Customer case

Increase the reliability of mobile QoS analyses with SMAQ

Thu 20 Jun 2019

Orange Ivory Coast has used SMAQ since mid-2018. Ferdinand Tra, Head of Service Management Center, shares his experience of this application.

SMAQ is an application which analyses the Quality of Service (QoS) of mobile networks. SMAQ, published by Sofrecom, processes the data collected during drive tests and generates a range of reports to quickly identify improvement areas. It is available “as-a-service” and accessible via the Internet in order to facilitate and accelerate data transmission and processing.

How do you manage mobile QoS measurements at Orange Ivory Coast?

F.T: We perform a monthly benchmark test of the performance of the mobile services. We measure the performance of our own voice and data services and those of our competitors too, to find out where we are placed and to identify the areas and services for which improvements must be planned.
Currently, we outsource the drive tests to an external service provider. However, we analyze the results in-house.

How does SMAQ contribute to analyzing your performance?

F.T.: The first advantage of SMAQ, is that it is accessible via the Internet. You don’t need to be in the office or connected to a VPN. You can therefore start producing a report wherever you are, and 2 to 3 hours later, your report will be ready.

Its second advantage, are the standardized reports. They are clear, precise and intuitive. They make the analysis work a great deal easier. Unlike other tools on the market which are “black boxes”, you know exactly how SMAQ compiles its analyses.
With other tools, even if they are more comprehensive, the analyses are more complex and require much more technical knowledge. With SMAQ, I have complete confidence in the results and in the conclusions that I obtain from it.
As Sofrecom regularly enriches the solution with new indicators, the standard reports are becoming increasingly richer. In addition, there is also an “advanced mode” allowing experts to make fuller analyses.

Finally, I know that the Sofrecom team is available to help us if we have questions or if there are problems with the tool. But up to now, thanks to the simplicity of the tool, I have had no need to contact them. As far as I am concerned, I am able to use the tool effectively. And as regards the performance of SMAQ itself, we have never experienced any problems. The tool has always worked when we’ve needed it.

In short, I would say that SMAQ allows us to save a huge amount of time.

How else do you think you could use SMAQ in the future?

F.T.: Currently, management of the QoS measurements and analyses in response to customer complaints are entrusted to an external service provider. It performs the drive tests and then the analyses. We have to ensure that these are reliable. At the moment, we perform our checks using another QoS analysis tool, but in the near future I want to see if they could be carried out in SMAQ.