Acquiring new clients made easier
Onboarding is the process of acquiring new customers. To make sure it’s done correctly, you need to focus on your future customers’ needs and guarantee a user-friendly process, ensuring they have access to all the services and products in a fast and simple way. Onboarding process is an official beginning of a direct and consensual relationship with a client, being the key moment in which it is decided if the potential customer becomes a current customer or abandons the company.
The global pandemic forced all of us to change the way we live, and the situation in Oman was no different. With most people staying at home and our lives becoming even more digital than ever, companies had to put their focus on the online part of their business. They needed to engage customers to stay loyal, as well as find ways to acquire new ones. The onboarding process became crucial in the customer experience journey, and we wanted to make things easier, available and innovative for Omantel subscribers. 
TUATARA not only answered customers’ needs to digitalize the process but also, to use the potential of eSIM. Omantel was the first telecom operator in Oman that gave customers the possibility to order eSIM and activate it online. However, the main trigger for developing a one-of-a-kind online onboarding process was the need to replace the physical verification of new subscribers with something new. Together with our partner, we implemented the first in GCC solution that enables choosing a mobile plan without the need to leave the house.
How does the process look like?
The whole process starts with Omantel mobile app. After downloading it, a user can activate SIM or eSIM online. The application shows all possible mobile plans so that the user can choose the most suitable offer. It’s important to mention that the offer can be activated in a pre-paid or post-paid model, depending on the user’s needs. After choosing a mobile plan, the user can choose a mobile number from the list of available numbers.
What makes the solution innovative is the automatic verification of the user’s identity. It can be done with a national ID, passport, or residential card. The user needs to scan a document via the application, and the data is automatically collected and used to fill up the form. This part of verification is possible, thanks to text recognition techniques. It can automate tedious data entry for credit cards, receipts, and business cards. With the cloud-based API, it is also able to extract text from pictures of documents, which can be used to increase accessibility or translate documents. 
The second part of online verification relates to Machine Learning. The user needs to take a selfie to verify the identity. Then, our state-of-the-art face recognition algorithms supported with deep learning, check if the ID photo and selfie match. The whole verification takes place online and is confirmed automatically.
After validating if all entered data is correct and a positive match between ID photo and selfie, the user needs to sign an agreement and fill up his card details to complete the payment. At this moment, in a blink of an eye, the SIM is active, and the customer becomes an Omantel subscriber.
A forward-thinking approach
Lockdown and the need to become more and more digital were the main triggers for the idea of moving the whole onboarding process online. TUATARA makes solutions that are not only useful but also innovative. This time was no different. Online verification was the main invention that enabled moving the onboarding process online. We delivered new features: scanning documents and photos, collecting data to fill up the form automatically, and a complete customer verification process; all within one smooth experience within the mobile app. 
What makes our solution even more useful is the possibility of activating eSIM online. In the simplest word, an eSIM is a digital SIM that enables the activation of a cellular plan without the need of a physical SIM card. It has a few important benefits for your customers, such as:
- Reducing plastic waste,
- No need to visit a physical point of sale,
- No SIM card cutting or finding adapters,
- Becoming a subscriber whenever and wherever it’s comfortable,
- A possibility to have two plans from two different carriers in one phone.
The possibility of ordering and activating eSIM online enabled us to make the whole onboarding process fully available online. Customers can choose and activate selected mobile plans entirely from their phones. In such challenging times, the solution implemented by TUATARA for Omantel was truly the answer to their needs.
TUATARA and Omantel – cooperation that accelerates the digital transformation
Our model of cooperation was built based on an extended agile methodology. In this case, TUATARA was responsible not only for the main idea behind the solution but also for its implementation, maintenance, and support. It only took two weeks for us to turn the original idea into a PoC, presented to our partner. Then, after three months, our solution went live.
This project is another example of our future-proof cooperation with Omantel that was built on a mutual goal. In simplest terms – both our partner and we have a focus on exceeding the expectations of the customers in the digital space.
