Guides

• Talk turns to action on transformation 01 April 2008

  Keith Willetts introduces our CEO and CFO Guide to OSS/BSS. The industry is finally transforming as service providers replace their many networks with a single IP infrastructure

• Leading the charge 01 April 2008

  Convergent charging lies at the heart of bringing the two worlds of prepaid and postpaid together and extending the same service offerings to the complete subscriber base against a backdrop of new offerings, new business models and new competition. However, universal charging capability remains a goal that few communications service providers have yet achieved. Sponsored by Oracle

• TM Forum benchmarking project helps operators raise their bar 01 April 2008

  When operators revealed confidential operational data to an industry survey, some of the results have surprised the participants, reports Philip Hunter

• Reclaiming your network with resource optimization 01 April 2008

  Service providers need to see that improved efficiencies can soften the blow of declining voice revenues and help boost margins on new services, writes Chris Purdy. Co-sponsored feature: Nakina Systems

• Software giants lead moves to bring together OSS offerings 01 April 2008

  Consolidation means larger vendors are taking over smaller companies and expanding their product ranges, all in the name of end-to-end solutions. Is this good for operators, asks George Malim

• Transforming the company to manage customer experience 01 April 2008

  Communications service providers have the opportunity now to undertake a transformation in the way they do business — and the change will enable them to become more customer-centric and market-oriented while reducing capex and opex. Co-sponsored feature: Nokia Siemens Networks

• Manage the device and you can manage the business 01 April 2008

  Customers want to choose their own devices to connect to the network, but ensuring they work costs operators money. There are industry-wide initiatives to make it all easier, writes Sue Tabbitt

• Industry consolidation drives focus on business assurance 01 April 2008

  Nuno Homem answers questions on how WeDo Technologies is adapting to the changing world of OSS/BSS as operators consolidate and deliver convergent services and systems. Co-sponsored feature: WeDo Technologies

• You've got your number, and I've got mine 01 April 2008

  Governments and regulators want to stiffen competition by introducing number portability, and improving it so that customers can change providers in hours. But the GSM Association thinks that a central number directory may be of commercial benefit to operators too. By Alan Burkitt-Gray and Barry Mansfield

• Stay on plan without losing profits 01 April 2008

  Co-sponsored feature: Acuma Solutions. Too many service providers are throwing away profits in pursuit of costly revenue because they don't know any better, says Alan Duncan of Acuma Solutions

• Unlocking technology to ensure quality of experience 01 April 2008

  InfoVista is opening up its technology to other OSS vendors so that it can be at the heart of a system monitoring the end-to-end quality of networks. Alain Tingaud explains the strategy. Co-sponsored feature: InfoVista

• Fraud is growing, but where operators are really losing is from their own inefficiency 01 April 2008

  Operators around the world are now well aware that they are losing money from both crime and poor business practices. They are prepared to admit to the problem, writes Barry Mansfield

• IPTV: OSS is essential for interactive TV consumer experience 01 April 2008

  With interactive IPTV coming to market, it is essential that communications service providers address the operational requirements of delivering high quality, auditable and flexible services if they are to reap the revenue rewards such services promise. Now is the time to deploy support systems for interactive IPTV, write Lars Y Svensson and Dag Åberg. Co-sponsored feature: Ericsson

• Smarter systems help operators make better business decisions 01 April 2008

  Dashboards are good for getting an overview of performance, but what managers really want is to drill down and find out the reasons, writes Piers Ford

• Rethinking OSS for the new telecom era 01 April 2008

  In the new telecom era of industry convergence, internet-driven business models and the relentless drive for efficiency, building an OSS piece by piece no longer makes sense. A panoptic approach is required which takes into account the views of multiple stakeholders, the true 'lifecycles' of resources and services, and the power of currently available standards and SOA principles, writes Norman Kincl, in this extract from a full length HP White Paper. Co-sponsored feature: Hewlett-Packard

• Competitive pressures fuel demand for outsourced OSS 01 April 2008

  There are many reasons why operators turned to outsourced providers for OSS and billing. Led by North America, both European and Asia-Pacific operators are increasing their use of outsourcing, says Clarissa Jacobson

• Data integration: defining the common model 01 April 2008

  Network transformation and process agility are telecoms industry imperatives. However, only by adopting common data model architectures and ensuring data interoperability across all of their systems will carriers avoid challenging, costly and inefficient new service deployments and maximise the potential of new architectures such as SOA. Co-sponsored feature: Progress Software

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