSCRIPT
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BSP International Forum on MNP Implementation & Management
Les Oliver Senior Consultant InterConnect Communications +44 7779 260 198 [email protected]
MNP Dar es Salaam November 2012
MNP – network implementation &
systems integration
� Understand the;
• Regulatory Positions & Dynamics • Architectural alternatives
� Network architecture � Inter-operator service administration architecture � Internal OS architecture
• Impacts on your network, services, business processes and systems
• Impacts on your business (retail and wholesale) • Costs are significant (set up, conveyance, administrative) • Inter-operator strategy – are there any synergies with other
operators?
� Developing a plan which takes into account the regulatory position, policy position on business rules, implementation dates, etc.
Preparing for Mobile Number Portability
Implementation best practice � Onerous processes & customer charges are the two
issues which most commonly discourage use of the service
� Customer education is the third
� Most implementations world-wide are now adhering to these principles: • Recipient lead one-stop shop process • Porting in one day or less (especially MNP) • Direct call routeing • Centralised automated order handling process • Simple customer validation process • Retention activity not permitted – during & (often) after the porting
activation • Reject reasons kept to a minimum
� Operators who are ‘anti’ MNP will try to introduce flawed (and expensive) practices to deter customers from porting their numbers
Centralised Order
Processing
Operators Service Management Point
EG 201 367 V1.1.1 (1999-02)
Portability Administration Model
Order Handling Platform
Central Reference Database
Service Control Point (Local Database)
Service Switching
Point
Service Switching
Point
Operator 2
Master Number Portability Management Point – ‘Ordering, Business Rules &
Regulations, Porting Information, Reports
Master Administration Directory Number
Database – ‘Synchronise Network Information’
Operator 1 Operator N
Operators Service Management Point
Operators Service Management Point
Service Control Point (Local Database)
Service Switching
Point
Service Switching
Point
Service Control Point (Local Database)
Service Switching
Point
Service Switching
Point
Common number portability order processing ‘rules’
‘Ordering Business Rules & Regulations Porting Information Reports’
Interface Options
Operators are faced with the challenges of : • Interfacing with a centralised NP system • Integrating with various internal systems and
processes, including BSS/OSSs and Network systems
Order Handling Platform
Central Reference Database
Centralised Order
Processing
Operator’s Environment
Billing – wholesale &
retail
OSS / BSS
Prov/ Activation
Inventory
CRM
Other OSS / BSS
Customer Care
Network SCP
Network STP
Network SN
Commercial Issues Network Considera4ons Business Opera4ons
What does a Service Provider do when a subscriber requests a port?
Ø Ordering Ø Provisioning Ø No:fica:on Ø Customer Care
How does a Service Provider route a call to a ported number?
Ø Signaling Ø Rou:ng Ø Call/Non-‐Call flows
What are the costs and who pays for por:ng a number?
Ø Subscribers Ø Service Providers Ø Clearinghouse Provider
Dimensions for Considera4on
Considerations for an operator
MNP Impacts the whole business Business Units
Reporting / Controlling
Helpdesk
Interconnection
Sales
Customer Management
Operations Marketing
Billing
Provisioning
Logistics
Business areas impacted by the introduction of
MNP
MNP Impacts the whole business Business Units
Impacted Processes
Reporting / Controlling
MNP Reports Mgmt. Reporting
Helpdesk Incidences Mgmt.
IC-Billing Interconnection
Sales
Service Platform Pr. 2nd/3rd Level Support
Customer Management
Operations Marketing
Billing
Provisioning
Logistics
Mediation Rating
Campaign Mgmt.
SIM Card Distrib.
Network Provisioning
Activation Customer Care
Product Management
SLA Mgmt.
Contract Mgmt.
Channel Mgmt.
Commissioning
Retention/Cancellation
Life Cycle Mgmt.
Network Operations
IT Operations Business processes impacted by the
introduction of MNP
MNP Impacts the whole business
MNP Import / Export
MNP Operator Helpdesk
Porting Cancel / Repatriate
Tariff Transparency
Business Units
Impacted Processes New Processes
Reporting / Controlling
MNP Reports Mgmt. Reporting
Helpdesk Incidences Mgmt.
IC-Billing Interconnection
Sales
Service Platform Pr. 2nd/3rd Level Support
Customer Management
Operations Marketing
Billing
Provisioning
Logistics
Mediation Rating
Campaign Mgmt.
SIM Card Distrib.
Network Provisioning
Activation Customer Care
Product Management
SLA Mgmt.
Contract Mgmt.
Channel Mgmt.
Commissioning
Retention/Cancellation
Life Cycle Mgmt.
Network Operations
IT Operations
The introduction of MNP impacts a wide range of established business processes and introduces new processes
Debt Management
Common number portability order processing ‘rules’
‘Ordering Business Rules & Regulations Porting Information Reports’
Requesting porting as part of ordering / Service Fulfilment process includes sending and receiving porting requests to and from a Centralised NP system • NP transactions can be managed manually or they can
be automated • Integrated with BSS/OSSs via a gateway system that
interfaces with the NP system
Order Handling Platform
Central Reference Database
Centralised Order
Processing
Operator’s Environment
Billing – wholesale &
retail
OSS / BSS
Prov/ Activation
Inventory
CRM
Other OSS / BSS
Customer Care
Network SCP
Network STP
Network SN
Number Porting Request and Response
Operational / Maintenance Subsystem
Outputs Processing Subsystem
Inputs Processing Subsystem
Customer / User Interface Subsystem
Processing and Control Subsystem
Fulfilment – Operator Perspective
Billing Call Routing Module
Service Activation
Module
Ported Out Register
Update Module
Service De-activation
Module
Routing Database Update
Module
Customer Request
Processing Module
Customer Communication
Module
Customer Validation
Module Port Request
And Validation Module
Service Initiation Module
Inter-carrier Communication
Module
Reporting Module
Alarm Management
Module
Fault Management
Module
Port Completion Notification
Module (to SP’s)
Inter-carrier Communication
Fulfilment – Functional Modules
Billing Call Routing Module
Service Activation
Module
Ported Out Register
Update Module
Service De-activation
Module
Routing Database Update
Module
Customer Request
Processing Module
Customer Communication
Module
Customer Validation
Module Port Request
And Validation Module
Service Initiation Module
Inter-carrier Communication
Module
Reporting Module
Alarm Management
Module
Fault Management
Module
Port Completion Notification
Module (to SP’s)
Inter-carrier Communication
1
4
3
7
5
5a
5a 5a
2 6
7b
7a
Fulfilment – Flow for Gaining Operator
Billing Call Routing Module
Service Activation
Module
Ported Out Register
Update Module
Service De-activation
Module
Routing Database Update
Module
Customer Request
Processing Module
Customer Communication
Module
Customer Validation
Module Port Request
And Validation Module
Service Initiation Module
Inter-carrier Communication
Module
Reporting Module
Alarm Management
Module
Fault Management
Module
Port Completion Notification
Module (to SP’s)
Inter-carrier Communication
3
2
5
6
7a 7a
9
8 7
4
1
7a
Fulfilment – Flow for Losing Operator
Routing update information ‘Broadcast’
• NP system broadcasts the updates on successfully ported numbers and their new serving operators
• Each Operator needs to capture this new routing data and update its network elements for use to route voice/data to ported numbers
• Information must be synchronised so that operators have the same information at the same time to avoid mis-routes
• Should an operator database fail, it can be reconstructed from the reference database
Order Handling Platform
Central Reference Database
Centralised Order
Processing
Operator’s Environment
Billing – wholesale &
retail
OSS / BSS
Prov/ Activation
Inventory
CRM
Other OSS / BSS
Customer Care
Network SCP
Network STP
Network SN
Number Porting Update & Network Routing
Signalling & Call Routing
� Signalling & Call Routing require appropriate information
– There are choices where this information is held
Donor / Transit / Terminating Network Originating
Network
Onward Routing – Fixed Networks
CON´s: • No optimized routing • Increase of call set-up time • No possibility for billing differentiation • Fails if donor operator goes out of
business • Tromboning
Originating Recipient
Donor
Local routing tables
PRO´s: • Used to be quickest to implement
• Optimized Routing - No Tromboning • Fail-safe if the donor operator goes out of business • Minimal signaling impact • Minimal increase of Call set-up time • Minimal increase of network complexity
Direct Routing (AcQ) – Fixed Networks
Originating Recipient
Donor
Reference routing database, per operator or centralised
Direct Routing – Mobile Networks
Originating Network
Home/Recipient Network
Donor Network
Visited Network
Call and non call related
Reference routing database, per operator or centralised
Centralised Solution – Considerations
• Generally perceived to be more expensive than bi-lateral to implement, although likely to result in cheaper on-going costs per port
• The risk of a potentially lengthy period to reach agreement between operators on the subsequent contract terms
• Operators may perceive a loss of control of the process
• Solution works best when call routeing is managed via an ACQ or IN solution so that routeing information is automatically and simultaneously updated in all the networks
• Each operator must implement a gateway to the network and OSS / BSS systems affected to support the electronic data flow
• OSS / BSS gateway can be manual, developed in house or vendor supplied
• MNP should be a positive and straightforward experience for the customer - A customer friendly process should be your aim
• Make it easy to port, use multiple (all existing) channels
• Business as usual, as easy as for normal ‘new customer’ acquisition, only difference: get customer’s number
• Training of all customer facing functions extremely important
• Don’t forget Customer Awareness and to inform of how, where and why
Keep it Simple – new entrant objectives
MNP – affect on the market place
• One of the reasons why subscribers leave is because of the quality of the network and/or network coverage – improvements in these make it easier to gain and retain subscribers
• Operators also improve their customer service operations & their offers to subscribers which benefits all new & existing subscribers
• Operators will become much more price sensitive which benefits all subscribers
• A recent study concluded that ‘The level of price decline is related to porting times. Where porting times are less than five days, the decline in prices is more significant.’
(Analysis Mason)
• You have to ensure, pre-MNP, that you are doing the basic things as well as you can – why are customers staying with you / joining you today?
• Are your customers satisfied with the network coverage and quality?
• What about your customer care agents, are they providing a service that customers are happy with?
• Are your packages popular – are you winning customers prior to MNP?
• Is your price structure right – are customers satisfied that you are competitive?
• Do you have a high churn rate prior to MNP – after launch expect this to increase in the short term
• Identify churners now and try to understand the cause of their dissatisfaction
Customer retention activities
• Start your marketing and sales activities well ahead of MNP launch
• Look at what works and build on that • If you have loyalty programmes in place – look to re-
launch ahead of MNP launch • If you don’t have loyalty programmes then look to
build a marketing campaign around them • The intention is to create Brand Loyalty • Lock-in customers via handset upgrades, or other
fixed-price packages • Look at ‘friends and family’ type pricing packages
which can lock-in groups of customers • Offer more value to increase your stickiness
Loyalty & retention programmes
• You have to accept that once MNP is launched it will always be there
• There may be an increase in customer churn initially but it should return to (approximately) pre MNP levels
• Customer retention activity remains important • You must make efforts to understand why customers
move on – and work on those areas of the business • Remember the golden rules about MNP:
• It is a good way to gain a bigger market share – especially for new entrant operators
• It is also a very good way for dissatisfied customers to leave you
• Lastly, don’t throw money at customers to make them stay • That may work in the short term, but if you stop they
may leave anyway
Loyalty & retention programmes
• In some countries it has been the ex-incumbent (operator with majority market share) that has gained most from MNP
• Why? • It is widely assumed that it is because of the
following: • New entrant operators often have better numbers due
to their new allocations – which means they gain customers initially
• However, they have not got the network coverage and / or quality of the established operator(s)
• Nor have they got their customer care training right • Customers find they have more contacts on other
operators networks – on-net / off-net pricing differentials
• They spend more money on advertising / marketing MNP
Loyalty & retention programmes