Customer Service Assurance (CSA) in telecom and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

services means the collection of

Communications Service Provider A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...

(CSP) customer usage information from all practical sources including

network traffic Network traffic or data traffic is the amount of data moving across a network at a given point of time. Network data in computer networks is mostly encapsulated in network packets, which provide the load in the network. Network traffic is the main ...

, network devices, content servers, management databases and user devices to ensure customer service quality is consistent with CSP expectations.

Overview

CSA involves, when needed, real-time monitoring of a customer’s purchased services and in analyzing this data to note trends, preferences, usage problems and eventually proactive assurance of customer-level or service-level issues. Companies that provide CSA

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

and technology to CSPs, include Subtonomy, Polystar, Accanto Systems, Telecordia, and

Tekelec Tekelec, Inc. was a Morrisville, North Carolina–based telecommunications company. It developed hardware and software for networks that are fixed, wireless, or packet-based. It provided IP services to help mobile carriers with network signalin ...

. Service assurance is model that is centered on the concept of maximizing customer satisfaction. The belief is that such practices inevitably maximize the long-term profitability of an organization or enterprise. Numerous quality-regulating methods are often interwoven with CSA services. Under the CSA umbrella, it is typical to also find

Quality Assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

(QA) and

Quality Control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach plac ...

(QC). In some cases,

service level management ITIL (previously and also known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework with a set of practices (previously processes) for IT activities such as IT service management (ITSM) and IT asset management (ITAM) that focus o ...

(SLM) is also included within this group. CSA information can address a number of business issues including the following: * Individual user data collection and

correlation In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics ...

for

troubleshooting Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process ope ...

and VIP reporting * Individualized

Service Level Agreement A service-level agreement (SLA) is an agreement between a service provider and a customer. Particular aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. T ...

reporting * Noting customer preferences of certain network/content combinations. * Real-time alarming concerning usage and problem analysis for specific services/group of users. * Device

configuration Configuration or configurations may refer to: Computing * Computer configuration or system configuration * Configuration file, a software file used to configure the initial settings for a computer program * Configurator, also known as choice board ...

troubleshooting and reporting There have been arguments against the effectiveness of CSA in the past due to some of the ways in which the service is implemented. For instance, customer call centers and surveys are often not accurate depending on the customer’s involvement. Additionally, the success of CSA is dependent on what is being measured or analyzed such as service vs. expectations.

References

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