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“ Without industry standards , access to information about behaviour , performance , and test records becomes a challenge .” - VeEX
Excitel has achieved transformative results after deploying our AI-powered CX platform , reducing overall churn by 20 %, reducing truck rolls by 62 % and reducing support call duration by 30 %. Customer retention tools are becoming increasingly crucial as telecom industry watchdogs like Ofcom focus on giving consumers flexibility and choice by making it easier to switch providers . How long before two-year contractual tie-ins become a thing of the past , meaning that CX is the new battleground ? Bridge : Preventative care is less of a hard sell than it used to be , but getting to that stage has been a result of some heavy campaigning and message-led communications on our part . Whilst the nature of our probes does allow them to be slotted into legacy infrastructure , our mantra has long been ‘ build it in , don ’ t bolt it on ’, because that encourages a whole mindset shift : one that puts monitoring front and centre as a foundational QoS and QoE delivery tool , and an important weapon in increasingly competitive markets with an increasingly demanding customer base . Now , with broadcasters not just upgrading systems but engaging in full scale IP integrations from the ground up , that message has more resonance than ever . Interra : An OTT stream passes through multiple processing points , requiring extensive monitoring to maintain QoE , which can be costly in terms of equipment and staffing . ABR streaming further adds complexity , demanding multiple bit rate profiles to accommodate various devices , driving up encoding , storage , and delivery costs . For premium content , comprehensive quality monitoring at every delivery stage can be prohibitively expensive for budget-conscious providers . A balanced solution combines postorigin server validation with simplified edge monitoring to ensure content availability efficiently . An additional challenge is that smaller OTT providers often rely on their own infrastructure , which may lack the redundancy and scalability of established CDNs , making them less equipped to manage peak traffic or sudden demand surges .
Most service providers understand that retaining clients in a competitive marketplace is challenging , and quality of experience ( QoE ) is a significant differentiator in ensuring customer satisfaction . When designing infrastructure , monitoring QoE and implementing preventive care need to be prioritised . Additionally , customers prefer monitoring tools that not only detect errors but can also easily diagnose the root cause of an issue and suggest corrective actions . When service providers deploy this type of monitoring solutions , they quickly recognise that the upfront cost is minimal compared to the overall revenue impact and long-term cost savings they deliver .
Furthermore , limited or no access to QoE and QoS monitoring tools hinder proactive issue detection and resolution , resulting in reactive problem-solving , poor user experiences , and higher churn rates . On the delivery side , investing in advanced ABR technology tools can result in buffering and suboptimal video quality . It must be noted , however , that there is consensus among service providers , including budget-conscious service providers , that monitoring and better QoE go hand in hand . For small , emerging streaming providers , delivering high-quality service is essential for retaining and growing customer bases . Technology vendors must demonstrate the value of QoE solutions through real-world success stories and clear , quantified ROI in financial terms .
Torque : You do get what you pay for . Diverse networks make it very difficult to collect , collate and analyse QoE without spending a lot of money to deploy technology to collect the raw data in the first place . VeEX : In some cases , yes , proactive monitoring systems can be a tough sell . Besides economic reasons there may be strong operational and / or strategic ones . Proactive monitoring systems require a tight integration with the CSP ecosystem , which includes other vendors to coordinate and interop with . Large / powerful CSPs may decide to develop their own home-grown proactive monitoring and self-healing ecosystem if they have the power to influence their vendors to become compatible with it . Smaller CSPs who don ’ t have that luxury have to weigh how much they want to invest in one vendor , or if they want to get involved as intermediaries to make vendors interact with the chosen system , etc .
On the other hand , the benefits of proactive preventive processes and tools are easy to convey . For example , when offering features and functions that simplify verification and troubleshooting for field technicians , to reduce repeat truck rolls .
Centralised Proactive monitoring systems can be a tough sell due to the upfront , large CapEX requirement but newer powerful , serverless monitoring solutions offer SPs a path to low-cost entry to the world of proactive monitoring with the capability of managed growth toward complete network coverage as funding becomes available . Witbe : Quality of Experience monitoring presents a challenge for budget-conscious video service providers , who often face an apparent choice between comprehensive testing that ’ s cost-prohibitive or minimal oversight that risks poor performance and dissatisfied customers . Field measurements demonstrate that testing ten to fifteen critical user journeys hundreds of times daily , rather than sporadically testing thousands of rarely used features , reduces costs and improves issue detection . This is particularly relevant for intermittent problems that impact user experiences just five percent of the time . While it involves reducing overall test coverage , this focused , high-frequency approach provides superior results that align better with actual field reports and preventing customer issues before they escalate .
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