Improving communication, service, and management of trouble tickets with TMF 621

Introducing ServiceNow Telecommunications Service Management

ServiceNow’s Telecommunications Service Management (TSM) solution is an extension of the platform’s Customer Service Management (CSM) capability. It allows Carriage Service Providers (CSPs) to connect their entire telco operations and deliver required service management support at one platform.

TSM gives enterprises the power to integrate with their respective customers and providers and can orchestrate scenarios via assurance workflows while improving interoperability and reducing integration costs.

ServiceNow’s TSM solutions extensive use and benefits will be discussed in more detail across a range of articles in the coming weeks and months.

Messy architecture standing in the way of service

When delivering a service, CSPs need to ensure reactive as well as proactive service management to better connect customers and vendor-agnostic support teams and promote permeable boundaries within their ecosystem.

Traditionally, each enterprise has had their own processes and best practices, building custom APIs to connect each vendor and customer to their systems. This messy ‘spaghetti architecture’ is difficult to decode, requires ongoing maintenance and risks duplication of operation models – ultimately impacting the ability for providers to maintain levels of customer service, log and respond to trouble tickets, and bring service offerings to market at speed.

The concept of TMF standard APIs introduced a unified operating model for CSPs, where global processes and industry standards could be easily adopted. It is a well-accepted API standard that can understand and differentiate the physical and virtual resources and truly connect the CSP with respective providers and improve time to market.

Integrating networks and streamlining trouble tickets with ServiceNow’s TSM

Enterprises are gradually starting to adopt standard APIs, which puts them in a better position for their architecture, but still requires them to build and maintain custom APIs that meet the standard.

As Enterprises already use an automation platform as their core solution block in the BSS layer to manage their customer support operations, it makes sense to combine the overall network to a single point of truth and communication, delivering optimum user and customer experience.

ServiceNow’s TSM solution allows Telcos to integrate their customer support operations with the rest of the network and other providers on a single platform, with built-in standard APIs, including TMF621 Trouble Ticket API. TMF621 allows Telcos to integrate with external and internal providers for creating, tracking, and managing trouble tickets. TSM leverages ServiceNow’s CSM constructs, hence allowing TMF APIs to easily connect with both cases and incidents.

Using TSM and supporting TMF 621 APIs will allow enterprises to:

• Comply with industry standards and avoid duplication of information models
• Improve interoperability and reduce integration costs
• Comply with standardised APIs while removing the build and maintenance burden
• Standardise their operating model to better manage trouble tickets and deliver an optimum experience for their customers and agents

Expert ServiceNow and TSM support and implementation

Adoption of TMF Open APIs is part of the strategic product innovation roadmap of ServiceNow. For CSPs already using ServiceNow, it’s a no brainer. For those not using ServiceNow but recognising the future benefits of an all-in-one integrated service platform and built-in standardised APIs (both TMF 621 and beyond), integrating ServiceNow could be a smart move.

Enable offers expertise in ServiceNow TSM and has helped hundreds of businesses improve their performance and system management by implementing ServiceNow. We approach each implementation with a ‘whole picture’ lens by analysing, recommending, and executing a fit-for-purpose solution that includes:

• eBonding for Telecommunications, a ServiceNow application that enables synchronisation of service requests as they are received and fulfilled, plus the development of service catalogs
• Telecommunications Assurance Workflows, the ServiceNow app that allows service providers to manage incidents and proactively identify and notify customers impacted by those incidents
• Telecommunications Network Performance Management, which includes event management and operational intelligence features
• Order Management for Telecommunications, which allows Service Providers to capture, manage and fulfill enterprise customer orders

Enable is also recognised as the most qualified and capable ServiceNow partner, with hundreds of Service Experience and Customer Service Experience certified staff, and many more Employee Service Experience and Integrated Risk Management (IRM) certified staff.

Contact Enable to discuss the benefits you could achieve with ServiceNow TSM or visit our website to further explore our services.