2. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
What’s Over-The-Top (OTT) voice and SMS?
OTT refers to services being carried over the top of another carrier’s network, without the provider being actively involved in the
network’s operations. The openness and availability of the Internet, and its increasing bandwidth for fixed and mobile users, have made
OTT possible, creating new, disruptive markets where application developers and service providers can compete.
OTT lets you cost-effectively and efficiently incorporate calling and messaging into end-user applications and services. Such apps
are popping up regularly, from established players like Pinger that offers free calling and texting, and Google, which lets you phone a
business directly from a web search. Start-ups and established social media companies are also getting into the game.
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3. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Empower your apps with
voice and SMS
With improved mobile data speeds, such as advancements to 4G and
long term evolution (LTE), developers are finding they can offer a superior
user experience — one that is very personal, visual, customized and
integrated with their social networks. But with so many apps competing
for the user’s attention, developers must continue to find ways to
differentiate.
The Internet has changed how people communicate, creating a modern-
day gold rush for full-featured apps that combine voice and messaging,
along with other tasks that people use every day. This is where OTT
voice and messaging can play a big role, but only for those developers
who are able to directly navigate telecom’s complexities themselves…or
better yet, those who can find a proven partner to help them.
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4. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Take calling and messaging
one giant step further
Imagine no longer having a phone number for every device. You want to communicate with
someone? You click their “user” button, their picture or their name. Even better…imagine
that you’re an application developer, and you’re able to seamlessly integrate voice and SMS
communication from within your app between friends, customers, employees, vendors or
other users.
This is the future OTT provides.
It is a future you can realize right now.
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5. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Simplifying the
complexity
While the future looks bright for developers, telecom itself can seem like a dimly
lit, dangerous path. The telecom world—upon which voice and SMS apps rely—is
very complex, especially when you consider technology, regulations and the natural
competitive relationship between carriers. Each has its own set of rigid procedures
and protocols, creating a dense maze of requirements that can result in significant
barriers to entry.
Fortunately, with Bandwidth providing the network on which your OTT apps will run,
that’s all taken care of for you. Bandwidth allows you to do what you do best - make
great apps that have voice and SMS baked right in, the way it should be. We have
a better way that helps minimize traditional barriers to entry so you can effectively
compete in telecom, empowered to create a user experience beyond the bounds of
legacy telecom.
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6. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Who’s using OTT
voice and SMS today?
Pinger one of the country’s seventh biggest voice and message provider
based solely on the popularity of their apps. With Bandwidth providing the
OTT network, Pinger’s voice and text apps allow users to communicate for
free over any Wi-Fi connection.
In the month it launched, Pinger’s Textfree app surpassed Weather. com
and Pandora downloads.
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7. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Who’s using OTT
voice and SMS today?
ÜberConference is what audio conferencing was supposed to be. Users
no longer have to remember special PIN codes; they just dial in to the
conference and are automatically authenticated based on their phone
numbers.
With its slick interface, everyone sees who is on the call and has access
to each participant’s name, photo and profile information. It even identifies
who is talking and allows organizers to selectively mute participants.
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8. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Who’s using OTT
voice and SMS today?
Not all smartphone innovations are in data. Sidecar has improved the
calling experience. Though Sidecar offers free VoIP calls over Wi-Fi
connections, its real benefit is in the variety of tasks that users can
perform during a call. For example, “See What I See” lets users stream
real-time video from the back of the phone. Other features include sharing
photos, contacts, maps and text messages—all during an open call.
“We expect OTT to evolve over the next five years, and business models will change radically. There will
likely be a boom period in 2012 and 2013, where [a lot] more new apps will become available.”
— John White, Portio Research
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9. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Now, there are caveats…
Regulations for all IP-based communications, including OTT voice and messaging, are still evolving. In fact, companies providing
applications and services using IP-based communication are likely to experience stricter regulation in the near future and should be aware
following issues:
!
✓ The Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF)
✓ Compliance with disability access obligations (Telephone and Video Relay Services,
also known as TRS/VRS)
✓ The Communication Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)
✓ Local number portability (LNP)
✓ 9-1-1 compliance
✓
of “interconnected VoIP”
✓ Service outage reporting requirements
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10. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Choosing an OTT voice and SMS provider
You’ll want to research a wide variety of companies to ensure you’ve found a provider who can not only help you meet your needs, but one
who’ll partner with you to help you create and deploy a successful application. Here’s a checklist for reference:
Nationwide footprint will full geographic redundancy and a 24x7 network operations center
A deep understanding of telecom and proven ability to apply that knowledge to the app developer community Experience powering
leading innovators
Active involvement in the evolution of telecom regulations for communication-as-a-service
Flexible APIs, pricing & deployment options
Comprehensive, easy to web-based tools
Intelligent routing and direct carrier peering
Support of local, inter/intrastate, international calls
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11. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Bandwidth —a better way
to empower voice and SMS
for your application
Bandwidth is the voice and messaging network built for the 21st century. We built our 100% IP voice network from scratch, with no legacy
analog baggage or any of the complexity and cost that goes with it. That means you can more effectively empower your application with
voice and SMS capabilities.
For Bandwidth’s customers, voice and messaging networks become just another part of the Internet. We’ve flipped the telecom equation,
from their network to your network. We don’t make you adjust to telecom’s complexity. Instead, we handle the complexity for you, so that
you can focus on your business.
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12. Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps
Conclusion
Application developers now have a rare opportunity to compete with the big guys and come out ahead. Giving you access to OTT voice
and messaging capabilities has leveled the playing field; those ready to capitalize will reap great rewards.
At Bandwidth, we have already helped many developers fulfill their vision and we’re ready to help you do the same. We make telecom
easy by delivering the OTT services you need—all from a single source.
Contact us or visit our Resource Center for more information.
For more information: 855-864-7776 | sales@bandwidth.com | www.bandwidth.com
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