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New InnoPath ActiveCare Targets Growing Smartphone Problem –
Puts Service Providers Back in Control with Support for Android, the iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows phone
Economist Intelligence Unit Survey Confirms Need to Address Challenges of the Mobile Internet
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 9,
2010 – InnoPath Software,
the leader in Over-The-Air (OTA) customer care
for mobile devices, today announced the next
generation of ActiveCare for mobile service
providers, a solution designed specifically
to solve support issues associated with smartphone
growth. As recent events have demonstrated,
handset vendors and service providers must
have their support plans in place when launching
a new phone. InnoPath’s unique experience
positions the company as a trusted partner
to both parties.
The company also published key
findings from the groundbreaking “Mobile
Data Challenge” survey of mobile operator
data and smartphone strategies completed by the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The survey
brought together for the first time many themes
and concerns facing mobile service providers.
Full survey results are available here and
are summarized in the EIU press release also
issued today. InnoPath and the EIU will be jointly
hosting a webinar to communicate the results
on Wednesday, February the 10 th. Registration
is here.
Smartphones are the fastest growing
segment in the mobile market. While their users
generate higher ARPU, support calls for these
devices are more complex, longer and harder to
close. With the ability to address these calls,
the latest version of ActiveCare puts the service
provider back in the driver’s seat, allowing
them to regain control of smartphones and other
advanced devices on their network. This control
results in lower support costs, greater revenue
assurance when deploying new services, and ultimately,
increased customer satisfaction by painlessly
solving support problems the first time a subscriber
calls for support.
Already deployed by multiple Tier-1
service providers, ActiveCare offers a rich set
of over-the-air management capabilities to address
key support issues. These capabilities include
the ability to properly configure data services,
identify problems, correct configuration settings,
manage hardware functionality, update the firmware,
and remotely lock and wipe the phone if it is
lost or stolen.
“With smartphones proliferating
globally, service providers are forced to take
a decidedly old-fashioned approach to support
that requires committing additional resources
within their frontline care organizations,” said
John Fazio, President and CEO of InnoPath. “By
leveraging InnoPath’s ActiveCare solution,
they now have the opportunity to match the intelligence
of these new devices by investing in an equally
sophisticated solution for their support centers.
This directly targets the subscriber experience,
improving subscriber loyalty through faster first
call resolution.”
InnoPath has enhanced its ActiveCare
offering with three capabilities that address
today’s smartphone manageability and provisioning
requirements:
- Universal Device Support – InnoPath
ActiveCare is the first over-the-air care solution
available on all smartphone platforms, including
Android, Symbian, RIM, Windows phone, and the
iPhone (1H2010). A unified set of end-to-end
care capabilities simplifies support, reduces
training overhead, and results in a common
frontline care experience for the subscriber
and the CSR, driving first time resolution.
InnoPath’s ActiveCare client can be installed
on devices already in the field, ensuring early
return on investment, or can be loaded onto
the phone at time of manufacture.
- Mobile Update – Smartphones,
now reaching critical mass, bring a richer
user experience as well as unique challenges
when the device must be updated, including
update size, complexity, and OS support. Service
providers must have a way to take control of
Android, Symbian, and Windows phone updates,
while also avoiding separate management silos
for these different operating systems. Building
on years of experience with firmware updates
in production networks, InnoPath’s new
Mobile Update Advanced Edition includes enhancements
to both the client and the server that ensure
the best possible performance with large update
packages, sophisticated device file-systems,
and scalability to meet the needs of the world’s
largest mobile service providers.
- Mobile Activate – Proven
at Tata DoCoMo in India, InnoPath’s Mobile
Activate offers a better experience for the
subscriber by ensuring that high ARPU data
services work properly out of the box. Going
beyond the capabilities of legacy CP provisioning
systems by permitting operators to take control
of the total activation flow, Mobile Activate
meets key service provider and subscriber needs
by ensuring error-free and timely provisioning
of high-value data services across any device,
facilitating service discovery during the critical ‘golden
hour’ of device use. In doing this it
acts as a major differentiator framing the
service provider’s decision on whether
to continue to patch their legacy CP systems
or take a clean approach with a true next-generation
DM-based solution capable of supporting both
GSM and LTE. And, it is the only solution that
provides an ‘on-ramp’ to more complete
ActiveCare deployments once the operator is
ready.
The introduction of this new solution
comes at a critical time in the industry, as
service providers are preparing for the ‘5
th Wave’ of technology – the rise
of the Mobile Internet. Prior waves include the
coming of the mainframe, the arrival of Minicomputers,
the PC wave and then the Desktop Internet. This
5 th Wave represents a market with 10 times the
potential risk and return of the last wave due
to the number of users and devices touched. The
Mobile Internet is based on data, devices, diversity
of applications, and extends anywhere, anytime
broadband connectivity into the developing world.
Data services are core to the Mobile Internet,
but, as recent experiences have illustrated,
service providers can have difficulty supporting
these services over-the-air in a cost-effective
manner.
Recently, InnoPath commissioned
a first-ever survey by the EIU to understand
these concerns, across areas as diverse as open
networks, app stores, customer care, and competition.
Findings include:
- Data is critical to survival, and data revenue
will help hold the line against falling voice
revenue but not drive top-line growth. Service
providers must therefore strike a careful balance
between network investment, service deployment,
and ongoing operational expenses such as those
to support email and browsing. Frontline efficiency
and customer satisfaction are critical to success,
even more-so where unlimited use pricing plans
are still common.
- Service providers understand they must operate
in world beyond the “walled garden” and
must drive revenue by playing an active role
in the new open world of smartphones and app
stores, building or partnering where appropriate.
However, they are still developing their strategy.
- Service assurance and customer satisfaction,
based on device and application ease of use,
is critical in a world of competition and commoditization.
In fact, this may be more important than just
the basic investment in next generation networks.
"While it's clear that smartphones
are driving wireless growth today, it's also
clear that subscribers will choose a service
provider based on the quality of the experience," said
Nancee Ruzicka, Analyst at Stratecast (a division
of Frost & Sullivan). "As a result,
service providers must differentiate themselves
based on the usability and performance of mobile
data services and applications."
Availability
ActiveCare from InnoPath is available
today for mobile service providers worldwide.
InnoPath will be demonstrating its solution at
Stand 1F39 at this year’s Mobile World
Congress, taking place in Barcelona from Feb.
15-18, 2010. InnoPath will also be distributing
copies of the EIU study.
About InnoPath Software
InnoPath, the global leader in
Over-the-Air delivery of customer care, helps
service providers and mobile device makers reduce
support costs while providing a better end-user
experience by diagnosing, updating and fixing
mobile phones and other devices Over-the-Air.
InnoPath products help shorten or prevent support
calls and drive first call resolutions. The company’s
extensive experience in production Tier-1 networks
helps ensure rapid and successful deployments
in large, complex environments. With a proven
value proposition, the payback time for an operator
deploying Innopath ActiveCare is usually less
than one year. Our customers include AT&T,
Verizon, Sprint, Samsung, LG, KDDI, Tata DoCoMo
and China Telecom. Discover more at our website, www.innopath.com,
and our blog, The CSR, at http://thecsr.blogspot.com/.
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