Even the fusty vendor business is not immune from the power of social media.
Nokia Siemens has included a mobile phone app in its new network tester, allowing operators to get real-time feedback on quality issues from users.
Its new mobile quality analyzer (MQA) for uses a mobile device client to report on the quality of 3G connections. The operator can combine this with its own data to improve its management of network quality.
Jari Eskola, from NSN’s insight & experience solutions, says MQA provides operators with information to plan and adjust their network capacity as well as to speed up resolution of customer complaints.
Additionally, crowdsourcing is also “one of the most cost-effective” ways of measuring mobile broadband performance, NSN points out.
The solution consists of a client-server architecture based on technology from Edinburgh-based startup Ciqual. The client app evaluates signal strength in the cell and measures if broadband throughput rates are sufficient for the online services being accessed.
In a similar vein, but for a different audience, is an Android and RIM app call Root Wireless, which measures key metrics such as dropped calls and data speeds, GigaOm reports.
Whereas the NSN solution is aimed at cellcos, Root Wireless is for users.
But both are surely a sign of things to come, if only operators and vendors can overcome their traditional remoteness from end-users.