Through the Pipe:
Open Access Customer Care
By Randall Cardinal, CSG Systems International
from the May 21, 2001 issue of Broadband Week
Randall Cardinal was named chief technology officer of CSG Systems International, Inc. in October 2000. Besides leading all IP initiatives, Cardinal is responsible for setting the technological strategic direction for CSG. Mr. Cardinal joined CSG in 1995 and has been instrumental in defining convergence and e-commerce product directions and in managing related product teams.
The open access debate has focused largely on the public policy obstacles and technical barriers multiple system operators (MSOs) face in making open access a reality. In all this discussion, it is easy to lose sight of the customer care and billing challenges open access possess.
As users increasingly use a single point of entry to access a host of providers and services (Web hosting, Internet access, video-on-demand to name a few), customer care and billing becomes exponentially more complex. Let's not forget that ultimately, the customers' experience with service providers will make or break open access.
In the emerging open access environment, customer care and billing systems should be able to meet three key demands, namely:
Open access requires robust, flexible billing systems
Under open access, providers must allow for more robust systems that can handle multiple tasks as well as a host of complex billing cycles and customer profiles. Traditionally, billing for cable services has been done on a monthly charge. However, as customers are given a choice of ISPs and as the number of advanced services increases, providers must have real-time capabilities so they can track, analyze and bill customer usage of all services. Customer care and billing systems must be flexible and scalable enough to evolve with the services being offered.
Open access demands a complete view of the "customer lifecycle"
As cable operators begin to carry multiple ISPs and newer services over their networks, they should not lose sight of the valuable customer care information already housed in their billing systems. In an open access environment, customer data will be gathered from a number of points. Providers must be able to capture information from all sources and translate it into meaningful information that will ultimately provide better service to the customer.
Open access requires nimble, customized customer management and provisioning
According to Forrester Research, cable modem subscriptions alone will grow by 834 percent to 46.7 million households by 2005. This surge in the demand for broadband means that provisioning for these services must be nimble. In addition, operators must be able to isolate revenue flows for each customer and ISP or other service provider to accurately capture revenue. Providers should consider using robust customer management and billing systems that allow for account creation, self-registration, service selection and real-time provisioning.
The importance of customer care and billing in an open access environment cannot be underestimated. One needs to only look to the DSL industry-where customer complaints regarding provisioning and billing are rampant-to realize that customer care is paramount as technology choices increase.
Solving the open access customer care and billing complexities will either make or break the end users' experience. Customers want a seamless transition into this new environment and are not willing to navigate a maze of contact points with different providers to resolve issues.
Therefore, it is important for all parties involved-customer care and billing companies, cable operators, ISPs and other providers-to work together to set the standard for customer care and billing in this new era.
Got an opinion about anything broadband? Send your submissions for Through the Pipe to broadbandweek@cahners.com, along with a photo and brief biography.
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