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Enhanced Services: The
Wireless Wakeup Call BY MIKE VON WAHLDE |
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The technologies we have been integrating into our lives
-- the Internet, communications convergence, and computers -- are now needed
as we range from our desktops. Voice mail has given way to e-mail; e-mail is
inundated with faxes, photographs, and art; our conferences occur via video;
and they are all available on our WAP phones and on our PDAs. The gap between
our wired world and our wireless world is a key link, and it is upon that
link that many developing wireless ASPs are setting camp. So the challenges are many and the answers and solutions, as varied as the
grains of sand on South Beach. The major challenges facing wireless providers
and ASPs will, at least for the present time, revolve around improving QoS
(quality of service) issues. As quality issues are addressed, location-based
services, advanced display services and devices, and other value-added
services will be tacked on. The mandate of location-enabling wireless
communication devices, as well as new legislation regarding use of phones
while driving and in specific locations, will pose added problems and
solutions. ASP offerings are perfect for the wireless arena. Think about the
technology on your desktop. What can you do? Now ask yourself where you can
go with it. A little limiting, huh? By examining several issues and trends in
wireless technology and philosophy, the needs of consumers and the niches
that are to be developed to grow the wireless space become clearer. ADAPTIVITY FOR PORTABILITY We live in a society that is built to coddle and enable. There are few
people who truly use technology to the nines, for most it builds on the gray
areas of our day -- allowing us to get work done when we otherwise could not,
or allowing us to work when we should otherwise not be working, or getting
work done that otherwise would not get done. Wireless is as perfect for the
non-planner as it is for the planner. I am the king of forgetting to make
callbacks and forgetting important engagements until the last minute, and
these technologies enable me to get things done. Wireless technologies will
continue to serve in this regard, but beyond even this, they are becoming the
new standards of communication. As wireless devices get smaller and smaller, not only do we lose display
size, but choice as well. Even the best providers build "logic"
into the system. This logic is a guesstimate of what the user needs and
wants. Liken it to U.S. Democracy, where you pick what seems to be the best
choice even though your first choice is not listed. This current election
proves something else: You do not necessarily get what you ask for --
providers similarly use stats, research, and focus groups to determine what
it is we want. The fact we are enabled to roam as we work through these
devices makes us willing to give up some choices. It is a win-lose-win-lose
situation. Do we behave as lemmings? I don't think it is that simple, but at
the same time, we are too willing to give up freedoms in the name of
convenience. Convenience and communications go hand in hand...after all, if we cannot
communicate effectively and quickly, how are we to get points across? How are
we to work, period? The challenge to ASPs everywhere is to aid in the development
of a new wireless order. They must cut out the unnecessary, yet still build
in a large amount of choice of features and information. Now you must be
willing to whittle your service down to a minimum if you want converged
communications on your wireless phone, but few consumers are ready to take
this step. If an ASP can marry effectively wireless communications with wired
communications, consumers will respond in kind. CAN QUALITY OF SERVICE MAKE PAR? As we see in other regions of the world that have dealt with their QoS
issues in a far better manner, the services that can be tacked onto wireless
devices are many. The limiting factors are no longer technology or
imagination, but screen size and user interface. Because there are so many
different wireless devices, there are few unified manners of consolidating
wireless data for cross-platform use. Companies who are designing software
platforms for these devices that will work using different protocols are the
driving force of this new generation of wireless services. Service providers
and OEM manufacturers should look to these companies as the enablers of
value-added services for wireless. THE VALUE OF CUSTOMER LOCATION The value of advertising in this manner is great, as it allows businesses
to drop e-mails or text messages to these devices as they pass through or by
the doors of their shops ("Oh look, the Gap has jean jackets on sale
today. Goodie."). One would hope that the advertising dollars to be made
in this area would be limited to bought space in listings that would be
called up when a user is looking for businesses within a certain area, but
that is probably a pipe-dream. Junk mail will trail us to the grave, via
paper or text messages. Advertising by way of wireless displays is not the only thorn in the crown
of wireless communications. Anyone who has been in a public place in the past
four years has a story of a cellular faux pas. Ringers go off everywhere
these days, from the train to the church, from the movie theatre to the
doctor's office. Many restaurants in urban centers ban the use of cellular
devices within the doors. How funny is it to see the smokers and the cell
users out on the sidewalk in front of a bustling eatery? There is a large
anti-wireless sentiment growing in circles of people who do not find the
constant contact wireless offers as a benefit to their communication
services. Technologies that make cellular and wireless devices more friendly to
non-users will make life a lot better for everyone, especially service
providers hoping to sell more people on the benefits of wireless service
plans. With technologies like Bluetooth and GPS that will continue to rapidly
accelerate location-based services, ASPs may offer service providers and
customers the flexibility needed to push our entire world wireless. The roots
have been laid, and as we move on into this brave new century, we will
continue to cut our ties to our wired past. |
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Mike von Wahlde is Associate Editor of Internet Telephony
magazine. He also
writes a biweekly column, "No Strings Attached,"
for TMCnet.com. He may
be reached at mvonwahlde@tmcnet.com.