Transcript Preparing for VoIP Implementation & Lessons Learned Presented to the Caribbean

Preparing for VoIP
Implementation & Lessons
Learned
Presented to the Caribbean
Association of National
Telecommunication Organizations
June 19, 2006
Confidential
VoIP Case Studies
Charles Ham
Director
Confidential
Mapcom Systems
 Geographical Operations System (GOS)
 M4® Software Suite
 M4® Data Integration Engine
 Accounting, Customer Service, Billing, Fiber, NMS
 Help Clients Address & Improve Top 5
Telco Issues:
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Customer Service
Improved Profitability
Information Accuracy
New Plant & Overbuild Management
Inventory & CPR Tracking
Confidential
Mapcom Systems
 Clients in Green
 Case Studies In Red
Confidential
Background
 Serve As a Roving
Reporter
 OPASTCO AMC
Presentations
 6 Independent Telcos
 Hargray
 WVT
 Yukon Telephone
 Wheat State
 Telephone Service
Company
 ENMR Plateau
 Calgary, AB July 2004
 Palm Springs, CA
January 2005
 Boston, MA July
2005
Confidential
Hargray Communications
 Bluffton, South Carolina
 70,000 Access Lines
 Initial Strategy:
 Perform inexpensive trial
 CLEC areas where we have no facilities
 CATV areas where we have HFC facilities that support cable
modems
 Flat rate pricing: unlimited local and LD for $34.99/month
Confidential
Twelve Months Later
 Company Restructured- Stopped Roll-out
 To Date there are 300 CLEC Customers
 $29.95 per month
 Plan for soft switch deployment
 Combine CLEC and LEC customers on common platform
 IP Centrex
 Will not sell to ILEC customers unless forced
 Become more involved in our customers networks
Confidential
What Did We Learn?
 Vonage Makes it Hard to Compete on Price
 Deficient in IP Knowledge and Support
 Hard to take existing staff and train on IP
technology
 Easier to take people who know IP and train them on
telephony
 Today, long distance is the reason for VOIP
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WVT Communications
 Warwick Valley, NY
 30,000 Access Lines
 Strategy:
“To address the needs of the residential and business
market segments by offering converged voice and data
services that will reduce costs and provide a plethora of
innovative services that were not possible on a
traditional telco platform.”
Confidential
Twelve Months Later
 Intense Competition from Cable Companies
 Issues Remain with “turnkey” VoIP Solution
 Offer VoIP in both ILEC and CLEC Markets offer
as Component of Triple Play
 Offer No Long-Term Contract
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“Earn the Business Everyday”
Confidential
What Did We Learn?
 Termination Agreements and Hardware Take
Longer Than Expected
 Cable Companies--Service Issues
 People are Buying Functionality and Value,
Not Technology
 Triple play
 Unlimited calling
 Detail Study of Churn < 1% w/ Triple Play
Confidential
What Did We Learn?
 Offer Unlimited Dialing Plans… Not “Long Distance”
 MOU Study – $29.95 works
 People want 1000 minute plan for $29.95
 250 MOU to 800 back to 600 MOU
 VoIP Works Well as Component of Triple PlayEliminates Vonage Advantage
 Revamp Operations to Fit Strategy
 Move to IP Requires More Training
Confidential
What Did We Learn from the “Scouts”?
 Can’t Compete on Price Alone
 Need Expertise in IP/Packet Technology
 20% Rule
 Your organization must match your strategy
 VoIP Must be Designed as Total System
 Bundled Services Destroy the Vonage Advantage
Confidential
ENMR-Plateau
 Clovis, NM
 13,500 Access Lines
 Strategy- Original
 Consumer focused in CLEC Areas
 Long-Term – All Edge Devices will be VoIP Enabled
 Bought Softswitch
Confidential
What We Learned
 Can’t Get Consumer $$ to Work
 Business IP/Centrex $$ Work Well
 SIP is Not SIP
 Still somewhat immature as a standard
 Vendors must work well together
 Data Networking/IP Training Needed
 Partnered with Community College
Confidential
Six Months Later
 Strategy- Revised
 Business –IP/Centrex
 Focused in CLEC areas where fiber is deployed
Confidential
What We Learned
 Entire Organization Needs to Embrace
New Technology
 Must Own the Pipe
 Getting the Technology Working is not the
challenge- it’s the Operational Aspects
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Billing
Training
Operations
Setting up the CLEC business
Confidential
In Summary:
VoIP Lessons Learned
 Can’t Compete on Price Alone
 WVT, Hargray, ENMR
 VoIP Works Well as Component of Triple Play
 WVT, Hargray
 Bundled Services Destroy the Vonage Advantage
 WVT, Hargray
 SIP is Not SIP: Immature Standard
 TSC, ENMR, Yukon
 VoIP “on a Dime” Works
 Hargray, Wheat State
Confidential
Preparing Operations for VoIP
 The Hardest Part is “Reconditioning” Your People
 And consider: How does your operational infrastructure
help or hinder your people?
 Network performance/reliability and enhanced customer
service have their roots in operations…
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Preparing for VoIP
 A View of the Future is Necessary in Order to
Prepare Effectively
 Will VoIP be a catalyst for change at your company?
 What inherent advantages does VoIP have over the
legacy phone business?
Confidential
Assessing Your Operational
Readiness
In most companies, the technology available to
offer new services such as VoIP outpaces the
ability of internal operations systems
to manage them.
Confidential
Each Application Must Collect/Share
Specific Bits of Information
VoIP
Monitoring
Confidential
Thank You!
Charles Ham
[email protected]
Confidential