MANAGEMENT WORLD — Oracle introduced two new products today in Orlando – both are within its service-delivery product family.
The first is Oracle Communications Service Controller, designed to help CSPs reduce the time and risk associated with launching new services that blend legacy and IP networks, while consolidating service platforms across multiple network types – such as IP, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), and Intelligent Network (IN).
Service Controller is an open, standards-based, highly scalable, carrier-grade service interaction application, which enables CSPs to realize a number of benefits including: integration between IN capabilities and new technologies, including specific interworking modules that provide message translation and orchestration between IN platforms; greater structure and order to complex networks through orchestration – such as integration of non-standard protocols with core network services – to reduce costs and time to market for new services; and support and maintenance of legacy networks while promoting growth into new technologies such as LTE.
Also today, the company announced the availability of Oracle Communications Social Voice Communicator and Oracle Communications Virtual Private Network – designed to provide CSPs with two new, pre-built services built to run on the Oracle Communication Service Controller. These pre-built services promote service offerings while enabling clear network and service migration paths to next-generation services, the company said.
Oracle Communications Virtual Private Network enables service providers to migrate their enterprise customers from existing IN-based virtual private network (VPN) services – many of which are reaching end-of-life – to a next generation, IP-based VPN service with what the company says is an easy-to-configure portal as well as Web service-based access and support for VoIP devices.
Oracle Communications Social Voice Communicator introduces a group-number capability for consumers, enabling you to dial one number and instantly connect with a predetermined group – such as work colleagues or a group of friends. Oracle Communications Social Voice Communicator enables carriers to compete with over-the-top service providers, delivering a new, revenue-generating service.
But that's not all. Oracle today also announced the release of Oracle Communications Policy Controller, which provides advanced network-control capabilities to help CSPs better manage the explosion in network data usage and ensure a superior customer experience.
While next-generation network technology and services enable CSPs to deliver exciting applications and content to customers – including video and music streaming – these same services require extensive bandwidth to operate properly and can strain carrier networks and erode profit margins. Consumers are increasingly turning to over-the-top providers – whose applications place an additional strain on the network while delivering little to no revenue to the CSP. Many CSPs have deployed first-generation policy tools which act as a constraint on bandwidth, throttling the usage of top data users and blocking some over-the-top providers. But these efforts have resulted in numerous customer complaints.
Oracle describes Communications Policy Controller as a comprehensive, integrated and flexible policy management product that enables service providers to not just constrain users, but to shape their behavior. The solution allows CSPs to optimize data usage and ensure a fair allocation of network resources by expanding or contracting bandwidth as appropriate based on customer subscriptions and service aware policies. Specifically, CSPs can distribute bandwidth based on personalized service plans that can be adjusted to consumer preferences – such as separate social media, video streaming and VoIP plans – for a richer customer experience and a greater return on network investments.
“With the continued proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, service providers are experiencing unmanageable increases in data usage, which strain networks, reduce network speed and degrade the overall customer experience. Oracle Communications Policy Controller helps service providers manage fluctuations in data usage, integrate new and evolving mobile services and apps, as well as provide flexible service plans to customers to maximize the provider’s return on investments in next-generation technologies," said Liam Maxwell, vice president, products, Oracle Communications.
