ANDOVER, Mass.-One of the nation’s largest wireless carriers will launch a wireless conferencing service for businesses through a new deal with conferencing infrastructure provider Spectel Inc.
Spectel executives would not name the carrier, but said the service would be available in the coming months. The executives said they were in discussions with several other U.S. carriers as well as some in Europe.
The news comes on the launch of Spectel’s MobileConnexion product today, which allows wireless users to set up and participate in conference calls using their mobile phones, personal digital assistants and Wi-Fi-enabled laptops.
“We’ve taken the approach for one-click access,” said Colm Saunders, general manager and chief marketing officer of Spectel’s U.S. operations.
According to a new report from Frost & Sullivan, Spectel is the world’s top maker of conferencing products based on revenues. The company’s revenues increased to $18.2 million for the six months ending in June, and the company has a cash balance of $15 million. Spectel’s hardware and infrastructure forms the basis for conference services from AT&T Corp., MCI and others.
Today, the company is entering the wireless industry by offering conferencing infrastructure to wireless carriers. Spectel’s MobileConnexion offers a variety of features specifically for mobile-phone users. For example, mobile-phone users can initiate conference calls by just clicking on names listed in their address book, and other users can be notified of upcoming conferences through text messages. Further, Spectel’s MobileConnexion includes support for instant messaging and presence services, as well as an auto reconnect feature for dropped calls. Other features allow wireless PDA or laptop users to collaborate on data documents in real time.
Spectel’s Saunders said such wireless conferencing services will help wireless carriers increase average revenues per user.
“That’s where voice and data conferencing can really help,” he said.
