2 min read

Three components that will solve your fiber roll-out problems

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This article is a follow-up on a previous article, Why CRM is not enough for your fiber journey, in which we talk about potential problems you might face in your fiber journey.

So, what is the solution to all potential problems you face? According to our experience, there are three basic components that you should focus on.

  1. Robust and well-defined processes
  2. Automation
  3. Integrated and available data

These are common denominators for the fibre operators that has been successful building up a stable and healty business. They have all addressed these three points. It has helped them to scale with a small and healthy staff. 

Processes

When it comes to processes, they should be based on system support and data that is available in order to function effectively. Important process parts are “Availability”, ”Installation”, ”Order-to-cash”, ”Trouble-to-resolve”, proactive maintenance and the extra functions and processes that are needed to handle a wholesale business model, in addition to a retail model.

Automation

If we look at automation, data must be available, and the processes needs to be well-defined. With a minimum of manual processes, you will also minimize human errors. Note that human errors usually happen very sporadically, but more often if the work tempo is high and this is where the consequences are the worst. Automation increase the operational effectivity and build structural capital into the business.

But, do note that there’s always an automation “road map”. Once you start dealing with a few thousand customers, you will need automation, and this is just a small part of the need you will have once your business grows into 10 000, 100 000 customers or even 1 000 000 customers. It is vital that your system support can gradually automate things, whenever the need arises. To look forward and knowing your exact needs for automations is very difficult when you first launch your fiber. Therefore, your system support must to be able to handle whatever you haven’t been able to anticipate, and this is where it really starts to deliver value.

Integrated and available data

With regards to integrated and available data, it’s important to automate and maintain effective processes. Data must be available when needed. You should never have to use a manual process and involve several people in order to receive the correct data whenever a task needs to be solved. Different processes take up a lot of time when data isn’t structured and connected.

crm-data-model

To have a data model where you can access network information, address information, tasks, monitoring information, subscription and agreement information connected to a technical service and later on, a product catalog with prices and campaigns, is fundamental in the fiber business.

It will be a lot easier for customer service to work when they have address information, but still needs to be able to access technical details about how the service works. In a fiber net, the customer might come and go, but the address will remain. It is only once this model is in place that you can directly see which customers are affected by a network error. If you create tasks as tickets towards network elements, you will be able to tell right away if there is any maintenance work occurring which might impact a certain customer´s connection by looking up their information.

This data model also allows a customer to have multiple addresses with different products and services. The technical service may include information regarding bandwidth and other technical parameters, while the product includes information regarding campaigns, packaging, prices and validity. Without that separation, commercial changes will affect the technical delivery.

All this data must be connected in one way or another for an automated and robust business with a high level of effectivity, ready for massive growth.

 

Watch a webinar on this topic:

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