during the customer life-cycle. Excessive or inaccurate
information could be confusing, or worse, result in a
customer not buying the product.
By mapping and understanding the customer life-cycle
for an FMC product, operators can optimize the design of
their sales and marketing materials, training and operational
support capabilities, IT system requirements and the general
"out-of-the-box" experience.
Taking a holistic view of the customer life-cycle,
operators can increase service adoption and reduce churn
-- both major accomplishments for a relatively complex
FMC product.
KnoW ITS LIMITATIonS
technologies. For example, the current generation of
Wi-Fi/cellular devices today still struggle to achieve the same
battery consumption performance as regular CDMA or
GSM devices.
This means that an operator's integration and testing
activities must be focused on maximizing the performance
of the device and fully understanding the performance
envelope, without compromising overall ease of use.
Does this mean that FMC is not ready for prime time?
FMC is ready and is being deployed today, but operators need
to fully understand the limitations of the technology and
ensure that these limitations are messaged correctly to the
customer.
A compelling value proposition can help overcome
potential performance limitations of new FMC services over
existing simple voice and messaging services.
aspect of an operator's business, but the size and nature of
this impact will vary between different operators depending
upon the scope of the product and their existing business.
the needs of different areas of an operator's business, from
network engineering to sales and marketing. The real
challenge is to incorporate input from a broad range of
knowledge domains and quickly resolve cross-functional
issues. The pace at which these cross-functional issues are
detected and addressed is the number one determinant
in attaining time-to-market objectives. Getting the right
product/go-to-market team together early in the project is
vital to making this happen.
not oPtIonAl
previously did, just better. While that sounds simple, the
reality is that it's a lot of work just to mimic current
functionality in a user-friendly, well-integrated and seamless
manner across fixed and cellular networks, let alone launch
new and compelling product features. Today's emphasis on
utility means there is an underlying consumer expectation of
"out-of-the-box" simplicity. This is not easy to achieve in the
real world.
How the customer discovers and learns how to install and
use the product must be clear and straightforward. FMC is
different from other products because the consumer must
understand and master new concepts and bring together
what seem like unrelated technologies, such as broadband,
Wi-Fi routers and cellular phones.
Failure to simplify and maximize clarity will result in
customer dissatisfaction and potentially commercial
failure of the product.
been successfully delivered to consumers. There are unique
complexities to building FMC services, but these are not
insurmountable. The operators with innovative and effective
product-deployment capabilities are likely to enjoy significant
economic benefits from FMC deployments.
and cellular communications, Mark combines extensive experience in strategy development, market planning and
operational improvement with a deep knowledge of wireless technology to help clients take advantage of emerging
opportunities. Recently, Mark completed an 18-month engagement leading an operator from definition to launch
of an FMC service offering. Mark can be reached at markr@ibbconsulting.com.