TMCELL will use Eastwind QSA to monitor the quality of its services
13 december 2017
The Quality Service Availability system tests the telecom operator’s services by imitating the actions of a regular subscriber. In other words, the platform bot calls, texts, orders services and goes online. The tests will allow TMCELL to identify internal errors in its network and correct them at an early stage.
Every year, telecom operators increase the spectrum of services provided. The use of Internet traffic is growing as well as the volume of advertising mailings and VAS: together these create a serious strain on the internal systems of a telecom provider. Moreover, new services need to be rolled out quickly, which may harm their quality. Combined with frequent disruptions in the web connectivity, this often results in user outflow. To avoid such an outcome and improve subscriber interaction experience, Turkmen operator Altyn Asyr, operating under the TMCELL brand, decided to introduce the Eastwind-made system to test subscriber services.
EW QSA is designed to test the availability and quality of the operator's services in action. The system supports GSM, UMTS, LTE, CDMA and fixed communication standards. With the latter two, subscribers act as called parties, i.e. as users of an external operator.
QSA has an open API to integrate with third-party applications. In particular, it allows you to receive billing data and flexibly manage the parameters of services and discounts.
The system can test 5 types of services:
• call traffic,
• SMS / USSD,
• Internet connectivity,
• service redirection,
• accurate reflection of call / SMS / data transfer / forwarding charges in the personal account balances of subscribers.
The bot tests all types of communication: inbound / outbound calls and texts in the home and third-party network. The system also checks the quality of voice traffic by making calls from both mobile and fixed phones.
Very important for the operator is the ability to test the availability of its services. For this purpose, the system sends service activation / deactivation requests (e.g., via USSD or IVR), and reports a response or absence thereof. Thus QSA allows you to timely detect problems in service provision. This can reduce financial losses caused by connectivity failures due to technical problems.
The test data is sent to the Eastwind Monitoring Console, which generates graphical reports. The operator’s technical service can monitor the test results round the clock from their workstations, and trouble shoot immediately in case of failures. The system’s UI allows the operator to build and edit test scenarios independently - for example, when new services are introduced.
The first step in the system deployment in TMCELL was to check the functionality of the product itself. As part of the project, Eastwind’s experts developed and run 240 QSA tests. In particular, they demonstrated the work of automated control system, checked the correctness of the performed tests and the subsequently generated reports.
"Apart from the obvious monitoring tasks, the QSA product will also reduce the costs of the operation of services," says Sergey Khandorin, head of interface group at Eastwind. "The sooner you find a problem - the easier and more painlessly you can eliminate it."
In this way, by collecting data about the systems 24/7, QSA helps the operator to solve several tasks in one shot: optimizing technical support, ensuring high levels of service accessibility and quality, and thereby improving customer loyalty. Eastwind successfully completed the QSA tests in TMCELL this September. The system has proved itself fully operational and ready for commercial exploitation.