Editing Telecommunications forecasting (section)

==Data preparation==

Before forecasting is performed, the data being used must be "prepared". If the data contains errors, then the forecast result will be equally flawed. It is therefore vital that all anomalous data be removed. Such a procedure is known as data "scrubbing".<ref name="kennedy" /> Scrubbing data involved removing data points known as "outliers". [[Outlier]]s are data that lie outside the normal pattern. They are usually caused by anomalous and often unique events and so are unlikely to recur. Removing outliers improves data integrity and increases the accuracy of the forecast.