Firs push to talk over cellular “enabler”
The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) announces the availability of the OMA Push To Talk Over Cellular 1.0 Candidate Enabler (OMA PoC 1.0) that provides the mobile industry with increased opportunity to deliver new services across multiple carriers, geographic locations and devices around the globe.
OMA PoC 1.0, developed collaboratively by members of OMA, is a two-way form of communication that allows mobile phone users to engage in immediate communication with one or more users, similar to a “walkie-talkie” application. OMA PoC 1.0 supports:
— One-to-One PoC Session: the basic capability to set up a voice communication between two users
— One-to-Many PoC Session: enables the user to set up a voice communication with a multiple number of other PoC subscribers in an ad- hoc or pre-defined group manner
— Instant Personal Alert: enables the calling user to inform a party of his or her wish to communicate and to request the invited user to “call-back”
— Group Advertisement: the capability to inform other users about an existing PoC Group
OMA PoC 1.0 incorporates key features of other OMA Enablers, including OMA XML Document Management Enabler and OMA Presence Enabler. These Enablers contribute group list management and integration of users’ presence &
availability information to OMA PoC 1.0.
“Finalizing the OMA Push to Talk Over Cellular specification is a major milestone for the mobile industry. Many operators already offer PoC services to their consumer and business customers, and vendors build their products accordingly. However, what the industry awaited is a common, agreed, open standard for facilitating interoperability between equipment and services,” said Jari Alvinen, Chairman of the Board, Open Mobile Alliance.
OMA recently held the first Interoperability TestFest for OMA PoC 1.0, where six servers and eight clients deploying the OMA PoC 1.0 Enabler were tested. OMA Interoperability TestFests are an important step in the OMA Release Program where basic inter-working of services between several
suppliers can be tested in a production environment.
To support the release of OMA PoC 1.0, OMA is holding an industry event where executives from Cingular Wireless, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, Sonim and Vodafone will join each other in a panel discussion on the importance of PoC standardization and their commitment to the newly available specification.
Iain Gillott, founder of iGillottResearch and an acknowledged wireless and mobile industry authority, will moderate the panel. The PoC event is being held on Monday June 13, 2005 in San Diego, California.
“With OMA’s release, Push To Talk Over Cellular now has the first open standard for building interoperable services and applications,” said Iain Gillott, president of iGillottResearch. “A wider range of adoption across service providers will foster new premium services falling under the PoC umbrella. Ultimately, it brings more features for consumers, business users and new revenue streams for the wireless and mobile industry.”