Lucent Technologies Inc. added several new applications to its Cooperative Innovations alliance program, which is meant to supplement Lucent-developed and -branded solutions.
Lucent tests applications marketed through Cooperative Innovations for compatibility with its wireless infrastructure. Testing takes place at the company’s Wireless Innovation Lab in Lisle, Ill., and at a satellite facility in Toronto.
Billing and customer-care systems manufactured by Veramark Technologies Inc., Sema Group Telecoms and Stonehouse Technologies are among the latest applications in Lucent’s Cooperative Innovations portfolio. Connie Morton, manager of software applications for Lucent’s Wireless Network Group, said, “Carriers rightly deserve choice in selecting a billing and customer-care system that best meets their particular business requirement and price point.”
Veramark’s VeraBill is a scalable, Windows NT system designed to meet the needs of emerging network operators and is especially well-suited for small- to mid-sized networks, said the company. Sema Group’s CABS 2000 is a comprehensive system that provides services from identifying potential customers to billing. Stonehouse’s MONIES (Management of Network, Income, Expense and Services) system is designed to be a single point-of-entry database for all billing, voice and data provisioning and facilities management.
Other companies also made announcements in conjunction with Lucent’s Cooperative Innovations program.
Boulder, Colo.-based SignalSoft Corp., a wireless services software developer, introduced its latest location-based software product-Location Sensitive Billing. LSB allows wireless carriers to target new market segments by enabling them to price differently based on location, said the company. Of particular interest to many carriers is the ability to compete for landline minutes by offering prices comparable to that of local rates when wireless phones are used near the home or office.
NCR Corp. joined Lucent’s affiliate program with its Network Infrastructure Warehouse and Customer Relationship Management programs, which will allow carriers to join detailed information from Automated Message Accounting records and other information source centers with existing Customer Information Files to build a decision-support center, said NCR. The combined data can be used to establish more efficient business practices, more cost-effective marketing campaigns and better service quality.
Spyglass Inc.’s Prism product will be available through the Lucent program. Spyglass Prism is an Internet content delivery system designed to improve the performance of wireless devices that access the Internet. The standards-based server technology optimizes Internet content originally designed for display on personal computers to fit the characteristics of multiple mobile devices.
Unwired Planet Inc. joined the Cooperative Innovations program with its UP.Link Server Suite, which allows operators to offer customers access to e-mail, personal organizers and Web information.
