www.csgi.com DECEMBER
2013
DRIVING INNOVATION Destination: Differentiation & Competitive Power
WIND Mobile on Agility Designing decisions around consumers
Investing in Your True Assets Optimize, challenge & invest in your people, products & services to deliver differentiation
business support solutions that
accelerate business. anywhere.
like here. here.
and here.
At CSG, we excel at delivering revenue and customer management solutions to progressive CSP clients around the globe. Clients just like you. Our unparalleled set of business support solutions can help you launch new services, strengthen customer relationships, optimize revenue and stay competitive in today’s transforming environments. Simply put, our solutions and services can help you accelerate business. anywhere. Contact us today: +1 303.200.2000 or spectrum@csgi.com
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ACROSS THE DESK
ISSUE II, DECEMBER 2013
CSG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 9555 Maroon Circle Englewood, CO 80112 USA T: +1 303 200 2000 F: +1 303 200 3333
Across the Desk
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FOLLOW US CONTACT For all editorial, sales and marketing inquiries, please contact: Marketing Department CSG International T: +1 303 804 4081 E: spectrum@csgi.com
PRODUCTION D-Strategy, www.dstrategy.com.au
CIRCULATION For general inquiries, or if you wish to change your address, request a copy or be added to the circulation, please visit www.csgi.com/spectrum. DISCLAIMER
Copyright © 2013 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. The information contained within this document is the property of CSG, which is protected by international copyright laws and any unauthorized use of this document or its contents may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced or translated in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted electronically or otherwise, without the prior written consent of CSG. Although every endeavor has been made to ensure that the information contained within this document is up to date and accurate, CSG cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracy or error in the information contained within this document. CSG makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the information and CSG shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages which may arise in connection with the publication, furnishing, reliance or use of the information contained within this document.
A New Year Beckons It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you to the latest issue of SPECTRUM magazine, CSG International’s exclusive publication for its clients worldwide. The purpose of SPECTRUM is two-fold: to provide you with valuable industry-relevant and thought-provoking content while also sharing important information about CSG’s vision for how to help you address some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in the marketplace. By the time this publication hits your desk or inbox, we will be near the end of another year. With all of my travels around the globe to visit clients, one thing is clear: all of the industries that CSG serves are undergoing exciting, challenging and dynamic market changes. As we look ahead to a new year, we thought it appropriate to focus on the topic of innovation. In this issue, we explore the role that innovation plays in the industries we serve and how these advancements are creating disruptive new technologies that usher in new opportunities for providers. Whether it’s this year or two years from now, Communication Service Providers know that it’s imperative to put the customer at the center of it all. And we understand just how difficult that can be in light of evolving customer demands and competitive pressures. Through SPECTRUM, we aim to provide insights from industry experts around the world on current and future trends that will shape your business objectives in the next 12 months—and hopefully offer a glimpse of where the global market is headed. Thank you for your business and continued trust in CSG. Together, we will continue to innovate to help you deliver value to your customers and differentiate your service offerings in a competitive market. Kind regards,
Mike Henderson Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing CSG International spectrum@csgi.com
SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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in . no . va . tion /ˌinəˈvāSHən/ Noun
1. The action or process of innovating. 2. A new method, idea, product, etc: “technological innovations”.
Synonyms
novelty - newness
By definition, CSG International is innovative. We live innovation, we breathe it. We wouldn’t be where we are today without it. Our unparalleled set of business support solutions are helping our customers increase their time to market, exceed accuracy targets, stabilize their operations, achieve operational excellence and improve efficiencies. Innovate your business. Partner with CSG. Contact us today: +1 303 200 2000 or www.csgi.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
16. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FEATURE
9. SUCCESS STORY OF VIVO
14. IN CONVERSATION WITH ATIF AHMAD
cognition
In this Issue
DECEMBER 2013
FEATURES
9 14 16 18
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE SUCCESS STORY Brazil’s largest service provider, Telefónica Vivo, fine-tunes operations ahead of the LTE data explosion
6
IN A SNAPSHOT
8
WHAT WE’RE READING
Consumer Content Survey Results
CSG Employees Reveal All
IN CONVERSATION Atif Ahmad describes WIND Mobile’s journey to become the 4th national wireless operator in Canada
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ANALYST VIEW
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FEATURE
20
BLOGGING
CSG COO Bret Griess discusses the innovative culture that CSG fosters by investing in and challenging staff to create true differentiation
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COFFEE WITH
23
IN DEMAND
26
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Double Feature: BSS in the Cloud and M2M
Mobile Data Monetization
Malcolm Crouch
LET’S TALK CSG’s own Robert Machin and Siobhan Ryley weigh in on top-ofmind challenges for service providers: handling the promise and pitfalls of 4G; and how to service the growing, though previously less lucrative, SMB sector
Intelligent Accounts Receivable
We’ve Been Busy at CSG
SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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IN A SNAPSHOT
In a Snapshot: Meet the Consumers Consumer Content Survey It’s a multi-billion dollar question for the global digital content marketplace: how will service providers evolve the digital content market to a multi-device offering that targets personalized services to individual consumers? To help answer that question, CSG International went straight to the source: the consumers themselves. Through an independent survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers aged 18-65, CSG identified five of the most significant influencing factors on digital content purchases and behavior. These factors include price; the user experience; content quality; the ability to use multiple devices to access content; and the age of the consumer. While this survey focused on U.S. consumer preferences, several key findings are highly relevant to digital content providers regardless of location, said Kent Steffen, President of CSG’s Content Direct. “All over the world, we find that providers are looking to successfully deliver in two critical areas: monetizing their content; and delivering it in unique and compelling ways that differentiate their offerings and build customer loyalty,” Steffen said. “We believe these findings point to an opportunity for providers to personalize the content buying and delivery experience, reaching each member of a household with content offers that appeal to their preferences.” When consumers make content purchasing decisions, five key factors guide their decision-making: •
•
•
•
Priority on Price – The majority of consumers indicated that price of content is the single largest influencer on the decision to purchase content. Price sensitivity goes down as the age of the consumer goes up. An Easy Experience – Ease of use ranked as the second most influential factor. This becomes more of an influence for consumers 45 and older, with nearly half giving high importance to the ease with which content can be found, purchased and played. Quality Across Devices – Viewing quality is important, particularly to those consumers who spend the most on content and use it across more devices. Multi-screen Access – The ability to access content
•
on multiple devices is also critical, particularly among younger consumers age 25-34 who are the most likely age group to own multiple devices. Interestingly, while 64% of respondents said they own a smart phone, more than 41.5% said they would not purchase digital content from their mobile provider. Age Matters – Young consumers are more likely to place high importance on personalization and flexibility in service offerings across more devices than older consumers. Providers must focus intently on meeting younger consumer needs, as they are less loyal to any one provider and more apt to purchase content from multiple sources.
CSG Content Direct ® has earned numerous accolades this past year, including a recent honor with Pipeline Magazine’s Innovation of the Year Award.
“The survey shows that the days of thinking of consumers through the single lens of the primary account holder are gone – the content revolution demands considering the preferences of all individuals and their devices within a household to ultimately create a more loyal and satisfied customer.” “CSG’s Content Direct has helped numerous customers across the world do just that,” Steffen said. CSG’s Content Direct supports providers in more than 30 currencies and 10 languages. Most recently, JB Hi-Fi has successfully launched CSG Content Direct to power the JB Hi-Fi UltraViolet online storefront in Australia and New Zealand.
Download a full copy of CSG’s Executive Summary on the survey findings and their implications for US Pay TV providers from info.csgi.com/csg-us-pay-tv-survey or join in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag: #uspaytvsurvey.
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SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
Are U.S. Pay TV Providers Delivering the Digital Content Experience Consumers Want?
PRICE
1 Most influential factor in purchase decisions
EASE OF USE & VIEWING QUALITY 2
Ease of use is the second most influencial factor in purchase decisions
MULTI-SCREEN USAGE Is the New Norm
79%
of consumers use a PC to access digital content
More than
35% of all consumers
ranked price as having the most impact on content buying decisions
3
Viewing quality ranks as the third most influential
64% of consumers own a smartphone; of those,
41% said they would
not purchase digital content from their mobile provider
Price sensitivity increases as the age of the consumer decreases
$
Consumers age
Consumers age
quality as more important than any other age group
than any other age group to own and use all devices for digital content
25-34 cited viewing
25-34 are more likely
31% of consumers age 25-34 spend
$50-100
per month on content (the highest of all ages)
48% of all consumers age 45 and over ranked ease of use as important
US PAY TV PROVIDERS Have a Distinct Advantage in the Digital Content Market
2/3 of all consumers consider Pay TV providers leaders in digital content already (except younger consumers)
70% of consumers said they would consider purchasing digital content from their Pay TV provider
70% Ownership and usage of multiple devices for content drops significantly at age
35+
of all respondents still want their content purchases to appear on their monthly bill
WHAT WE’RE READING
What We’re Reading
READER: Ishqi Shuaib Pre-Sales Solution Consultant APAC TITLE:
READER: Renae Craven Engineering Manager Singleview R&D
READER: Azad Jafarli
READER: Scott Winks
Business Development Director Russia & CIS
Vice President, Global Services APAC
TITLE:
TITLE:
TITLE:
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
The Shadow of the Wind
Manuscript Found in Accra
AUTHOR: Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
AUTHOR: Seth Godin
AUTHOR: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
AUTHOR: Paulo Coelho
REVIEW: A book on Economics never sounds like an unrelenting pageturner, but Freakonomics bucks that trend! Instead of dealing with numbers and dry theory, it examines sociological trends, altruism, the power of incentives and unintended consequences. All in all a collection of wellwritten articles: intriguing, entertaining, unconventional and sometimes controversial. It isn’t just economics, it’s “rogue economics” – definitely a far cooler way of looking at things!
REVIEW: A short book full of interesting content, the author refers to groups of like-minded people as tribes. Tribes believe in and value the same purpose and are therefore engaged and happier in what they undertake together. The book points out that leaders need to inspire and challenge tribes - not individuals - which in turn motivates them to produce the best results. Well worth the read if you are looking to affect cultural change within an organization.
REVIEW: This novel suggests a classic way of presenting a story within a story, like “The Arabian Nights”: when you read its final page, the characters and the context are almost the same as the first page. The fact is that I’ll never be able to write a real review for this book, I won’t be able to find the exact words, the only person who can is the author himself, but I think he already said everything he wanted: “Books are mirrors - you only see in them what you already have inside you.”
REVIEW: Having really enjoyed The Alchemist, I felt drawn to this latest Paulo Coelho book. Set in ancient Jerusalem, it recounts the preachings of a wise man on the eve of the city’s invasion by the Crusaders. While some of Coelho’s premises seem a bit simplistic given the complexity of modern life, it contains words of wisdom, is beautifully written and an easy read, with sufficient inspiration and memorable quotes to keep you interested.
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
RATING:
8
SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
SUCESS STORY TITLE
Vivo Success Story: Generating Operational Savings Through Innovative Technology
BACKGROUND
GROWING PAINS
CSG International has served Vivo, Brazil’s largest provider of mobile telephony, since the CSP’s inception in 2003.
Since its launch, Vivo has held the position of market leader of cellular telecommunications and mobile Internet data transmission services across Brazil.
At this time, Vivo had 17 million subscribers and was South America’s largest mobile operator. Now wholly owned by Spain’s Telefónica, Vivo was originally the joint venture of Portugal Telecom and Telefónica Móviles, and under this brand combined the operations of six of Brazil’s leading operators: Telesp Celular, Tele Centro Oeste, Tele Sudeste Celular Participações, Tele Leste Celular Participações and Celular CRT Participações. During the period of preparation for its debut, Vivo looked for a mediation provider who would bring the expertise needed to integrate the various operating units. Looking for a provider who would be part of the Vivo team and collaborate with them for this new venture, Vivo chose CSG to provide mediation and interconnection services. “The task of bringing all of the subsidiaries together was very complex,” noted Agenor Leão, Director of Business Relations and Solutions for Vivo. “Vivo required a company who could offer expertise, flexibility and willingness to collaborate.” Since then, CSG has continued to work closely with Vivo, developing a strong, collaborative relationship focused on providing solutions to meet the ever growing and evolving needs of Brazil’s largest operator.
In 2003, Vivo was processing approximately 200 million EDRs per day. A little more than five years after its launch, Vivo was processing close to capacity for some of its regions, and over capacity in others. By late 2008 Vivo was processing over 1.5 billion EDRs per day with the expectation that it would soon exceed 2 billion per day, even before its newest acquisition, Telemig Celular, was integrated into the systems. While the system was managing the current processing demand, it was clear that the hardware would need to be upgraded in the very near future. Along with a greater processing capacity, Vivo also wanted to control its costs. Its current hardware systems demanded more personnel time and attention to ensure they could handle the hourly throughput of data requests.
“Vivo required a company who could offer expertise, flexibility and willingness to collaborate. CSG was chosen because it brought all of these characteristics to the project. CSG is a valuable part of the Vivo team.” SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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SUCESS STORY
In addition, the legacy servers had maximized the space allotted for them, and adding more servers meant adding more man hours, more space and more utility expenses for cooling and running the hardware.
THE POWER OF COLLABORATION Because of the collaborative relationship, CSG was able to leverage its familiarity with Vivo’s systems to offer a flexible solution that not only addressed the immediate capacity needs and requirements for cost savings, but also completed the integration of Vivo’s legacy operating systems. CSG’s phased approach would allow Vivo to bring all of the regional operations onto the same platform and processing system at the lowest cost. “Vivo’s relationship with CSG was a big part of the deciding factor,” noted Leão. “Vivo might have looked at other providers, but in the end we believed that CSG’s understanding of Vivo’s systems combined with the flexibility and scalability of the proposed solution offered the greatest value. CSG had already proven itself and had extensive knowledge of our systems. For us, this ensured speed and success of implementation at the best cost.”
REDUCING THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO) CSG proposed an upgrade to Vivo’s existing mediation platform to Intermediate v6 running on Intel’s (x86) Xeon processor blade servers. This upgrade in both software and hardware would enable Vivo to manage its immediate capacity needs and provide future-proof scalability for ongoing growth, as well as lower the TCO. The proposed migration to the highdensity blade hardware would require less cost to replace, less space, and less power to operate. In addition, CSG’s solution offered a reduction in overall application instances requiring maintenance and better utilization of skilled resources. Overall, the CSG solution provided a significant reduction in overhead and generated bottom line overheads. Working with Vivo, CSG launched Phase 1 to deploy the upgrade to all Vivo entities running online processes on Sun and HP systems. This was followed closely by Phase 2 that deployed the upgrade to Vivo entities running offline (batch) processes, primarily on HP systems. Vivo was able to implement all of the hardware for the new platform for both phases for a fraction of its existing hardware maintenance costs—less
than 7%. With the implementation of Intermediate v6.0 on blades complete, Vivo is able to manage its current volume of EDRs with ease and the new platform generated a 90% saving in upgrade hardware expenses along with future savings in annual utility costs.
“Implementing blade technology reduced our anticipated costs of upgrading hardware by more than 65%,” notes Leão. “Our data throughput exceeds our minimum requirements by 20% or more, with no concerns about being able to accommodate future volumes.”
“CSG’s understanding of Vivo’s systems combined with the flexibility and scalability of the proposed solution offered the greatest value.” Agenor Leão, Director Business Relations & Solutions, Vivo
With over 200 global installations, CSG Intermediate™ is one of the most trusted offline and online mediation solutions in the world. Today we process over 26 billion events per day for our top ten clients. CSG Intermediate’s robust feature set and proven scalability make it a smart, consolidated solution that delivers long-term value and ROI. It can be deployed in under three months and is the lowest cost hardware solution available for mediation. To discover more, please visit info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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LET OUR INNOVATION EARN YOU REWARDS CSG Content Direct® is focused on driving innovative content monetization strategies for market-leading companies worldwide. That’s why we’re proud to have received the Content Innovation of the Year award in the vendor category of Pipeline’s 2013 COMET Innovation award competition. Take a few minutes to talk to the people who truly have passion to help our clients innovate, accelerate, and add value to your business—so you can reap the rewards. Contact us today info.csgi.com/spectrum-content-direct
ANALYST VIEW
Analyst View BSS in the Cloud:
More Sophisticated Functionality Required for Next-generation Services There’s no denying that Communications Service Providers (CSPs) continue to grapple with the reality of transforming their Business Support Systems (BSS) to keep pace with their evolving business. In this environment, CSPs are evaluating a wide array of options to enable transformation, including incrementally enhancing their existing BSS with adjunct capabilities, wholesale replacement of legacy systems, and increasingly, the use of cloud-based solutions. One third of surveyed CSPs currently use some elements of BSS in the cloud, and another third are evaluating them for future use. Informa Telecoms & Media conducted a recent survey assessing the attitudes of CSPs towards procuring and utilizing BSS in the cloud, the drivers that are making cloud-based BSS an increasingly viable option, and the ability of current cloud-based solutions to address their needs. In this paper, “BSS in the Cloud,” Peter Dykes presents Informa’s research results and discusses how business drivers and solutions alike have evolved from addressing the basic need for reducing
costs associated with simple business transactions to efficiently enabling the evolution of a CSP’s operations. Peter Dykes is a Senior Analyst with responsibility for Informa Telecoms & Media’s Networks Intelligence Centre. His main focus is on support software for telecoms networks, including operational and business support systems, next-generation network architectures, service provisioning, management and delivery, revenue assurance, real-time charging, billing and customer care. As an extension of Informa’s 2012 research into BSS managed services, in mid-2013 Mr. Dykes focused specifically on cloudbased BSS and his research uncovered the following:
Peter Dykes Senior Analyst
•
•
• •
Beyond core BSS functions such as real-time charging, policy control, and convergent charging and billing, it is necessary to combine these in the cloud with Big Data analytics and near real-time processing to support nextgeneration services and customer experience
Rapid service rollout to enhance a CSP’s competitiveness is a critical driver for BSS transformation, including transformations that adopt cloud-based capabilities CSPs are resolute about retaining control of their business as they consider cloud vendors, suggesting a strong preference for private cloud solutions for mission-critical BSS Security and privacy concerns, and compliance with varying data protection laws, have a real impact on the configuration of cloudbased BSS solutions.
The good news for CSPs is that today’s cloud-based BSS is increasingly built for purpose by leading vendors, to provide the flexibility and speed to market for new services with commercial models that support pay-per-BSS-use.
You are invited to download this paper to learn whether the time is right for your organization to reap the benefits of BSS in the cloud as you move your business to the next generation. Visit info.csgi.com/Spectrum-Informa-BSS-Cloud
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ANALYST VIEW
M2M:
A Flexible Platform Needed to Deliver Real Value Whether you refer to it as Machine to Machine (M2M) or the Internet of Things (IoT), the business of devices automatically communicating with each other, without human intervention, is one of the fastest growing communications services across the globe. The forecasts that envision 50-80 billion connected devices in the next 5-7 years are staggering, especially when you consider that these forecasts are based upon counting only those devices—smart phones, smart tablets, smart meters and the like—where the connectivity itself is central to the device’s function. When you add the reality of machine and appliance sensors, household utensils, livestock, articles of clothing and other common, everyday items communicating without the need of human intervention, the actual number of things that are networked, generating data, being monitored and driving automated and manual responses could be orders of magnitude larger than 5080 billion.
Karl Whitelock is the Director of OSS/BSS Strategy at Stratecast, a division of Frost & Sullivan, and focuses on competitive strategies for Communications Service Providers as they evolve business models and adopt and extend next-generation services and applications. In his recent paper “Monetization of M2M Services Means Cloud-Based Solutions,” Mr. Whitelock explores the evolution of M2M services in a variety of industries and discusses the necessary platforms required for a Communications Service Provider (CSP) to effectively manage the M2M applications of its business/enterprise customers. In this paper, Karl describes a business platform for managing and monetizing the M2M “data stack,” which enhances and extracts value from the burgeoning machine data stream being generated, collected, processed, charged and settled in numerous industry applications. From health care to utilities to education to transportation and logistics and beyond, M2M is enhancing services and, most significantly, the lifestyle of the users of those services.
Karl Whitelock Director OSS/BSS Strategy
Whether enabling myriad remote healthcare options, providing remote monitoring and control of our homes, or bringing safety and infotainment services to our vehicles, M2M is changing the nature of social interactions, our working environment and how we interact by increasing precision, predictability, control, information and security. The “secret sauce,” Mr. Whitelock believes, to a CSP enabling M2M solutions in any industry rests with a flexible monetization platform that can provide the accountable functions needed to correctly manage any M2M business scenario, at both the wholesale and retail levels.
You are invited to download this paper to learn about the impacts of expanding M2M applications on the business functions of data creation, collection, enhancement, settlement and reporting. Visit info.csgi.com/Spectrum-FS-M2M
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IN CONVERSATION…
In Conversation... ATIF AHMAD CIO, WIND Mobile SPECTRUM: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights for this latest issue of SPECTRUM Magazine. To get us started, could you share your background with us – your experience in the industry, your main responsibilities at WIND?
We want to engage customers in a dialogue about wireless service, plans and devices, while our service represents this clarity and openness with its lack of hidden fees and no contracts.
ATIF AHMAD: I have been a senior executive in the telecoms industry for more than 20 years, and in addition to WIND Mobile, which is operated by Globalive Communications in Canada, I was also a senior executive with Mobilink, the leading cellular operator in Pakistan which services more than 35 million subscribers. I have a very strong background in project delivery and the management of various IT / Technology departments for both small and large scale enterprises. My experience managing various successful departmental and systems turnarounds and changes—where in many cases I acted as a catalyst of change—has served me very well as we brought WIND Mobile into operation.
“When we launched as WIND Mobile, we were a brand that championed consumer rights and we continue to fight for what is fair for the customers and for Canadians, while challenging the competition and keeping the industry competitive.”
SPECTRUM: While you are a proven industry veteran, WIND Mobile is a relative newcomer to the Canadian marketplace. How did you differentiate the WIND brand in the marketplace? ATIF AHMAD: Before the brand launched, WIND took a very unique and new approach to telecom in Canada: we began having conversations with Canadian mobile phone consumers. We asked about the state of the mobile phone industry, the services they wanted, and how they wanted to be treated. We built our company from this feedback. Even post launch and to this day, we keep the dialogue going, through social media, through our care agents, and through all of our advertising.
WHO IS WIND MOBILE? WIND is a part of Amsterdam-based VIMPELCOM Ltd., a global company with over 210 million customers. Where does WIND currently operate? With 1,225 active network sites across Canada, WIND currently operates in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, with more than 400 distribution points and 250 branded stores. What network does WIND currently operate on? In 2012, WIND completed an additional 231 sites and currently has over 1300 towers throughout the Country. Also during 2012, WIND Mobile was pleased to launch in a number of new locations,
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SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
PERSONAL FUN FACTS… First Job:
Mobilink, Pakistan
Favorite Author:
Allama Iqbal
Favorite Movie
Indiana Jones film series
Favorite Place to Travel:
Phuket, Thailand
Favorite App:
Technology he can’t live without:
Pad
including Kingston, Barrie, Woodstock, Windsor, and Peterborough. WIND placed a strategic focus on upgrading our network to support HSPA+ service and implemented HD Voice, and is now offering WIND customers 4G network speeds. WIND’s long-term goal is to become Canada’s fourth largest mobile provider—and its solid results in 2012 and early 2013 show that it is on the path to achieving that goal. Where is WIND Mobile headquartered? WIND operates across Canada, and its head offices are located in Toronto, Ontario. How many subscribers does WIND currently have? As of Q1 2013, WIND had more than 600,000 active subscribers in Canada, and that continues to grow.
IN CONVERSATION…
When we launched as WIND Mobile, we were a brand that “championed consumer rights” and we continue to fight for what is fair for the customers and for Canadians, while challenging the competition and keeping the industry competitive. I think this focus on Canadian consumer rights is still as evident today as it was at the start, and we have no intention of stopping. Now as a challenger brand, we have developed our mantra towards allowing Canadians to connect to their worlds without limits. Being a fair priced, simple and hassle-free alternative has worked well for us and we continue to offer plans without contracts and without limits. We are a challenger brand to the established oligopoly in Canada— with over 620,000 customers—and offering “True Mobile Freedom,” “no-hidden fees” and “unlimited plans”. This has truly set us apart in Canada.
We should be able to provide all services of a big operator, but being a new entrant, them those services at great speed WHOoffer IS WIND MOBILE? and be able to change the products on short notice. SPECTRUM: As an IT and Telecom professional, what emerging market or newly launched technology do you find most interesting and potentially most impactful on our industry? ATIF AHMAD: Personally, big data and its impact on the telecom space is of interest to me. As a professional, I think machine-to-machine (M2M) and Over the Top (OTT) applications will be most impactful to the industry. I see that the current mobile operators will be offering very similar data services in future, such that they would be more of a mobile ISP. SPECTRUM: Thank you, Atif, for joining us today and sharing your insights around developing customer-centric offers. I know WIND Mobile brings a whole new outlook to the Canadian wireless space just as Globalive did for fixed line and long distance since its founding in 1998.
SPECTRUM: Because WIND Mobile was a true startup, what choices did you have to make around your systems and operational strategies to ensure the focus of your team and your investment? ATIF AHMAD: The discussion with consumers led us to design decisions around our choice of approach. We wanted to be agile, provide customers easy access to their service management. That meant it had to be a fully integrated set of systems, a lean architecture providing world-class services and easily manageable by a small team. At the same time, flexibility and agility was of prime importance to us.
How many employees does WIND currently have? WIND currently has 1500 employees across the country. Is WIND a publicly traded company? WIND Mobile is a part of Amsterdam-based VIMPELCOM Ltd., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol VIP. What is WIND’s value statement? WIND Mobile is dedicated to improving the Canadian wireless experience by offering customers simple and transparent plans, including real unlimited voice/data/text with no-term contracts and no hidden fees.
• • • • •
Our Position: 4th National wireless operator in Canada, December 2009 Our Mission: Provide a Choice for Canadians Our Team: Small, nimble, cross cultural, world experienced Our Systems: Fully integrated, lean and mean systems with self service Our Key Differentiators: Excellent customer service and payment agnostic
CSG at WIND Mobile CSG’s relationship with WIND Mobile dates back to shortly after the 2008 Canadian spectrum sale. We have been pleased to work closely with WIND since the beginning to bring their OSS/BSS infrastructure online. As noted, WIND strives for an integrated BSS, so it’s no wonder that the following CSG solutions are part of WIND Mobile’s architecture: • • •
CSG Singleview, comprising Convergent Billing, Customer Management CSG Total Service Mediation, including Intermediate and Interactivate CSG WBMS, specifically Interconnect
SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FEATURE
Investing in Your True Assets Optimize, challenge and invest in your people, products and services to deliver differentiation From my youth working with livestock and crops on a farm in Nebraska to my service in the U.S. Air Force and my career in the private sector, I have felt driven to do better, to do things differently, to challenge myself to think—and look—outside the box for new ways to tackle complex issues. Today we call that innovation. Innovation is no longer simply about invention. Innovation has grown to encompass a wide range of novel approaches to business models, processes and outcomes that allow companies to extend and defend their value propositions in an increasingly competitive and change-driven marketplace. IT service providers of all stripes have found themselves in an innovate-or-die world. As a result, the ability to innovate has become an easy way to separate the wheat from the chaff: those who can innovate continually and in line with client expectations become market leaders. Period. Everyone else is forced to follow the leader or seek new ways to differentiate their value. At CSG, we challenge our employees to innovate every day, to find new ways to improve operations and optimize the solutions and services we provide to our clients. The ongoing training and development of our teams, in addition to the research and development of our solutions, ensure that our operations run efficiently and that our business support systems are of the highest quality.
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Our commitment to continual innovation and excellence translates to faster and greater market success. It allows us to hire high-touch, client-driven experts with deep domain or vertical market expertise. It enables us to offer our clients additional value from our employee knowledge base for about the same price point as some of our key competitors. And it’s important to keep in mind that innovation can come from anyone, from any and all levels of the organization. Innovative ideas can be generated by clients, business partners, suppliers or any other source inside or outside of CSG. The dynamic global business environment supports this model. After all, the volatility, change and technology shifts we’ve been experiencing since the recession of 2008 all create growth opportunities for organizations willing to seize them—in other words, organizations that are willing to let go of existing models, visualize the future and innovate. Few IT products and services companies want to be the provider of a commodity product or service. Almost every organization out there—clients, competitors, partners—continually look for new avenues of growth and new ways of doing business better. Like any other business, CSG has targets for revenue and margin. But we expect that by providing exceptional service—marked by innovative solutions, flawless delivery, and a
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superior client experience—financial performance will follow. That’s our DNA. Our client-focused culture has long differentiated us in the marketplace of organizations that seek true business partners rather than mere service providers. But success depends on more than a commitment to innovate. In fact, to innovate successfully over time, organizations must learn to be agile, to move with change as it happens, to course-correct on the fly.
“At CSG, we challenge our employees to innovate every day, to find new ways to improve operations and optimize the solutions and services we provide to our clients.” Agility is an attribute used more often to describe athletes than businesses. In sports, games move quickly. They’re unpredictable—you don’t always know which way your competition will move or how the ball will bounce. They require good sense-and-respond skills to anticipate what the other team is likely to do. And they require the right capabilities and good physical shape to win. Business is the same.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FEATURE
cognition
CSG can leverage the development of agile solutions to help clients build innovation into their own businesses. We embrace innovation as a competitive differentiator and deliver the most flexible and relevant solutions to our clients everywhere in the world. We can sense and respond quickly to client needs. Here’s how: •
•
•
Strong client relationships help us adapt with our clients as they address market changes A collaborative global network of professionals allows us to assemble expert teams when and where our clients need them Investments in important service areas—such as analytics, content
monetization, and cloud—enable us to advise our clients on gamechanging offerings that affect their businesses As Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” CSG has the ability to provide clients with what they need rather than just what they tell us they want, and we can stay ahead of those rapidly changing needs by identifying creative business ideas—whether new technologies, new services or new geographies—that open new avenues for growth.
We can’t always predict when major shifts will happen in our industry or when cataclysmic events will take place in the economy, but we can build mechanisms to sense change and cultivate the capabilities that enable us to respond quickly to those changes. And we can adapt in ways that are consistent with our strategy and direction while adding unique value for our clients. As we systematically build new business ideas into sustainable and scalable client offerings, we reinforce the critical role of innovation in defining market leaders and lay the foundation for our— and our clients’—future success.
BRET C. GRIESS, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bret is executive vice president and chief operating officer of CSG, focusing on internal systems, product management, software development, operational processes, professional services and strategic management. Bret joined CSG in 1996 as a project manager and held a variety of positions in Operations and Information Technology, including executive vice president of operations, before being appointed COO in 2011.
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LET’S TALK
Let’s Talk... INSIGHT
Let’s talk...turning 4G growth into revenue With ROBERT MACHIN, Director – Product Marketing, CSG International LTE networks are an engine for growth—but can you turn that power into revenue? From Alexander Graham Bell onward, innovation has been fundamental to the telecoms business. From the first telephone phone call, the first mobile call, to the networking of computers and data processing devices that underpin the internet, telecoms has brought the world services and capabilities never previously seen or considered—which is by definition “innovation.”
About Robert Machin: Robert Machin has been part of the telecoms industry for over 20 years, working with software vendors, systems integrators and communication service providers in a variety of technical and business-focused roles. He is a regular contributor to business conferences and industry journals, most commonly on subjects related to the impact and management of next-generation technologies. Robert spent four years as Head of Billing Solutions at Logica before heading up product marketing at mediation vendor Openet Telecom in Ireland, then moving into strategic marketing with Finnish OSS specialist Comptel Corporation.
“This is innovation not just in terms of commerce, but in terms of life-changing technology.”
Telecoms is continuing to blaze a trail with the launch of 4G communications, in the form of LTE networks, which will bring seriously fast broadband connections to mobile devices. For most people, 3G data never gave consumers anything that felt much faster than fixed dial-up speeds. However 4G will deliver a service comparable at least to DSL and in many instances, much better than that, over wireless links. 4G mobile offers numerous opportunities for CSPs to stimulate new spending among their customers and to open up new areas of business such as rich communications and video entertainment on the move, or cloud-based enterprise solutions. It will also allow mobile operators to offer a service which is seriously competitive with fixed line data, giving subscribers a new choice of data network supplier to the home or office, and a viable alternative to WiFi. More importantly, 4G has the capability to bring high speed internet access to many communities in the developing world who have until now been disenfranchised from the ‘digital world’. The impact of this, not only in terms of communications and entertainment, but in enabling services such as mobile health, remote education, online trading and so on, are almost beyond one’s imagination—this is innovation not just in terms of commerce, but in terms of life-changing technology. As ever in telecoms, innovation brings both opportunity and challenge. As well as requiring operators to install new and costly network equipment, 4G will make new demands of the BSS, requiring it to handle the very large volumes of records which many data devices generate; to deal with complex transactions that may reference multiple network types and devices; to apply charges and policy in a way that will optimize resource usage, to support a broader ‘ecosystem’ of service partners, and to operate increasingly in real time, both to deal with potentially overwhelming volumes of transactions, and to maintain close, responsive control of customers and their service experience. 4G mobile has the potential to be a real engine for growth. However, if the BSS is not upgraded to recognize the demands, CSPs will struggle to gain commercial traction, will fail to ‘put the power on the road’, and the business case for next-generation all-IP networks could be undermined. A powerful engine needs a powerful and responsive chassis to support it. For more insight into the next generation of network technology, and its impact on carriers and service providers, download our white paper ‘Future Networks: a formula for success?’ from info.csgi.com/future-networks
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LET’S TALK
MARKET
Let’s talk...capturing the enterprise market
With SIOBHAN RYLEY, Director – Product Marketing, CSG International While corporate giants and captains of industry may grab the limelight, small business is what truly drives national, and by extension, world economies. Capitalizing on the potential of the small/medium business (SMB) market takes a unique approach. CSPs need to offer customized solutions to SMBs’ business problems in the same way they do for large corporations. But with many more SMBs, and less profit margin, they need to be smart about it. According to Analysys Mason, 95-99% of all businesses are SMBs1 , and each of them would view their business as unique. The CSP that can most accurately meet those unique requirements is the one who will gain, and keep, the SMB owner’s trust and business. Therefore, attracting and retaining SMB customers provides a new market that is ripe with potential. Although the number of SMBs remains relatively static, their year-on-year spend on Information Communication Technology (ICT) is growing at a healthy 3%. And if you are a mobile provider, that growth rate is expected to be even higher2. PERSONALIZED OFFERINGS ADDRESS SMBS’ UNIQUE REQUIREMENTS Offerings may be bundles of pre-selected equipment, services and software that address the full breadth of the SMB’s needs; or they may be standard offerings, a veritable smorgasbord of products and services, accompanied by knowledgeable advice and support that many busy and understaffed business owners welcome, so the SMB can pick and choose those that fit their unique operations. The key attributes of a personalized offering are: • • •
A clear menu A wide variety of offerings Bundling
• • •
About Siobhan Ryley: Siobhan has responsibility for the positioning and value propositions for CSG’s portfolio of solutions, collaborating with customers to help solve their BSS challenges of today and the future. Siobhan has more than 20 years’ experience in billing, CRM, telecommunications and IT. A charging and billing subject matter expert, Siobhan contributes to the development and validation of global functional product requirements and is involved with CSG International customers, particularly in Asia-Pacific, examining the emerging needs of new business models. She has a Masters degree in Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Sydney.
Self-selectable limits Variable pricing The cloud
By making personalized offers, CSPs can meet the varied needs of their SMB customers, gain more revenue from them, and more importantly, earn their loyalty and longevity as customers. ENABLING PERSONALIZATION IN YOUR BSS: THE IMPLICATIONS The provision of personalized packages, presented simply and clearly for a non-technical audience, is no easy task. Behind the scenes, the back office systems must have fundamental capabilities to deliver the products and services in a tailored way. Many CSPs provide personalization for their large enterprise customers, but have found it challenging for their smaller business customers. Offering customized packages that the SMB can select and easily configure, requires that the right systems and processes be in place: • • • • • •
Charging and policy closely integrated to provide the real-time alerts, control and charging needed for personalized services with self-selected thresholds Self-care that is both web- and mobile-based to provide the SMB with the greatest flexibility to control their services Billing flexible enough to allow charging according to parameters that the SMB customer finds useful, valuable and clear Partner settlement robust enough to support sophisticated revenue share models Transparent pricing such that packages are clearly explained and presented Analytics/dashboards provide value to the CSPs but can also be sold as a service to the SMB
For more insight into appealing to SMBs through personalization, download our white paper ‘Capturing the Enterprise Market: Profit Potential in Personalization?’ from info.csgi.com/SMB-enterprise-services 1. Analysys Mason, “Marketing to SMEs: trends, opportunities and challenges”, 2012 2. http://www.techaisle.com/techaisle-report-datasheet-smb-mobile-worker-forecast.pdf
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BLOGGING
Mobile Data Monetization
The Gateway for Competitiveness, Innovation and Customer Loyalty
With the decline in revenue from traditional telecommunications services a foregone conclusion, today it’s all about data. According to Cisco, by 2015 the number of mobile-only Internet users will reach 788 million, a 56-fold increase from the 14 million users in 2010. And furthermore, Ovum forecasts that by 2015, 3.6 billion people—or half the world’s population—will have access to broadband services. These growth statistics are truly staggering. Mobile operators are at a crossroads, either currently contemplating or already having eliminated unlimited data plans and “all you can eat” pricing. In the era of smartphones, tablets, eReaders, notebooks and laptops with their “connected everywhere” consumer experiences, mobile operators are accelerating their plans to monetize mobile data usage. Today’s mobile consumers are both sophisticated and highly engaged, and the typical user in developed markets regularly uses two or more device platforms. It is changing the way people consume data daily. This behavior, coupled with the introduction of faster mobile technologies like LTE, dominance of Over-The-Top, non-operator owned applications and services, and voluminous amounts of media and multi-screen content, has negatively impacted the typical mobile operator’s profits. Out of necessity, mobile operators are shifting to new business models and innovative pricing models that combine offer differentiation and customer segmentation.
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In this hyper-networked society, where consumers exhibit a seemingly limitless appetite for connectivity and consumption, successful mobile operators need a deeper understanding of this type of customer. They must provide pricing options that are multifaceted and dynamic, addressing variations in bandwidth requirements, speed, time of day, and applicationspecific usage; and incorporate multidevice plans, seamlessly connected wireless and WiFi plans, flexible charging options (including pre-pay and post-paid), scenarios for the casual user, and support for loyalty programs to keep all of these customers coming back for more. Monetizing mobile data in new ways is the next frontier for mobile operators. To capitalize on the growing demand, CSPs must enable real-time, consumption-based and personalized offerings based on their intelligence and insights into the customer. Offerings such as: 1. Mobile data caps that are easily tailored and personalized to a segment and specific consumption requirement: • Tiered data usage rates • Cross-network bundles: mobile data, broadband, WiFi • Device-specific plans and multidevice plans • Bandwidth • Internet site accessed applications • Speed • Time of day, day of week • Mobile business applications
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Michelle Nowak Vice President – Product Management
BLOGGING
VOICE (+Broadband Network)
SINGLEVIEW Customer Management
intermediate Active Mediation Manager
Convergent Rating & Billing
Offline Mediation
Commerce Engine
data network (LTE, 4G, 3G, WIFI) Policy Controller Powered by Tango
2. Bill Shock Prevention • Warnings based on threshold • Utilization recorded and accessible in real time At CSG, our objective is to better enable our customers so they can focus on what they do best. Mobile operators in their pursuit of new data monetization revenue streams can leverage CSG products as a “Competitive Gateway.” Through innovative pricing and offers, real-time customer insights and the flexibility and user controls that stimulate customer allegiance—competitive power is dramatically increased. The key elements of innovative revenue generation and customer loyalty are: •
•
Deploying policy management for fair usage control, data usage consumption measurement, device and service access control, charging of services based on network access type (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE, WiFi), and proactive bill shock prevention Enabling real-time usage controls that proactively manage customer balances, individual plans and multidevice shared plans
• •
• •
Supporting convergent pre-pay and post-paid charging and billing for maximum payment flexibility Delivering interactive intelligence that provides customer insights to enable upselling when monthly quotas have been exceeded, or bandwidth boosts for operatorbranded content Optimizing the flow of network transactions/events to manage the burden on the charging system. Cost effectively processing offline charging streams at massive volumes for post-event business processes including settlement, fraud, roaming, data warehouse, and business intelligence
CSG’s response for a data monetization solution is based on Integrated Charging and Policy (ICP), Singleview for convergent rating and billing and customer management, and Intermediate for active mediation management and offline mediation. To find out more visit info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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COFFEE WITH
Coffee With ... MALCOLM CROUCH Chief Technology Officer – Asia Pacific, CSG International Malcolm Crouch’s journey with CSG International began some 23 years ago in the R&D and Delivery departments of BHA which became part of CSG some acquisitions later. Malcolm was pivotal in the original implementation of CSG’s award-winning billing platform, Singleview, into Optus in 1996 (a memorable year as it earmarked the birth of his daughter). From here, Malcolm took up a post in Toronto before being asked to head up a team in Singapore where he remains today.
“Learning is always a twoway street. For every one thing a customer learns from us, we learn two things from them.”
Malcolm’s career in the technology space began in nothing short of a unique way. Following completion of a Mechanical Engineering Degree with Honors, he started as a Mechanical Engineer building longhaul train simulators in Perth, Australia. It is here that Malcolm truly realized his love of technology. He became an important player in the building and supporting of custom solutions for Telstra, as well as voice network management systems for Westpac, Shell and the Federal Government to name a few. Now Malcolm is the Chief Technology Officer for CSG International Asia-Pacific and he is considered to be one of the region’s most valuable assets. Recently, SPECTRUM Magazine had a coffee with Malcom to chat about his role, the market, his thoughts on innovation and the direction CSG is headed. SPECTRUM: Malcolm, can you tell SPECTRUM Magazine’s readers a little about your role at CSG and the customers you work with.
directly with customers to develop the solution that will not just satisfy, but hopefully exceed their business needs and objectives.
MALCOLM CROUCH: Essentially, I am responsible for all of the solutions offered to our customers across APAC. This includes both CSG and any third party products and services that are incorporated into the solution.
My team gets involved with each and every one of our customers across the Asia-Pacific region in one form or another. We are responsible for transitioning the customer to the professional services team who are in charge of the delivery; although I have to say, we always feel a sense of ownership long beyond this with all of our customers and follow things closely to ensure its every success.
I am responsible for all of the technical diligence of what we offer to customers. Given that it is imperative that we understand the true business needs of our customers, my team and I work
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SPECTRUM: One particular customer that you have been heavily involved with and continue to be is 3 Indonesia which is the fourth largest mobile operator in the country with 40 million subscribers. Can you tell us more about the innovative strategies CSG has implemented into their organization? MALCOLM CROUCH: Indonesia is a particularly dynamic environment—the pace at which things move is exciting— particularly the promotions, packages and the plans. It’s very vibrant, always moving, changing and incorporates massive volumes.
COFFEE WITH
For this reason, 3 Indonesia is very close to my heart. There was a significant amount of work that went into developing an innovative architectural solution with a good commercial model that would meet the customer’s highly set objectives. What we have learned from this customer has been invaluable. I believe learning is always a two-way street. For every one thing a customer learns from us, we learn two things from them. And this was certainly the case with 3 Indonesia. We challenged ourselves and our solutions to provide the technical offering that would give the customer an unrivaled Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). I would say that we have achieved a TCO that is probably an order of magnitude lower per subscriber than what you would see in most western providers. This was no mean feat! SPECTRUM: I’m sure no one would disagree with you there, Malcolm! So tell us, what do you believe is one of the most important factors in achieving our customer’s objectives? MALCOLM CROUCH: Having good people who listen and understand customer needs is super critical; and who are credible and trusted by customers. I’ve built a team on which I can rely and trust; who listen and think outside the box. No single person can do everything—your trusted advisors are critical. I’m pleased to say I have a fantastic team. I also put a lot of value in having a strong team that will bring value to the table that challenges our thinking and instills innovation across the organization. SPECTRUM: So building a great team is key and is certainly part of our core values here at CSG. What would you say are some of your biggest challenges as Regional CTO?
MALCOLM CROUCH: That’s simple: keeping up! This is by far one of the biggest challenges I face; technology evolves rapidly and new technologies are constantly being introduced to the market. It’s difficult to weed through the ones you need to get behind and spend the money on and decipher the “fad” from the substance. One needs to take the time to take a step back and consider how you would put something new into practice, and actually make a difference. SPECTRUM: Speaking of new technology, can you share with us one trend in the telecommunications sector that is top of mind for you at moment? MALCOLM CROUCH: I’m finding the evolving business model of B2B2C very intriguing. That is, the practice of better enabling businesses so they can go after consumers. It plays on the Telco 2.0 model; it’s not just the services you offer, it’s what others can do on top or embedded that delivers real value. The exciting prospect is that the core services and things they do to run their businesses are enablers for other businesses; a win-win. SPECTRUM: This is very true. How then would you describe the way in which technology has evolved over the last 5 years? MALCOLM CROUCH: I find it fascinating the degree to which technology is now a representation of you as a person, and what you do. It’s not seen as technology, although obviously that is what makes it all work, but it represents you—your device is how you interact with people, systems and the world in a lot of respects. However, technology is an enabler that will change over time.
There is nothing “fixed” about technology. So we also need to adapt, change, better our knowledge and ourselves to really reap the benefits it can have on our personal and professional lives. SPECTRUM: So in keeping with this theme of innovation in technology, if you had to pin-point one area in particular that you are passionate about right now, what would that be? MALCOLM CROUCH: My passion is around real-time. The modern world we are in demands real-time interactions. It’s the effects of the “nowism”. In 2003, CSG was the first to bring convergent charging into realtime across Europe and Asia-Pacific which was a particularly rewarding achievement. And now, we’re bringing real time consumption of content with CSG Content Direct® and on-demand analytics with Quaero. Going forward, what excites me though is our Managed Services offering. Our ability to offer these services on a global basis creates another level of intimacy with our customers. We don’t just provide systems, we run them. Their pain is our pain. This in itself will singlehandedly drive innovation throughout everything we do. That in itself is something to be excited about! SPECTRUM: There certainly are great things to come from CSG now and in the very near future, Malcolm. So in summary, what can our customers expect to see from us? MALCOLM CROUCH: They can expect CSG to be more business and solution oriented. Working with them to address the things that keep them awake at night. Drawing on our knowledge of working with the majority of the top 100 global communications service providers worldwide, we are more than equipped to do this and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
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IN DEMAND
Intelligent Accounts Receivable Analytics Meets Collections Analytics—the discovery and communication of meaningful and actionable patterns in data—has become a universal business imperative, one that is applied across all aspects of the business ecosystem: customer strategies, marketing planning, risk management, channel strategies, network routing and optimization, infrastructure planning, product development, customer service and core operations. Collections (getting delinquent customers to pay for products they have purchased or services they have used) is an area that has benefited and realized significant value from the innovative use of analytics and customer insight. Analytic techniques can be used to discern the truly risky customers who have no intent or capacity to pay from those who have not paid on time but have the means to do so. From there, companies can utilize different treatment strategies to apply to these groups based on their risk classification.
Techniques like propensity-to-pay and delinquency models enable servicebased companies to optimize their customer engagement strategies throughout the entire collections lifecycle to: •
•
Differential treatment is important because companies that apply a single treatment strategy across all delinquent customers pay a high (but often hidden) cost: they alienate otherwise “good” customers who may have fallen on hard times or have temporary extenuating circumstances. These customers will eventually pay, but overly aggressive collection efforts, devoid of the context or understanding for the delay in payment, can result in a poor customer experience and lead to increased customer dissatisfaction and undesired attrition. 24
These can lead to customized offerings (payment options) to different customer segments to drive desired behavior change. For example, customers who are currently delinquent with a high propensity-to-pay receive a lenient treatment path, gently worded communications laden with understanding, and additional time to pay with no additional communications. On the other hand, customers with a low propensity-to-pay receive a more aggressive treatment path, one that gives them less time to pay but with additional, more flexible payment options.
Knowing the difference between true delinquents and otherwise good customers who have suffered a temporary lapse allows companies to focus their precious resources and time on those customers who fall into the higher risk categories. This is where analytics comes in.
•
Reduce delinquency rates: Proactively address high-risk customers prior to delinquency behaviors to avoid outstanding collections and defaults with better payment options, collections tracking and optimized communications. Improve the customer experience in delinquency: While it might seem counter-intuitive, it is possible to create a positive experience with good customers who are likely to pay, but might be delinquent. A little understanding and patience can go a long way in strengthening brand loyalty. By limiting the messaging and providing reminders only when necessary, companies can increase the likelihood of payment, but also utilize the customer contact as an opportunity to educate and inform. Improve cure rates and mitigate defaults: Develop contact and mitigation strategies based on data-driven insights and models.
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•
Optimize investment and operational efficiencies: Apply the best cadence and mix of communications based on model insights, program performance and customer preference management. These insights impact the type, frequency, messaging and payment options applied to each customer.
“Techniques like propensity-to-pay and delinquency models enable servicebased companies to optimize their customer engagement strategies throughout the entire collections lifecycle.”
IN DEMAND
To support the need for analytics in the Collections environment, Quaero, the customer intelligence arm of CSG International, has designed an Intelligent Accounts Receivable (IAR) solution that helps companies classify delinquent customers in appropriate risk-segmented buckets through an assigned behavior score and apply customized collection treatments to maximize effectiveness and mitigate the risk of losing good, highly satisfied
customers. This fully automated solution uses customer characteristics and historical behavioral data to discern individual risk level as well as propensity-to-pay. Intelligent Accounts Receivable embodies CSG’s philosophy of delivering data-driven, innovative solutions that drive tangible and measurable impact to our clients’ bottom line. It allows clients to look at the entire customer
picture and potential long-term value and balance it against the near-term risks, so that they are not short-sighted, focusing on a single missed payment. To learn more about Quaero’s Intelligent Accounts Receivable solution or any of our Business/Customer Intelligence offerings, visit info.csgi.com/spectrumintelligent-AR
Collections Optimization Universe Segmentation Segment 1
Strategy N
Treatment Strategies
Segment 3
Operations Cost of Treatment
Strategy 3
Segment N
Trade Offs
Charge-off Rate
Strategy 2 Strategy 1
Segment 2
Charge-off Severity Trade Offs
Customer Impact
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
In the Spotlight VIRGIN MOBILE FRANCE
Virgin Mobile France implements CSG International’s Interconnect as a key component of its wholesale billing management solution.
Virgin Mobile France is the largest Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in France with 1.7 million subscribers. The business recently invested in a full MVNO infrastructure and now has the ability to use networks from both Orange and French mobile operator, SFR, for its customers. It also has the ability to form additional domestic and international direct partner agreements including for voice, data and SMS/MMS interconnection. For more information, please visit www.vanillaplus.com/news/ item/2372-csg-interconnect-wholesale-billing-managementimplemented-at-virgin-mobile-france
JB HI-FI AUSTRALIA
JB Hi-Fi Launches First Phase of Digital Content Monetization and Strategy with CSG Content Direct®
As one of the largest big-box retailers in Australia, JB Hi-Fi has more than 180 stores and is the leader in DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the country. To bolster its market-leading brand, JB Hi-Fi answered the increasing consumer demand for premium digital video content by implementing CSG Content Direct to deliver the country’s first UltraViolet digital storefront. http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/deals/61214-jb-hi-fibuilds-on-good-results-with-online-content-expansion
NEW REVENUE FROM M2M
MTN SOUTH AFRICA
MTN South Africa and CSG International Unite in Routing Solution Rollout
MTN announces joining forces with CSG International to bring optimized routing solutions to the South African market for the very first time. The new offering helps clients generate revenue and maximize customer relationships. http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2013/07/mtn-sa-csg-internationalunite-in-routing-solution-rollout
“It is refreshing to partner with a company such as CSG International that provides solutions that talk to our strategic objective of striving to create a distinct customer experience.” Sethunya Mbete - GM Carrier Services, MTN SA
M2M: Money-maker or Heart-breaker TM Forum Inside Revenue Management, October 2013
The new revenue streams available from expanding connectivity use cases through Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications are a welcome respite from the competitive pressure and revenue decline in the traditional consumer voice and data markets. But can Communication Service Providers (CSPs) truly capture these new revenue opportunities? And what BSS capabilities will be needed to do so? While many CSPs are well prepared and deliver M2M connectivity today, the revenue opportunity is evolving based on what endusers want to do with M2M. http://www.tmforum.org/ResearchPublications/7097/home. html?q=Inside_Revenue_Management#TRCPublications/ Link53545
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
SOLUTION SUPPORT INNOVATION
CSG UPCOMING EVENTS CSG IN ACTION—FIRST HALF 2014
JANUARY •
Consumer Electronics Show 7-10 January 2014 Las Vegas, USA
FEBRUARY •
CSG International Named to the 2013 InformationWeek 500 List of Leading Technology Innovators
CSG was chosen as one of the Top Innovators in the U.S. after deployment of next-generation contact center solution for its implementation and integration of an IP-based contact center software for the CSG Solution Support Center. The leading-edge solution was developed to accommodate a new state-of-the-art facility that supports IP-based telephony rather than wireline technology. In fewer than six months, CSG implemented a highly reliable call handling, routing, and delivery solution to its contact center that utilized VoIP technology while preserving all of the features and functionality of its existing voice platform. Our contact center solution is part of an exciting new wave of technologies, including mobile computing and social networking, that enable employees to be more efficient and effective at work. Since CSG’s solution has gone live, disaster recovery and system survivability have measurably improved, and the company has experienced increased innovation in staffing and planning that yield cost efficiencies and increased customer satisfaction. “The theme of this year’s InformationWeek 500 is digital business,” said InformationWeek Editor-in-Chief Rob Preston.
“It’s a movement rooted in customer-focused technologies that are turning companies and industries on their ear. The organizations in our ranking are leading the way.” InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation’s most innovative users of information technology with its annual InformationWeek 500 listing, and also tracks the technology, strategies, investments, and administrative practices of some of the best-known organizations in the country. Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at www.informationweek. com/iw500/
Mobile World Congress 24-27 February 2014 Barcelona, Spain
MARCH •
Cable Congress 12-14 March 2014 Amsterdam, Netherlands
•
TV Connect 18-20 March 2014 London, UK
•
CSG Americas Executive Forum 25-28 March 2014 The Langham, Huntington Pasadena, USA
APRIL •
NAB 5-10 April 2014 Las Vegas, USA
•
MIPTV 7-10 April 2014 Cannes, France
•
The Cable Show 29 April- 1 May 2014 Los Angeles, USA
MAY •
ITW 2014 11-14 May 2014
PROFITABLE LTE
Hyatt Regency Chicago, USA
The Network as Profit Center Pipeline magazine, October 2013
JUNE
New networks—4G LTE, satellite, Wi-Max, fiber-optic, etc.—are being deployed around the globe to bring broadband access to people previously outside the reach of the Internet. However, with the billions of dollars invested in advanced network technologies while margins continue to shrink, many in the industry see new networks as merely an expense with no impactful ROI. This article explores near- and long-term network revenue opportunities and the critical capabilities carriers must develop to reclaim the network as a profit center.
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TM Forum Management World 2-5 June 2014 Nice, France
Read more http://www.pipelinepub.com/network_evolution/network_profit_center
SPECTRUM Magazine: Issue II info.csgi.com/morespectrum
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WHEN IT COMES TO INNOVATION
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With over 30 years’ experience in managing infrastructure, applications and BSS operations, it is no surprise that CSG International supports the majority of the top 100 global communications service providers, including leaders in fixed, mobile and next-generation networks such as AT&T, Comcast, DISH, France Telecom, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica, Time Warner Cable, Vodafone, Vivo and Verizon. Take your business to the next level with CSG’s innovative solutions so you too can drive profitable growth with a partner you can trust to deliver anytime, anywhere. www.csgi.com