Telecom Lead Europe: Targeting mobile broadband players and to fast-track 4G innovation, Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled 9 New Conversation APIs.
The new APIs will give developers access to communication capabilities in service providers’ IP Multimedia Subsystem.
In an age of increasing OTT competition, service providers are eager to find innovative ways to add value to the Internet eco-system.
“New Conversation APIs enable service providers to fast-track 4G innovation – turning IMS into a real engine for creating new services. New applications using IMS-based APIs can be built quickly, allowing introduction of more services, and a growth in revenue that comes from our customers being able to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” said Sandip Mukerjee, president of Advanced Communications at Alcatel-Lucent.
Alcatel-Lucent said the new application programming interfaces (APIs) will accelerate the creation of compelling broadband services to address consumer and enterprise demands.
The capabilities of new APIs, which are based on software architecture REpresentational State Transfer (REST), include HD voice and video, audio/video conferencing, interactive voice, messaging and call control, which can be used to build services for both consumers and businesses.
“Opening the network up in a way that is friendly to web developers creates new retail and wholesale revenue opportunities for telecom operators. By exposing the full breadth of IMS via RESTful APIs, Alcatel-Lucent can offer their core customer base a new way to monetize innovative applications and recoup their investment in IMS infrastructure,” said Brian Partridge, vice president of research at Yankee Group.
Utilizing the New Conversation APIs, Anana has created an app that allows subscribers to convert their last tweet into a speech ringback greeting or initiate a call with multiple participants through their Facebook wall, making group voice or video chat easy.
“The New Conversation APIs enable third party application developers to focus on the creation of rich consumer experiences across a wide range of devices – from mobile phones to tablets to PCs – without having to deal with the complexity of directly interacting with the network. This rapid applications development capability and common interface reduces the time required from years to weeks and allows the service provider to quickly open new revenue streams,” said Dave Tidwell, chief operating officer at Anana.
Aricent Group has expanded the scope of security alerts for their smart home solution by notifying multiple contacts through video calls when a home intrusion or emergency is detected as well as using alternative means of contact like SMS, e-mail or even social networks like Facebook depending on people’s preferences.
