Mobile Content Sharing
The continuing roll-out of ultra-high-speed bandwidth to the mobile handset will create a big opening for over-the-top (OTT) applications. While embracing the billable bits streaming across their networks, operators are anxious that their customer control, core revenue services and brand are not diminished.
Hold times, along with the sheer number of calls originating and terminating in mobile networks, are decreasing as subscribers move from communicating in minutes, to reaching out in the moment. While this trend led to an initial boom in SMS revenues, the aggressive adoption of smartphones and client-based IM apps is now reversing that trend.
From minutes to moments. From formal calls to social exchanges. While everything has changed around it, the phone call fundamentally has not. Mobile content sharing changes that. With the ability to send contextual information, or simply enrich the phone call, service providers can immerse their subscribers in a communications experience that will entice people to dial that number, not simply send an IM. Making the phone call just a little bit more fun can also increase call hold times. Moreover, as the sharing is impulsive, data usage on the carrier’s licensed, and billable, spectrum will increase.
Mobile content sharing keeps the carrier’s brand at the forefront of the subscriber’s communications experience and the mobile network operator’s phone number is the only user ID required.
Of course, mobile content sharing can offer service providers serious revenue upsides when extended to business customers. The opportunity to provide valuable information like call hold times, IVR maps, menus or coupons can revolutionize the currently formulaic, annoying and long hold time experience that characterizes most business enquiries.
Through standard next generation application frameworks such as the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), Rich Communications Suite (RCS) and 3GPP Multimedia Telephony (MMTEL) initiatives, equipment vendors and carriers are making moves to ensure they can match the dynamic offerings of OTT providers within and across their infrastructure boundaries.
While the wide scale adoption of industry standards ultimately benefits carriers, applications developers and consumers, Metaswitch recognizes that in the mobile application marketplace “first to market” affords a huge competitive advantage. Fortunately, we have solutions for both: our network-based and hosted, cloud-based, white label OTT options extend short-term and long-term alternatives to mobile operators looking to offer an immersive communications experience.
