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Redknee Supports Vodafone India

Redknee Supports Vodafone India’s Data Subscribers. Redknee Solutions Inc. announced that it is supporting Vodafone India to deliver the benefits of real-time charging to its Pan-India active prepaid and postpaid data subscribers. Vodafone India is leveraging the latest release of Redknee Unified Charging to boost its data subscribers’ adoption and enhance customer satisfaction. In addition, Vodafone India will use Redknee’s customer care solution to provide advanced…

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Two sides to every story

"Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either." Aesop. As the old saying goes, there are two sides to every story. Equally, there are two sides to every OSS interface (or possibly more if you including middleware, etc). Each side of the interface tends to be documented, specified, etc... often ad finitum it seems. That's…

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The mysterious missing #4

"What if a demon were to creep after you one night, in your loneliest loneliness, and say, 'This life which you live must be lived by you once again and innumerable times more; and every pain and joy and thought and sigh must come again to you, all in the same sequence. The eternal hourglass will again and again be turned and you with it, dust…

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Products or services?

"A man without a smiling face must not open a shop." Chinese Proverb. It seems logical that OSS vendors want their products to reach a critical mass, whereby they no longer rely on their own marketing efforts alone. They want to reach a point where other people / organisations are selling their products. There appears to be two main avenues to this objective: Free distribution that…

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OSS self-analysis

"A lot of people asked me if it was frustrating not having a clear specific diagnosis, but I didn't mind, I just chose the most optimistic diagnosis." Karen Duffy. Predictive analytics has become a bit of a cliche for the OSS industry, one which I've succumbed to using too (see these previous blogs as but a few examples - 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). As…

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Nobody will pay you to solve your problems

"Nobody will ever pay you to solve your problems... but they’ll line up if you can solve theirs." Ramit Sethi. OSS were originally designed to coordinate and streamline network management processes for CSPs. OSS helped CSPs solve operational problems. They still do. Keeping Ramit Sethi's quote in mind, if we have a customer that needs help processing vast numbers of service orders and we provide them…

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Redknee Signs $6M deal in APAC

Redknee Signs $6 Million Dollar Order in APAC for Innovative Energy Retail Solution. Redknee Solutions Inc. announced that a leading national corporation and service provider in Asia Pacific has signed a deal for $6 million dollars with Redknee to support its growth in the energy retail sector. This is a significant deal that will equip the service provider with Redknee’s Connected Suite to monetize its energy…

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SaskTel International offers SaaS OSS suite

SaskTel International serves up new SaaS OSS suite. SaskTel International (SI), a leading-edge communications software and services solution provider, has announced the launch of a robust suite of Operations Support System (OSS) software solutions via a new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The SaaS-enabled software provides Communications Service Providers (CSPs) with a flexible approach to drive the fulfillment and assurance of services while cost-effectively managing IT and software…

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Your OSS elevator pitch

"While some seem to have a knack for this sort of thing, most of us fail miserably at this most basic sales skill – explaining what we do for a living." Sean Rosensteel. How do you describe what you do for a living? Does your audience look dazed and confused when you describe what an OSS is and what part you play in our industry? I…

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RCN Goes Live with NetCracker

RCN Goes Live with NetCracker Next-Generation Revenue Management. NetCracker Technology announced that RCN, a U.S.-based provider of high-speed Internet, digital TV, telephone and business communications services, has gone live with an upgrade to NetCracker’s next-generation Revenue Management solution. RCN is a leading, competitive cable provider focused largely on key metropolitan markets, such as New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. A NetCracker customer since…

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Hazards in your environment

"Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate." Alvin Toffler. One of the many user groups touched by an OSS (directly or indirectly) is the field work-force. The field work-force have to deal with hazards that most of us desk-jockeys don't come into contact with. Confined spaces, hazardous materials (eg gas, asbestos, etc), working at heights and other similar hazards aren't…

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C Spire selects Centina Systems

C Spire Selects Centina Systems for Strategic Service Assurance. Centina Systems announced that C Spire™ will deploy its NetOmnia™ suite of solutions for service assurance. This will include real-time end-to-end network visibility for improved troubleshooting and problem resolution. C Spire is a full service provider of Internet, telecommunications, and network services. The company offers Triple Play services to residential customers along with a suite of fixed…

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What do your customers actually use?

"My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do." Francine Jay. A few questions for all the vendors out there. Do you know which applications within your suite that your customers actually use? Do you know which features of these applications they use? Do you know which features none of your customers use? Can you think of any reasons…

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Customer Experience – Customer Experience

"The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing." John Russell. You must be wondering whether the heading above is a typo? It's not. Let me explain. This is the fifth post in my Customer Experience series. The previous four have been built around the perspectives of the OSS vendor's customer (ie the…

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The worst job in OSS?

"I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies." Larry Bossidy. In a recent post, I spoke of the challenge in getting the right balance between two scarce assets, customers and human resources. This got me thinking about how tough it is for organisations in the OSS…

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Customer Experience – Operational Handover

"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour." Winston Churchill. Following on from Implementations, the third post in this…

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Telekom Srbija selects Comverse

Comverse Selected by Telekom Srbija to Modernize, Virtualize & Introduce IP Messaging, New Rich Services. Comverse announced that Telekom Srbija, the region’s leading mobile service provider, serving Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, has selected Comverse to modernize its messaging platforms, enable IP Communication, and lay the foundation for monetizing future rich communication services (RCS). “As the regional leader, Telekom Srbija aspires to improve the lives…

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Customer Experience – Implementations

"When you translate a dream into reality, it's never a full implementation. It is easier to dream than to do." Shai Agassi. After Contract Negotiations, the second post in this Customer Experience series, today's post discusses the next step, when the project moves into the implementation phase. The customer experience during the implementation stage basically revolves around variation (from the dream). CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. Project implementation is…

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Customer Experience – Contract Negotiations

"Suspicion and doubt lead to animosity and hatred." Ralph Steadman. To expand upon the first post in this Customer Experience series, which was on Product Evaluation, today's post relates to the next step, forming a contract between the customer and the winning bidder. The customer experience during the contract negotiation stage basically revolves around suspicion. Customers are a scarce commodity for even the largest vendors. As…

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Customer Experience – Product Evaluation

"Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation" Vannevar Bush. In the Christmas Day blog, I indicated that I was going to begin a series on how OSS vendors / integrators can start with the customer experience and work back to improve their own products, services and systems. Today's blog is the first in…

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