TM Forum   

TM Forum holds two large management events, one in Europe and one in the Americas. We will be attending the America's meeting this week in Orlando, Tuesday through Thursday. The meeting combines session on how to employ the TM Forum framework in your operations, and also three separate topic tracks.

I am looking forward to connecting at this meeting because the overall topic agendas parallel the three focus areas for Alliance. The first is New Revenue, and within this focus the meeting will explore 'over the top' services being offered and will include the smart grid, M2M opportunities and the impacts of eHealth. 4G capabilities will present new products and offerings, and the need to monetize them through the billing process. Alliance has been helping Service Providers with billing issues since 1994, and look forward to hearing where people think the challenges will fall with the new opportuinites. This track will also discuss the move to Cloud services.

The second topic agenda is reducing cost and risk in your business. Revenue Assurance will be one of the key issues discussed. Again, Alliance is working with our clients to achieve end-to-end views of their business processes and aligning revenue assurance process with the business. As offerings become more complex, and as new products come to market, new Revenue Assurance challenges will come with them. We look forward to working with our clients to take full advantage of the innovations, while maximizing revenues.

The third topic is centered on Customer Experience, which is also the third of the three legs of Alliance's business focus. The meeting will discuss two aspects of care that we are hearing more and more about. The first is understanding, and making good use of, the mountain of data available to Service Providers about how their clients use their services. Increasing the understanding of those patterns can lead to opportunities to both increase revenue and improve the customer experience.

We view Billing, Revenue Assurance and Customer Experience as three key business functions woven together as the strands of a rope. Each has its own role, but woven correctly, they form a much stronger connection to your clients.

If you are attending the meeting, please allow me to buy you an adult beverage of your choice and share your experience at the conference. If you are not attending, but are interested in people's views following the show, let me know, and we will provide our unscientific study, based on our experience and conversations at the event.

TT: What is your role at Alliance?

TH: For the past 13 years, I have been a Resource Manager for Alliance and my role is to identify and recruit the best and brightest in the industry. I actually call myself the "face" of Alliance since I am the company's representative to potential consultants and I provide all the details about specific jobs and responsibilities, as well as provide a strong overview of the company culture and expectations at the client site. My goal is to create a win/win for both the consultant and Alliance. Nothing is more fulfilling than a consultant finding their ideal role and Alliance meeting the needs of our project.

TT: What is the most interesting aspect of recruiting?

TH: I've interviewed hundreds of people almost every day for over 15 years and I have to say I absolutely love it. The pleasure I get out of my job really comes down to having the ability to help people. I love meeting new people from various backgrounds and from all around the world. The more people who know, like, trust, and respect you, the better the reputation you'll build for yourself and your company. I have had consultants that I hired a decade ago that I still communicate with and who still work various projects for me from time to time.  I still remember stories in regards to their family, pets or travel expeditions.

TT: What do you like best about working with Alliance?

TH:  Working at Alliance has been a very rewarding experience. Since day one, I have been impressed with the teamwork and commitment to providing the best service for all of our telecom clients. The people and the culture are top notch and Alliance values my contributions to the company.

 
TT: How has recruiting changed over the years?

TT: Any advice for job seekers today?

TH: My advice to any job seeker would be not to give up! Let people know you are looking for a position by networking with friends and colleagues. Social media is playing a vital role in the job search today for both job seekers and employers so joining LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter can be beneficial. I would also recommend continuing to search job boards such as Dice and Monster. The phone is still your friend so be sure to put a voice to your name.

TT: What hobbies do you enjoy in your free time?  

TH: I enjoy a great spa and like to travel, read and shop.