News

Mobile Mashup application "MobiConnect" taps into the power of location, letting friends and colleagues connect on the go – users can see who's close and instantly call, chat, video conference or share files

LAS VEGAS - April 1, 2008 - CommuniGate Systems, the leader in carrier-class Rich Media Internet Communications, today announced a solution for mobile operators to deliver an IMS application that leverages Location Based Services. CommuniGate's MobiConnect uses Ericsson's (NASDAQ: ERIC) IMS technology to deliver a solution that will enable mobile operators to monetize the entertainment-based application. CommuniGate Systems will demonstrate the new solution with Ericsson at CTIA from April 1-3 in Las Vegas, booth 2024.

MobiConnect enables mobile operators to offer their customers a unique mashup of click-to-call, instant messaging, and rich presence functions all from a sleek and easy-to-use interface. Such differentiated services play a key role in attracting and retaining subscribers. MobiConnect is ready to be customized for a wide variety of Location Based Services (LBS) and Location Based Advertising (LBA) – from restaurant recommendations, to shopping offers, to dating applications – opening up new revenue streams by delivering enhanced, fee-based content to subscribers. Operators can build modular services based on connected time or monthly subscriptions with flat rates, as well as benefit from LBA opportunities.

The US mobile social networking market is expected to grow robustly between 2007 and 2012, according to data from Frost & Sullivan, which sees mobile advertising and uptake within the youth segment as two key catalysts driving the uptake. Application revenues from on-deck mobile social networking services are expected to reach $412.1 million in 2012, up from $57.4 million in 2007 according to the consultancy. Mobile advertising within on-deck mobile social networking applications is also expected to grow, reaching $102.6 million in 2012, or roughly 16 percent of the overall on-deck display mobile advertising revenue.

"By blending enablers such as presence and location in an IMS-ready personal communications application, CommuniGate is creating a compelling end-user experience that will allow subscribers to quickly reach their contacts or even establish a quick impromptu meeting when they happen to be within their vicinity," stated Ronald Gruia, Principal Telecom Analyst from Frost & Sullivan. "In addition, MobiConnect can also enable operators to monetize a social application via targeted advertising, which can be further enhanced via the richness of subscriber information available to a carrier in an IMS environment."

With MobiConnect friends can see who is close, wherever they are – and instantly connect via a phone or video call, chat session or quickly share files or pictures back-and-forth. Users will be able to see their location on a map, as well as the proximity of their friends or featured stores and advertisements. MobiConnect lets subscribers get the most out of their address book, keeping track of friends and seeing who is available online, as well as what might be close by of interest to the group. Customized alerts tell friends who is in range, and let them instantly begin a mobile-to-mobile conversation through instant message or a voice or video call. Subscribers can also be directed to services, games, advertising and alerts based on their location.

"Dating and Gaming are just two example scenarios where operators will leverage working business models and revenue streams from the online entertainment world to the mobile handset to enhance mobile applications for consumers and create powerful sticky applications," says Jon R. Doyle, VP Business Development at CommuniGate Systems. "The potential revenues for the operators are tremendous as they will enter a new revenue model with the lucrative LBA ecosystem."

CommuniGate Pro offers a scalable Unified Communications platform that enables operators and service providers to seamlessly expand to 50 million subscribers in virtual domains with a modular feature set, powerful class of service provisioning, and a live rolling updates change management capability not found in legacy enterprise class messaging products. The platform's exclusive Dynamic Clustering architecture provides 99.999% uptime in a multi-tenant architecture with no single point of failure, and allows SaaS providers to add front-end or back-end nodes as needed without any downtime or service interruption.

About CommuniGate Systems
Founded in 1991 and based in Mill Valley, California, CommuniGate Systems develops carrier-class Unified Communications and media delivery software for broadband and mobile operators to deliver value-added services and SaaS solutions. CommuniGate Systems delivers powerful mashups of Unified Communications technology mixed with media and entertainment applications for portals, social networks, enterprises and mobile communities. CommuniGate Systems is revolutionizing the Unified Communications industry with a unique Flash-based client framework Pronto! bringing together all forms of communication and breaking the leash to the desktop with Web 2.0 mobility.

CommuniGate Systems is the first choice in technology solutions for over 12,000 customers with over 130 million subscribers unifying e-mail, collaboration, IM, presence and VoIP with a single identity. The Unified Communications platform provides flexibility, performance, and scalability with benchmark proven architecture remaining unchallenged in the industry. Our technology powers OEM partner products ranging from embedded real time systems to powerful unified messaging platforms at top tier global network operators. The open development environment's simple APIs deliver extensible flexibility with a unique clustering technology for 99.999% uptime for the most demanding application environments.

The company is a trusted and financially stable vendor, maintaining the highest customer satisfaction levels in the Unified Communications industry with over 175 members in its partner network worldwide.