Gabriele Lieser

CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER

Summary

Giving roaming trainings is more than a job, it is a vocation that requires enjoying technical topics and working with people’s energy and creativity. Recent experience in conducting trainings online has proven that online-training is a good alternative to on-site training. In times of infection protection, this development offers ideal conditions to continue to train new generations of excellent roaming specialists to meet the ever-growing challenges and innovations in this field.

Roamingwise is a well-known provider of roaming trainings, training seminars and consultancy in a variety of international roaming topics. For many years there has been a cordial and trusting partnership between RoamsysNext and Roamingwise. And although the pandemic forces everyone to rethink and develop, CEO Milja Hofman is on the pulse of the market as always. In this interview she reveals how she prepares professionals to drive the roaming world forward.

RoamsysNext Insights

In RoamsysNext Insights our experts share their views on extensive industry topics and possible solutions we can offer.

Milja, your regular training sessions for new and current employees in the RoamsysNext offices have been a successful tradition for many years, but as everywhere right now this has changed. How does Roamingwise meet the increased need for professional trainings under completely new circumstances?

Even though people work from home these days, Roamingwise wants to make sure that people are still updated on latest trends in the roaming industry. We have adapted quickly to the new conditions so that all trainings can be attended in online sessions, during “open trainings”, but also for a company group. We make sure that the participants stay engaged in inter-active sessions and by doing quizzes related to the topics discussed.

Which kind of trainings do you offer?

Roamingwise offers a large range of trainings: from roaming essentials for people starting in the industry to highly specialist courses on IREG testing. We offer a “Roamingwise Certification” that shows exactly which level of roaming knowledge the participant has acquired and how he or she is increasingly climbing the “ladder of learning”. And yes, for newly starting roaming coordinators, we created the new course “Roaming Coordination”. This course shows all about the responsibilities of their new exciting role: how to create the complete roaming agreement and best ways to coordinate the launch of new roaming partners. What is RAEX, how is it created and updated? And what are the tools by means of which the process of roaming service openings and commercial launches can be streamlined best?

These are topics that are very well known at RoamsysNext.

Yes, indeed. The RAEX Tools application is widely established in the industry to maintain RAEX IR.21, IOT and OpData documents. And the RoamsysNext products such as the “Wholesale Roaming Manager” are supporting the industry by establishing a smooth and effective roaming process. Tracking and monitoring all roaming connections and service launches as well as managing test SIM cards and roaming tariffs has become so user-friendly that people are relieved to work with this tool. Easy-to-use tools are one important prerequisite to be effective and fast to the market, another important requirement is a deep knowledge of the processes and the technical procedures behind it. And this is exactly what my trainings are designed for.

Milja Hofman, CEO Roamingwise

With the current worldwide travel restrictions the roaming numbers have dropped drastically. How do these challenging times also show some opportunities for the roaming world, and how can companies like Roamingwise and RoamsysNext contribute?

Well, countries are struggling hard with the pandemic, and it will take quite some time before roaming traffic will return to pre-COVID-19 levels. We now see, however, that operators are focusing on new revenue streams. With healthcare, remote working and supply chains anticipating to gain importance during this pandemic, we expect to see a growth in Mobile IoT connections and usage. The global nature of MIoT means that a large number of devices will roam across borders, both temporarily and permanently.
I know that the current developments have also been intensely discussed in the RoamsysNext Connectivity Innovation Forum. The regular exchange of ideas, needs and wishes between industry colleagues clearly showed the demand for cooperation and collaboration throughout the whole industry to face current challenges. I feel honoured to be one of the speakers at the next forum.

Cooperation is key to meet current challenges

We are so proud to have you at the forum, Milja, date and topics will be announced very soon. What other changes do you see coming on the commercial and technical side?

M2M roaming is definitely a hot topic because it opens up significant new revenue opportunities. But it is not only interesting from an economic point of view, it is also extremely relevant from a technical point of view. Research has shown that post-pandemic projections of M2M roaming connections have almost doubled compared to projections which were made before the pandemic started. And since the identification of M2M roaming devices is becoming more and more important to apply appropriate billing, provide transparent traffic and develop services, we created the new training “M2M Roaming”. In the course of two 4-hour sessions we discuss the features of Cellular IoT (LTE-M and NB-IoT), the value chain and M2M business opportunities. Theory is accompanied by use-cases and inter-active exercises to illustrate the M2M business strategies. With this training we make sure that roaming managers are well prepared to take advantage of this new revenue opportunity.

VoLTE, M2M, eSIM, IoT, LPWAN,… – your exceptional trainings and seminars represent the pulse of the market. Which other “hot-topics” are you using to train tomorrow’s professionals who will master and drive the digital world?

Roamingwise keeps up with the latest GSMA standards and strives to stay on top of the roaming business in creating trainings for the current and future roaming professionals. That is why we created specialist courses on these topics, delivered by specialists in their respective fields on e.g. eSIM and 5G. Another topic has become very serious these days, and I guess everyone has come in touch with it and is aware of its utmost importance: Fraud and Security. As RoamsysNext is increasingly keeping an eye on upgrading security aspects, Roamingwise is also experienced in training these topics.

For me, roaming is an exciting industry in which people continuously learn and adapt to new developments. I feel responsible for my participants, and I also feel privileged to guide young professionals through this journey and train the next generation to master ever-growing challenges and innovations in this field. For those interested in training solutions or more information, just have a look at
my website or give me a call.

Thank you, Milja, for these fascinating insights. We are already looking forward to talking with you at the upcoming Connectivity Innovation Forum. Keep doing great and take care!

Gabriele Lieser joined RoamsysNext in 2020 as Customer Success Manager to strengthen the bonds with our increasing number of customers and to support the marketing team. Gabriele has a strong background in corporate sales. She studied at the Universities of Trier (Germany) and Manitoba (Canada) and is incorporated in the RoamsysNext Client Service team.

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