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“The Personal Approach” – How Number Choice Can Give Operators Edge
To drive competitive edge, today’s operators focus on broadening choice and enhancing customer experience. To achieve this, they increasingly look to deliver personalised services that increase loyalty, explains Bill Chard, senior director, product management and development, Evolving Systems.
W
ith the mobile communications sector continuing to expand rapidly despite the downturn, wireless operators are fighting fiercely to grow and maintain their market share and build busi- ness advantage over their rivals. At the same time, users of mobile services and applica- tions are becoming ever more demanding and sophisticated.
This combination has led to a new focus on the ‘user experience’ as a key battle- ground for operators. In this context, giving subscribers the
opportunity to choose their own person- alised telephone number can be key both to reducing churn and expanding the customer base. Unfortunately, it is difficult to do this
effectively using today’s pre-provisioning model for SIM card distribution. But the ar- rival of Dynamic SIM AllocationTM (DSA) changes this, introducing new technology which allows phone numbers (as well as other resources) to be allocated to new SIM cards at the point of first use. As this article demonstrates, DSA is
giving operators the flexibility they need to offer prepaid subscribers a much broader choice via the mobile handset, and allow- ing them to achieve competitive edge for themselves into the bargain.
The Struggle to Meet Demand
For decades now, individuals have been prepared to pay thousands of pounds a time for the privilege of having their own personalised car number plate. In recent years, mobile phone numbers have become monetised in a similar way. In many parts of the world, the ability to choose a personal- ised number exerts a powerful attraction for prepaid users.
The reason is sometimes cultural. The digit eight has special significance in China, for example, while seven is seen as lucky in many Western countries. In other cases, users look for numbers which either have special
significance to them or that are easy to re- member – numbers that contain a sequence of digits that relate to birthdays, for example, or consecutive numbers for family members. In many markets, the level of interest is such that operators can expect significantly increased revenues simply by offering this service – attracting potentially higher-spend- ing customers, and retaining them for longer.
Why Current Approach is Inflexible
So, there is clearly a market demand for broader number choice. The issue is that while many operators offer number choice to postpaid customers, most can only offer it to their prepaid subscriber base through limited channels - often via a flagship store at the operator’s headquarters. Even then, the selection is typically restricted to numbers allocated to SIM cards currently stored on the premises.
The SIM card distribution model used
by most operators today means that the telephone number is associated with the card early in the process - typically weeks before going on sale. The use of this pre- provisioning model means that the number has to be paired with a specific SIM card in various systems on the operator’s network. Typically, it is even printed on the packag- ing containing the card. From the perspective of operator and user
alike, this is unsatisfactory as it mitigates against flexibility in number selection.
How New Model Delivers Competitive Edge
Fortunately, a new approach has now emerged, which allows numbers to be allocat- ed dynamically, providing an opportunity to offer number choice to prepaid subscribers at the time of first use via the handset. Not only is this more convenient for the subscriber, the user experience is further enhanced as the choice of number is much wider. Dynamic SIM Allocation™ (DSA) has access to all numbers available for allocation - not only those in stock at a particular retailer.
A menu containing a series of questions is presented to the user on the handset when the SIM is first switched on. This provides a list of available numbers and can also in- clude a search for vanity or golden numbers, which correspond to letters on the keypad and spell particular words.
Also, because the system is in the opera-
tor’s network and connected to its IT infra- structure, users have access through their handset to a greater range of numbers than the retailer has available on-site. To comple- ment this approach, the handset dialogue can be tailored to support a tiered charging structure, which means that operators can more effectively monetise specific numbers. And the ability to offer potentially valu- able vanity numbers to more users further increases revenue potential. In addition, from the operator’s perspec-
tive, being able to provision numbers at first use means that SIM cards in the distribution channel do not tie up numbers until that point and a lost or damaged SIM card does not mean a wasted number. As a result, it becomes much easier for the operator to en- sure an adequate supply of SIMs and mobile numbers to their target markets.
Positive Prospects
In today’s competitive mobile communica- tions environment, operators are looking for ways to achieve business edge. Offering prepaid customers the option to choose their own number through the use of innova- tive new models like DSA can help them to achieve this. As we look to the future, flexible number personalisation for prepaid users looks set to become an increasingly valuable tool in operator armouries.
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