How to simplify the organization of roaming partners?

 By: Cesilia Faustina

The global roaming market is going through increasing developments; with more businesses and people generally depending on online activities, telecom providers are becoming more pressured to be able to fulfil the needs of the market. With more people depending on telecom companies to provide to people’s everyday needs, many communication service providers are stepping up and implementing technology into their roaming management. Before we get to that though, let us have a better understanding of what roaming management is.

Mobile roaming can be defined as a functionality by telecom providers to allow customers of one network to use the network of another operator (visiting network), that way, customers can still make and receive phone calls, as well as exchange data while travelling. These so-called visiting networks can be called roaming partners. Roaming management in the telecom world is essentially the process of organizing a CSP’s roaming partners and the roaming operation.

One of the best things about adopting a technology solution to this process is being able to handle the amount of roaming partners one has to face. From the contracts and agreements to implementing SIM cards; by having it stored in a digital platform, surely life must be a little less difficult.

In theory, yes, however, let’s get into more details about what a digital roaming management system can do for roaming partners’ management and what is entailed in such a tool.

The right information

When managing roaming partners, having a digital system can go a long way, with all information stored within the system itself. This means all required information of roaming partners, from the most basic and general to more detailed information, such as their contact details and agreements or contracts, will be clearly documented within a digital space. 

Through this process roaming partners can be fully documented and all required details can be displayed right away. This means less time wastage and a quicker way of finding data.

Document addressing control

A roaming management system has the ability to create a hierarchal view of roaming partners, which included its parent-child relation as to become more aware about the status and position of certain roaming partners. It also creates a clearer view of different addresses assigned to different roaming partners. This hierarchy helps to elaborate the relation between one roaming partner and the other, which also means greater simplicity when it comes to handling assignments and to which address.

A system like this incorporates a powerful and flexible address setup and assignment submodule that helps to organize a proper workflow when working with roaming partners. Its flexibility also allows for a simple setup process that can be easily changed and edited, making it in-line with a CSP’s preferences.

Test SIM card records

All information that is related to roaming partners’ SIM cards can be registered in the system for future reporting and statistical issues. This functionality allows for an automated process of billing your roaming partners based on the test SIMs. This functionality helps to automatically verify that the SIM cards successfully register in the required network, which in turn will automatically generate the TAP files.

All the data of SIM cards will be automatically stored within the system along with their status, creating a more efficient process without the hassles of manual workload.

TAP codes and IMSI ranges

The system provides the ability to define multi TAP codes and IMSI ranges for each roaming partner. This will be used to generate multi or single TAP file for the roaming partner based on the generation option selected. CSPs no longer need to waste time with manual work thanks to an automated billing system based on the any IMSI ranges produced. Through an automated and fully recorded data of IMSI ranges, managing roaming partners and handling TAP files can stay simple and direct. 

Country and time dictionaries

A roaming management system also contains a country list along with their currencies, as well as time difference information and daylight shift information; all in accordance with international standards. Each roaming partner will be linked to a country where the country name and country code will be available in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This is also the case for time difference information, based on the location of the roaming partner. 

The system allows for an easy process of inserting the UTC time for each roaming partner, where daylight savings will automatically come into effect depending on the country. By having these details automatically generated, it will be much easier to do business with roaming partners, including being aware of any different country requirements.

These are just a few factors of what a roaming management system can do; combined, they create an ideal platform to manage relationships with roaming partners. At the end of the day, it comes down to keeping a smooth work process with roaming partners and clear understanding amongst one another, and technology can help to do just that.

To find out more about roaming management, check out ESKADENIA's roaming management software, ESKA Roaming.