Followap and Motorola have completed initial interoperability testing of the iFollow Presence Server with Motorola's IMS platform and Motorola's Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) service. Interoperability of Followap's iFollow Presence Server with Motorola's IMS platform will allow mobile operators to implement presence as an inherent component in their network. The presence server will be accessible through standard IMS interfaces and will communicate with the different IMS elements and network services in order to share and receive subscriber presence information.
"We are committed to offer our customers a comprehensive, robust IMS solution," said Murali Aravamudan, Motorola GM and VP, Winphoria Division of GTSS. "We are working with Followap through our IMS Interoperability Program to add a standards-based presence server to our IMS solution. We see this as another step towards providing operators with a broad and open network infrastructure."
Integration of presence information with the PoC service improves the PoC user experience. Most importantly, the handset's phonebook, transformed into presence-enhanced contacts (PEC), now serves as the basis for initiating and controlling PoC sessions. Subscribers are able to see if their contacts are available for PoC sessions, if they are expecting to be contacted by PoC, and if their device is capable of PoC. Additional features include integration with the phone profile and reception of textual instant messages and PoC messages through the unified contact list interface.
"Mobile operators have recognized the considerable effect presence can have on the usability and richness of value added services," said Dotan Volach, CEO of Followap. "The cooperation between Motorola and Followap allows operators to rapidly launch an attractive Push-to-Talk over Cellular service, pre-integrated with a carrier-class, standards-based presence server. After the deployment process, the operator gets a feature-rich PoC service as well as a robust presence infrastructure, which can be used to presence-enable additional services."
Posted to the site on 3rd March 2004
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/10761.php