Can Your Carrier Access Software Handle Supplier Automation?

At some point in our professional lives, we’ve all run into a situation where one organization in a partnership isn’t able to hold up their end of the bargain. 

In the telecom industry, we see external software vendors and internal development staff oversimplify telecom CPQ automation and make promises they can’t keep when it comes to serviceability, costing, pricing, and more. This leaves customers dissatisfied and company brand reputations negatively affected.

When searching for a software solution to automate your telecom processes, you not only need the right capabilities but also a commitment that they will be delivered. In this blog post, we give an overview of the buy-side (serviceability and costing) services your software solution should provide to ensure your bases are covered, keeping you ahead in a changing market

Your Software Must Have Buy-Side Carrier Aggregation

What does it mean to be automated in the telecom industry? 

• If your software cannot currently evaluate all of your suppliers for both serviceability and your contracted cost within 10-60 seconds, you are not automated.

• If your carrier aggregation process is separate from your own products and services, you are not automated.

The key capabilities your software needs in order to be equivalent to MasterStream’s power and features include the following:

1. Rules-Driven Process

• The participants in the quote, including the submitted, responder, third-party partners, and more
• The product, speed, subproduct, technology, equipment, and more

We can also change qualification and pricing based upon distance or proximity to other network assets such as towers, on-net or near-net addresses, and so on. Finally, MasterStream can disclaim quotes in many different ways based on the underlying supplier, the promo, line of sight verification, requirements for install, and more.

2. A Full Slate of Qualification Methods

You need a robust set of service qualification methods in order to automate everything. This includes a full slate, such as: 

• A primary qualification method and a backup qualification method for a carrier, such as fiber as primary and cable as backup
• Distance from network assets, including NNIs, fiber (near), and towers
• Special contracted footprints
• Multiple methods such as API, ecosystem of sellers, and flat file data
• Qualification based on the term of the request
• Different rating precisions such as address level, address-NNI combinations, near-net, census, ZIP+4 or ZIP, CLLI (wire center), and LATA
• Ability to kill off a carrier qualification based upon your business rules or specifications, even if they technically qualify 
• Flexibility to leverage multiple attributes to qualify an address or carrier-based upon any combination of variables such as (but not limited to) matching address, tier, market, closest NNI or capacity at said location
  
  

3. Robust Costing Algorithms

Evaluating cost cannot be limited to address level or product level. Instead, evaluating cost needs to include the following: 

• Cost based on distance from NNI, tower. or other network assets
• Cost based on using more than one carrier to deliver the last mile solution
• Automation of primary and secondary integrated solutions for business continuity 
• Provider- or product-level costing
• Address-specific costing
• SKU-specific costing
• Adjustable cost based upon any attribute a subject matter expert (SME) could use to assess cost
  
  

4. Dynamic Visibility

You need the capability to hide or show sensitive information based upon a number of business criteria such as:

• Underlying carrier
• Underlying technology
• The partner quoting
• The employee quoting
  
  

5. Expandable Architectural Runway 

Your software needs to have a runway that allows it to expand easily so it can handle other business critical functions beyond serviceability and costing so that as you adopt more automation, you aren’t stuck in a framework that cannot automate the next steps in the sales process. These functions should include: 

• Automated markups
• Agent channel automation
• Wholesale channel automation
• Proposal automation
• Service order documents automation
  
  

Robust & Reliable Automation with MasterStream

At MasterStream, when we make a promise, we commit to it.  And perhaps most important in your selection, find a partner with extensive experience in telecom products, processes and implementing customized solutions across the full spectrum of the telecom industry - carriers, resellers, and agents!

Our software products allow you to subscribe to the right platform that will automate the portion of your business that needs to be streamlined: 

• BandwidthFinder (serviceability)
• CarrierAccess (carrier cost automation)
• SalesEdge (fully automated direct, agent, and wholesale channels)

Choosing MasterStream means you can expand at any time to cover the other portions of your business as your needs grow and change.

Don’t get stuck in a dead-end solution with limited functionality. Request a demo today!