Implementing a system of record (SoR) for fiber networks can deliver tremendous commercial value for telecom operators. An SoR can save time and improve efficiency when designing and maintaining fiber networks. A well-documented network can increase customer satisfaction by providing faster response times, improving service level agreement (SLA) performance, preserving knowledge and fast-tracking growth.
Implementing an effective SoR requires internal process changes, integration with other systems and the adoption of new workflows for office and field teams. These automation changes can be a challenge, but the tactical efficiency gains and strategic business advantages they bring to rapidly growing operators are compelling.
Breaking Down Silos
When traditional data silos are dissolved, critical network asset information can be decentralized and made accessible to all departments. Companies should embrace open geospatial network information that can be easily updated and accessed from any location by a range of employees.
Business performance can be dramatically accelerated when network operators adopt cross-departmental collaboration and integrated workflows.
Significant Time Savings
An effective SoR saves a significant amount of time for fiber designers and field techs by helping to quickly and easily locate infrastructure and the most critical customers it serves as well as revealing unused fiber capacity and the cost of scaling up capacity in each region.
An SoR can also help teams swiftly identify the sites and sources of outages and affected customers to improve customer service. Customers save 10 to 15 hours per field employee per week when they have accurate network information on mobile devices.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
SoRs also dramatically improve customer response times and customer satisfaction. Engineers can quickly identify the cause and location of outages to effectively target repairs and upgrades, and call-center staff can easily access information to create smarter customer service workflows.
SoRs also improve SLA performance and mitigate the risk penalties from missed targets. Fast, accurate, easily accessible fiber assignments enabled by SoRs empower teams to prioritize VIP customers and leverage network knowledge to reduce mean time to recovery. Modern, dynamic SoRs drawing on rich, real-time data from across a network also can help anticipate bottlenecks or single points of failure.
Crucially, SoRs help capture and curate knowledge specific workers hold. When workers with deep institutional knowledge retire, quit or are laid off, organizations risk the permanent loss of vital skills and insights. Unnecessary or ineffective truck rolls offer one example – as employees with institutional knowledge retire, money is wasted rolling trucks that discover only once on site that a service ticket cannot be closed. An effective SoR saves organizations money by ensuring valuable resources are deployed correctly.
Capturing and commercializing data from across a network to develop effective SoRs requires a fundamental switch toward cross-departmental collaboration and transparent, accessible network data, but it’s critical to the lifeblood of a network. The benefit is so strong that growing numbers of operators are deploying SoRs to boost profits and transform their operations.
