Fixed Mobile Convergence

This week at CTIA, Interop (News - Alert) Technologies came out with an RCS-e solution that can enable wireless service providers to offer feature-rich messaging without the time and investment requirements of IMS. The solution is slated for general availability in the first quarter of next year.

Stephen Zitnik, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Interop Technologies, tells TMCnet that this product enables instant messaging, group messaging and file transfer capabilities for service provider customers, many of which are now at risk of being lured away by over-the-top messaging offers from companies such as GroupMe. Subscribers can initiate communication from within the address book and can share photos or videos during communication sessions, according to the company.

This new solution from Interop Technologies is interoperable with carriers’ legacy technology and can be used within IMS architectures, but “what we’re trying to do is shortcut” to these advanced features without requiring IMS, explains Zitnik. The solution, he adds, has the intelligence to figure out if the messaging application should run on a legacy or newer network.

“Interop’s RCS solution provides full RCS-e compliance ­– not ‘RCS-like’ features – while completely supporting legacy messaging technologies that subscribers currently use,” says Zitnik. “This approach enables operators to compete with over-the-top players today and seamlessly implement an IMS core if and when they choose to do so.”

Zitnik tells TMCnet that this solution will jump start by one to two years service providers’ ability to compete in the advanced rich messaging space, while providing those companies with significant savings. The RCS solution is available on a hosted basis or for use on premises.

In addition to delivering messaging solutions, Interop Technologies offers mobile device management and connectivity gateways to telecom and broadband network operators worldwide.