How managed Wi-Fi solutions can increase customer value and grow your business - Communication Service Providers guide
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Communication Service Providers guide How managed Wi-Fi solutions can increase customer value and grow your business
Smart homes – new challenges
and new opportunities
Today, few people would say that they function In this guide, we dig into the reasons why the
well in their everyday life without being con- smart home services pose new challenges for
nected to the Internet. Innumerable communi- end customers – and ultimately for the CSPs.
cation service providers have therefore sprung We will also discuss issues that arise when the
up for the end customer to choose from. All end customer without the right know-how and
providing different ranges of services – some know-why choose freely from a wide range of
more essential than others. Wi-Fi solutions. Lastly, we summarize what ad-
ditional services CSPs can provide in terms of
To fulfill this ever-growing need the CSPs can real value to their customers as well as growing
no longer rely on the end customers judge- their businesses.
ment to find the right Wi-Fi solution. The CSPs
themselves must take charge and offer an ove- Happy reading!
rall solution for the Wi-Fi network to win their
customers trust and loyalty.
2 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS
What is a “smart home”?
The smart home is becoming a reality for more is deployed and how. The end customer there-
and more people. But what does a “smart fore not only need a good Internet connection
home” actually mean? In short, it is a setup to get a good smart home experience, they
where different devices in the home can be also need a solid Wi-Fi solution.
controlled remotely from anywhere with an In-
ternet connection using a smart phone, tablet, In the best of worlds the CSP would be able to
or other networked devices. Functions that the provide Quality of Experience (QoE). However,
user can control, such as home security access, as the QoE also includes performance of ta-
temperature, lighting and home theater. blets, handhelds etc. it’s more reasonable for
the CSP to engage in QoS, Quality of Service,
More than the need for an Internet connec- to a point where it makes sense in terms of ef-
tion – how does the development of the smart fort and result. Extending the service level and
home affect the communication service provi- support to include Wi-Fi coverage is one area
ders (CSPs)? The answer lies in the definition where the CSP can engage to provide additio-
of a smart home as a convenient home setup. nal value and level with customer expectations.
Convenience is a matter of user experience
and therefore it is cruical that the smart home
devices actually work when you need them to.
Otherwise the smart home is neither smart nor
convenient.
These days most CSPs can provide very stable
Internet connections to an endpoint in the
users home. However, how well the Wi-Fi signal
is distributed and how stable the Wi-Fi connec-
tion is – i.e. pre-requisites for a well-functioning
smart home – depends on which Wi-Fi solution
3 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS
The retail challenge
Who is responsible for the Wi-Fi connection?
Smart home users can choose to obtain their that the operator has no control over. Custo-
router and other Wi-Fi products in a bundled mer service representatives at the CSP are un-
CSP package or a retail option. familiar with the particular product that their
customers have purchased and have no way of
Whether the end customer buys their Wi-Fi remotely managing them.
products via retail or their CSP doesn’t neces-
sarily make a difference from a product quality Customers building their own home Wi-Fi
point of view. However, end customers tend to solutions, with little or no know-how, will of-
make their decisions based on price competiti- ten create problems the CSP cannot solve.
veness rather than product performance. This The customer themselves do not distinguish
poses a problem for the CSPs from a solution between their Internet connection and their
management point of view. Wi-Fi network and will think that the CSP is not
taking responsibility of the service.
What most customers don’t understand is that
the responsibility of the CSP ends when they
choose to use store-bought Wi-Fi products
Take control with managed solutions
CSPs can choose to offer Wi-Fi solutions for for CSPs. Offering managed solutions enables
their customers themselves. In addition to the personalized support for the end user and in-
Wi-Fi hardware they can offer managed solu- troduces new and innovative services for the
tions, such as the possibility to troubleshoot, smart home. Moreover, understanding what is
provision and monitor the status of products going on inside the connected home in terms
and network stability. of data collection and analysis is a foundation
to new and not yet known services. Managed
As the smart home grows, taking control not Wi-Fi services is the foundation of new revenue
only of the delivery of the Internet connection streams, both in terms of increased customer
itself, but of how the customers experience it satisfaction and in terms of preparing for futu-
– i.e. how well it functions inside the home – is re services.
now strategically more important than ever
4 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS
The OTT challenge
New services require better solutions
OTT (over-the-top), in its traditional sense OTT services are growing rapidly. A recent stu- end customer generally doesn’t differentiate
means market players that in some way offer dy from Cisco shows that video content now between bad Wi-Fi and bad Internet, the CSP
digital products online. Netflix is one example. makes up 80% of all internet traffic which in- will be blamed for the low quality of OTT servi-
The term OTT is also used in a broader sense creases demand for bandwidth and requires ces. Increasing customer dissatisfaction leads
for so called OTT application providers. Such better Wi-Fi solutions for at-home Internet use. to a lack of growth and more churn for the
market players provide both hardware and CSPs. It also leads to more calls and complaints
software for online services and include com- Low cost, low performance routers and Wi-Fi to customer services and longer handling time.
panies like Google and Amazon that deliver equipment will eventually cause a bad custo-
products and services for the smart home. mer experience that in turn will drive the custo- Therefore, managed solutions with selected
mer to retail alternatives. Equipment obtained and evaluated vendors will in the end lead to
in this manner can be hard to manage by the a better service level, and also more efficient
CSP causing the service level to decrease. The CSP operations.
customer’s impression will be that the OTT
services aren’t functioning well and since the
Case studies show that a good management system substantially improves
customer relations at the same time as operative savings are made.
10% 30% 20% 42%
Reduced Churn: 10% Reduced amount of Reduced calls duration on Reduced time for new device
support calls: 30% remaining support calls: 20% interop and OSS integration
by 42%
5 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS
Maintain customer loyalty and satisfaction To meet the new demands that increased use of OTT services create, full Wi-Fi coverage with great speed is essential. For CSPs it is therefore a strategic choice whether to provide solutions to improve customers’ Wi-Fi experience or not. Many CSPs are, however, hesitating to take this strategic step, debating whether or not it is worth the investment. Meanwhile, niche supp- liers are already developing new products and services that fit customers’ needs at a rapid pace cannibalizing on the CSP revenue stream. For CSPs it is therefore high time to make a choice. • Continue to only provide Internet connection and compete on speed and price. or • Differentiate by offering products and services focusing on customer value. By choosing the latter, CSPs can become more competitive and profitable by taking charge of a customer relation that otherwise might be diluted by 3rd party players. All while incre- asing internal operational efficiency, as well as reducing support and service costs. This im- proved customer relation also have the poten- tial to become a new source of revenue. 6 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS
Smart home opportunities
Adding customer value while growing your business
Over the course of the past decade, CSPs have By offering smart home services and mesh-ba-
attempted to create new lines of business sed Wi-Fi coverage with end-to-end device
across a wide range of B2B and B2C markets, management, CSPs can now increase end-user
oftentimes finding themselves unable to keep satisfaction as well as harvesting new revenue
up with digital native players. But in recent streams and business models.
years the smart home has shown to be a pro-
mising source of new business opportunities. Disruptors with alternative business models
A report from the World Economic Forum and technologies could however make network
and Accenture says the IoT will add $14 trillion choice less important. Striving to become
of economic value to the global economy by the preferred provider in the smart homes of
2030. It also estimates that the need for incre- tomorrow demands a new way of thinking and
ased bandwidth and data could generate up to a new set of offerings. By maintaining a healthy
$65 billion in operating profits for CSPs. core business and investing in innovative busi-
ness models, you can stay ahead of the pack.
7 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESSKey benefits of offering managed
Wi-Fi mesh to the home market
Reduced pressure on
New revenue streams customer services
To continuously grow, CSPs must open up new As the usage of smart home solutions has ri-
revenue opportunities. CSPs can innovate their sen, so have the calls to the CSPs’ service lines.
business and offerings by adding a new range But by offering additional managed services
of services and applications that consumers and higher quality products, troubleshooting
can use to improve their connected-home becomes more efficient and more focused on
services. This will not only drive new revenue self-service. With new and improved Wi-Fi so-
opportunities but also improve the overall ex- lutions call volumes will drop significantly.
perience.
Differentiation Better customer experience
To remain relevant, differentiating your offe- These days consumers are more aware of their
ring is key. For too long CSPs have focused on value than ever before and tend to be less
speed versus price – messages that are starting loyal if their customer experience is not on
to lose their impact. Instead, CSPs must recog- par. A managed, overall Wi-Fi solution is intel-
nize Wi-Fi as a key differentiator. To improve ligent and service issues are often preempted
the overall quality of the service, managed before they are discovered by the customer,
home networks and Wi-Fi is a key element. which makes for more loyal customers and
less churn.
8 CSP GUIDE: HOW MANAGED WI-FI SOLUTIONS CAN INCREASE CUSTOMER VALUE AND GROW YOUR BUSINESSSeliro’s business focus lies purely on the development of software that ena-
bles operators to effectively deploy, deliver and manage virtually any type of
end-user devices & services. Key areas of attention are “Perfect Wi-Fi” realized
through managed Mesh solutions, IoT and Smart Home as well as traditional
broadband gateways & services.
Get in touch so we can tell you more. Or read more about us at seliro.com
Seliro | +46 8 572 386 00 | info@seliro.com | seliro.comYou can also read
