Rich Communication 2013 event. Our view.

We attended the Rich Communication conference in Berlin last week. Juan, our co-founder participated in the WebRTC workshop chaired by Alan Quayle, you can find the slides here. We participated in 2 pannels discussing how RCS deployments were going and the potential of the API to go beyong the person to person messaging case.

Regarding the WebRTC vs RCS, it was explained how WebRTC is a technology that broadens the telco communication reach for services as voice and RCS media (videoshare and IP Videocall). We made live demos involving WebRTC to provide media in RCS clients, also to create Webphones.

During the 2 days of conference along the many keynotes and panels it was clear that RCS is happening, in different ways but happening. The industry is just intruducing the A/B testing for RCS, some telcos are testing with "joyn" common brand and others are introducing RCS as natural evolution of SMS/MMS. RCS UI is combining RCS chat/file transfer and using SMS/MMS when the other party is not RCS enabled. It was the case of the service explained by Vodafone & Wit.

Also, it is interesting to see potential dual deployments on-net + OTT RCS to try to expand the RCS user base until latecomers will be launching. It was the case of Sprint in the US.

Another of the hot topics discussed was the IMS vs non-IMS deployments. As Brent from Newpace said during his presentations, the last editions of the events the presence of the big NEVs trying to sell the "big IMS concept" was overwhelming and this year the RCS hosted solution vendors took charge of the show.

API, API, API....network API...YES! Not only us but several vendors and telcos emphasized the role of the API and the need to open RCS communication to B2C and other person to "something" experiences. Deutsche Telekom & Orange talked about the Paris to Berling hackaton.
The winner in Berlin was Yeppt and we all saw the video of how a web based service can use joyn to add additional channel for their users to interact with their service.

Other speakers as Naren from DT stated the important role of RCS API with examples of human-service instant messaging interaction.

Some telcos with not yet deployed RCS talk about their plans, how they are issuing RFQs, how they plan to use RCS not only as messaging tool but replacing/improving the A2P business they made along the years with the SMS. We see that our vision is shared with telcos (and we fear that now also with competitors).

In our opinion this was the best edition of the event. There was not taboo to talk openly about OTT competitiors as Whatsapp and analyze the opportunities as B2C comms that Whatsapp is not promoting yet. This a very good opportunity for telcos to take the lead there.

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UPDATE: find a full review of the event by Alan Quayle here .

Our view from past Rich Communication 2011 event in Munich.

Last week we attended the Rich Communication 2011 event in Munich, we participated in a panel defending our view about consider and deploying RCS-e as a platform to enable use cases and not a mere only person to person messaging. We explained our view in the panel, and previously in our demo slot we showed how we are this feasible with APIs and Thin Clients. Also we presented first time the demo of our new product RCS-e Personal Manager.

The G5 representatives from Vodafone, Telefonica, Deustche Telekom, Orange and TIM explained the project and the timeline, with all of them to offer the service by the H1 2012. It seems most of device manufacturers are committed to include RCS-e natively, and GSMA will launch a RCS-e App Client to cover other mainstream platforms (IOs & Android).
There was a lot of discussions about if RCS-e is the SMS replacement or something else (our view), how to monetize, and how to get traction in a very competitive segment with several OTTs (over the top) with interesting solutions.
In our opinion, both, companies creating communication services using the data connectivity (commonly referred as OTT) and telcos may be not considered full antagonists or deadly rivals. We believe in cooperation models and innovation to delight the users. A good communication shared model will allow internet companies with focus on e(m)-commerce, location, etc perhaps try to reach the users using universal communication services rather than creating a new "messenger" only for their use case. The task for telcos is how to design their wholesale offering of API's and perhaps some mediation of API usage to create a powerful model to boost mobility and user/customer engagement.
Finally, from the demos, we may say that there are RCSe available clients from different vendors, device client SDKs, and available server side REST APIs (ours) :-)
The networking was very good with senior representatives from telcos, leading vendors and analysts with different points of view, all of them enriching the discussion.

The technology is here, and time is gold to launch and let the ecosystem work.

To speak at 3rd Rich Communication 2010 event

Next week our CEO will be speaking at 3rd Rich Communication 2010 event in Barcelona organized by Informa Telecom & Media. Our keynote is scheduled in the Day 2, 11:45 am, and the tittle is RCS live – the new revenue stream for carriers – act now!
We will explain how a common user experience combining different IP multimedia capabilities will allow the MNO's to keep a leading role in the communications of the future and generating new revenue streams and adapt their business models in the telco-web convergence era.

This event counts with very important speakers and panelist from MNO's, top infrastructure vendors, telecom analysts and academic world, it is a honour for us this chance to share our views with the audience.

eComm Highlights (part II)

Keeping up with the previous two days a fantastic day at eComm at Amsterdam, ideas pouring, challenging audience. Politically incorrect but valid things said on stage, you will never hear that in other events. A bunch of quick notes summarizing the first and last days:

Martin Geddes, BT: "goodbye minutes, welcome moments"
Current voicemail (automatic messages left by IVRs, etc.) ineffective: relies on customer acting, doing + poor user experience + inefficient + unsecure (how to re-authenticate customer call back? how do I know message is from tax agency and not from a fraudster?)
What can be done to e.g. enhance voicemail:
1. use better existing channels (e.g. phweet)
2. insert/update/delete APIs (chargable events) + high definition audio + personalise interactions + smarter containers for messages + add multimodal channels

Sample revenue opportunities for new-think voicemail:
• connect: message informing or asking to contact.
• interact: avoid CRM call by using smart containers (e.g. data in the message avoids the call).
• transact: collect payment on behalf of the enterprise.

James Enck mCapital:
Future is not going to be a repeat of the past. World is not going to be the same.
So ... what do we have to say about all this? Are we a serious industry allocating capital to Kindle, iPhones, etc.?
Greatest value will be found in solving real problems (some of which we haven't found yet): Awareness + engagement + investment + reorientation.

J. Salanave, IDAE: Telecom in 2015: death or bazaar
Future scenario for telcos? Model possible outcomes as a 2x2 matrix:
• Telecom market expanding vs declining-stagnant
• Competition integration model: concentrated-vertical vs fragmented-horizontal
4 possible outocomes
• Silent death: surviving of the fattest, perhaps bailouts from governments and becoming utilities
• Market shakeout: service providers entities mixing device partnerships, spectrum, brands. Probably forced by investors.
• Clash of giants: vertical integration + optimized content + RCS + succeeds.
• Generative bazaar: open model prevails.
Bazaar means do-it-yourself connectivity? No, some entity will be needed to provide interconnection (key aspect) and other services.

Rudolf van der Berg, Logica: "almost everything in telco services is wrong"
Telcos not satisfied being an utility, they see no value being vodafone, they invest in being apple/google/etc.
All telcos offer the same, stuck in a standard value proposition. Telcos fail at innovation.
But ... other approaches are possible and successful in the real marketplace: Free.fr: everything for 30€. How? Keep back-office simple; finances and business cases are simple and transparent, not faked; offer the best product; deny competitors competition on price or capacity. 1000 total staff, 850 staff in call centres.
How to copy free.fr? Accept you work for a telco. Think cool things. Simply billing with single contract + top ups.

G. Leonhard MediaFuturist.com :
Media future: Must transition from ego-system to ecosystem, and, by the way, driven by capitalism, not by goodwill or philanthropy. Price moving from expensive to cheaper (but not cheap enough) to flat rates and bundles. Pricing logic will flip: lower prices, ubiquitous access.
But content pricing and licensing can’t be solved without engaging ISP, advertising, right holders, social networks (recommendations, trend setting). Spotify solved it, paying 0,1 cents per song, but it might become a time bomb if there are no upper caps.

After these 2 last post, we will prepare for coming week a post explaining the view of Solaiemes about the Telecom trends, and the possible scenarios of next decade telco/communication industry, stay tunned, and remember, the debate is open

Jose Recio

eComm Highlights (part I)

I am attending the eComm Europe event in Amsterdam, just amazed by the level of the speakers and the quality and rythm of the 15 minutes keynotes schedule.
Just writting this post (and additional one after the event with final thoughts) just to share some headlines and sentences to think about :-)

VoiceSage:
There are white spaces in the enterprises: communication-enabled services may help to surface them and optimize/monetize/ save costs. An edge perspective allows to surface this data. Simple example: allowing customers to confirm just a bit earlier may have big impacts in resources.

Nauiokas Park:
There is nothing wrong with being a dump pipe, capital structures will adapt to be cash flow driven.
Platform and APIs basically selling trust, technical capabilities are a must, but not enough.
Everything as a Service is coming (including banking). Future platforms blending identity + trust + messaging may allow that.

Mangrove:
Major disruptive driver in the last years: Telecom operators displaced to their rightful place in the eco-system: providers of the tubes. Capital models will have to change to adapt to that situation.

VURB:
Peering-up is the best way to cope with climate change, peak oil, financial crisis, ...

RJ Auburn - Voxeo:
To innovators: Get passionate or get out.
Voice is coming out, text is in. Kids and next generation don’t talk on the phone unless they have to, TXT is second nature to them. Communication pace is faster than voice now, customers want instantaneous answers, not wasting time waiting for IVR answers. No money in voice, cost saving in text (permits multitasking, voice not).
Building person to person communication based on bots and mash-ups. What happens with the existing phone applications?: look at IMified. Just use text instead of bots.

Jay Phillips - Voxeo:
If open source is communism … where is the proletarian?
Voice is not the application; it’s the spice to make the soup taste better.
Innovators to build lots of little voice experimental apps to find the right soup.
Voxeo open sourcing SIPMethod !!!

Jan Linden - Global IP Solutions:
H264 SVC codec for the Internet era.

Dean Bubbley - Disruptive Analysis: “LTE hostage of voice?”
IMS is the dead parrot in the Monthy Python sketch. Dead but nailed to the perch of LTE.
Is industry using LTE as the lever to persuade operators to deploy IMS? CS fallback: 2-3 seconds longer setup times (sometimes 8-10 seg, and double that for LTE-LTE calls). Drops data connection !!!. Extra capex in network.
And SMS on LTE? SMS was completely forgotten in LTE until it was too late. Fact is: You need SMS for backoffice operations (configuration, activations, passwords, prepaid top up, etc.) even if you use LTE only for data.

Sten Tamkivi - Skype: “peace, love and pstn”.
Skype processes 100 billion calls a year. Their view is that they are not taking revenue from telecoms, most of Skype minutes would never happen without Skype. 33% Skype calls include video.
Skype is for the people I actually want to talk to (average skype contact list is a single figure number). Somebody told Skype founders it would never happen because people don't have headsets, but people invested in headset to talk with their valued contacts.

To cover global needs, you need something relevant to developed (“peace and love” way of thinking, good voice quality, video, etc.) and emerging (PSTN, bad voice quality doesn’t matter so much, no video needed). Things like a MVNO focused on price and regular quality (long call setup, not very good audio, etc.) can’t be global (may succeed in emerging, but would be niche in
developed).

Voxygen:
Good user experience: calling a service number and directly listening what you wanted (e.g. ticket status, appointment confirmation), with no delay, no input of account, etc.
How much money wasted by couriers checking parcel delivery times, etc.?
Unlock that value !!!

Tomorrow more :-)

Jose Recio, VP Alliances

Solaiemes exhibiting at SIMO Network event

Solaiemes will have a booth during the coming edition of SIMO Network, next 22-24 September in Madrid (at IFEMA exhibition center).
This year SIMO event, with long tradition in Spanish IT market is re-invented, from a large exhibition for everybody, this year it is transformed as a smaller exhibition area, but with a parallel powerful programme of conferences and pannels, focused in professional attendants.
We thank the organization for the free of cost booth as a prize for becoming finalist in past edition of "Premio Vivero" last january.
We will be showcasing our progress in our portfolio and explaining the next step, "cloud-ifying / SaaS-ifying" our offer as we understand what the market is asking for. A good opportunity to meet with partner & customers (and potential new ones) and also investors.
Suggestions, meeting requests, questions, very welcomed.

Update: the PR associated
http://www.simonetwork.com/es/cargarAplicacionSalaPrensa.do?identificador=117