The value of integrated access to more than 25,000 points of data
Data is the lifeblood of any broadband network – whether you’re an end user sending and receiving packets of data back and forth across your home network, an ISP providing that end user with access to the Internet, or a network operator tying them both together with the infrastructure and software that deliver the connectivity they both need.
For the end user, it’s the access to information and the data that access enables that matter. For the ISPs and network operators, the stakes are higher and much more complex. Data into how the network is performing, warning signs of any potential problems, and the ability to diagnose and correct any issues are absolutely vital to their operations.
Whichever side of the equation you’re on, access to the right data is a necessity.
AXON Networks’ AnyNetTM Orchestration Platform provides ISPs and operators with real-time access to more than 25,000 data points lying within the end user’s router, the provider’s platform, and the networks they ride on. Why does that matter? Because the more information you have and the faster you have it, the better able you are to anticipate anomalies and to resolve them when they happen.
Vice President of Technology & Incubation at AXON Networks
“Internet service platforms and telecommunications networks are incredibly complex technical environments, and they’re only getting more complex,” said Stefan Hallas Mulvad, vice president of Technology & Incubation at AXON Networks. “The more data our customers have access to, the greater insight they have into what’s happening on their platforms or in their networks and the more they can do to ensure the satisfaction of the end user.”
Access to actionable data built in
Stefan says that many network hardware and software providers are able to access performance data they can act on, but there’s a difference between being able to go out and search for data and having access to that type of data already built into a platform.
“What we do with our AnyNet Orchestrator is more than data extraction,” he says. “Our ability to give our customers access to exactly the data they need is actually integrated into the coding of our platform. It’s built right in.”
The AXON AnyNet Orchestrator platform contains a value store of thousands of the most common and well-defined data types embedded within a router’s software, as well as the ISP platform and telco network it’s connected to. By remotely connecting to a router or other device, an ISP or network operator can monitor performance and behaviors in real time. That level of visibility and control of all events flowing through the system provide critical insight into network and device performance, enable real-time analytics, and give the ability to diagnose and debug issues quickly – oftentimes before they happen. The result is fewer customer calls and truck rolls, and greater overall customer satisfaction. That’s the most important outcome of all, Stefan says.
“Our Orchestrator platform allows our customers to use the data in a functional way. Being able to see what’s happening in the network or in a router is important, but what’s most important is what the customer is able to do with that data and how they’re able to ensure their customers have a great experience.”
Empowering the customer
AXON’s AI-driven Orchestrator platform allows the customer to deploy a total networking solution and a holistic customer experience. And with the value store of data built into the platform’s coding, the system itself can automatically identify and fix a large percent of network connectivity issues. The end user can also self-identify and resolve many broadband issues on their own, further increasing customer satisfaction.
Stefan also stresses that there is a tremendous amount of security built into the AnyNet Orchestrator platform, not only to protect the integrity of the network or ISP platform, but also to protect the privacy of the end user.
“We at AXON don’t have access to this data. As I said, it’s programmed into our platform in such a way as to give the network operator or ISP the ability to access the data on their end via a secure token and to act on it. We’re empowering our customers with access to this data.”
An example, he says, would be if a provider gets a support call from a customer. With the customer’s permission, an application or support person can use a secure token to access the device and troubleshoot the problem immediately. And since the Orchestration platform can alert the operator or provider to issues before they affect the end user’s experience, customer support calls can actually decrease.
Stefan says that AXON’s ability to enable the access, analysis and application of more than 25,000 points of data in real time – compared to a pulling-based solution – sets the AnyNet Orchestration platform apart from other solutions.
“Nobody else in the CPE market is taking data access and analysis to the levels we are,” he says. “Others may have data extraction solutions, but they’re not as tightly integrated into their platforms as ours is. For AXON, access to a deep well of data isn’t just a part of our system, it IS the system.”