You may recall from the second post of this four part series, “Automate, Collaborate, Empower — Maximizing the RAN's Value Through Coverage Maps,” that automation is the first, and perhaps most obvious, enhancement for coverage map generation, but there is much more to achieve with Mentum Fusion. In particular, it enables cross-functional collaboration based on available wireless network intelligence.
Using a mapping and reporting interface, such as our Network Online eXplorer (NOX) client, mobile operators can achieve a unique solution that automates network simulation and coverage map production to significantly reduce the time and effort in typical coverage mapping applications. Without such capability, changes made to the wireless network itself — or merely the network plans — need to be shared and analyzed to generate the appropriate coverage maps, instead of being automated in one complete solution. Essentially, it's about synchronizing network data with coverage map generation.
Mobile operators can take this a step further by publishing the resulting data to the web so that it is available to all stakeholders. All that is needed to access the coverage maps is a browser.
As an example, consider executive management. They need to understand the wireless network in relation to corporate marketing targets, corporate accounts, government accounts, network sharing agreements with other wireless operators, mandatory services such as 911 and compliance data for new spectrum. To support decision making and communicate compliance and strategy, these executives and their support staff require detailed reporting. Normally, this level of detailed reporting needs to be defined and communicated to engineering, which requires formatting and other specific visualization attributes. This pre-production process can be very time consuming, and then, the coverage maps and reports have to be generated. The likelihood that these reports are stale and out of date by the time they're generated is very high.
Good decision making involves analyzing the alternatives, but this adds to the complexity of what-if scenarios. Mobile operators can begin to see how timely data and network intelligence seem to be on opposite sides of the “spectrum” (no pun intended). With integrated network data automation and what-if analysis built into the coverage generation process, the ability to get timely, accurate and meaningful information is not only possible, but practical, without stealing away precious engineering resources.
Now, add web-based access, and all stakeholders can see the real-time status, instead of wondering which one of dozens of static report files pertain to the current plans or network configurations.
Enabling enhanced decision making with full collaboration is the exact purpose of Mentum Fusion. It centralizes data locations with a common interface, dynamically reports with different filters and inputs what-if capabilities by tuning the system configuration to regenerate maps, perhaps on a daily schedule. A reduced level of coordination is necessary to support the process which also frees up highly valuable resources so employees can focus on their ‘day-jobs.'
Check back in two weeks for my last post in the series!
