The recently-sold telecoms division of LogicaCMG, which will be officially re-launched as Acision on 20 June, has not let its impending brand change stop it from launching a product which it says will help operators bridge the gap between IM and SMS, and between current networks and IMS.
The IP Short Message Gateway (IPSMG) is being pushed by LogicaCMG as a way for operators to introduce presence aware, IM-like services whilst protecting and leveraging their existing SMS revenues and services.
Chris Lennartz, marketing director for messaging at LogicaCMG said that the concept allows operators to follow both the GSMA-endorsed Personal IM initiative, and to follow the alternative route of mobilising existing internet based IM communities.
Lennartz said that Operators will need a way to bring together the front end of future messaging services so that a user on a “SMS2.0, or SMS+ or SUperSMS – whatever you call it” service (with presence, and buddy lists, and all the rest) can send what he sees as an IM to a user on another network only equipped with basic SMS technology. The receiving user then needs to recognize the MSISDN, and then reply as an SMS, and then that SMS needs to arrive back as an IM to the original sender.
“The IPSMG is a strategic tool that gives operators an ‘and-and’ answer,” said Lennartz. “When we speak to operators about our vision for next generation messaging, then they suddenly understand that this is what they have been waiting for.
“Consumers are wanting the extra functionality of the IP services with the ubiquity of SMS. And you can’t do that without a very close integration between the IMSC and the SMSC, and you can’t do that merely by a SMTP link.
We’re talking about a much closer integration and that’s the IPSM.”
Asked if he thought operators would plump in time for the PIM model or the gateway to existing IM communities model, Lennartz said, “That’s the $64,000 question. Everyone is agreed that SMS and all its success is completely separate from mobilising IM services. Operators like 3 are looking to mobilising IM as an acquistion tool for customers, and then they can get them using SMS and voice services as well.
“The PIM initiative forced operators to co-operate on interoperability across the operator IM domain, and this (the IPSMG) is more about ‘how shall I integrate that across the front end of the network.'”
Lennartz also said that IP was changing the way we need to think about how operators offer services.
“Operators are now moving into the fast moving consumer goods industry, and we’re not used to that. Now, with open standards and IP, there are 30-40 competitors out there and we have to behave differently. Supermarkets sell own brand products as well as branded products, so it’s about ‘and-and’ not ‘either-or.'”