CRM Platforms in Practice
A brief, factual comparison of the CRM platforms telcos use, what each covers, and what each still needs beside it.
Telcos reach a CRM in one of two ways: a general-purpose CRM with telco capabilities added, or a telco-specific suite whose customer-facing layer is one part of a wider BSS. Neither replaces the OSS, and both still need a product catalog, order management and billing that the rest of this course describes. The table is a brief orientation; positions change, and each row reflects the vendor’s own documentation at the time of writing.
CRM platforms telcos use (brief)
| Platform | What it is | Covers for a consumer telco | Still needs beside it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salesforce Communications Cloud | A general-purpose CRM with a telco industry layer. It now comes as two technical stacks: an older installable package and a newer platform-native one | Customer and account model, catalog, quote and order capture, and an order-management option | OSS (service and resource orders, inventories) and billing. Which TM Forum APIs are available depends on the stack chosen |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | A general-purpose CRM | Customers, cases, campaigns, generic products and quotes | A telco catalog, CPQ and order management, often from a partner: Amdocs builds its customer engagement platform on Dynamics 365 |
| Amdocs | A telco-specific BSS suite; its engagement layer is delivered on Dynamics 365 | Telco catalog, CPQ, order management and care | Most of its value depends on adopting the Amdocs catalog; two vendors’ release cycles in one stack |
| Netcracker and CSG | Telco-specific BSS/OSS suites, now under common ownership (per CSG’s own site) | Sales, CPQ and order management with decomposition | Usually adopted as a suite; how the two product lines will combine is not public |
| Oracle Siebel CRM | The long-standing telco CRM, still supported (Oracle states “through at least 2037”) | Customer, billing and service accounts, assets, agreements, a credit-check interface | Heavy customisation is typical, and its order and asset model predates the TM Forum Open APIs |
Fuller profiles of the BSS/OSS vendors are in Section 15.3.
Architecture decision
General-purpose CRM plus telco BSS, or a telco suite?
General-purpose CRM, separate telco catalog, COM and billing
Choose when The CRM is already the enterprise standard, the team can own the integrations, and the catalog and COM are chosen on their own merits
Telco suite, CRM layer included
Choose when One vendor’s catalog, CPQ and order management fit the business, and the operator accepts the suite’s release cycle and data model
Breaks if Either choice breaks if the CRM is expected to replace the catalog or order management, or if the TM Forum APIs the integrations rely on are not available on the version actually deployed.
Anti-patterns
- A CRM project called an L2C transformation. A new CRM in front of the same catalog, order management and billing changes the screens, not what can be sold or how orders are fulfilled. The business case rarely survives contact with that.
- The API version chosen by accident. Integrations are designed against a TM Forum API version that the chosen platform or stack does not provide, and discovered in testing. Confirm the version on the deployed stack before design starts.
- Customising a general-purpose CRM into a catalog. Telco product rules built as CRM customisations work for the launch offers and become the hardest thing to change afterwards.
Section 4.7 Key Takeaways
- Telcos use either a general-purpose CRM with telco capabilities added, or a telco suite’s engagement layer
- None of these replaces the OSS; all still need a catalog, order management and billing behind them
- Check which TM Forum APIs, at which version, the deployed platform actually provides
- A new CRM alone is not a Lead-to-Cash transformation