2013 recap and...Happy New Year 2014!

We want to wish all of you but specially to our customers, partners, followers, fans and prospects :-) a happy new year.



2013 Recap:
2013 was a challenging year for us. Finally the carriers are taking seriously that they need a messaging alternative, that SMS is great but right now, a multimedia messaging using all the possibilities of the smartphone devices and the speed of 3G and 4G networks are needed.

Also, the new messaging market with free/very cheap alternatives forces service providers to think about how to monetize, and they are realizing that the potential is in the VAS, using the API. We were pioneers in this vision and were awarded by the GSMA 2 years ago, now we see our competitors repeating our pitch.

We can say we have API GW being trialed succesfully in 4 tier-1 telcos and expect some of them going to commercial models. While competitors are trying to replicate our vision we are thinking in the next layer of value, specific servers for messaging monetization as RCS Store, RCS Developer Portal and RCS Ad Server to introduce first time the contextual advertising using the chat as media.
Also we are reinventing the group chat with the "apps in your chats" concept. Telcos are in the crossroad between becoming pipe or instead to become "real service providers" offering new services that could add revenue, our goal is to help them to stay relevant and keep a role in future communications.

Also this year 2013 was the year of WebRTC and we started to create our own technology, initially to complete the RCS API GW and put voice and RCS videoshare on the internet browser without plugings but finally we extended to a full WebRTC-Telco GW with an SDK enabling the development of innovative new Telco and Telco bridging OTT services. We can say we are already competing in tier-1 telcos RFQs with this product too.

But 2013 is coming to and end and we have some goals we could not match. We were unable to raise a growth VC round (1.2-2 M€) we need to move the company to the next stage by attending and converting many of the presales opportunities we are finding. In spite of the change of mind of some telcos, now keen on working with small companies, to compete in others with need some muscle. Being a tech company based in Spain is not easy at all and sometimes even playing at home is complicated :-(

Solaiemes took off but this coming 2014 we expect to get onboard a new investor that could add the fuel needed to reach the cruising height or a strong tech company with complementary portfolio as partner for go to market.

In the short-term we expect all of you visiting our booth at Mobile World Congress 2014.

Happy New Year 2014
the Solaiemes team

Multiparty RCS Translator. More on "apps in your chats"

Have a look to another demo of the concept "apps in your chats".
Have a look how easy could be have a chat when all the participants have not a common language, they add the translation services as a member of the chat, and get instant translation of each message.

Telcos may realize that messaging is not trying to replicate each OTT messaging new feature but exploring new blue oceans in the use of messaging.



Credits: Solaiemes RCS network API Gateway, Google Translate API, Newpace RCS core and Silta RCS Android Client

WebRTC is the new telcos gold. See how!

We have been following the debate WebRTC vs Telco and our position is that WebRTC is a very useful tool for telcos. WebRTC makes easy to expose their communication assets reaching the internet browsers as endpoints and also with the proper SDK as a key instrument to innovate creating new services that could be monetized.

We created a demo of WebRTC Telco Service portal, allowing telcos to sell not only voice minutes for outgoing calls but also creating a new business model. A possible new revenue could come from selling incoming minutes while allowing people to call you browser using alphanumeric codes or just being authorized using Facebook Connect. This is a way to protect the privacy of your phone number while allowing others to call you. YES, it means telcos taking advantage from internet companies stuff as well.



Our WebRTC-Telco GW product has now an SDK allowing to develope telco-WebRTC services easily. We have designed 3 services and create a Service Portal that telcos can deploy today as are UNI and can be connected to whatever IMS or VoIP server.

To create a funny and customizable user interface based on widgets we used Gridster.js  a framework from Ducksboard.

RCS "in-chat apps". Multiplayer chat based game demo.

Most of messaging apps are only taking care of person to person messaging only, Solaiemes thinks this is not a "finish-line" but a "start-line".
We created a demo using our RCS API Gateway, the pioneer RCS API in the market to create a multiplayer chat based "trivial-like" game. It is added to a group chat and allows you to start playing with your friends, and after finishing it disconnects from the group. Easy to play with.



It has been created using GSMA joyn innovation accelerator API environment, nothing else.

Which messaging app could be more open today to 3rd party innovation?

Our advice on RCS: telcos, launch soon, launch cloud, launch with API to allow developers to flood of content the RCS platform :-)

Credits: Solaiemes RCS network API Gateway, Newpace RCS core and Silta RCS Android Client

RCS Service Store, how chat can become alternative to apps.

Just to complete the series of RCS as a Platform vision we just uploaded the final demo explaining the concept for RCS Service Store. Our RCS API GW (RCS Solution Gateway) includes the management database to create "the store" of the rich chat based cases created with the API.

The "Store" has an API to get integrated with RCS clients or create Store-Apps independent from clients. Easily, the users may search for RCS services (banks, customer care, chat based games, learning tools, info services) and add them as a contacts. From the "app-store" to the "service-store". It would mean a new concept of app, not consuming memory, no needing updated in the mobile side, just a contact in the phonebook.

Greatest things are the simple ones. See how it works watching this video.



As usual, any feedback more than welcomed

RCS as a Platform. Concept, deploying API easily and Monetization case. New Solaiemes site to explain the how to.

Solaiemes has published a minisite "RCS as a platform by Solaiemes" to make easier to understand the potential of instant messaging as a la platform, how to deploy in days the network API and offer it to the developers and how to monetize "RCS" using as context for advertisement third party cases created with the API.

Yes, RCS has a business case, and can be the initial point for telcos take a slice of the cake of contextual advertising business.

Telcos, it'stime to get down to work and we can help :-)

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.

Finally, we are starting a newsletter, please join our mailing list here

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

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RCS Developer Portal as a Service. Revolutioning how telco API may be offered.

We are pleased to announce a new offering, the concept of RCS Developer Portal as a Service. Telcos will be able to launch RCS API at the same time that RCS/joyn service itself. No painful integrations, experiment what plug&play means ;).

The telcos just need to provide connectivity with the telco SBC and a bunch of RCS users (numbers) to be used as developer created services will be enough.

What about the API Management layer? Well, it is not needed to try to reinvent the wheel, the portal front-end and API Management use 3Scale, one of the leading vendors in the API management field. The developer look&feel and the developer plans are fully customizable.





Time now for telcos to use the cloud for their own enablers exposure. Time is money!!!

New Product: RCS Advertising Platform. Creating a role for telcos in the advertisement market.

We got involved in RCS 3 year ago and pioneered the REST API network exposure. We received many telco feedbacks about considering great the API to create person-to-service cases but were concerned about the monetization capabilities of RCS/joyn in a context of free messaging apps competition. With this new product that is combined with RCS API GW, we provide telcos a white-label platform to engage development and create a new business model, use the contextual advertising in-chat RCS API based services created by developers.

In a sentence, a Google Adwords/Adsense model for telcos, using the instant messaging (not the search or blogs) as the media to insert ads.



We are sure that properly used it could be a very smart marketing model, both, for developers and users, and the API GW only will insert the chat or file transfer (pic, audio, etc). The textual and also location (push/pull) will allow a very accurated targetting, being this new mobile marketing the way to make service providers strong players in the SOLOMO (social, local, mobile).

Also, finally telcos can use their enablers to engage and foster the ecosystem by proposing a fair revenue sharing model while users are enjoying new services for free.

Any feedback welcomed.

#joynhack in Berlin, welcome the RCS API Hackatons

Two "solaiemers" attendend the joyn Hackaton in Berlin past weekend. Organized by Orange and Deutsche Telekom the 2 hackatons, one in Paris last month and one in Berlin the past weekend make clear that RCS/joyn is not only about person to person messaging but a platform. The platform is useful for developers to create amazing use cases for the users.

During the weekend the RCS API was used in 2 ways: embedding RCS communications in apps and creating network based services. The winner of #joyn category (Yeppt) was the "porting" of a web based service to the chateable experience.

We welcome this kind of initiatives to engage developers. RCS can enrich the apps and also can complement the App model by providing an alternative interaction model based in chat & file transfer as we explained our last post.

It would be great to see other telcos organizing this kind of hackatons, engaging developers to use their exposed or "to be exposed soon" enablers and also to get first hand feedback from the real movers of the ecosystem, the developers.

The greatest feature joyn/RCS can have versus OTT's is the openness, the API to go beyond the person to person messaging.

You can see the G+ of the event with pics uploaded by organizers here

Understanding the RCS network REST API potential in just 4 minutes.

We prepared in-house a 4 minutes cartoon-type video explaining the potential of the RCS/joyn network API. It shows examples of its use to make RCS messaging a platform by making the phonebook a hub of chateable services.



If you like it, please share :-)
the Solaiemes team

Solaiemes WebRTC-Telco Gateway. Telco voice (including PSTN) easily ubiquitous.

Solaiemes works hard to help telcos to adapt to the new competitive scenario. We see WebRTC as huge opportunity for telcos as they finally are not depending on 3rd parties and their roadmaps to deliver "physical end-points". Also, we continue relying on UNI (user to network interface) approach to avoid painful integrations with the telco cores. Connecting to the SBC is the perfect way, plug&play, works inmediately and allows cloud deployment when needed.


We can say we tested the platform in several live telco environments, and it worked with no integration at all needed. Just provisionate in the platform the user credentials and voice become ubiquitous. We published videodemos in previous posts: webphone and RCS webphone.

Telco VAS decline, the key role of telco APIs & the coining of a new term W2P

Telco is an industry facing transformation, basic services being cash-cows with high margins as voice and SMS, and lately broadband, are becoming commodities in a fierce competitive market. Most of telco customers are contracting plans with a number of minutes, SMS and data enough for their needs at very low prices.

Value Added Services (VAS) being perceived as the next stream of revenues are not properly implemented by telcos. We could read this week about the VAS revenue declining.

What is happening? Well, too many things at a time:

• Telco enablers as Voice and SMS for VAS being exploded more successfully by companies creating REST API to use the communications enablers as they are costume to work with social networka and internet tools APIs. Companies as Tropo, Twilio, Plivo make easier to use telco enablers than the own telcos.

• New communication enablers beyond voice and SMS as rich messaging are being pioneered and led by amazing "over the top" companies as Whatsapp, Line, WeChat (Tencent) harming telcos in 2 ways: commoditizing the enhanced messaging as being offered for free or just for a small annual fee, and capturing new VAS market share (virtual goods, B2C, etc).

• Service providers (carriers) are not properly adapted to the new times: years to deploy a new technology is not an acceptable period, waiting to the perfect standards with all the features defined is not how now service cycles work. RCS (Rich Communication Services)/joyn had to be deployed years ago and just right now it is taking off slowly.

• Fortunately telcos realize about the potential of APIs and they are giving steps in the right direction launching developer portals as Telekom Developer Garden, AT&T Developer Program, Telefonica Bluevia and others. They are understanding finally that Parlay is not API for developers, developers needs web APIs (REST, SOAP).  Unfortunately the new communication enablers are not usually launched with API to try to generate non person-to-person communication use case from day 1.

• It is difficult for the carriers to work at the start-up pace required if they don't learn to work with start-up's and it would mean to use their investing arms to fund interesting companies creating stuff useful for telco transformation, paying fairly for trials...and avoid screwing up innovators :-(

• Also, incumbent vendors, the so-called NEVs, may also try to cooperate with small vendors with complementary stuff to jointly help telcos to adapt. Obvious? NO, we suffered first hand how NEVs tend to promise to offer "very soon" what small innovative vendors are doing and keep telcos (as they are more customed to work with NEVs) waiting and waiting and wasting time and time is money.

All above is the cocktail that could make telcos irrelevant in the VAS if they can not adapt properly soon, as sooner the better. Which are the keys? Telcos commercialized universal communication enablers, known user experiences that properly combined can be as Lego pieces to create services. APIs are the telco Lego. 

What can be built with that Lego? Whatever thing, communication is not about people only, or between machines only, communications is between people, services as customer care bots, machines, home sensors, etc. Today, the concept of A2P/P2A (application-to-person / person-to-application) coined for VAS using SMS is too small. 

A new term may be coined W2P/P2W (person-to-whatever thing, whatever thing-to-person) and messaging, RCS may be the enabler being the HUB of those type communications, with the benefit of not facing learning curve, chatting is chatting, sending files is sending files.  

Thanks to telco APIs and semantic technologies (a hot topic) telcos may take benefit from the texting trend and become the relevant player making easy to connect the world, not a bit level but at service level: people with customer care bots or agents (B2C communications), people with their home sensors, people with social games & new smart advertisement, people with info services with just the same tool, the same user experience. 
Too, this common user experience thanks to the APIs will be available in all the screens (web, TV), telco should not be only tied to "phone-type" devices.

Long life to the W2P coin!