Customer Challenge: Network routing and number portability issues impacting delivery rates
Esendex faced network routing and number portability challenges that seriously impacted delivery rates and threatened its ability to offer its clients SMS traffic to and from one of their primary markets.
Number portability made it necessary to determine which operator network should receive the SMS message. Without reliable, accurate data about where numbers had been ported, SMS messages could be incorrectly routed; Esendex could incur penalty fees and SMS messages could be simply ignored. Esendex clients could experience inaccurate or inconsistent billing and uncertainty over delivery, all potentially leading to a loss of trust in the Esendex service.
To undertake in-house caching would have been expensive and eroded margins, so the company looked for a service provider. While they identified the need for a number portability look-up service, they needed data from a reputable source to ensure the integrity of the Esendex service.
The Solution: Reliable real-time number look-up service
Esendex selected the GSMA PathFinder Number Portability Discovery Service, operated and marketed by Neustar, to ensure the successful routing of SMS messages.
PathFinder provides Esendex a real-time number look-up service using data sourced from national regulators and operators in the 70 number portability enabled countries worldwide. The PathFinder shared database provides a single, consistent interface that enables cost-efficient and accurate routing based on the destination operator. Queries are managed in line with message delivery and use ENUM, a more cost-effective platform than SS7.
Critically, PathFinder removes the time-consuming and costly process of accessing multiple domestic data sources. Previously, Esendex had to undertake separate solutions for each new country market it opened. In many cases, PathFinder is its single source of data and brings the reassurance of accuracy and reliability for all Esendex clients.
The Result:
PathFinder ensures every Esendex SMS message reaches its destination through accurate and effective traffic planning. This reliability and predictability enables Esendex to consistently meet its client expectations of exceptional services.
Cost Optimisation
- Lower cost of sales
- Avoids cost of developing a look-up cache
Reliable Delivery
- Predictable 99.99% delivery success
- Reduced non-delivery failure rate
Security
- Data sourced via PathFinder
- Confidence to use the solution in markets with large volumes, including UK and Spain
Revenue Generation
- Able to focus on core business rather than on service delivery issues
- Developer resources focus on delivering innovative services
Working with the GSMA and Neustar continues to be an excellent partnership which is core to our future business development plans as we look to increase our geographic coverage for our growing international client base.