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Feature Articles
Introducing the Vision CX Video Gateway
By Joanne Babbitt, Product Marketing Manager, Joanne_Babbitt@nmss.com
NMS recently introduced the Vision CX Video Gateway, the first integrated gateway to bridge the gap between 3G mobile phones and IP applications for both video and voice services carried over ISDN and SS7 networks.
The NMS Vision CX Video Gateway is an affordable, all-in-one platform that enables the connection between millions of 3G phones using the 3G-324M protocol and the growing number of IP-based video and audio applications using the session initiation protocol (SIP) standard.
This will allow the deployment of innovative mobile video applications that will continue to multiply as the rate of adoption for 3G video-enabled phones increases, currently estimated by Wainhouse Research to hit 150 million by 2010.
Voice and Video
Unlike other video gateways that are limited to only video services, the Vision CX Video Gateway provides dynamic ports that handle both video and voice traffic, saving operators the cost, management effort, and space required to support multiple devices. Additionally, the Vision CX Video Gateway integrates SS7 signaling within one device to simplify deployments for carrier environments that require SS7 signaling. Other gateways require operators to run two separate boxes to support SS7 signaling.
Seeing is Believing
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 For more information, listen to NMS’s podcast about the Vision CX Video Gateway.
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The Vision CX Video Gateway provides operators with previously unrealized revenue opportunities. Video-enabled customer contact centers can help service providers and other companies reduce call center costs while providing customers with a richer experience and a faster path to the information they need. For example, a mobile phone provider can send a short video SMS message to a new customer demonstrating how to use all of the new phone’s features.
Subscribers will have more communication and entertainment options with services connected via the Vision CX Video Gateway. Video blogging—sharing a video with a group of users or a social network—is gaining momentum. On-demand gaming and video portals that allow subscribers to choose the content they want to see will also increase operator revenues. Video SMS and video ringback tones are also gaining popularity as subscribers continue to look for ways to personalize their communications. Subscribers can also use these new mobile video services to grow their own businesses. For example, a travel agent could send a video of a resort to potential guests to give them a compelling visual demonstration of the destination and surrounding amenities.
Key Features
The current version of the Vision CX Video Gateway supports:
- Gateway functions for connecting PSTN callers to SIP-based video resources
- Mobile video 3G-324M terminals and SIP video-enabled phones
- ISDN, SS7, ISUP and SIP network signaling
- Optional call control programming through CCXML
- Optional media playback for .3gp video or audio files
- Latest IETF RFC standards for transporting media
- Expandable port density via software license upgrade
- Simultaneous 324M video and traditional TDM voice calls
For the complete feature list, please download the Vision CX Video Gateway datasheet.
See the article in Product News for information on the next release of the Vision CX Video Gateway.
| Mobile Video: Seeing is Believing!
  To learn more about revenue-generating mobile video applications and deployment strategies for service providers, be sure to attend our upcoming September 23 webinar, “Mobile Video: Seeing is Believing!” For details and registration info, visit the September webinar page on our web site.
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Video and the Changing “Look” of Call Centers
By Brough Turner, CTO, Brough_Turner@nmss.com
Call centers are beginning to kick the tires on new mobile technologies that incorporate video into their services. The benefits are straightforward: faster problem resolution, strengthening customer satisfaction; remote problem diagnostics and resolution, saving field service time and money; and dynamic marketing, increasing sales.
Interactive mobile video will change how call centers operate and transform relationships between organizations and their customers. The potential impact on a variety of industries will be huge. For example, the maintenance division of an appliance retailer can ask a customer to use a camera phone to send a picture or video of a malfunctioning washing machine water pump to the customer service representative (CSR) handling the call. That image could help the CSR better determine whether it’s a problem the customer can fix, or whether a trained technician needs to go to the customer’s house. The CSR might also be able to make sure the technician has the right part based on the image.
Similar technology is already changing the automated movie phone line into a richer customer experience. Theaters in France send movie trailers to mobile phones so subscribers can better determine which films to watch.
That said, the technology that would video-enable contact centers is still nascent. Interactive video and voice response (IVVR) technology is slowly working its way into trial phases in markets where the 3G-324M video protocol is in use, such as in parts of Asia and Europe. Application developers and operators there are discovering the best way to deploy the technology so that it is easy to use, dependable, and operable on a variety of different handsets.
Interoperability is indeed the operative word. As with any mobile application, making the technology accessible to the broadest population of subscribers is critical to growing revenues. That’s why video call centers will most likely first take off in markets where the 3G-324M standard is widely used … because it is (or will be) adapted to more handsets. These call centers of the future will be slower to emerge in the U.S. and other markets where interoperability and the lack of common handset standards are a bigger issue.
But even with these challenges, within five years there will be a new call center paradigm, where the convergence of voice and video will help companies build stronger relationships with their customers.
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Product News
Upcoming Vision Product Releases
NMS is preparing to launch the next release of both our Vision VoiceXML Server and the Vision CX Video Gateway.
These products will be generally available at the end of the year and will add support for:
- A single SS7 point code for multiple servers (up to 5,000 ports), as well as redundant failover
- Fast video call setup, through support of MONA and WNSRP
- H.264/MPEG 4 (3G-324M and RTP terminations, and 3GP file containers)
- In-band DTMF support for 3G-324M configurations
- Audio conferencing (Vision VoiceXML Server only)
- Enhanced routing options (including routing tables and/or CCXML control)
- T.38 fax (Vision CX Gateway only)
Be part of the Vision VoiceXML Server and CX Video Gateway beta programs.
If you would try out the next release of either the Vision VoiceXML Server or the Vision CX Video Gateway, contact your NMS sales representative to see if you qualify for our beta test program, underway now. |
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| Support Tip
Dynamically Altering Trace Masks
ctdaemon is the Natural Access service that is used to create and manage processing contexts on behalf of applications and enable them to share and hand off server resources. ctademon can also be used to modify system global default parameters, set the global trace mask, perform remote tracing with a Java applet, and optionally log trace messages to a file. This is very useful when trying to troubleshoot applications and trace events going to/from the host and to/from NMS boards.
Application developers can use the tracing features in ctdaemon to trace and debug many development issues by setting specific trace masks. This task can now be performed dynamically without having to stop and restart the application by using a new utility called “setctatrace” available with NA 2005-1, SP5 and newer releases.
Procedure
To run setctatrace, enter the following command at the prompt:
setctatrace [-s host_name] [-m mask] [-h]
Specify the trace mask as a sequence of strings, constants, decimal values, or hex values delimited by + signs (with no spaces). To specify a hex value, prefix the value with 0x. Enter -? or -h at the interactive command prompt to see recognized names for setting the trace mask.
Trace messages display only if the trace mask corresponding to the specific type of message is enabled. setctatrace sets the trace mask for all processes that enabled tracing with ctaInitialize. To be more selective in tracing, use ctaSetTraceLevel from the application itself to set the trace mask for a service on a specific context.
For example, if you enter:
setctatrace -m apievt+CTA_TRACEMASK_API_ERRORS+0x0001
setctatrace sets the trace mask for API events, API errors, and driver commands.
Call setctatrace -m 0 to disable the global trace mask.
Usage
To select the options for setctatrace utility enter:
etctatrace [options]
where options are the following values:
| Option |
Use this option to... |
| -? or -h |
Access Help and terminate setctatrace. |
| -s host_name |
Specify the name or IP address of the server to monitor. If unspecified, the default is localhost. |
| -m mask |
Specify the global trace mask for ctadaemon. |
where mask values are:
| String |
Constant |
Hex value |
| all |
CTA_TRACEMASK_ALL |
0xff7f |
| allcmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_ALL_COMMANDS |
0x5015 |
| allevt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_ALL_EVENTS |
0xa02a |
| drvcmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DRIVER_COMMANDS |
0x0001 |
| drvevt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DRIVER_EVENTS |
0x0002 |
| dispcmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DISP_COMMANDS |
0x0004 |
| dispevt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DISP_EVENTS |
0x0008 |
| apicmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_API_COMMANDS |
0x0010 |
| apievt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_API_EVENTS |
0x0020 |
| apierr |
CTA_TRACEMASK_API_ERRORS |
0x0040 |
| svcerr |
CTA_TRACEMASK_SVC_ERRORS |
0x0080 |
| dbgbit0 |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DEBUG_BIT0 |
0x0100 |
| dbgbit1 |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DEBUG_BIT1 |
0x0200 |
| dbgbit2 |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DEBUG_BIT2 |
0x0400 |
| dbgbit3 |
CTA_TRACEMASK_DEBUG_BIT3 |
0x0800 |
| cltcmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_CLNT_COMMANDS |
0x1000 |
| cltevt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_CLNT_EVENTS |
0x2000 |
| svrcmd |
CTA_TRACEMASK_SRVR_COMMANDS |
0x4000 |
| svrevt |
CTA_TRACEMASK_SRVR_EVENTS |
0x8000 |
| none |
CTA_TRACEMASK_NONE |
0x0000 | | |
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Customer Application
TouchStar Call Center System
TouchStar develops and supports world-class call center software with on-site and hosted deployment options. TouchStar serves over 2,500 businesses on six continents from its headquarters in Denver and regional offices around the world. TouchStar’s premier call center software and predictive dialer, TouchStar 2008, is a complete solution for outbound, inbound, and blended communications.
TouchStar recently announced that the TouchStar 2008 Enterprise Call Center System now includes support for NMS’ s Open Access carrier class media processing platform. By combining TouchStar’s new call center software and NMS’s hardware, TouchStar clients now have world class reliability and scalability.
TouchStar selected NMS’s Open Access boards because they provide several key features and benefits, including carrier-class reliability, cost-effective scalability, easy maintenance, and provide a “no-forklift” upgrade path for IP, video, and wireless.
Robert Killory, TouchStar’s Director of Development, commented: “NMS and TouchStar are developing new functionality that will provide TouchStar clients with the opportunity to offer innovative value-added services on mobile and converged networks around the world. TouchStar clients gain reduced risk, a wide range of functionality options, incredibly fair pricing, and a passionate business partner in TouchStar.”
For more information on TouchStar, visit www.touchstar.com. For more information on NMS’s Open Access products, visit http://www.nmscommunications.com/DevPlatforms/OpenAccess/default.htm
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NMS is the platinum sponsor of the upcoming TouchStar User Group 2008. Click on the image below for more information on this event.
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Articles and Publications
Reinventing SIP
By Brough Turner, CTO
The biggest telecom story of the past 12 years has been the global adoption of mobile phones—over 3 billion of them in just 12 years—all using traditional circuit-switched telephony. And arguably, the most interesting telephony service enhancement, after mobility, has come from Skype with its seamless integration of presence, instant messaging, wideband audio and video. But Skype is based on proprietary protocols, not SIP. And VoIP has helped drive down the cost of international calling, but this is the result of VoIP based on MGCP, H.248 or H.323 more than SIP, at least so far.
To read the full article, published by Internet Telephony magazine, visit http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/0708/reinventing-sip.htm
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Partner News
Dell to Bring NMS Products to India and South Asia
NMS has partnered with global technology and IT supplier Dell to meet customer demand for new value-added voice and video services (VAS) in India and South Asia. Through this reselling partnership, Dell in India will provide local sales and support for NMS-based solutions, providing a single touch point to telcos, VAS service providers, and content partners to source their complete technology needs in the VAS platforms space.
“We see the addition of NMS’s portfolio as a strong addition to our solution offerings to large customers in India,” said Dell India Director, Software and Peripherals Nitin Bawankule. “Through our regional offices in strategic locations, we will help customers deploy technology that will enable them to offer truly innovative applications in today’s competitive market.”
Dell India will resell the NMS Open Access media processing boards and signaling products and the NMS Vision development tool kits, which are used to develop a broad range of value-added services including video and voice SMS, ringback tones, mobile TV and others.
“India’s mobile telecom market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, with a particularly strong demand for mobile value-added services,” said Jamie Warter, vice president of marketing at NMS. “We’re excited to partner with Dell in India to capitalize on that opportunity while also growing sales of NMS platforms in the region.”
South Africa to Tune into Mobile Video
NMS has partnered with regional value-added services provider Atlantic Convergence to help meet customer demand for new voice and video services in South Africa. Atlantic Convergence will sell NMS media processing boards, gateways, servers and software to application developers and value-added service (VAS) providers throughout the country and beyond so they can create revenue-generating mobile video services such as mobile TV or mobile video SMS (short message service) messaging.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, Atlantic Convergence is helping mobile operators in South Africa and nearby countries usher in converged mobile technologies including text, audio, graphics, animation and video services for GSM and 3G networks. As a member of the NMS Partner Network, Atlantic Convergence will sell NMS Open Access media processing boards and software and the Vision family of servers and gateways. Application developers and VAS providers will use those NMS products to build a menu of next-generation services such as: interactive streaming video; and mobile TV services like sports and news broadcast highlights or mobisodes (two-to-three minute episodes subscribers can view while waiting for a bus, etc.).
“We’re poised to capitalize on the growing mobile video market in South Africa, where more than 40 million mobile phone users are looking for new ways to communicate and maximize the entertainment value of their mobile devices,” said Graham Finbow, director of Atlantic Convergence. “NMS platforms provide the flexibility and functionality to rapidly develop new video technologies that will enable operators to capitalize on this market opportunity.”
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The NMS Partner Network
The NMS Partner Network is a worldwide community of value-added channel and technology partners working together to further the development and adoption of both traditional and new value-added services such as voice mail, audio conferencing and interactive voice response systems to ringback tones, voice SMS and interactive mobile video.
To learn more about the NMS Partner Network or apply for membership, visit http://www.nmscommunications.com/DevPlatforms/Partners/default.htm. |
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Spotlight Events
Mobile Video: Seeing is Believing!
Rising demand for mobile video services is creating major new revenue opportunities—for both service providers and application developers. Content is king, and easy consumer interaction with content is what will drive revenue from video applications for mobile and broadband subscribers. But mobile video is a sophisticated medium. Developers face stringent performance requirements, multiple interoperability issues, and a variety of other technical challenges.
Attend this informative webinar to learn about:
- the top revenue-generating mobile video applications
- current user trends that are driving these applications
- technical challenges and deployment strategies for developers and operators
- real-world success stories of mobile video applications from around the globe
Location: On Your Desktop
Date: September 23, 2008
Time: 11:00am EDT
Speaker: Dan Kozin, Director of Product Management
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Click here to register now! |
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Fall ’08 Event Round-up
http://www.nmscommunications.com/Communications/News/Events/Events/TouchStarUserGroup.htm
http://www.nmscommunications.com/Communications/News/Events/Events/InternetTelephonyExpoWest2008.htm
http://www.nmscommunications.com/Communications/News/Events/Events/NGMAST2008.htm
http://www.nmscommunications.com/Communications/News/Events/Events/Vocal+Expo.htm
http://www.nmscommunications.com/Communications/News/Events/Events/Gulfcomms.htm
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