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[tweakker]

Management Buyout of Device Intelligence Leaders Mobilethink and Tweakker

New owner believes MNOs and MVNOs need a more agile and highly-specialised business partner to better serve their forward device intelligence requirements

Aarhus, DK, 20th July 2017: A new era began this month at Mobilethink and Tweakker in Aarhus, Denmark following a management buyout from Spirent Communications by Pierre Hagendorf, previously general manager of the two businesses. Mobilethink Holdings, the parent entity of Mobilethink and Tweakker, is now a sister company of Hagendorf’s other business interest Softil, a V2oIP enabling technologies company also acquired from Spirent.

“The device intelligence requirements of our extensive customer base of mobile network operators (MNOs) and virtual operators (MVNOs) increases year-on-year,” says the new CEO, Pierre Hagendorf.  “Operators need deeper intelligence about the network joining experience of their new subscribers and instant analytics about the myriad of devices coming into their networks. Mobilethink and Tweakker now have the agility and focus to meet their challenges.”

Mobilethink and Tweakker help operators to better manage the growing complexities associated with feature phones, smartphones and any other connected mobile device on a network. By gearing up with Mobilethink and Tweakker’s market leading device intelligence solutions, operators will maximize profitability, deliver the best customer experience and drive down costs.

Mobilethink caters for the needs of tier one network operators by offering a fully fledged and robust device intelligence suite. Tweakker cloud solutions feature an ultra-fast deployment, cost-efficient operation and pure pay-as-you-grow monthly fee solution specifically designed to answer the needs of any MVNO.

About Mobilethink Holdings A/S

Mobilethink Holdings is the corporate structure behind two leading brands of the mobile B2B industry. Mobilethink presents the most-comprehensive mobile operator-centric device intelligence management suite for device management, customer engagement and smartphone support to boost data uptake, drive greater customer lifetime value and reduce customer care costs. Tweakker, now the trusted business partner of over 100 MVNOs worldwide, is the market leader in MVNO connectivity, online customer care, automatic subscriber onboarding and customer engagement automation solutions.

About Softil

Softil, formerly a division of Radvision Ltd., is the world’s leading provider of enabling technologies for IP communications. Softil pioneered Voice and Video over IP with a range of embedded technologies and testing solutions. Its core technologies are used in today’s Enterprise, IMS/VoLTE, and Mission Critical Communications industry. Over 800 enterprises worldwide use Softil’s solutions as the powerhouse behind their communications.

[tweakker]

Join the Tweakker team: Device Guides Specialist

Spirent’s Device Intelligence is looking for a skilled Device Guides Specialist to join our device team within the Customer Service Department.

At Spirent – Device Intelligence, also known as Tweakker A/S, we provide device intelligence solutions to mobile operators all over the world. Our solutions ensure that the operator increases their data uptake and customer satisfaction levels to reduce costs on churn and customer care.

The position

From the headquarters of Spirent Device Intelligence in Aarhus you will be part of a highly skilled team of both engineers and device specialists. From here, you will produce and verify device user guides used by the Telecom Operators in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. You will mainly assist with production and maintenance on our Device Guide management platform.

 Furthermore, you will also be taking an active part in evaluating existing instructions, problem solutions and support, where we are often measured on our guide quality.

 Your main responsibilities: 

Writing and verifying device guides

Ensure device guide quality with focus on user experience

Troubleshooting with support team

Active part in evaluating existing instructions

Provide satisfactory service to your team, managers, rest of organisation

About you

Experience with Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop

Structured nature and attention to detail

Focus on quality and speedy delivery

Communication and language skills

Interested in mobile devices and the telecom business

Experience with data registration and verification

Excellent understanding of verification processes and structured data in general

We are offering 

You will join a device team where we all collaborating to achieve knowledge about mobile devices of today and tomorrow.

Workplace is in the center of Aarhus, close to the train station.   

Fixed salary with healthcare insurance.

Apply as soon as possible

If you wish to apply, please send your CV along with a short application in Danish or English to albin.brka@spirent.com 

[tweakker]

MVNOs Must Chase High-Value Customers

Running after 10EUR customers should get MVNOs thinking and worrying about the long-lasting impact on their profitability and sustainability 

In today’s telecom industry, MVNOs are seeing many new competing wireless, cable and adjacent industry players entering the market. MVNOs should address this new challenge and target high-value subscribers instead of basing their revenue on low-hanging fruit.

Acquiring “cheap” customers can be great for customer acquisition, but running after 10EUR customers should get MVNOs thinking and worrying about the long-lasting impact on their profitability and sustainability.

MVNOs must be able to increase customer lifetime value rapidly by driving higher service consumption and better customer loyalty. Most MVNOs operate on tight profit margins, with discount MVNOs having a monthly ARPU lower than 10EUR when the acquisition cost can go up to 40EUR per subscriber. With end-users always chasing the best mobile deal, MVNOs might never recover the acquisition cost, thus requiring injections of capital to stay afloat.

Read how Tweakker Engagement enables MVNOs to orchestrate effortlessly customised engagement workflows. They have been specifically developed to help you cultivate customer interactions and boost customer spending and margins.

Go to full article. 

[tweakker]

Brazil’s Surf Telecom Deploys Tweakker Device Intelligence Solutions to Deliver Market-Leading Customer Support

Virtual operator targets 250 million potential subscribers using Tweakker automatic platform onboarding and care solutions in local language

Crawley, UK, 9th May 2017: Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT) today announced the first contract for its Tweakker line of device intelligence solutions in the South American market through Brazil’s mobile virtual network enabler/aggregator (MVNE/A) Surf Telecom.  

Targeting impeccable customer care and onboarding experience, Surf Telecom will use the Tweakker access point name (APN) automatic setup solution to get new subscribers onboard its network in a handful of seconds. Tweakker’s self-care and customer care interfaces will enable the operator to slash support costs by up to 20 percent, and generate new revenues faster than previously experienced.

“Our strategy is to deliver the ultimate customer onboarding and care experience,” said Surf Telecom’s CMO, Davi Fraga. “We looked at what’s available on today’s market to support our business goals and Tweakker was the best available solution.”

Thomas Yde Frederiksen, Head of Spirent’s Tweakker product line, added: “This LATAM development demonstrates Tweakker’s global approach to serving the expanding world of MVNEs and MVNOs. In South America, our APN Setup solution provides support for all local brands in all of the regions local languages.”

Surf Telecom has been licensed by regulator Anatel to provide MVNE/MVNA as well as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Brazil. The company was born as a response to 250 million customers demanding better service, fairer prices and more respect for the consumer.

The operator has one of the most technically advanced network platforms in the world and is launching LATAM’s first 5G-ready network in the São Paulo metropolitan region delivering speeds of up to 300Mbps, using their own frequencies on this region.

Tweakker is the world’s leading solution for device APN setup, online smartphone care and engagement automation solutions. Over 100 mobile virtual network providers (MVNOs) base their business on the Tweakker Cloud for customer onboarding, online smartphone support device data and engagement automation.

Tweakker APN Setup provides MVNOs fast and seamless onboarding of new subscribers with data and MMS services, ensuring rapid revenue uptake and radically reduced customer care costs. It enables operators to optimize their APN setup process and guarantees a successful device setup throughout the entire customer life-cycle.

Read more about Tweakker at www.tweakker.com.

Meet Tweakker team at MVNOs LATAM to learn how our MVNO Cloud can ensure rapid revenue uptake and radically reduce support costs for your MVNO business!

Book a meeting now.

[tweakker]

MVNO Prixtel Adds Tweakker Connectivity to Improve Online Self-care Experience

Tweakker device intelligence solutions have been selected by French mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Prixtel to help grow its subscriber base to 400,000 over the next two years by offering the best available 4G services nationwide at highly competitive pricing.

Founded in 2004, Prixtel is the only French operator to offer users a mobile package based on their monthly consumption, ensuring subscribers get the best price every month and avoid fees outside their rate plan. A Tweakker customer since 2014, the MVNO has since reaped the benefits of the device intelligence company’s access point name (APN) Setup solution by providing end-users flexible self-care and high quality customer care experiences.

The MVNO originally operated on the SFR network, but has now added the Orange network. This will provide existing customers with the best possible user experience, and attract new subscribers.

"Following a recent review of its entire positioning, Prixtel has now launched two new mobile plans and a network of choice: Orange or SFR. This is a new chapter beginning for Prixtel and we expect a two-fold increase in our subscriber base within the next two years,” said David Charles, Prixtel’s CEO. "Tweakker’s APN Setup tool is one of the keys to give users the best network welcome experience and their 4G phones will be seamlessly configured in a handful of seconds with the correct APN settings for their network choice.”

Tweakker is the world’s leading provider of device APN setup, smartphone care and engagement automation solutions. Hundreds of mobile virtual network providers (MVNOs) base their business on the Tweakker Cloud for customer onboarding, online smartphone support device data and engagement automation.

 Tweakker APN Setup provides MVNOs fast and seamless on-boarding of new subscribers with data and MMS services, ensuring rapid revenue uptake and radically reduced customer care costs. It enables operators to optimize their APN setup process and guarantees a successful device setup throughout the entire customer life-cycle.

Meet Tweakker at MWC

Meet Tweakker team at MWC17 to learn how our MVNO Cloud can ensure rapid revenue uptake and radically reduce support costs for your business! 

Book a meeting now.

[tweakker]

2016, Year of the Mobile Monkey

Review of Mobile Device Intelligence Year in 2016

The year 2016 saw seismic events occurring in the mobile device industry, from a noticeable slowdown in smartphone sales, Windows and Blackberry phones’ market share dropping to below 1%, and three Chinese manufacturers entering the top five OEM device providers for the first time. In terms of device evolution, it was truly China’s Year of the Monkey.

The year also saw carriers upgrade network capabilities to cash in on new revenue-generating VoLTE services, more diversification of the smartphone market, the entry of $50 smartphones, and the continued fragmentation of mobile operating systems.

These dynamics and the increasing number of device models joining carriers’ networks posed major challenges for mobile operators, as in taking back visibility and control over device fleets in their networks and delivering great customer service. For MVNOs, in particular, main struggles proved to be securing a successful and cost-efficient APN setup for network subscribers throughout the entire customer life-cycle, and the second increase customer lifetime value through timely context-aware engagement.  

Accurate and up-to-date device intelligence again proved the foundation for any sustainable telecom business and Spirent’s leadership in this vital domain proved instrumental to carriers’ growth and financial health.

Key highlights from Spirent Device Intelligence Review 2016:

Spirent’s Device Guides saved the telecom industry USD 40 million in support savings in 2016, up 135% on the USD 17m savings the industry amassed in 2015

Device Guides solved  over 5,7 million smartphone problems during the year for over 3,8 million end-users

Indicative of Spirent’s leadership in device intelligence, 5,500 new how-to-guides were added to its Device Guides library in 2016

VoLTE services became mainstream in 2016 and Spirent reacted and expanded its Device Library for VoLTE capable devices by a factor of six

Testing partnerships with OEMs grew to 130 device manufacturers, further expanding the pool of raw device detection and capability data available to carriers from Spirent’s in-house device verification, testing and certification processes

The number of MNOs and MVNOs that harnessed Spirent’s device intelligence solutions for better customer engagement and onboarding end-users with mobile data services in 2016 passed the 200 milestone

Download the free Spirent Device Intelligence Review 2016 and discover what global device market trends pressured telecom businesses in 2016 and how Spirent’s device intelligence solutions and processes helped carriers to drive further efficiencies and profitability into their operations.

[tweakker]

Exploding Smartphones Open Customer Opportunities

The problem of exploding phone batteries is neither new nor confined to the recall of 2.5 million Samsung Galaxy Note 7S. In recent years, there’s been many reports of phones that have spontaneously burst into flames injuring owners or ruthlessly destroying their property.

The risk of phones and their batteries catching fire has even raised the issue of safety of electronic devices on aircraft. The crew of an international Qantas flight recently had to extinguish a fire in a seat caused by a mobile phone that suddenly burst into fire without notice.

So, with increasing numbers of low-cost, app-heavy, battery-demanding smartphones coming to market, it’s reasonable to expect more exploding and flaming issues in the years ahead on planes, trains, boats, cars, property … in fact, anywhere.

While shipping defected products straight into the hands of millions of consumers is a catastrophe for any vendor’s brand and financial health, it can turn out to be a magnificent customer service opportunity for wireless service providers if they are equipped with smart enough customer engagement solutions.

Each owner with a flammable or exploding device like Note 7 becomes a perfect customer engagement opportunity to notify them of possible malfunction and damage to themselves and property. Or, offering a safer replacement product instead.

Tweakker’s device intelligence solutions are the cornerstone of connecting customers of more than 80 mobile virtual network operators into their networks around the globe. These solutions not only set up mobile handsets with APN settings for any network in a handful of seconds, but at the same time also identify the make, model and type of joining devices like risky smartphones.

Now Tweakker has taken device intelligence to a new level and introduced a real-time, context-aware customer engagement automation tool. It is this tool that service providers can now use to send personalised warnings about the risks of their shiny new low-cost, battery-gurgling smartphone. Even better, they can use the tool to promote more safe replacements.

Unlike competing mobile marketing and bulk-SMS campaign tools, Tweakker’s new platform is a smart and context-aware engagement tool. The personalised messages of suspect phones such as “Do not take your phone on a plane” or “Visit our web shop for non-exploding replacement devices” are generated automatically upon a customer with a defective device has been detected in the network.

So, if you’re in the business of providing wireless services and want to protect your subscribers against exploding smartphones in a smarter way, click here. It’s probably the smartest move you’ve made in a long time.

[tweakker]

Jim Ross is Tweakker’s New US Sales Manager

Tweakker is delighted to inform you that Jim Ross has been appointed sales manager for the North American market.

Some background on Jim. He began his sales career with computerized locking systems firm Onity and then joined Fortune 500 firm Comdiso as a strategic accounts manager.  In 2000, he became a national accounts manager for IBM directing sales of network security systems and then joined NetIQ to develop sales of e-business infrastructures through channel and federal partners.

Immediately prior to his new job, Jim co-founded start-up mobile virtual network enabler Toto Communications with marketing and sales responsibility for pre-paid mobile cellular services into retail and enterprise markets and US MVNOs. Now, as Tweakker’s North American sales manager, he takes responsibility to direct and develop sales of the world’s most deployed network connectivity solution into the expanding US MVNO market. Over 80 MVNOs around the globe already use Tweakker to onboard new subscribers every day of the year.

Jim is currently present at the Wholesale Connectivity Convention in Dallas and looking forward to meeting US MVNOs to give personal demos of Tweakker’s new automatic customer engagement tool for added revenue generation in the critical first 90-day new contract period. 

Learn more about Tweakker’s Engagement Automation and world’s leading APN solutions by booking a meeting with Jim in Dallas here. 

[tweakker]

New MVNO tool to automate customer engagement services

Device connectivity solution Tweakker aims to help MVNOs move to upselling profitable new services during initial 90-day customer life-cycle

Crawley, UK, 8 November, 2016: Spirent Communications plc today announced that its Tweakker device intelligence solution now features the industry’s first context-aware customer engagement automation tool for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The tool helps MVNOs to better engage with customers during the subscription life-cycle and to upsell profitable add-on services.

MVNOs can use the tool to promote new services, increase consumption of existing services, provide pro-active help in problem situations or to send personalized information messages. It also allows MVNOs to customize the service with their own brands, and to run it as a continuous and automated cloud process without human intervention.  

The solution automatically detects different events, such as a new customer joining a network or when a new handset is detected,  and can then execute customer engagement actions in real-time. The tool provides a graphical engagement orchestration wizard through which MVNOs create customized ways to engage with their customers.

“The MVNO world needs to move from unsustainable customer acquisition optimized market strategies and building brand loyalty is the start point,” says Magnus Møller Petersen, VP of Sales for Spirent’s Tweakker device intelligence solution. “Tweakker’s Advanced Customer Onboarding tool is the fast track for MVNOs to increase customer lifetime value through add-on sales conversions and extended customer life cycle. MVNOs can now bin their bulk-SMS campaign tools for a smart and context-aware engagement tool straight from the Tweakker cloud on a pure pay-as-you-grow monthly fee.”

MVNOs are outperforming mobile network operators when it comes to subscriptions growth. According to Ovum research, MVNOs grow their subscriber base by 8% per annum whereas MNOs achieve barely 2%. Their superior customer acquisition ability is largely based on low-price introductory services and customer segmentation. According to global analysts Telesperience in its MVNO Market Review 2015 – 2016, 50% of MVNOs consider low-price as their go-to-market strategy.

A low-price strategy is a good approach for mass customer acquisition, but can be harder to sustain in the long term and is one of the fundamental reasons that MVNOs fail. After inserting a SIM card to his or her device, the user forgets the MVNO, enjoys cheap services during the contracted period, and then switches to an alternative network provider offering the next low-cost deal when the contract period expires.

Tweakker’s connectivity solutions are used by more than 80 MVNO businesses around the globe. Research shows that the first 90 days after a new customer is on-boarded is critical in the subscriber life-cycle. This is the period that service providers like MVNOs must build brand loyalty, increase service consumption and upsell new services to add revenue to the subscription and to retain customers beyond the contracted period. Studies show that the likelihood of successful customer engagement decreases dramatically after the 90 day period.

During the first 90 days, customers have to be re-assured that they have chosen the best possible network provider. The process starts with a flawless customer welcome experience followed by a great customer care experience. If new customers are engaged at the right moments and with relevant messages, the likelihood of gaining and maintaining their loyalty throughout the customer life-cycle is high.  

Download Tweakker Ebook to learn more https://goo.gl/TnFtz3 

Also, you can read more about Tweakker solutions  https://www.tweakker.com/

[tweakker]

Tweakker Helps Improve Gamma’s Domestic Roaming

Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) customizes Tweakker’s Device Guides to ensure subscribers are always online with data services

U.K. MVNO, Gamma, has launched a national roaming service called Gamma MultiNet®.  MultiNet allows the user access to multiple U.K. network operators and is the primary network which the user will remain on for most of the time. However, if the primary network is unreachable, the handset will pick up the strongest network available.

Setting up the handset properly to use MultiNet gives the best user experience. 

Gamma turned to Tweakker and its Device Guides for the solution to help Gamma’s customers set up their devices for MultiNet.

Smooth customer onboarding has long been a critical business requirement for MVNO Gamma. It first began using Tweakker’s self-care Device Setup cloud in mid-2014.

 With the goal of providing customers round the clock care, Gamma then adopted Tweakker’s Device Guides platform for subscriber self-care. The guides proved successful in helping customers to configure access point name (APN) settings, switch between 2G/3G/4G networks and to update firmware among other help topics. Currently, Gamma’s Device Guides online self-care handles on average 80 support cases per weekday.

 In early 2016, Gamma identified a critical issue during the pre-launch testing stage of MultiNet which occurred when subscribers moved to an area where Gamma’s primary network was unreachable. As a consequence, their handsets automatically switched to another available mobile network.

The network switch meant that some devices dropped the Gamma APN  and prevented Gamma customers from using mobile data services. The only solution was to re-configure Gamma APN settings on affected devices.

Gamma needed an easy-to-use and simple solution to resolve the roaming issue and created customized Self-Care How-to Guides on top of Tweakker’s Device Guides. When customers experienced a roaming problem, they could consult the guides at any time online to change back to Gamma’s APN settings.

“Gamma’s reputation and position in the market has been built carefully on a commitment to providing the highest level of customer service,” said John Murphy, Customer Service Director.

Currently, Gamma’s Device Guides smartphone self-care handles 80 support sessions on average in a normal week day, each taking just under three minutes, totaling just over three hours of online support. Handling the same amount of support cases on a call center would take over 10 man working hours, assuming an average support call occupies a care specialist for about eight minutes.  As Gamma’s own statistics show, online support improves the customer experience by saving people’s time. Customers are able to solve their smartphone issues almost three times faster with the help of a good self-care service compared to help provided through call center assistance.   “By using Tweakker’s Device Guides to build custom self-serve set up guides for Gamma’s APN settings, we are again seeking to build on the customer experience by reducing the effort involved in device configuration,” explains Murphy. 

Tweakker is the world’s leading provider of device APN setup and smartphone solutions. Over 80 MVNOs base their business on the Tweakker Cloud for customer onboarding, online smartphone support and device data. The company is a business solution of Spirent Communications. 

About Spirent Communications plc

Spirent Communications plc. (LSE: SPT) is the leading provider of verification, assessment, analytics, and device intelligence solutions. We enable those who deliver networks, connected devices, and communication services to provide a superior user experience. From service provider networks and enterprise data centers to mobile communications and connected vehicles, Spirent works with leading innovators to help the world communicate and collaborate faster, better, and more securely. For more information visit: http://www.spirent.com/About-Us/News_Room.

About Gamma

Gamma is a rapidly-growing technology-based provider of communications services to the UK business market.  Gamma’s services, such as Cloud PBX, Inbound Call Control Services and SIP Trunking, are designed to meet the increasingly complex voice, data and mobility requirements of businesses, through the exploitation of its know-how and its own intellectual property.

Gamma also provides business-grade mobile and data services and, as a consequence of its history, has a substantial voice service capability.  These services enable Gamma to provide a comprehensive range of communications services.

Gamma has enjoyed strong organic revenue and EBITDA growth driven by a high percentage of repeat revenues.  The business had 717 employees at 30 June 2016. It operates across six main locations – headquartered in Newbury - with offices in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Portsmouth and Budapest.

[tweakker]

New Tweakker Multi-APN Setup App Improves Customer Experience and Data Usage for MVNO iOS Subscribers

Spirent’s Tweakker issues upgrade to its unique iOS auto-configuration application, enabling end-users to choose a matching subscription setup from multi-APN setup options for the first time.

Spirent Communications plc today announced that its Tweakker device intelligence solution, which is used by more than 80 mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) around the world, has released a new version of its unique iOS auto-configuration application. Spirent’s Tweakker now makes the user experience of connecting new data services for Apple devices that do not support standard over-the-air APN setup easier and fully automated. 

After exceeding the 1,000,000 setup milestone with the first edition, the upgraded version will enable MVNOs to provide a more intuitive APN setup experience on Apple iOS mobile handsets in scenarios where an MVNO plans to run segmented services for subscribers across several access point names (APNs).

Most mobile devices come with pre-installed APN settings for mobile network operators but not for MVNO networks. As a result, the MVNO subscriber is left to manually self-configure their device. This is a significant business issue if Apple users are unable to access MVNO mobile data services - by far the most important revenue generator - which results in a poor customer welcome experience, increased loads on customer care centres and slows revenue intake.

“Different MVNO services and subscriptions such as 4G, prepaid, postpaid or enterprise are often organised on separate APNs and that complicates APN setup,” said Magnus Møller Petersen, VP of Sales for Spirent’s Tweakker device intelligence. “The new version of Tweakker’s iOS auto-configuration app now solves any APN setup problem in multi-APN networks and provides the end-user with an intuitive menu through which the correct APN can be selected.”

According to media outlet The Verge, there are more than 1 billion Apple devices in active use around the world. The vast majority are smartphones and sit on the networks of the main mobile network operators. According also to Tweakker’s global setup traffic data, more than 30% of mobile subscribers entering MVNO services bring an Apple iOS device into the network, making it an important customer segment.

In the new, fully automated setup version of the app, Tweakker’s cloud detects Apple iOS devices entering into an MVNO’s network and automatically sends an iOS auto-configuration message to the customer. The iOS auto-configuration can also be easily triggered by a customer on the MVNO’s self-care web portal, or by a call-center agent using a customer care setup portal. In both scenarios, Tweakker’s cloud service works seamlessly as back-office behind the MVNO’s web portals.

The application can be customised by the MVNO so that the user interface fully reflects the MVNO’s brand and service and subscription naming.

[tweakker]

Introducing the Hottest MVNO Deal of the Year

As a highly competitive network provider, you’ll know that the race to the bottom is thankfully over. The key to MVNO growth is investing in great customer service, which differentiates your brand and gives your subscribers a customer experience to remember.

How else would you achieve this, if not with world’s easiest smartphone support cloud service?

Here’s Tweakker’s proposal:

If you sign up for our renowned Device Guides service for a 1-year contract starting with 2017, you get the remainder of 2016 for free. And, the monthly payments begin not before 2017!

Easily customized and embedded into your Self-Care and Customer Care support services, Device Guides becomes the perfect one-stop support extension of your business.

The faster you act the more you save!

Sign up now  for your own-brand smartphone knowledge base!

[tweakker]

Flash Wins Gold in Activating BYOD Customers

Flash Wireless is a unique MVNO present in every US market and Puerto Rico. 

With customers changing their mobile provider on average every 48 months leading to 6 million monthly buying decisions, US MVNOs are always looking for ways to perfect their services and better serve customers. 

Flash allows mobile owners to bring their device of choice when becoming a Flash customer. After a simple check in its Device Wizard Approval tool for device compatibility with its networks, Flash aims to onboard all in the shortest of time and with least operational costs.

With BYOD a significant business driver for Flash, it comes with significant challenges in setting up these devices for network services. Having countless numbers of distinct device models to cater for, Flash needed accurate and always up-to-date device APN setup solution that can handle all setup scenarios cost-efficiently.

To secure the gold medal in Activating BYOD customers, Flash chose the fastest, most accurate and cost-efficient APN setup method: automatic device setup.

The solution? Only One. Read about it here.

[tweakker]

Teleena-Enabled MVNOs Delivering the Perfect Customer Onboarding Experience

Customer Onboarding is the vital business process for any MVNO. Why? It unlocks revenues!

However, onboarding new customers on MVNO networks is not that simple and presents several APN setup challenges. Teleena, the leading MVNE, identified three that needed to be resolved – and quickly.

Teleena now differentiates its service for MVNOs by offering a fully automated device APN setup to provide faster revenue uptake, lower customer care costs and a perfect welcome experience for its MVNO customers. Read Teleena’s case study and learn how automated customer onboarding can also give you competitive advantage! Click here!

[tweakker]

Tweakker online smartphone support saves MVNO CoopVoce 10,000 online support hours in just 5 months

Improving the customer service experience while reducing customer care costs is a dream of all MVNOs, while at the same time being the favorite promise of all care platform vendors. However, few succeed in achieving this goal.

The fastest growing MVNO in Italy, CoopVoce, made the dream a reality. With the help of Tweakker's Smartphone Support solution, CoopVoce produced a record breaking 10,000 online support hours in just 5 months and will reduce annual customer care costs by €500,000.

Learn exactly how they did it - and how you can too - by downloading this case study. Click here!

[tweakker]

MVNOs - Suffering Onboarding Migraines? Losing Revenues?

If your firm has recently become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to monetise your brand, it’s highly probable that your care agents are suffering severe migraines in getting new customers onboard your network. And the result is lost revenues, high care costs and a poor customer welcome experience.

There are five device setup challenges impacting your business and all are affecting its financial health.

Device market diversification

The first stems from the very nature of the mobile business ... the growing number of varieties of smartphones in today’s market. There are now more smartphone vendors than ever before with record number of distinct device models and low cost, low quality devices dominating the market. As a result, the sheer diversity of smartphone models deteriorates an MVNO’s ability to efficiently process APN setup for the devices of new onboarded customers and this situation can only get worse. According to research firm Ovum, by 2020, over 40% of smartphones sold globally will be in the sub $100 price range. Additionally, Spirent’s Device Intelligence Review 2015 exposed the dilemma of the growing number of distinct device models. Although the device population of mobile operator networks (MNOs) is usually dominated by only 10-30 device models, each network has thousands of device models in active use, which usually end up in MVNO networks from the booming BYOD business. Overall, increasing device market diversification puts growing demands on an MVNO’s device management operations. How to maintain sufficient device identification accuracy? How to ensure APN settings that always work? How to setup the increasing amount of non over-the-air (OTA) compliant smartphones and iOS devices? These are key questions facing new MVNOs. And in a nutshell, the inability to address the problems arising from device market diversification results in slower revenue uptake, destroys the welcome experience, increases customer care costs and gives severe migraines to call center specialists. 

A third of mobile handsets do not support standard OTA setup The second challenge facing MVNOs in onboarding new subscribers is the rising number of non-OTA capable devices coming into a virtual operator’s network. Based on Tweakker’s data, 27% of customers joining MVNO networks own a non-OTA capable device. In other words, nearly a third of joining devices do not support automatic OTA device setup functionality as specified by the Open Mobile Alliance Client Provisioning (OMA-CP) standard. When an owner of a non-OTA handset inserts an MVNO’s SIM into his/her handset, it doesn’t automatically setup the MVNO’s mobile data network settings (such as Internet and MMS APN). So, the user is unable to surf the Internet unless he or she is able to manually configure the handset. This is highly unlikely and will impact revenue uptake and increase customer care costs to sort the problem.   

Smartphones not smart enough for MVNO APN setup Let’s turn to the third challenge facing new MVNOs ... the latest builds of smartphones. There’s a common assumption that all modern smartphones have in-built device setup functionality and can read an operator’s information from a SIM card and then autonomously perform APN setup. These devices, however, mostly support only the setup settings of mobile network operators (MNOs), rarely the specific network settings of an MVNO. As a result, new customers are left confused when they don’t get a mobile data connection after subscribing to a new MVNO network.  

iOS handsets must be setup differently The fourth challenge facing MVNOs is how to support iPhones. It’s generally known that Apple iOS handsets do not support standard OTA device setup and hence the onboarding process often gets stuck at the iOS device setup stage. Based on Tweakker’s setup data intelligence from its customer base, 5-10% of customers joining MVNO networks are iOS users and are unable to use their new MVNO’s mobile data service unless they are able to self-configure device settings. 

Around the clock process Most MVNO SIM cards are distributed through various 3rd party retail points and 24/7 kiosks, which is one reason why the device setup process needs to run around the clock. Based on Tweakker’s global data, nearly 50% of device APN setups take place during off-business hours and usually 10% of them during the night. A failed device setup during off-business hours and night time causes most frustration among new customers because a 24/7 call center is seldom available. The problem is costly to fix through 24/7 customer care service   

In summary, with mobile devices becoming increasingly complex to use, the number of distinct device models and OS versions continuing to grow, and the average quality of smartphones in a steep decline, customer care agents have an uphill task in getting customers onboard quickly, efficiently and at the lowest cost. 

So, is there a magic pill for new MVNOs to stop customer onboarding migraines?

There is and in a nutshell, it’s Tweakker, the global leader in mobile device setup. Since 2009, Tweakker has been providing MVNOs cloud device setup solutions … the most accurate automatic OTA device setup settings on today’s market. It is the only vendor to provide MVNOs with a technology for OTA auto-configuration for iOS handsets. With its multi-language Manual Setup Guides, Tweakker helps the users of non-OTA capable handsets to setup their handsets for their new MVNO’s network.

Today, over 70 MVNOs all over the world use the Tweakker device setup solution as the cornerstone of their business and perform over 500,000 new device setups every month.

If you envisage an MVNO business without migraines, just contact sales@tweakker.com and ask for its unique pay-as-you-grow service. (www.tweakker.com)

[tweakker]

Building sustainable MVNO businesses by increasing customer lifetime value

Since 2009, Tweakker has morphed from being a small start-up to a world leading MVNO cloud service provider. Simplicity and high quality device data spiced with a few ingenious MVNO optimised solutions have always been the hallmarks of Tweakker’s success with MVNOs.

As the MVNO business has grown, their needs have changed. Establishing an MVNO is always a business risk and fast revenue uptake is crucial from the outset. At the same time, discounted service offerings and a race-to-the-bottom pricing policy does not provide a sustainable business model and MVNOs must be able to increase customer lifetime value rapidly by driving higher service consumption and better customer loyalty.

Enabling faster revenue uptake

Today’s mobile device market make MVNOs’ customer onboarding process much more demanding. The smartphone base is more and more diversified and dominated by low-cost devices. Combined with the growing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) service model, MVNOs must now be able to setup countless distinct device models in order to get new customers onboard.

Setting up a handset for any MVNO network is not that easy. The inbuilt APN setup capabilities in modern smartphones do not usually support MVNO network settings and approximately 30% of mobile handsets do not support automatic over-the-air (OTA) setup. MVNOs’ customer onboarding success too often depends on customers’ abilities to self-configure their devices.

Device setup has become the most crucial step in an MVNOs’ customer onboarding process. Every new customer notices a failed device setup immediately – it prohibits customers from using MVNO services, needlessly occupies customer care service time, slows down revenue uptake and destroys the welcome experience.

To solve the MVNOs device setup related problems, Tweakker provides MVNOs a Customer Onboarding solution for all setup scenarios based on market-leading device identification data and a complete set of certified over-the-air settings library. Tweakker enables MVNOs to optimize their customer onboarding process for faster revenue uptake and reduced customer care costs.

Better customer service at low cost

Competition among MVNOs is fierce and for 67% according to a Telesperience report providing better customer service has become an important way to differentiate.

For today’s mobile subscribers, better customer service usually means easy self-care tools being available to solve their connectivity problems whenever, wherever. It also means having knowledgeable customer care specialists capable of providing help during the first call, without the need for a follow-up call.

Over 50% of customer care calls today concern smartphone related questions, and handling and solving smartphone related cases needlessly wastes customer care agents’ time. As the handset population continues to diversify thanks to BYOD business models, providing a better customer service is becoming mission impossible at a time when customer care costs have to be kept under strict financial control.

To solve the dilemma of better service at lower costs, Tweakker now introduces an online optimized Smartphone Support solution, which minimizes the burden of smartphone problems for any MVNO’s business. Combined with Tweakker Customer Onboarding solution, the Smartphone Support solution proactively drives subscribers to use the MVNO’s Device Guides self-care portal, instead of calling the care center.

Tweakker Device Guides enable call center care agents to help customers more efficiently. At the click of a mouse, an agent triggers an over-the-air APN setup to the caller’s handset or sends the caller a link to the correct self-care help page to avoid lengthy discussions. You have a guaranteed way to a higher First Call Resolution index, which, for an MVNO, simply means a better customer service at a lower cost.

Faster adoption for new services  

The initial success of any MVNO endeavour is often based on low price. But low pricing can also be the reason for business failure. The ability to upsell new services and larger service packages during the customer lifetime is crucial for a sustained, profitable MVNO business.

According to Telesperience, 42% of MVNOs consider better customer understanding the key for business growth. It enables increased sales through more precisely targeted upsell offers and better optimized service portfolio.

As an example, how does an MVNO launching 4G services know who in the subscriber base to target promotions? When a subscriber’s profile only reveals who doesn’t yet have 4G service, Tweakker’s Device Data complements the profile with information about which already uses a 4G handset, MVNOs can identify a lucrative customer segment for upselling new 4G services.

Tweakker Device Data is the missing piece of MVNOs’ subscriber profile. It provides up-to-date device identification data and rich device capability information with 150+ data points per device. Tweakker Device Data is available through a simple web API as one-by-one HTTP requests, or as a frequently updated file delivery.

Tweakker Increases Customer Lifetime Value

Building a sustainable MVNO business is a challenging endeavour. Making business out of thin margins in an ultra competitive market is not a walk in the park for any MVNO. However, many have succeeded with Tweakker’s help. Our mission is to help MVNOs succeed in increasing customer lifetime value through rapid revenue uptake enabled by seamless device setup, through higher customer loyalty and great customer service experiences, and by unlocking more upsell opportunities through better customer understanding.

Learn more about Tweakker’s new MVNO cloud at: www.tweakker.com