Gather 'round, voice data enthusiasts. There's a new database in town.
i3forum Insights is a powerful resource designed for wholesale voice market analysis and performance tracking. It was created by carriers for carriers—and we're proud to say that it's powered by TeleGeography. Today we're giving readers a look inside this new tool and a preview of what early adopters are saying.
Data Power
i3forum is a nonprofit industry body focused on accelerating transformation across the carrier ecosystem. They launched i3forum Insights to support carrier planning, routing, and optimization via the power of market data.
Their vision? Create a platform where carriers could quickly access accurate data on the state of the market and benchmark it against their own figures.
We were tapped to help make this vision a reality. Beta testing was completed in December 2019 and the service officially launched in January with nine “early adopter” carriers.
These early adopters—BICS, BTS, iBasis, Orange, PCCW Global, Tata Communications, Sparkle, Telefónica International Wholesale Services, and Telstra—benefit from rapid access to high-quality data aggregated and anonymized in a single platform.
Each participating carrier is able to compare its own individual information against aggregated data provided by all participating carriers using the analytics engine Tableau. Individual data provided by each carrier is kept 100% anonymous and confidential at all times; no other party is able to access it.
Each participating carrier is able to compare its own individual information against aggregated data provided by all participating carriers using the analytics engine Tableau. Individual data provided by each carrier is kept 100% anonymous and confidential at all times; no other party is able to access it.
And you know we love working with data.
Beta testing of the platform with these participating carriers allowed us to identify opportunities to refine the platform and add new capabilities. i3forum Insights will continue to develop in this way based on user feedback and the addition of new performance indicators.
What Users Are Saying
We asked BTS' Jesús Mendía about the value of comparing your data to the anonymized, aggregated data provided by other participating carriers.
"It is absolutely important, not only in terms of traffic volumes, but also regarding quality and rates," he said. "This is a market in which every little detail makes a difference, and it is vital to have as much information as possible in order to provide the best service to our customers."
"This is a market in which every little detail makes a difference, and it is vital to have as much information as possible in order to provide the best service to our customers."
Orange's Carole Claveau had similar thoughts: "It's hard to get accurate information on the international wholesale voice market. Being able to benchmark the industry is key."
We also asked Sparkle's Simona Manodoro what it's been like to have early access to i3forum Insights.
"We are fully convinced that Insights will drive more opportunities and will help [us] better understand which marketing actions provide the best results."
"It's a great opportunity to be involved in the development of a market database for international voice services," said Manodoro. "We are fully convinced that Insights will drive more opportunities and will help [us] better understand which marketing actions provide the best results."
The service is available to international carriers across the globe, even if they are not members of the i3forum. All participating carriers must agree to contribute data and meet set obligations to ensure the seamless operation of this tool.