Yunnan: Leading the Way in China
Yunnan MCC is the leading operator in its region, and its subscriber base of more than twelve million is growing rapidly.
Yunnan MCC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile. China Mobile plays a leading role in the development of the mobile communications industry in China and holds an important position in the international arena as well. It ranks first in the world in terms of network scale and in terms of customer base, with more than 350 million subscribers. The growth pace is expected to remain high for some time into the future.
The Need: Increase ARPU by Adopting an End-to-End Total Call Completion Strategy
Well aware of the significance of the fact that voice-related revenue accounts for more than 80% of the revenue generated by mobile operators, Yunnan views it as mission-critical to maximize voice revenues.
On the average, only about 70% of call attempts are successfully completed, while the remaining 30% are not. While these figures vary from operator to operator, one fact is consistent: very many call attempts are not completed. These lost calls consume system resources without generating any income at all and harm end user satisfaction. For large operators like Yunnan, this represents a highly substantial loss of potential income.
Yunnan sought a suite of Total Call Completion services that could significantly increase voice revenue by steering virtually all failed call attempts to successful completion as billable voice traffic, thereby increasing the flow of information about calls and callers. This, in turn, generates new traffic.
Moreover, Yunnan aspired to increase user satisfaction through greater information, improved communication and ease of use.
The Challenge: To Meet the Call Completion Preferences of the Local Subscriber Population
Unlike other markets that enjoy high voicemail penetration rates, voicemail penetration at Yunnan is very low. Therefore, a particular challenge to Yunnan was to deploy an effective total Call Completion solution that meets the particular needs and preferences of its subscriber population.
Yunnan realized that their optimal solution requires taking a strategic approach and offering a comprehensive set of Call Completion services that meet all calling scenarios, ensure highest user satisfaction, and optimize revenue generation.
The Solution: Comverse Total Call Completion Suite, Replacing Legacy Missed Call Alert System
Realizing that effective Call Completion requires a coherent strategy, and not just a set of unconnected individual services, Yunnan China Mobile launched the Comverse Total Call Completion Solution, replacing their existing Missed Call Alert product.
Comverse Total Call Completion Suite deployed by Yunnan includes services for the A Party (the calling party), as well as services for the B party (the called party).
Services for the A party (the caller):
- Multimedia Call Completion: Callers are prompted to leave voice messages for immediate delivery to people without voicemail. The message is received as an MMS or SMS message, on which the recipient clicks to open and hear the voice message. The Multimedia Call Completion experience can be enhanced with multimedia elements, such as operator-branded or user-selected video clips and animated graphics.
- Notify Me: Taking a pro-active caller-oriented approach, Notify Me service alerts callers by SMS as soon as a desired party becomes available. Whether the called party’s handset is out of range, out of battery or simply closed, the caller receives relevant information and the ability to re-initiate the call with a single click. Notify Me provides value to users by eliminating the need for annoying repetitive call attempts, ensuring that they can reach the intended party with maximum convenience.
Service for the B party (the called party):
- Who Called: Who Called delivers information about missed calls that the handset does not report. It ensures that the called party never misses the opportunity to know about all calls missed while unreachable (handset off, out of battery or out of service range). As soon as the called party becomes reachable, an information-rich SMS or MMS notification reports who called them and when.
Why Selected: Providing a Coherent User Experience for Both the Calling and Called Parties
Yunnan desired to give its subscribers the best user experience possible and at the same time maximize the revenue potential of every call action in the network.
Yunnan therefore insisted on deploying the Comverse Total Call Completion Suite.
Suite benefits include:
- Unified Call Flow: Binds the suite’s Call Completion services into a coherent user experience
- Joint Integrated Next-Generation Platform: Based on InSight technology, ensures maximal scalability, availability and flexibility that can match any customer’s preferences and needs.
Additional factors for the choice included the fact that Comverse Call Completion is a field-proven global success story, generating significant revenue for more than 120 operators worldwide serving more than 300 million subscribers. At the same time, Comverse is also noted for its “full solutions partner” approach that is an integral element of its local presence and close fruitful relationships with operators around the globe.
Well Prepared Launch and Go-to-Market Plan
Yunnan carefully laid the groundwork for a successful launch. The marketing team was well prepared with a comprehensive marketing and communication plan. Highlights include the following:
- Operation and Customer Care Training
- ATL Promotion
- Product Promotion Flashes on LCD Monitors of Selected Buildings
- Local Newspaper Ads
- Local Radio Station Ads
- BTL (Below The Line) Promotions
- SMS Broadcast
- Concert Promotions: New subscriber rewards included local concert tickets
- 3-Month Free Trial Offer + Rebate Promotion
- Active telemarketing to selected users
Strong Results: The Business Case Is Compelling
The success of the Comverse Total Call Completion Suite at Yunnan was quick and significant.
The common platform and connection between all applications enables seamless, efficient and synergistic flow between the applications, thus maximizing the benefits for users and for the operator. User response was overwhelmingly positive. Usage of the services and increased revenues and new traffic reached significant levels quickly.
The two graphs below show the increases in penetration and revenues. The first graph depicts the growth in the number of active registered subscribers (in millions) who actively make use of the call completion services – a startling growth of more than 100% within a ten-month period.
The second graph depicts the dramatic month-by-month revenue increase – more than 300% in 17 months! The business model is revenue sharing.
Ms. Liu Lihong, GM of the Data Department at Yunnan, summed up the success of the Comverse Total Call Completion Suite at Yunnan: “The solution is well crafted and meets the exact needs and preferences of our market. The benefits to Yunnan and to our users are so apparent that I would say that the business case is compelling.”