Tech from Infovista is intended to reduce outages by identifying root causes faster, speed fixes by up to 66%
In the UK, BT is looking to interruptions to voice services by deploying new technology from French firm Infovista, which specialises in network lifecycle automation.
The idea is to identify and fix the root cause of disruptions to service much faster. This is part of a wider BT initiative to increase “operational efficiency and customer satisfaction,” according to a press release.
Offset criticism?
Perhaps it is also seeking to offset the criticism that has been heaped upon it for whacking up prices during a cost of living crisis beyond the level of inflation. The regulator, Ofcom, launched a consultation into inflation-linked price rises which are the highest in Europe, with increases of up to 17.3%.
BT lost 126,000 fixed broadband subscribers in the first six months of this year, which is said it had expected, but its higher prices meant revenues more than offset the loss.
The UK’s incumbent operator plans to achieve more reliable voice services through a tailored solution based on Infovista’s Ativa fixed voice assurance. It will focus on automating automation root cause analysis and notification, to improve “troubleshooting through intelligent pattern discovery, correlation, analysis and alarm generation”.
Faster, more accurate identification of root causes is expected to reduce the mean time to resolution by up to 66% and simultaneously modernise troubleshooting processes within BT’s trouble-ticketing system.
Or as Infovista put it, the tech will provides “automated workflows for issue detection, analysis, and alarm generation, providing relevant data to streamline network, service, and subscriber issue troubleshooting.”
Replacing manual processes
After so many years of talking about automation and transformation, it is somewhat amazing that only now is this move being made away from manual to automated operations.
Or as the press statement says, “Trimming operational costs by eliminating the need for initial level 1 support and fast-tracking direct escalation to the appropriate level 2 teams where necessary. This shifts operations from manual to automated, KPI- [key performance indicator] and SLA-driven [service level agreement], ensuring the maintenance of service and business objectives.
Reza Rahnama, BT Group’s MD for Mobile Networks, comments, “BT is committed to developing and delivering next-generation services that continue to put our customers at the core of what we do and to deliver better outcomes. This means digitally transforming our own operations and using the power of automation across our network, infrastructure, services and operations.”
The solution will be demo’d by the partners at TM Forum’s DTW event in Copenhagen from 19-21 September.