Accelerating Network Troubleshooting with Intent-Based Diagnostics

The demand for faster, more reliable network services has never been greater in the hyper-competitive mobile industry. 

As technology evolves at an unprecedented pace, test organizations face immense pressure to release high-quality network features quickly. This has resulted in automation playing a key role in improving speed and efficiency, streamlining tasks, and reducing workloads.

However, diagnostics remain a challenge. 

Despite advances in intent-based testing, many organizations still rely on manual methods to identify and resolve issues. This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, creating bottlenecks that hinder overall productivity and delay time-to-market for network operators.

AGILITY’s Intent-Based Diagnostics bridges this gap by automating test diagnoses and aligning them with the initial test intent. This alignment ensures diagnostics are accurate, efficient, and proactive, accelerating problem resolution and significantly reducing time-to-market. By tripling lab productivity, AGILITY empowers network operators to focus on innovation instead of troubleshooting, building a more resilient network that seamlessly supports video calls, smart home devices, and even critical emergency services 24/7.

Network Operations: The Pressure 

Imagine a day in the life of network engineers, tasked with conducting hundreds of tests to validate network configuration and performance. These repetitive, time-consuming tasks drain energy and leave little room for the creative problem-solving that is essential to effective network management.

As demands grow, organizations often resort to hiring additional engineers, leading to skyrocketing labor costs and increased turnover in an already competitive job market. While adding staff may seem like a solution, it’s both expensive, unsustainable, and likely not in line with the business intent.

Clearly, the current approach to network diagnostics and management needs a transformative shift to address these challenges.

The Transformation 

Intent-based diagnostics is an AGILITY feature that takes network diagnostics to a whole new level. 

This feature leverages Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) principles to automatically detect when network parameters or flows deviate from their intended behavior. By comparing actual network behavior with predefined expectations, it helps test engineers quickly identify and resolve issues. This streamlines the diagnostic process, ensuring network functionality aligns with design intentions and improving the overall efficiency of testing.

How Intent-Based Diagnostics Transforms Network Efficiency

Automation of Testing:

What used to take hours now only takes minutes, freeing up engineers for higher-impact work.

Proactive Problem-solving:

Issues are identified before they surface into production, allowing teams to proactively fix them and minimize network downtime.

Improved Quality Assurance:

In-depth testing and automatic detection of issues ensure a higher quality network release.

Freed-up Talent:

Engineers are no longer consumed by running tests but can now focus their energy on innovation and improvement. 

Before and After Intent-Based Diagnostics

To fully understand the business transformation that occurs when businesses implement Intent-Based Diagnostics, it's best to look at the day in the life of an L1 Engineer at a major telco.

Before Intent-Based Diagnostics: 

• 8:00 AM: The engineer begins the day with a heavy load of tests ahead. 
• 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM: The daily grind—running tests, analyzing data, escalating network service tickets to L2 and documenting results. 
• 5:30 PM: Tired, the engineer leaves work with minimal progress on new projects. 

After Intent-Based Diagnostics: 

• 8:00 AM: Engineers start the day by reviewing automated test results from overnight. 
• 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Focus on problem solving with using evidence from Intent-Based Diagnostics. 
• 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM: Engineers collaborate on new features, optimizations, and network improvements. 
• 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Professional development and planning for future upgrades. 
• 5:00 PM: The engineer leaves work energized, knowing both today’s checklist and long-term goals have been advanced. 

Implementing Intent-Based Diagnostics transforms the daily operations of network teams, delivering significant benefits for both engineers and the business as a whole. 

Before adoption, engineers spend their days bogged down by repetitive manual tasks like running tests, analyzing data, and escalating issues and often will have little time left for innovation or strategic initiatives.

After implementing Intent-Based Diagnostics, automation takes over routine testing and analysis, allowing engineers to focus on high-value tasks like problem-solving, optimizing network performance, and planning future upgrades to network infrastructure. Engineers start their day with actionable insights from automated diagnostics, enabling faster issue resolution and freeing up time for collaboration, professional development, and strategic innovation.

This shift enhances operational efficiency and uses network resources more effectively, boosting engineer morale and accelerating progress on long-term business goals. With Intent-Based Diagnostics, organizations can better allocate resources, improve service reliability, and support continuous network evolution, all while achieving their desired business outcome.

The Ripple Effect: Beyond the Engineering Team

The advantages of Intent-Based Diagnostics go beyond simplifying the test engineers' workflows. 

Here's how it positively impacts the entire organization:

Improved Release Quality:

Comprehensive, automated testing minimizes errors before production, ensuring smoother, more reliable releases that maintain user trust.

Faster Innovation:

By automating routine diagnostics, engineers gain the bandwidth to focus on creative problem-solving and the rapid development of new features.

Improved Customer Satisfaction:

Improved network performance results in superior service quality, translating to happier, more loyal customers.

Talent Retention:

Engineers are more engaged and motivated when their work involves challenging, meaningful projects rather than repetitive tasks, increasing job satisfaction and reducing turnover.

Intent-Based Diagnostics delivers far-reaching benefits for networks of all sizes, including enterprise networks, including enhancing release quality, accelerating innovation, and improving customer satisfaction. By automating routine tasks, it engages engineers, fosters talent retention, and transforms network operations into a competitive advantage, driving success across the organization.

Future-Proofing Your Network

As the demand for 5G soars and IoT devices multiply, telecom networks are under more pressure than ever. That's why staying competitive requires more than incremental improvements. Intent-Based Diagnostics allows telcom companies to adapt, thrive, and lead in this fast-changing environment

Intent-based diagnostics will enable the organization to:

• Improve the quality of network releases.
• Relieve pressure on already overextended engineering teams.
• Develop and retain top talent through more engaging and creative work.
• Scale diagnostic capabilities without continuously increasing headcount. 

Instead of fighting constant fires, telecom companies can move forward with more reliable network releases and higher output without adding extra staff. 

Intent-Based Diagnostics empowers network teams to become strategic innovators by leveraging network automation. This ensures consistent, reliable performance, allowing teams to maintain peak network efficiency while focusing on forward-thinking improvements.

Evaluation Scenarios

Here are some pre-built available evaluation scenarios category engineers can use out of the box to eliminate the heavy load of network evaluation: 

1. Call Barring

Evaluate the ability to restrict certain call types, such as international or premium services, based on user preferences or network policies. 

2. Call Breakout

Assess routing for calls from IMS to external networks like PSTN, 2G, 3G, PBX, short codes, or other IMS domains. 

3. Call Charging and Billing

Verify accurate billing and charging record generation for various IMS services. 

4. Call Conference

Test the functionality of multi-party calls, including participant management and conference features. 

5. Call Media

Evaluate voice and video stream quality, codec negotiation, media path setup, and DTMF handling. 

6. Call Continuity

Assess seamless handover of calls between different access networks (e.g., VoLTE to VoWiFi, VoLTE to 2G). 

7. Call Setup

Validate SIP call initiation, quality of service, and termination for voice and video calls across 4G, 5G, fixed IMS, and VoWiFi clients. 

8. Call Supplementary Services

Test call forwarding scenarios, such as unconditional, busy, no answer, not reachable, call waiting, call hold, and caller ID. 

9. Network Resilience

Verify load balancing, failover, and availability across control and user plane network functions. 

10. User Registration

Assess IMS registration processes, including authentication, re-registration, deregistration, and third-party registration. 

11. User Roaming

Evaluate user access to IMS services while roaming across different networks. 

Intent-Based Diagnostics enhances flexibility with custom scenario-building capabilities. Engineers can easily create tailored scenarios using low-code authoring, providing the freedom to go beyond prebuilt options and design diagnostics that meet specific needs.

Who’s Using It? 

From 5G rollouts to managing the complexities of a hybrid network, Intent-Based Diagnostics has become a trusted solution for some of the most innovative names in the telecom industry, transforming network performance and redefining service management.

Used By a A Leading European Telecom Group:
One forward-thinking operator that integrated Intent-Based Diagnostics into their network operations to automate testing for emerging 5G features saw several benefits. 

By streamlining routine network assessments, they have significantly reduced testing time, enabling faster service launches and delivering higher-quality network releases. This strategic implementation showcases the transformative power of Intent-Based Diagnostics in staying ahead in a competitive market.

What Our Users Are Saying 

"A Game-Changer for Network Testing" 

Senior Network Engineer, Leading European Telecom Operator 

"Intent-Based Diagnostics has transformed our approach to network testing. What used to take hours of manual work is now automated, allowing our engineers to focus on more strategic initiatives. The efficiency gained has been invaluable, especially as we scale our services." 

"Reduced Downtime and Increased Efficiency" 

Technical Operations Manager, Tier 1 Telecom Provider 

"With intent-based diagnostics, we have been able to proactively identify and resolve issues before they reach production. This has not only reduced downtime but also improved our overall service quality. Our team is working more efficiently than ever."

"Innovation at Scale" 

Head of Network Operations, Global Telecom Leader 

"Implementing this technology has allowed us to automate testing at a large scale. We've seen significant improvements in our network's performance and reliability. The impact on customer satisfaction has been immediate, and our engineers are excited about working on more innovative projects." 

"Empowering Engineers for Greater Creativity" 

Director of Network Engineering, Major European Service Provider 

"Intent-Based Diagnostics freed up a lot of the routine, manual tasks from our engineers. Now, instead of spending hours on repetitive testing, our teams are empowered to solve complex problems and innovate. This has made a huge difference in retaining top talent."

Transform Your Network Operations with Intent-Based Diagnostics

As networks grow more complex, the need for reliable and efficient diagnostic solutions becomes urgent—delays in adopting these advanced tools can lead to higher operational costs, increased downtime, and lost customers. 

Intent- enables streamlined operations, allowing your team to address issues before they impact users. It optimizes network resources, and ensures consistent, high-quality service.

With B-Yond’s intent-based diagnostics solution, AGILITY offers a proactive, highly efficient approach to diagnostics, empowering network providers to increase uptime, enhance operational efficiency, and stay competitive.

Is your network ready to join other successful providers in experiencing the benefits of intent-based diagnostics and improving efficiency, reliability, and performance? 

Empower your operations with intent-based diagnostics for smarter, faster, and more reliable network management. Explore the possibilities: https://www.b-yond.com/intent-based-diagnostics