With people routinely buying, communicating, and executing the daily
tasks of life online, expectations for convenience and instant
gratification are becoming higher and higher. To meet these heightened
expectations, businesses are striving to redefine themselves in order to
deliver their products and services at Internet speed.
For communications service providers, the customer-service bar is
perhaps higher than in any other industry. Competition has given customers
choice, they are knowledgeable about their alternatives and when
dissatisfied they do not hesitate to switch providers. Whether they are
seeking basic telephone service or Internet access, customers expect to be
able to place orders easily and see them executed promptly and accurately.
People have adapted astonishingly quickly to the time-saving power of
the Internet. They already take for granted their ability to order airline
tickets, books, and computers online so they can take delivery within a
day or two. Imagine how surprised they must be to discover that ordering a
high-tech service like Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) could take a month or
more as their orders make their way through a minefield of mistakes and
delays. [Go to a diagram about these delays.] From the customer perspective, there is no excuse for such service
delays. They are not interested -- nor should they have to be -- in the
difficulties service providers face as they build or upgrade complex
operational support systems (OSS) to manage the deployment of technically
challenging services.
No carrier can expect to successfully offer a leading-edge service
based on outdated systems and procedures. Marketing, selling, and
deploying state-of-the-art service requires state-of-the-art support
technology. While some customers are willing, or even prefer, to work with
a service representative by telephone as they choose a service such as
Internet access or wireless, most expect at least the option of placing
their order through a providers' Web site. After placing an order on the
Internet, customers often prefer to monitor its status and later manage
their accounts online.
To deliver these capabilities, service providers must link their OSS to
an Internet front-end for their customers and, on the back end, tie in
their suppliers and partners. This end-to-end automation creates a
ZeroTouch environment in which service providers minimize the manual tasks
associated with taking and executing orders decreasing the potential for
human error throughout the supply chain. Additionally, providers save time
and money by eliminating duplication of effort as employees enter and
re-enter information into dissociated systems. Most importantly, a
ZeroTouch solution ensures that customers receive the service they've
asked for in a prompt and precise fashion.
A ZeroTouch Case Study
DSL.net Inc., a New Haven, CT-based integrated services,
Internet-access, and high-speed data services provider serving small and
mid-sized businesses, is among the first alternative communications
service providers to recognize -- and act on -- the benefits of flow-through
provisioning. Several business-critical issues prompted DSL.net to invest
in the creation of a ZeroTouch environment, according to Mark Shine, vice
president of customer operations and IT for DSL.net. A primary goal was to
facilitate through automation the often-frustrating process of acquiring a
DSL-capable loop from the local provider for serving a potential DSL
customer.
Prior to implementing a ZeroTouch solution, most of the placement and
management of service orders was dependent on manual processes. People
typed and retyped data, printed order forms, and carried these forms from
pillar to post and peer. They faxed them to ILECs, which performed similar
manual tasks on their end. Not surprisingly, people made mistakes; each
mistake meant another delay in the customers' order. Industrywide,
research shows that errors occur in as many as 60 percent of DSL service
orders. The turnaround time on confirmation for local loop service
requests was as much as two weeks.
For alternate service providers, the trickiest part of provisioning DSL
service is gaining local-loop access to the customer. The ILECs that
control the local loop operate behemoth legacy OSSs that can appear to be
a Byzantine tangle of linked internal systems, legacy business rules, and
archaic applications. Unquestionably, the ILECs are making strides to
update these systems. But for now the burden of facilitating an efficient
exchange of information rests with the alternative providers requesting
local access.
In the past, DSL.net customer service representatives manually logged
in to an ILEC's GUI in order to re-enter information from a customer
order. Since each ILEC's system is different, service reps had to be
trained in the use of each. Compounding the risk of error, there can be as
many as eight service providers involved in delivering a national DSL
service to a particular multi-location customer. Whenever there are
multiple points of data entry, the risk of making mistakes increases
significantly.
In contrast, in a ZeroTouch environment, information is logged in to
the system once, the order is edited to comply with industry standards,
and the "validated" version is delivered electronically to the
ILEC's system. As a result, DSL.net technicians no longer carry a stack of
order-placement documents by hand to colleagues who are responsible for
some other piece of the process. Instead, technicians launch local-service
requests from their desktops, initiating an e-commerce process that has
slashed the error rate and drastically reduced the time that customers
wait for their DSL service. By delivering order information to the
incumbent local-exchange carriers electronically, DSL.net receives order
confirmations from the ILEC in as little as a few days, Mr. Shine says,
rather than as much as two weeks.
Empowering Customers With Internet-Based Ordering
This success is no accident. It is the direct result of implementing a
ZeroTouch solution that applies Internet-based software and services to
the order-management and service-provisioning processes so that customers
can easily select, order, obtain, and use high-bandwidth services.
Automating these tasks increases customer satisfaction, gives providers a
competitive edge, and accelerates revenue growth.
"Think about thousands of orders being walked around a business,
versus being managed electronically in an information system that has the
intelligence to route the work and validate tasks," says Mr. Shine.
"It's a huge benefit."
The ZeroTouch architecture that DSL.net has implemented simply involves
applying technology wherever possible to automate and integrate the steps
involved in placing, tracking, and executing orders, as well as managing
and billing for the services that customers have chosen. DSL.net turned
its attention to two specific points in the value chain: The interface to
its customers and the interface to the local service provider. The
company's goal was to create an end-to-end flow of information -- a
ZeroTouch process -- from the customer placing the order, through its OSS,
to the OSS of its partner delivering access to the local loop, back to the
DSL.net OSS and finally, to complete the process, back to the customer.
For DSL.net to achieve this goal, the company worked with several
partners. NightFire Software, Inc. of Berkeley,
Calif., conceived and trademarked the ZeroTouch process. By automating
DSL.net's service-order management process with its SupplierExpress 2.0
solution, NightFire provided a critical component of the high-speed
Internet access provider's next-generation OSS. Rather than attempting to
build its own solution, DSL.net elected to link best-of-class solutions
from companies that specialize in specific aspects of DSL deployment.
DSL.net's integrated OSS solution, which comprises MetaSolv's
Telecom Business Solution (TBS) software and NightFire's
SupplierExpress 2.0, among other partners, provides customer care, trouble
ticketing, network inventory, element management, workflow, billing, and
middleware capabilities. The systems integrator on the project,
BusinessEdge Solutions, Inc., worked with DSL.net to link MetaSolv's TBS
software and NightFire's interface to DSL.net's suppliers. The MetaSolv
and NightFire professional service teams played key roles in assisting the
DSL.net team in the deployment. The result: DSL.net is bringing new
services to market faster, managing them in real time and increasing
customer satisfaction.
Since many service providers are finding that the fastest, most
effective way to upgrade their OSS to support Web-based transactions with
customers and other suppliers is to seek outside help. NightFire has
created a family of packaged software applications that automate the
service providers' business processes, from pre-sales inquiry through
workflow assignment.
The Next-Generation OSS Environment
While DSL.net's solution functions as an integrated whole, it is essential
to understand the individual components that combine to create a ZeroTouch
environment. The process begins when a DSL.net customer qualifies
themselves on-line. This data is captured by MetaSolv's order management
and workflow subsystem, which provides the means for DSL.net to monitor
the order process, and workflow of the service request, the utilization of
its resources -- in terms of personnel, systems and the network itself --
and
ultimately turn on service. As part of the workflow process, MetaSolv maps
the retail order to an industry standard LSR (Local Service Request) then
triggers NightFire to take the LSR information and send it directly to
other trading partners.
NightFire's SupplierExpress 2.0 provides a uniform interface to all DSL
suppliers, regardless of the interface standards or connectivity
mechanisms they support. The individual ILEC interfaces incorporated in
SupplierExpress are ready-to-install gateways that eliminate the need for
DSL.net to write and add its own LSR and Access Service Request (ASR)
gateways from the OSS to trading partners. Once the order is clean and
ready, SupplierExpress for DSL version 2.0 takes over. SupplierExpress
uses standard object-oriented software and hardware to create Web-enabled
order management, provisioning and supply-chain management processes. In
the DSL.net case, NightFire automates the supply chain management
processes and MetaSolv is the order front end.
SupplierExpress is continually upgraded to stay current with changes
that occur to service-provider interfaces, and new supplier interfaces are
easily added using a drag-and-drop tool that dynamically incorporates
these new components without additional software programming.
Getting The Local Loop
The DSL service order challenge stems in part from the lack of standards:
Each ILEC has developed a different process for accepting, processing and
responding to service requests. Automating a non-standard process is
difficult and potentially would consume too much time, energy and money --
resources that few alternative providers have to spare. With customer
requests for service piling up, the natural temptation is to try to swim
faster, not to learn a new stroke. This is where proven, off-the-shelf
solutions can be invaluable.
Using SupplierExpress 2.0, DSL.net is able to automatically order local
loops -- the phone lines that complete a DSL connection -- from whichever
incumbent provider the customer uses for local telephone service.
SupplierExpress 2.0 includes links to Pacific Bell,
US
West, GTE, Southwestern Bell,
Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, and
BellSouth. The direct link that SupplierExpress
provides to the ILECs eliminates the need for DSL.net to fill out and fax
lengthy forms. The time-consuming and expensive practice of manually
preparing and faxing forms is a tremendous burden on alternative service
providers like DSL.net. Assuming the process is error-free, each
service-order can easily cost as much as $17 a piece to fax. In truth,
mistakes and retransmissions are common and the total cost of faxing a
service order to an ILEC can skyrocket as high as $200 per order.
Since NightFire's packaged SupplierExpress interface is integrated with
DSL.net's order-management system, orders are carried out quickly
following the business rules and workflow processes that are built in. For
example, the workflow system incorporated in MetaSolv's TBS enables
DSL.net to evaluate each order to determine which services have been
requested and then assign the component actions that must be carried out
by DSL.net itself and by its external suppliers and partners. Throughout
the process, each action can easily be monitored to ensure everything is
on track and the customer's order will be completed in a timely fashion.
Perhaps in the future, these processes will be standardized. The
success of the Internet, in large part, stems directly from the commitment
service providers, software vendors, and equipment manufacturers have
exhibited to standards. With a similar approach in the telecom industry,
it would be much easier to create automated processes to support new
services like DSL because information could flow unchanged through all of
the systems in the supply chain. Without such standards, DSL providers
must assume responsibility for expediting and integrating these processes.
Building A Scalable Solution
The tools that automate the order, provisioning and supply-chain
management processes are complex systems. While they are mission-critical
for all alternative providers -- be they competitive local exchange
carriers, broadband service providers, Internet service providers, PC
vendors, or Web portals -- it is not necessary for these providers to
attempt to create a solution on their own. As we have seen, even software
developers are choosing to focus on parts of the process, develop their
expertise, and partner with other software developers to create a complete
solution.
Since NightFire and MetaSolv have incorporated gateways and open
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) into their solutions, service
providers like DSL.net can reach more markets -- including customer,
business-partner and supplier -- electronically. By developing flow-through
electronic order and provisioning capabilities, service providers
effectively extend the boundaries of their OSS and even the network
itself. Calling on the expertise of a specialized eBusiness integrator
like BusinessEdge Solutions allows complex OSS integration projects to be
executed quickly and cost effectively. BusinessEdge and NightFire
installed SupplierExpress at DSL.net ahead of schedule, which will enable
DSL.net to deepen its market penetration and support increasing demand for
DSL services, according to Mr. Shine.
Behind a commitment to industry standards, the vendors have created
solutions that are open and scaleable; they can be customized to suit the
needs of all providers. Furthermore, these systems can be implemented in
stages, allowing users to increase functionality or incorporate new
features as business demands and market opportunities dictate.
BusinessEdge has worked extensively with NightFire to incorporate the
latter's ZeroTouch automation methodologies with its next-generation OSS
strategy. Together, NightFire, MetaSolv and BusinessEdge deliver the
competitive advantage associated with Internet-enabled transaction
processes, flow-through order placement and service provisioning, and
automated customer-relationship management.
The rapid uptake of DSL services last year coupled with projections of
millions of new customers this year has made it clear that this broadband
solution is here to stay. Providers have a window of opportunity right now
as customers make their choices. But the stakes are high and the
competition is stiff. The winners will be those providers that take
ZeroTouch to heart by allowing customers to place orders and manage their
accounts on the Web; and automate and integrate their OSS to enable
flow-through order-placement, provisioning, and billing.
Creating a ZeroTouch environment can help a DSL provider stay ahead of
its rivals by facilitating the potentially troublesome process of gaining
access to the local loop and allowing them to respond more quickly to
customer demands and market conditions. The technology and expertise are
available to create an integrated OSS capable of handling a broad range of
indispensable processes, ranging from service deployment, work-force
automation, and quality of service management to billing, customer care
and customer-relationship management. Once automated and integrated, these
fundamental business processes become market differentiators and
competitive weapons.
Few alternative providers have automated their business processes
enough to reap the exponential gains that are possible, but this is
changing rapidly. Service providers are learning more about the solutions
and expertise they can leverage for the future. The market for broadband
services -- both business and residential -- is up for grabs. Providers that
focus on their core business while taking advantage of packaged,
customizable solutions and skilled integrators to build a next-generation,
ZeroTouch OSS will garner their share of this promising market -- and
perhaps their competitors' share as well.
Keith Giarman is vice president of worldwide field operations for
NightFire Software, Inc. NightFire, based in Berkeley, CA, streamlines
broadband deployment to businesses and consumers by providing
communications service providers with unique e-infrastructure solutions.
NightFire's ZeroTouch approach automates the entire service management
process -- from selection to fulfillment. Visit them online a www.nightfire.com.
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