Customer preferences change very quickly across many industries. Service providers should find the easiest but effective ways to deliver a cutting-edge experience to consumers. According to some reports, 80% of internet traffic comes from TV and video. In the article, we’ll look at how mobile telecom software solutions can transform the telecommunication industry, reduce its costs, collect valuable user data, introduce new services, and deliver an unparalleled customer experience. Later on, we’ll present some technologies that might be useful for telecommunication applications.
With over 20 years of experience in software development, Elinext has accumulated a portfolio of telecom apps, and below we suggest some ideas on how telecom businesses can benefit from mobile telecommunication apps. For your convenience, we’ve divided valuable cases into several categories.
- Service telecom management software
A service mobile application in the telecom industry includes an overview of your products and delivers them in a customized way. This was the task, which we at Elinext had to complete while developing Samsung Smart TV App. The strength of Samsung Smart TV App lies in its ability to meet the needs of users for watching movies, listening to the radio, and content streaming. Some of its features allow consumers to do the following:
- Watch live TV broadcast
- Use video player
- Manage user accounts
- Watch recorded TV programs
- Select from the library of movies categorized by type, genre
- Add channels and movies to “favorite”
- Order channels
- Search and filter
- Use EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
- Display info about the programs and channels
- Display info about user’s account
- Get notifications on expired subscriptions etc.
- Receive tips and hints
- Change a streaming server, auto-login, reset the app.
Samsung Smart TV App from Elinext can be upgraded to future versions of Smart TV devices with voice control, facial recognition, and gesture navigation.
The advantage of mobile telecommunication apps such as Samsung Smart TV App lies in their ability to be a people-literate technology and provide multi-channel experiences. The idea of a separate computer or TV is no longer relevant and is evolving to include multiple touchscreen interfaces such as wearables and other advanced gadgets. Thus mobile telecom software solutions provide a customer-oriented approach covering the widest range of telecom offerings and content.
- Testing and support telecom software solutions
Testing and support apps in the telecom industry could involve tools for logging problems and reporting on what happened and how it was resolved. This is exactly what we at Elinext did for the Be-Bound technology, which uses text messaging to provide low bandwidth Internet access to mobile devices when there is little or no Internet Elinext developed Mobile Text Analysts to analyze the Be-Bound app and deliver improved technology through independent testing and evaluation.
Elinext Mobile Test Analysts managed to sort out the applications and find more than 105 defects, among which were about 10% of blocking & critical defects. Mobile Test Analysts performed over 1500 test cases supported by Exploratory Testing. All the defects and configuration problems were documented in detail and explained to the customer. The applications were tested and successfully deployed on live servers.
- Bills payment apps for telecom
Telecom management software enables stakeholders to create new complementary tools for growth. To avoid the commodity trap it’s better to build a multilateral business, including payments. Mobile payment apps empower telecommunications users to handle their telecommunications bills and services on the go with a simple and intuitive mobile interface. The advantage is that telecom apps for payment simplify complex transactions: users can change their TV packages, monitor mobile and Internet usage, change Internet speed, manage roaming, request support, and much more.
- Reporting apps for telecom
Reporting to a manager or clients is an important thing in the telecommunications industry. Thus, telecommunications usage and expense reporting tasks may distract employees from bigger projects up to 10 times a month. Just imagine that you should spend hours to collect the call records from all the switches and submit a report on them to the accounting. To minimize this, telecom businesses may improve the performance of data-rich telecom processes through robust telecommunications apps with the following functions:
- data warehousing – import of data from multiple sources into a single database
- advanced reporting and visualisation through the incorporation of multimedia tools into reports for clients and evaluation of campaign effectiveness as well as gaining insights for further activities for telecom businesses themselves
- predictive analytics – analysing customer behaviour for meaningful use.
- Crisis management app for telecom
Emergencies, both technical and environmental, continually affect telecommunications causing severe service outages and network breakdowns. Mobile telecom management software for crisis management can play a key role. Basic features of a telecommunication app for crisis management can include a list of all relevant contacts for instant communication, emergency reporting process, and an appropriate telecommunications service provider’s response plan. Thus, employees will ensure business continuity and take the right course of action.
The telecom business is undergoing a paradigm shift in terms of technologies. Thus, the Internet of Things is a steady trend in the telecom industry. IoT-based telecom management software is adopted by telecom providers to deliver a personalized offer for customers. Besides, IoT enables telecommunications companies to manage their data centre, enhance security of their stations remotely, and perform remote equipment monitoring for safety hazards.
Next comes Artificial Intelligence (AI) telecom management software. Vodafone saw a 68% improvement in customer satisfaction after the introduction of a chatbot to handle customer requests. Forbes also suggests AI for network optimization and predictive maintenance of telecom networks and overall robotic process automation.
As we’ve mentioned above, telecom businesses collect a huge amount of data from customers and networks. Big Data crunching ensures better product development, customer segmentation, network optimization, reduced churn rates, and more. Big Data telecom apps are very promising when it comes to fraud reduction. The annual costs of telecom subscription fraud are reported to be between 3 and 10% of the providers’ revenue. Fraud detection systems based on data mining algorithms are used to detect fraudulent users and suspicious behavior. Another thing worth mentioning is that the telecom business can use data on how customers who used to work, behaved before, and take relevant preventive actions.
Conclusion
The global telecommunications statistics are reported to count around 7.7 billion active mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide, an enormous rise from 3.3 billion just 5 years ago. Most consumers have multiple devices and subscriptions around the world. There is no doubt that due to multiple opportunities offered by 5G, we’ll observe unprecedented changes in terms of telecom subscriptions, technology penetration, operator revenues, and services. Mobile app developers like Elinext recognize these new challenges and are ready to deliver mobile telecommunication management software to increase telecom business performance and ensure its higher visibility in the telecom market.
Since most consumers perform all important activities using their mobile devices, reliable mobile telecommunication applications will be a suitable investment for telecommunications service providers to control their networks and equipment and to provide personalized customer service. We do not think that there is a guaranteed silver lining or killer telecom app, but it is definitely worth moving into advanced IT services and adjacent industries to increase telecom upselling opportunities.
