With the advent of advance CEM solutions such as mobile applications either embedded or native that captures user experiences directly from mobile phones the need for drive testing has been reduced. In some vendors and even in some operators they claimed that there is no longer a need for drive testing. How true is this? Is this possible?
In drive testing we normally simulate user experiences based on calls, data sessions and other test scenarios conducted where potential subscribers are located. Now with so many smart phones in the market the focus has moved towards testing smart phone performance and user experiences where they use the mobile network services, especially data services. Since 2006, new breed of testing companies have poped out, they do not simulate tests rather they capture actual user experiences. The difference is that in traditional drive testing, low level messages such as layer 3 are captured in CEM applications it is purely user activities that are captured.
For trouble shooting purposes, drive testing is hard to replace. However for gathering customer experience, behavior and usage then drive testing is no longer the answer. To fix network issues and improve network performance then there is still a need for the traditional drive testing since the lower level messages has to be captured, measured and analyze to adjust the correct radio, transmission or core network parameters.
Having said this hybrid CEM solutions have started to emerged in the market. This employs a combination of passive testing (pure CEM, capturing user experiences, behavior and usage) and active testing (similar to drive testing but without the traditional laptop based equipment). With this hybrid solution it is now possible to deploy commercial handsets preloaded with advance firmware to thousands of subscribers supplemented with the traditional CEM to millions of subscribers By doing this it gives network operators everything they are looking for. A solution that is easy to deploy, captures actual subscriber experience and at the same time provides the low level information needed to fix network issues.
With the correct solution deployed, every subscribers contribute into improving their experiences in the mobile network they are using and at the same time ensures they are provided the best service possible.
In drive testing we normally simulate user experiences based on calls, data sessions and other test scenarios conducted where potential subscribers are located. Now with so many smart phones in the market the focus has moved towards testing smart phone performance and user experiences where they use the mobile network services, especially data services. Since 2006, new breed of testing companies have poped out, they do not simulate tests rather they capture actual user experiences. The difference is that in traditional drive testing, low level messages such as layer 3 are captured in CEM applications it is purely user activities that are captured.
For trouble shooting purposes, drive testing is hard to replace. However for gathering customer experience, behavior and usage then drive testing is no longer the answer. To fix network issues and improve network performance then there is still a need for the traditional drive testing since the lower level messages has to be captured, measured and analyze to adjust the correct radio, transmission or core network parameters.
Having said this hybrid CEM solutions have started to emerged in the market. This employs a combination of passive testing (pure CEM, capturing user experiences, behavior and usage) and active testing (similar to drive testing but without the traditional laptop based equipment). With this hybrid solution it is now possible to deploy commercial handsets preloaded with advance firmware to thousands of subscribers supplemented with the traditional CEM to millions of subscribers By doing this it gives network operators everything they are looking for. A solution that is easy to deploy, captures actual subscriber experience and at the same time provides the low level information needed to fix network issues.
With the correct solution deployed, every subscribers contribute into improving their experiences in the mobile network they are using and at the same time ensures they are provided the best service possible.
