EMnify Data Streamer Service Description

Chapter 1. Introduction

Purpose of This Document

This document describes the functionality of the EMnify Data Streamer and covers the procedures necessary to create and configure data streams. Data streams are detailed in terms of their potential uses with particular attention to the advantages of data streams in conjunction with third-party platforms. The typical use cases of data streams is described and examples of data streams in different domains is covered. This document also provides information on how to integrate data streams with selected third-party platforms via the EMnify User Interface (EUI).

Chapter 2. Data Streamer Overview

The EMnify Data Streamer (EDS) allows you to receive real-time data streams with event and usage data of endpoints and SIMs. Data streams created using this feature can be ingested by any third party analytics application or can be pushed to pre-integrated cloud services.

The following figure gives a high-level overview of the EDS system, showing which types of event data and usage metrics can be routed via data streams.

Chapter 3. Use Cases

The EMnify data streamer can be used for a wide range of use cases. The following section covers three domains.

3.1. Network Monitoring

Based on the rich network signaling events that the EMnify Data Streamer provides, users can get insights into which organizations and visited networks that signaling traffic is originating from. This enables network monitoring and service assurance of the underlying signaling traffic for SS7/SIGTRAN, Diameter and GTP traffic.

Using monitoring platforms updated in real time, network issues such as signaling storms or connectivity loss can easily be detected by means of alerts or notifications. When alerting is configured in this way, they can be used for issue escalation to connectivity carriers, VPLMNs or organizations that are causing issues. Customers can be informed on network issues before they realize that they are impacted.

3.2. Business Intelligence

The EMnify Data Streamer provides analytics for business decisions and rich information for reporting. Insight reports which show the largest customers by volume, region and country may provide deciding factors for roaming negotiations. The impact of marketing campaigns on new sign-ups or increase of service usage can be analyzed. Finance departments can use this reporting to forecast revenue streams and validate billing. Service Operations can additionally analyze the usage of a system feature to plan for capacity or connectivity expansions.

3.3. Customer Relationship Management

Events generated by the Data Streamer can be used to enrich Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data with insights on how new and existing customers are using their system. Sales and Customer Success Management receive insights if customers are close to reaching traffic limits or if they have already depleted a free volume during an evaluation period. With service usage information, Sales can prepare for a next round of negotiations as well as forecasting cost and revenue streams.

Chapter 4. Integrations [Please refer to How to setup the EMnify Data Streamer (EDS)]

Chapter 5. Features

One of the more dynamic features of the data streamer is the capability to apply filters to each data stream. By default, no filters are added to a data stream and all events are streamed. Multiple filters can be applied to each stream and this creates more granular and targeted data for analysis.

The following screenshot shows filters applied to a data stream via the EMnify User Interface. The data stream that the filters are applied to will only contain Update Location and User Authentication failed events.

5.2. Parallel Operation

Up to 10 data streams can be created and they will operate in parallel. Each data stream may feed data to a separate platform for consumption and processing. Different filtering rules can be applied to each of these data streams. More information about filters is detailed in the Filtering section.

5.3. Historical Data

When creating a new data stream, it’s possible to enable streaming historical data up to 20 days old. If this setting is enabled, it may take time for data to catch up to real time events.

Chapter 6. Conclusion

The EMnify Data Streamer offers a real-time pipeline of event and usage data of endpoints and SIMs. The benefits of using data streams lies in the flexibility of how they are consumed, leading to a rich source of data that can feed multiple platforms for different purposes. The insights that can be gained from data streams can be fine-tuned by filtering and can range from a system-wide overview to fine-grained analytics by specific event, topic or custom range.

The benefits of data streams are outlined below:

Transparency

The usage of the system is fully transparent by creating and monitoring data streams that are directly relevant for a customer. This enables network monitoring and service assurance, Business Reporting and Customer Relationship Management.

Filtering Capabilities

Users can set in place a topic-based subscription to specific events and focus analysis on areas that matter.

Integrations

Existing third-party platforms are pre-integrated into the EMnify system for the practicality of making use of data streams. These are easily and instantly applied via a setup wizard in the EMnify User Interface. Data streams use industry standard formats of JSON for RestAPI or CSV for consumption of the data.

Control

Users of data streams can gain insights into the status of their networks without additional implementation of infrastructure between system components. Customers can manage and control the insights and analytics based on their interests and needs using any platform or tooling.

Chapter 7. Resources

7.1. Other Documentation

For additional resources, refer to the following resources:

How to setup the EMnify Data Streamer (EDS)

This document provides detailed instructions for activating and managing data streams with a step-by-step guide for activating third-party integrations. This document also contains a comprehensive reference of the data and objects contained within data streams for custom integrations.

7.2. Support

For questions and inquiries, contact our support via our help center at support.emnify.com