Custom telecom software development refers to tailor-made software solutions for telecom companies. Telecom companies offer a vast variety of services that involves the exchange of information through voice, video, or data using various technologies like mobile phones, wired and wireless phones, fiber optics, Internet, TV, radio, etc. Software for telecom is the software used to manage all aspects of electronic data such as voice, video, text, etc.; the companies that offer such services are telecom software companies. Since telecom companies offer a vast variety of services, their clients will be diversified, and hence commercial off-the-shelf software doesn’t work for them. COTS is generally aimed at a broad range of requirements. Telecom companies seek assistance from telecom software development services in acquiring custom-made, personalized software for all their different needs. The shift from analog to digital transmission has made the telecom industry more sophisticated and opened many avenues for not only providing quality transmission but also at a lesser cost. Software for telecom helps process digital signals in an orderly fashion, maintain signal strength, and reduce noise, apart from various other technical activities. To handle various telecom functions, different telecom software is designed.
Let’s look at some of the most common custom telecom software development solutions for telecom companies.
Operations Support System, OSS:
Before understanding Operation Support System, OSS let’s look at a typical scenario. Suppose you want to communicate with something or someone via voice, text, SMS, email, chat, browsing, or by any other method. The first thing you need is a device to be able to communicate. The device may be a cell phone, PC, or any of the various available devices. But just having a mere device doesn’t allow you to communicate. You need to establish a connection with other devices. This is where the global telecommunication network jumps in. The global telecommunication network is a mesh of communication service providers, CSPs, or telecoms.
These telecoms allow you to connect to other devices on the network, of course for a fee! This connection may involve interconnecting with other CSPs in the process. This complex system involves various operations such as marketing a telecom product, customer support, allocation of resources, activation of service, subscription billing, and quality assurance. So next time when you make a call, send an email, chat, or browse a webpage, remember there is this complex system working in tandem to get you what you want in seconds in the background. Telecom software companies design operation support systems covering all the operational aspects of a telecom company. This OSS should be custom telecom software development because different telecoms have different operations depending on various factors like infrastructure, range of functionality, subscriber base, etc.
Business Support System, BSS :
A business Support System, BSS, as the name suggests, takes care of all of the telecom companies’ business processes such as order management, customer relationship management, ERP solutions, various tools for lead generation and billing, workflow automation, database management, employee management, and predictive analytics for various revenue processes. Apart from these, telecom software companies also offer custom-made self-service portals that can be operated by customers that can solve all the queries regarding usage, billing, and subscription plans.
Custom-made software for telecom under a business support system also helps in data analysis around the clock by aggregating data from various resources into one single database that can be used for business analytics thru data warehousing, customizable report generation to evaluate the effectiveness of various ad campaigns, predictive analysis of customer behavior for insights and improvements.
Again, all this BSS cannot be categorized under the “one size fits all” category and should be customized according to various parameters based on services offered by the telecom company.
Value-added Services, VAS:
We all agree on the fact that value-added services cannot be bought anywhere but should be designed and developed in-house by telecom companies with the help of trusted telecom software companies. Customized value-added services are the services over and above OSS and BSS mentioned above that can leverage the telecom business to a new level. Value-added services like VoIP apps (like Skype, and Whatsapp), IPTV apps(like Xtreme HD IPTV, and BestBuy IPTV), and mobile virtual call centers help telecom companies go beyond their regular services offerings which make them stand out in the competition.
The most common value-added services sought by telecom companies from telecom software development services are the simplification of complexities in API configuration, integration, and management, better scalability and storage, seamless interface across various networks, data migration services, reengineering legacy telecom systems, and improved UI/UX services.
The above comprehensive services and solutions are offered by the custom telecom software development companies to the telecoms. Let’s see some of the advantages of custom telecom software development over off-the-shelf telecom software.
Cost:
Opting for a custom telecom software development may seem more costly than its off-the-shelf counterparts, but when you look deep into the benefits of custom-designed telecom software, you will realize that it is much cheaper than readymade software. To begin with, ready-made telecom software is a mass product designed keeping in mind the broad aspects of the operations and business of a telecom company and doesn’t cater to all the specific needs of a telecom company. In such a case, you will be ended up paying even for the apps you don’t require or you don’t use because COTS comes as a whole package.
On the other hand, you might not find an application specific to your telecom business or integrate your already-using application with the COTS you bought. When it comes to customized telecom software, you can only develop applications that are not only useful for your company but also integrate your old legacy applications into the software as it is tailor-made to suit all your needs.
Flexibility:
When you buy a COTS, it is impossible to make any changes to it. With custom-designed telecom software, whenever you need a change to the existing application or a program, you can do it within the shortest period without affecting any of the other existing applications. This flexibility allows telecom companies to make changes as they wish, depending on customer needs, market trends, and various other factors that may directly impact the business.
Security:
COTS offers minimum to zero security of the data. You need to shell out some extra buck toward the security of data. When software for telecom is designed in-house or outsourced without buying from a vendor, you can build all the necessary security into the system while designing the software based on the services offered, range of operations, and infrastructure. You can even upgrade the security whenever and as you need.
Better UI & UX :
With COTS, you cannot change the user interface and the user experience will be decided by the maker of the COTS. With custom-made software, you always have the option of changing the user interface to suit your customers’ needs and requirements which will attract more customers to your telecom services because of the ease and sophistication of UI & UX.
Complete automation:
Telecom companies cannot achieve complete automation using a COTS. If you want your telecom company to be fully automated with every process being run automatically with minimum human intervention, you need to recruit a proficient telecom software development services company that can do the job for you. Whether it is complete automation or a partial one, going for customized software for telecom will make the complex operations of a telecom company, much more simplified!
