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Digital transformation in the telecom industry is on the move, and like most of the fields affected by COVID-19, it has to switch its business toward digitization. Telecom has undergone a change with the shift from ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunks. As a consequence, many organizations kept their on-premise telecoms platforms, but in the last five years, there has been a relevant adoption of cloud-hosted telephony solutions.

Driving Digital Transformation in the Telecom Industry

Cloud computing has changed the world of technology by replacing  heavy hardware; nowadays we are living in a software world where only a few of us can remember the pain of back-up tapes and floppy disks to transfer and store information.

Digital Transformation in the telecom industry is a constant journey since innovative customer products and services are being delivered and created all the time. All forms of communication will be digitally transformed by the change to the all IP (Internet Protocol) standard, at the same time, all IP provides the foundation for new cloud services that facilitate but do not dehumanize businesses. Digital transformation leads to a change in our communication behaviour, traditional and human communication channels such as voice which becomes an application in the IP world.

The Technology Behind Telecom

In Telecoms, all cloud communication services are brought together under one umbrella: UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service). Small and large businesses can obtain cost savings and productivity benefits from a range of cloud service solutions, thanks to technology development, business communications have never been so easy to manage. From a forward-looking perspective, AI is already powering smart personal assistants and chatbots, aiming to create virtual team members. A big trend in telecom is the rise of Omnichannel Contact Centres, which means interacting with customers beyond voice, including web chat and social media channels. Multichannel, big data and the integration of the IoT also pose new opportunities to the visibility of customer-related data.

Telecom Digital Transformation generates Agility, Automation and a Strong Customer Experience.

Compared to years ago, this new network framework supports a faster adoption and delivery of new products and services, software-defined wireless and fiber networks delivering services at a volume, speed, and cost per unit that was unimaginable decades ago. 

Regarding BSS/OSS systems, many Communications Service Providers (CSPs) have not embraced change and still utilize legacy business without taking in consideration to provide a truly digital experience. Most CSPs now recognize the need for a smart, native cloud-based approach to BSS/OSS matched with an omnichannel customer experience (CX). CSPs are now connecting customer data across channels to reduce repetition, by giving a holistic approach both, to companies and customers. 

Telecom is expanding into adjacent markets

Customer self-service is part of any Digital Transformation Strategy, and migrating to the cloud allows telecom players to provide omnichannel CX. To build customer loyalty, CSPs need to upgrade every touchpoint for the customer, making it easier to subscribe and change services on demand.

To increase and promote customer satisfaction, CSPs are also becoming multiservice providers and moving into adjacent businesses. In addition, CSPs need to support more data capacity options and  demand from IoT and 5G mobile data, including 4K/8K resolution video content, is going to require providers to speed broadband up or down and charge users for different skills.

Service spread is going to require more than a cloud-based capability, scalability and shorter time-to-market; its growth wouldn’t be possible without smart business systems. Telecoms should be able to work with legacy applications while transitioning into the new front and back-office cloud-native tools.

Digital Identity to tackle Identity fraud in Telecom

Telecom industry, like every other sector which provides customer solutions, used to deal with millions of people, which means managing millions of digital identities every day. Nowadays, It is expected that there are available customer self-service areas in which every user can register themselves using a Customer Onboarding platform for signing-up or logging-in with personal data; during this section it is possible that user’s credentials and personal data can be stolen and exposed to a cyber-attack. 

A real fraud case in Telecom, is the so-called SIM-swap fraud in which scammers use fake IDs to gain access to a legitimate subscriber's SIM card. Then, this SIM is used to authenticate transactions with the real subscriber's bank, making online purchases, money transfers, and running up huge costs under the legitimate subscriber's name.

Each Telecom company that collects customer information in a cloud solution should guarantee and provide a certified cloud security service to preserve and protect its customer-related data. 

Today, digital transformation allows you to exploit innovative technologies to avoid fraud and fake Identity accesses. For example biometric authentication employs real-time recognition with face matching, proof of residence, proof of liveness, voice recognition, e-Signature etc. All these steps are useful to verify and have access to a personal profile, using these types of digital solutions is more reliable than entry with passwords or codes, which are easily stolen or hacked.

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