SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Lucent Technologies Inc. introduced a uniform gateway to its Autoplex and Flexent Wireless Networks products, enabling network operators to introduce personalized or user-customized wireless data services that depend on specific customer information.
The data call is initiated by the customer from a handset equipped with Phone.com’s UP.Browser Wireless Application Protocol browser to a Lucent-developed Internet application. The application requests the caller’s location from Lucent’s Wireless Data Gateway. SignalSoft’s local.info product combines this information with mapping technology and then obtains location-based content. The information is delivered to the handset in real time, Lucent said.
The LWDG will be available for market trials during the second quarter of 2000, with general availability slated thereafter, the company said.
SignalSoft’s local.info product can be integrated with all data network elements, including WAP gateways, Internet portals, short messaging service platforms, unified messaging platforms and wireless data service bureaus.
SignalSoft has teamed with a number of partners, including database companies and Internet content providers, to provide information for the service. Callers using the service, for example, can check traffic in the area or for restaurants nearby, as well as for shopping malls they are close to and which stores in the mall are having sales.
In other news, Lucent announced it will eliminate approximately 1,700 jobs, or about 1 percent of its work force, due to a reduced need for repair and customer service workers. The decision will take effect at the end of the year.
