Reaching the Silent Majority

How to Optimize Roaming Revenue

Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................2 Providing Customers Transparency and Control..................................2 Giving Customers the Throttle to Promote Brand Engagement...........3 Real-Time Intelligence Partner.............................................................3 Four Behaviors to Open New Roaming Revenues................................4 Identifying and Segmenting Roamers..................................................4 Tailoring and Actively Promoting Offers of Roaming Voice and Data ...5 Intelligence + Segmentation + Automation = Market of One ...............6 Raising Awareness  ...............................................................................7 Using Internal Channels for Newly Segmented Customers..................7 Where to Market.................................................................................8 The Reward of Increased Revenue and Customer Loyalty...................9 About Syniverse Real-Time Intelligence.............................................10

Introduction
A jumbo jet rolls up to an airport gate. On board, a seasoned overseas traveler unbuckles her seat belt, turns on her mobile device and posts a quick note to her favorite social network to say shes safely arrived. She then turns off data roaming for the duration of her business trip. This scenario describes a silent roamer. This traveler is not willing to use her mobile device as she normally does, and she goes unrewarded for her customer loyalty and generates no roaming revenue for her mobile operator. Worse, she represents an unrecovered expense, since that operator will need to continue monitoring signals from the visiting network even though this person accumulates no minutes of use or data charges. These are not minor setbacks to a mobile operators bottom line. In view of the range of financial and regulatory pressures operators now face, maximizing roaming revenue is essential. Key to that effort is giving end users transparency and control over their usage. Based on its analysis of the millions of daily transactions it processes as well as third-party data from Informa Telecoms & Media, Syniverse has found $1.2 billion in potential visitor roaming revenue that goes untapped by mobile operators worldwide every year, simply from roamers going silent. As a case in point, Brazilian operator Vivo realized a 50 percent reduction in uncollected invoices, just by implementing a solution that kept its users aware of usage and costs in real time while also allowing them to set predetermined usage thresholds. That same visibility over roaming usage has enabled a Tier 1 North American operator to reduce 10 times as many bill disputes. Moreover, that operator reported that its end users enjoyed more confident use of data plans, which resulted in a significant reduction in churn.

Providing Customers Transparency and Control

The immediate opportunity for operators is tapping that $1.2 billion revenue source by proactively changing the nature of their relationships with roamers, moving from apprehension and distrust to reassurance and empowerment. The key to that change, again, is transparency and control. For end users, that means having the right rate plan and a real-time view into usage and costs that is as easy to read and understand as a fuel gauge on a dashboard. Further, it means

having user interfaces that give them control, allowing them to set usage thresholds as well as email or SMS alerts that prevent overusage. Armed with this information, end users have greater opportunities to take advantage of these kinds of usage: Uploading photos to a travel blog or Facebook page Streaming videos for conference calls or business presentations Using GPS to navigate foreign roads. An aware and confident end user will use mobile applications more comfortably, resulting in more data usage and ultimately more revenue.

Giving Customers the Throttle to Promote Brand Engagement

For operators, providing such visibility and control shows a commitment to customer satisfaction and quality of service, promoting loyalty and brand engagement along with average revenue per user. Whats more, giving end users the ability to set their usage limits opens an opportunity to exceed them and for them to buy more megabytes. Thats why operators must wield these same visibility tools and their existing customer relationships to develop and offer the right plans and packages at precisely the right time. This customer-driven challenge calls for marketing departments to take a stronger role. To arrive at the best offers for roamers, marketers must take advantage of real-time aggregated usage data generated at home and when roaming. Taking cues from home usage habits, they should arrive at different consumer segments the heavy data users, the evening users, the annual visitors, the business or personal users, etc. They must then design packages to suit each and reduce roaming reluctance by communicating control and transparency that roamers can enjoy.

Real-Time Intelligence Partner

To segment roaming customers, both marketing and operations must work with a partner uniquely qualified to provide that real-time intelligence. Syniverse, as a longtime enabler of roaming, network interconnection and messaging, offers such a partner.

From its vantage point at the center of the mobile ecosystem, Syniverse processes more than 2 trillion global mobile transactions per year that capture valuable insight into voice, data, and video sessions and messaging usage. With 18 data centers on three continents and network operation centers in the United States and India, Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions almost instantaneously capture, analyze and help operators act on end-user data.

Four Behaviors to Open New Roaming Revenues

For an operator, winning a share of that $1.2 billion in unrealized revenue depends on changing consumer behavior, a difficult task unless that change is made compelling and easy. That effort falls into four broad categories: 1. Identifying and segmenting roamers 2. Tailoring, actively promoting and testing offers of roaming voice and data 3. Raising awareness 4. Using internal channels to optimally reach customer segments.

1. A roaming end user registers in a new area. 2. Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions detect registration and determine from a profile that this end user has frequently roamed but used little or no data. 3. Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions are then triggered to send a compelling offer to the end user.

Identifying and Segmenting Roamers

Through its unparalleled view of the mobile ecosystem, Syniverse has calculated that an average 75 million users travel outside their home countries each month. Of these, more than 50 percent dont use voice services and up to 70 percent dont use data. With real-time intelligence, operators can instantly determine who among their end users fall into this non-use or low-use category. Silent and low-spending roamers can be segmented

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more finely by types, times and geographies of usage, as shown by the following data from call detail records that becomes available within hours: Outbound roamers Frequency, volume, and regularity Country and roaming partner Other usage patterns Voice, data and SMS usage.

Tailoring and Actively Promoting Offers of Roaming Voice and Data

With silent roamers identified and segmented, marketers can begin to aim finely targeted offers to those most likely to accept. Roaming data can also be matched against home-based usage, revealing how a customer uses her voice and data plans at home, where fear of high expense is not a factor. Such intelligence can help craft offers that come as close as possible to replicating home usage, while still being affordable to users and profitable to operators. Examples of such targeted campaigns abound: For the occasional and infrequent roamer, one-time, all-you-can-use packages of voice and/or data that last a few days to a month, offered with a welcome SMS. For high-value customers who travel frequently, volume discounts on outbound calling. For frequent roamers, a multipackage offer for six chosen months out of 12. For the high-volume SMS sender who goes silent abroad, an offer of a bucket of messages. The offer notes non-package and package rates, offers a visible counter and makes a compelling case for a one-week promotional package.

1. A roaming end user begins downloading massive amounts of data. 2. Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions detect impending large overusage. 3. Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions send an alert or offer to the end user.

For marketers, the most opportunistic target is existing customers, whose usage histories and habits inform which menu of roaming offerings is most promising. For them, relationship marketing is effective and inexpensive via outreach through bills, direct mail and customer service interactions. Promotion to new roaming customers should build on those offers and lessons learned in their execution. For all prospects, operators can empower end users with flexibility, advance notice, opt-in offers and control. End users should be able to set up their service usage thresholds on Web and mobile applications with intuitive user interfaces. Operator-branded, real-time monitors, appearing on customer phone screens, keep those thresholds in view. Such gauges not only keep approaching monthly limits and roaming charges visible, they also link to replenishing options. In the process, they forestall bill shock and build consumer confidence.

Intelligence + Segmentation + Automation = Market of One

The usage data and segmentation that inform marketing efforts are only part of the precisiontargeting solution that lifts roaming revenue. To create and apply the right campaign, at the right time, to the right prospect, in the right media channel, operators first need hands-on, human intelligence. Then, to execute at scale, they need real-time visibility into customer behavior and intelligent, automated outreach. Syniverse can help with both. With this real-time visibility, marketing experts with mobile service providers can provide answers for those who are just learning which questions to ask, such as the following: How do you offer a customized roaming package when a roamer has turned off his data access? Answer: Send him an SMS message. How do you encourage data sippers to take larger swigs? Answer: Offer daily data rate plans, like $10 for 100 MB, or three days, up to 1 G, for $50. With Real-Time Intelligence, Syniverse can deliver those messages precisely when customers are most receptive. Equally important, Syniverse can automate many aspects of customer service that would otherwise incur impractical overhead or cause churn. This means, for example, that if an end users phone doesnt register on a trip abroad, he or she no longer has to bounce between tech support agents on two continents. With real-time views of that data and problem, real-time views of the usage habits of that customer and, further, his or her value to the business, Syniverse can provide the data to proactively fix the roaming provisioning at home before that user even senses a glitch on the visited network.

1. A roaming end-user registration and/or validation attempt fails or other failures occur (SMS-MT, SMS-MO, GPRS location updates, etc.). 2. Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions detect an abnormal number or percent of registration failures and issue alert. 3. The home operators roaming group determines fix (e.g., re-route, work with serve, etc.). 4. The roaming end users subsequent registration attempts succeed.

Raising Awareness
Consumers are flooded with mass-market advertising when it comes to choosing a mobile service provider, a device and a domestic plan, but theyre often not used to hearing about roaming plans, simply because many operators have not taken a widespread visible interest in their out-of-country usage habits before. To get that silent 70 percent to keep using data, and 50 percent to keep making calls, operators must take a proactive role in alerting their end users to new options in voice, data and video consumption when traveling abroad. The in-country competition has already gotten the message. Numerous companies already advertise Wi-Fi, Skype and SIM cards in in-flight magazines, alongside offers for rental cars, travel insurance and sightseeing excursions that appear with bookings on Expedia, Orbitz, Opodo (Europe), Ctrip (China) and other such travel sites. Its up to mobile operators to build similar online partnerships and billing linkages.

Using Internal Channels for Newly Segmented Customers

To gain roaming business, wireless carriers must beat the phone- and SIM-rental connectivity alternatives to the punch by leveraging their existing relationships. All customer touch points including websites, call center agents, emails and bills should ask end users if they would like to receive offers appropriate to their needs. Such opt-in requests not only reap leads, they also allow customers to create user travel profiles and preferences, much like a corporate travel service.

Opt-in requests also forestall consumer qualms about usage tracking. Thats the only way to prepare end users for customized offers that clearly show the influence of inside information: We see you visit Italy every July. Consider taking along 100 MB worth of data usage for your Facebook, Pinterest or Blogger travelogue. Marketers can start thinking beyond these touch points, too, coming up with appealing promotions with all sorts of travel partners. Consider affinity groups, cruise lines and specialty tour operators: Booking a trip to Greece? How about a video package for chats with the grandkids from your hometown? Cycling through Tuscany? Leave the heavy guidebook home. With our two-week, unlimited data package, you can have the convenience of your smartphones GPS and Google Maps, along with email and browser. Special for (insert airline frequent-flier program) members: 45 minutes of calling from any of our Asian destinations for only $10! In joint promotions, travel destinations and partners can even sponsor free roaming packages as a premium to encourage ticket purchases and bookings, just as hotels give out free picture postcards: Free with every passage on Mediterranean Cruise Line: a two-day data pass to send instant pictures to friends around the globe!

Where to Market
Airport out-of-home advertising is an obvious choice for reaching international roamers at a receptive point near their departure gates. Print-travel publications provide an opportunity to showcase creative campaigns alongside relevant editorial features. In both media, scannable QR codes can take prospects straight to an operators mobility purchase site. Online advertising can be targeted and tracked down to the individual level through cookies.

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Such campaigns can also span a range of many interest-specific outlets with one media purchase, through ad exchanges such as DoubleClick, AdBrite and ContextWeb. It also automates follow-through still further, with clickable links to operator sites. And dont forget mobile online advertising, attached to games or other mobile sites; by definition, this medium reaches your most smartphone-dependent prospect. Social media provides additional avenues, with friends and followers joining for usage tips and peer recommendations, and spreading the word through likes and sharing. Social media sites are another place to market seasonal and special offers, or promotions tied to regional festivals, sporting events, photo contests and the like. The basic rules of marketing still apply, and that includes evaluating your results. Assign each marketing effort its own landing page and toll-free number to compare the effectiveness of each, use unique roamer reports to measure take-up rates, and compare the response of different segments to different offers. Optimize and repeat.

The Reward of Increased Revenue and Customer Loyalty

Faced with declines in voice usage, regulatory pressures and competing providers, mobile operators have a narrow window in which to capture revenue opportunities. This will only happen if consumers can replace fear of bill shock with control and transparency. This, in turn, means giving them a clear and real-time view into their roaming usage, the ability to prevent bill shock by setting and receiving threshold alerts, and the opportunity to buy more usage when the need arises.

1. A roaming end-user registration attempt fails. 2. Syniverse Real-Time Intelligence solutions detect registration failures. 3. Syniverse Real-Time Intelligence solutions negotiate an HLR profile update/ change with the home operators HLR. 4. The roaming end users subsequent registration attempts succeed.

To be there with the offer that tips that purchasing decision, operators need the same realtime view into usage, bolstered by usage history and multiplied by their whole roaming user base. That mass of data must then be segmented into different usage profiles, so that usage plans and promotions can be tailored to each profile for maximum consumption. The reward is more than increased roaming revenue: Its increased customer loyalty through active brand engagement and higher customer satisfaction.

About Syniverse Real-Time Intelligence

Syniverse is a trusted source for Real-Time Intelligence, due to our position at the center of the mobile ecosystem and our market leadership in roaming, network interconnection and messaging. Our unparalleled view of the end-user experience makes Syniverse the only mobile supplier that can provide this detailed information, giving operators the precise intelligence they need to drive better user experiences, boost revenues and protect their brands. Our suite of Real-Time Intelligence solutions includes: Syniverse VisProactive, a solution that ensures the consistent delivery of high-quality service by proactively identifying network abnormalities, such as voice, data and messaging registration failures and overall traffic patterns, to efficiently solve issues before they affect end users. Syniverse Visibility Services, a services suite that provides a holistic approach to solve end users roaming issues by providing access to real-time roaming activity, helping operators solve roaming issues with such resources as traffic analysis, unique roamer analysis and end user/visitor reporting. Syniverse RoamMonitor, an advanced real-time alerting and rating service that enables operators or end users to set spending or usage thresholds based on pre-established policies, enabling operators to inform end users via an SMS alert before they breach their predefined thresholds, reducing the threat of bill shock and keeping them within budget. Syniverse Silent and Low-Spending Roamer Solution, a solution that empowers operators to drive revenue from silent and low-spending roamers by identifying and proactively reaching out to them with compelling offers to encourage usage. Syniverse Premium Customer Solution, a solution that enables operators to utilize signaling data to monitor end user registrations for voice and data services, and, when failures are detected, trigger an alert to be automatically sent to an operator to provide faster troubleshooting and problem resolution for premium customers. For more information about Syniverses Real-Time Intelligence solutions, visit www.syniverse. com/RTI.

2012 Syniverse Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved under U.S. and international copyright laws.

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