Johannesburg, 26 Aug 2004
Unisys Africa has designed and delivered Unisys Communications Ensemble, a package for telecommunications companies evolved from the field-proven Communications Application Platform, which now includes a set of packaged, open platform applications supporting a number of requested revenue-generating applications and services.
These include traditional messaging, prepaid applications and interactive voice response (IVR) applications as well as new advanced speech enabled solutions such as speech-enabled IVR, voice-controlled messaging, an e-mail reader, voice-activated dialling, voice Web access and visual voice mail on a handset.
"The package was created to help telcos adapt more quickly to customer demands, improve services and customer retention, and increase revenue," says Dean Baker, acting business unit head: telecommunications at Unisys Africa.
Ensemble was designed as a next-generation open architecture to enable telcos to offer productivity-enhancing services to their subscribers such as voice alerts and voice-controlled messaging.
"Unisys has taken the time to listen to the market," says Ronald Gruia, senior strategic analyst, Frost and Sullivan. "It has built a platform that can help carriers create more flexible, revenue-producing business models. As the industry growth curve has slowed, carriers began to look for technology that can provide a basis for highly segmented diverse user requirements to re-ignite revenue. Unisys Communications Ensemble allows for modularity, scalability and diversity through open standards that can allow carriers to quickly find new sources of revenue from new services."
The solution provides a collaborative environment between multiple operating systems, applications and networks for the delivery of new communications retail services to end users. It features the open services platform (OSP), an open standards platform for telephony applications, the VSE500 high-performance computing environment, and the communications media module (CMM) universal network interface. The platform`s technology provides an open foundation that telcos can use to build new services and revenue streams.
Seamlessly evolving the Communication Application Platform, Ensemble components can be used separately or with each other, offering telcos the ability to link technology from different vendors to create a new user environment.
Using industry-recognised standards such as Java Authentication and Authorisation Service, VoiceXML, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and .NET allows Unisys clients to build unique connections between existing and potentially new applications for clients. The VSE500 computing environment enables telcos to service millions of end-users with a solution that requires less space and energy. The VSE500 features reliability and scalability, while allowing multiple operating systems to exist within a 19-inch footprint.
CMM enables low cost and multimedia benefits of voice over IP (VOIP) networks. By supplying simultaneous connectivity to services via IP or circuit switched networks, telcos can migrate traffic between networks with virtually no impact on users and in turn embrace VOIP networks for mass-market services.
"Customers have been telling us that the ideal situation would be to create a platform that was open enough to allow them to rapidly deploy diverse offerings as their user requirements and expectations increased," says Andre Martineau, director, solutions management, Unisys Global Communications industry. "The challenge was to allow all technical resources to work together for the benefit of multiple user lifestyles and productivity needs. Unisys Communications Ensemble enables a broader range of revenue-producing opportunities through this type of application collaboration."
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