What is ServiceNow TSM? A Guide for the Telecom Industry

Today, we are all equipped with 5G networks, AI, and telecommunications management software. And while 5G adoption continues, 6G is already on the horizon, with extensive research in progress, and its launch is expected by 2030. This will require improved workflow management and enhanced customer relationships. Moreover, with 3.4 billion new users waiting to come online, the growth potential for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) is very high.

Being in an opportunity-driven world, are you still struggling to manage networks, customer complaints, service deliveries, and disruptions? If yes, then managing your telecommunications workflow might be the solution for you.

With telecommunications management software, CSPs can innovate and bring service deliveries to the market faster.

ServiceNow TSM (Telecommunications Service Management) is made to accelerate digital transformation in the telecommunications industry. From achieving customer loyalty to breaking free from tedious silos, ServiceNow TSM is a go-to solution for leaders in the telecom industry.

If you’re still confused and wondering what is ServiceNow TSM, how it works, and how it can improve your enterprise’s workflow, these topics have been covered in detail below:

What is ServiceNow TSM?

Given the digital transformation, AI adoption is expected to increase demand for CSPs. The primary motive of ServiceNow TSM is to provide a unified platform enabling enterprises to manage inventories, services, customers, and partners effectively, leading to improved overall operational efficiency in the telecom industry. So, what is TSM? A question often asked by leaders of telcos but still gets missed. Here’s a quick explanation.

What is TSM? – It is a telecommunications management software, providing managed workflows in the telecom industry. It helps service teams build customer loyalty by providing features such as AI-powered self-service, virtual AI agents, and capacity planning tools.

Ever watched Money Heist? Every move in the heist was carefully planned – one wrong move and everything falls apart. Running a telco without unified workflow tools is no different. Without proper coordination between teams, the entire operation (or in your case, operations) could fail.

Core Capabilities of ServiceNow TSM

Now that we finally know the answer to what TSM in ServiceNow is, let’s move forward with what ServiceNow TSM can do:

1. Now Assist for Telecom, Media, Tech (TMT)

ServiceNow’s generative AI assists agents in responding smartly and efficiently. ServiceNow TSM offers the option of Now Assist, which enhances productivity and improves customer experience. TMT’s Now Assist makes the service speed faster while also summarizing cases and automating routine tasks with the help of AI.

2. Decision-Making Simplified

ServiceNow TSM provides agents with a helping hand to bring in solutions to complex cases, along with the best possible action. Organizations can also track agent performance, which helps identify bottlenecks and allows the enterprise to work on overall operational efficiency.

3. Customer & Stakeholder Satisfaction

Starting with baby steps and moving forward, ServiceNow TSM stands alongside customers, managing their journey throughout, focusing on customer retention. At ServiceNow, customers have the option to communicate via any preferred medium.

TSM provides a complete view of customer accounts to the support team. It assures that all stakeholders and customers are informed, and transparency is maintained providing a structured and repeatable onboarding experience.

4. Bridge Between Enterprise Customers & Suppliers

ServiceNow connects enterprise customers and suppliers, facilitating work across the value chain. It also reduces downtime and delays by reducing the time to identify and resolve issues.

5. Self-Service Messenger

TSM provides the option of self-service to its customers, wherein they can access services from anywhere, whether on the web or mobile. The ServiceNow platform gives customers various options to help themselves, including service catalogs, knowledge articles, community support, and AI chatbots. It provides digital channels that enable customers to monitor and track any service disruptions.

6. Product & Service Catalog

TSM in ServiceNow offers a flexible workspace wherein you can track all your products in one place. You can organize, manage, and visualize products and components. Businesses can easily update their existing catalogs while also improving product and service catalogs. You can also categorize between inclusive and exclusive products and services.

7. ServiceNow CMDB

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) in ServiceNow is a single system of record for data structures. It helps break the digital product silos and makes the operations fast and accurate.

8. Incident & Case Management

Enterprises can efficiently manage and track cases, incidents, problems, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and change status.

With ServiceNow, CSPs can use workflows that are aligned with telecom industry standards. In this way, enterprises can deliver services faster and constantly work on improvements in the current dynamic environment.

Also Read: Telecom Expense Management Solution Should Be on Your Radar

What Problems Does ServiceNow TSM Solve?

ServiceNow TSM has become a solution for many, ranging from network managers and CROs to various leaders in the telecom industry. It resolves both basic and complex problems that enterprises and their customers face. Some of the issues solved by TSM are listed below:

• Silos between departments: TSM breaks silos between departments, systems, and teams.
• Missed SLAs: Effective case management eliminates missed Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Billing Issues: A simple billing process makes it easier for customers to track their expenses, thereby facilitating effective telecom expense management.
• Service Disruptions: Proactive fault management eliminates service disruptions by detecting network issues in real time.
• Slow Service Delivery: Manual service delivery slows down the order delivery process. Catalog-driven automation helps to deliver services faster and more accurately.
• Tedious Discovery and Mapping of Network Resource Data: Service-Aware CMDB uses discovery tools to extract real-time data.
• Issues in Inventory Management: TNI helps centralize data and allocate the right resources. It eliminates inventory gaps and lowers the overall inventory cost.

To help you get the full picture:

Virgin Mobile UAE, a telecom company, was receiving thousands of requests daily and was unable to cope due to a lack of robust tools for managing critical functions. To address this, Aelum worked closely with the client on the ServiceNow platform.

Ultimately, the company achieved a 1% reduction in agent attrition and a 0.2% decrease in customers experiencing unfavorable outcomes within the first 6 months after going live. Read the complete case study how the enterprise experienced a 730-case deflection.

How Does the Telecom Industry Benefit from ServiceNow TSM?

The ServiceNow TSM platform aims to make the customer and business experience smooth and efficient. Here’s how it operates to assist both sides:

Breaking Down ServiceNow TSM Workflow

ServiceNow TSM leverages automation and AI, enabling a superior customer experience by providing real-time visibility into the status of requests and incidents. Meanwhile, internal management can collaborate to produce results much more effectively and efficiently.

Here’s a step-by-step process on how TSM in ServiceNow works:

1. Plan + Build with TNI and FSM

ServiceNow’s Telecommunications Network Inventory (TNI) and Field Service Management (FSM) is a one-stop solution for planning and building network equipment.

• With digital transformation reshaping the market, software that creates a representation of physical and logical networks has become essential. TNI helps organizations use automated workflows to manage equipment and services across various teams.
• TNI provides a clear view of all network resources while also offering simplified dashboards showing how resources are being used.
• TNI, when combined with FSM, speeds up service delivery and facilitates faster job reporting. It uses AI to enhance the allocation of tasks across teams and contractors.
• They work together to simplify processes for both customers and the sales team. While TNI connects customer orders to the network equipment team, FSM helps coordinate efforts across the front, middle, and back-office sales functions.

2. Schedule with OMT and FSM

To stand out in the competitive telco market, it has become essential for CSPs to provide an efficient and transparent service delivery experience by scheduling workflows.

OMT and FSM are like washing machines and detergent. Just like a washing machine handles cycles, timing, and sequence, OMT automates service fulfillment and manages dependencies. And detergent enables the machine to work effectively; FSM enhances the outcome and ensures the service is completed properly.

• Order Management Telecommunications (OMT) and Field Service Management (FSM) streamline the customer’s journey, efficiently addressing repairs and installing new services.
• FSM assists in assigning the right person with the accurate skills to complete the work more efficiently. ServiceNow AI helps with smart scheduling while also boosting technician productivity.
• CSPs facing fragmented, complex processes benefit from OMT and FSM, as ServiceNow TSM simplifies all three: sales, order fulfillment process, and post-sale activities.
• With OMT and FSM together, enterprises can enhance customer loyalty, boost their service revenue, and provide a solution for manually intensive processes.

3. Deliver with OMT and TNI

To reduce costs and launch services faster, CSPs must automate order management through Order Management for Telecommunications (OMT) and TNI.

• OMT helps streamline the ordering process to roll out new services faster and more accurately. This catalog-driven order orchestration reduces manual effort and delivers a consistent customer experience.
• Both TNI and OMT work simultaneously to enhance the workflow between the front office, middle office, and back office. They assist in realizing revenue faster while also reducing costs with automated workflows

4. Support with TSM and FSM

As the saying goes, “customer is king”. For an enterprise to be successful, it is necessary to keep the customers satisfied and happy. TSM and FSM work together to keep the customers a priority.

• TSM brings together customers and networks in one single place, enhancing operational efficiency. It automates processes to make the workflow smooth across all teams. The goal is to keep customers informed and resolve issues instantly.
• FSM and TSM ensure that customers face almost no issues. If any issues remain, they are resolved before the customer becomes aware of them.
• TSM replaces legacy systems, focusing on delivering a better customer and employee experience.
• Field Service Management provides chatbots and AI-powered self-service portals to enhance customer experience.

5. Assure with TSM and TSOM

If you’re someone struggling with tackling customer complaints, ServiceNow TSM and Telecommunications Service Operations Management (TSOM) will find a way out for you.

• TSOM provides automated assurance by handling common issues, further reducing downtime.
• ServiceNow TSM uses generative AI to make sure that customer service remains uncompromised.
• TSM and TSOM perform issue detection, isolation, and response. For instance, a Canadian telecommunications company successfully transformed from a reactive customer support model to a proactive and preventive service. There was a 41% reduction in daily case volumes.
• They use AI to detect and fix issues before they impact the customer. If issues still arise, the platform assures that they are resolved quickly and that the services operate seamlessly.

Understanding this workflow can be somewhat confusing. So, take this example: Have you ever thought about how a food delivery business works? It’s similar – you plan the menu (TNI), schedule the orders (OMT), deliver the meals (FSM), provide customer support (TSM), and handle complaints (TSOM).

Helping Telecoms Work Smarter: A Trusted ServiceNow Partner

Made specifically for telecom, ServiceNow TSM is transforming the telecommunications industry, enabling faster service delivery, lowering operational costs, and exceeding customer expectations.

As a Certified ServiceNow Partner, Aelum helps enterprises unlock their full potential, creating a seamless workflow environment that enables employees to grow. Aelum was able to transform a leading telecommunications enterprise, giving it a 50% increase in the NPS Score.

Connect to our ServiceNow experts right away, and let your organization be the next leader in the industry.