Fulfillment of telecommunications services involves a series of
supply chain activities responsible for assembling and making services available to subscribers. These activities delineate an operational infrastructure whose efficiency relies upon its ability to allow a
communications service provider (CSP) to match the supply of services with demand in an economical way and with consistently high levels of quality and reliability.
To achieve these goals, the design of service fulfillment platforms take into consideration the following:
; Data transparency: Making data available across the enterprise, regardless of source, while keeping it accurate
; Process mechanization/automation: Completing more processes quicker and more successfully for better business performance
; Inventory management: Understanding the status of inventory to ensure supply will be available to meet forecast (or actual) demand
; Asset monetization: Driving enterprise valuation with the efficient use of assets
Processes
The supply chain activities in service fulfillment involve the following processes:
* Service design and cataloging
* Integrated
inventory management
Field inventory management commonly known as inventory management is the function of understanding the stock mix of a company and the different demands on that stock. The demands are influenced by both external and internal factors and are balan ...
* Network configuration and capacity assignment
* Service order entry, decomposition, workflow tracking and fallout resolution
* Service order activation
Subscriber expectations
Keeping up with increasing subscriber expectations in today's market is not the exclusive domain of
service assurance. Service fulfillment plays a critical role as well in ensuring a "first time right" customer experience.
Customer satisfaction in the telecommunications industry stems from adequate service provisioning, value for money, loyalty and relationship management. An efficient service fulfillment platform automates service order processing to gain speed via flowthrough capabilities and to reduce the service order fallout that results from manual processes. This is being recognized by CSPs as they increasingly look to their suppliers for help in achieving higher levels of automation.
OSS Observer, April 2008
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Vendors
Notable global service fulfillment vendors include Netcracker Technology
Netcracker Technology Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, is a provider of business support system (BSS), operations support systems (OSS) and software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) solu ...
, Comarch, Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
, Telcordia
iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...
(now part of Ericsson), TIBCO
TIBCO Software Inc. is an American business intelligence software company founded in 1997 in Palo Alto, California.
It has headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and offices in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South A ...
, Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a s ...
(now part of Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
), Amdocs
Amdocs ( he, אמדוקס) is a multinational corporation that was founded in Israel and currently headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri, with support and development centers located worldwide. The company specializes in software and services ...
, Oracle, Comptel (now part of Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
), HP, Tecnotree, Arkipelago and Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informa ...
.
See also
* Service assurance
References
{{Reflist
Telecommunication services