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R. Savitha

It's an SMS on your mobile phone. The only difference is you hear it instead of having to read it. Does this make your ears perk up? Here's more.

PAMPER a child and he'll keep asking for more. Much the same is happening in the mobile communications scene. The customer wants more service at less cost with each new `next generation' handset, and the operators are sparing no effort to please the user, for here pampering is what makes the market grow.

However, mobile carriers keen to offer networking solutions must keep in mind the subscribers' communication patterns and desires. One feature everybody wants is being able to communicate while `on the go'. Right now, subscribers are not using their handsets for data services while on the move. This is because data-based services mean one must use one's eyes and hands to access and read the message, and respond in like. This curbs use of data services while one is mobile.

This is where voice can score over data. Just think, you don't have to use your hands to listen to your mobile phone. You receive oral messages and respond by talking back, whereas reading messages and keying in responses is a different thing. Enter Voice Instant Messaging (VIM), a fully voice-driven messaging platform that lets mobile subscribers send and receive voice messages instantly. It's much the same as the short messaging service, with a difference — subscribers don't have to read messages, they hear them like normal conversation. It is deployable on 2G, 2.5G and 3G mobile wireless networks. Through voice instant messaging, subscribers can also communicate with a large group, ensure sending a message when a conversation is not required, access messages without wading through voice mail messages and have online chat sessions. Messages sent through this medium can be stored and forwarded when necessary. Keen to tap such an opportunity is the Pune-based Nu Link India Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Nu-Link Inc. , The company, which is into software development for network management, is working on software for voice instant messaging. Ashraf Dahod, president and managing director, Nu-Link India, says it will initially concentrate on developing solutions for voice and data communication through mobile phones. Nu Link's initial trials are being carried out in China, a big market for voice instant messaging, with a large number of voice-only handsets. China Unicom is trying the software out on a trial basis to check out its portability and mobility. The service, for now, is being operated through user groups restricted to 20. Indian subscribers will have a taste of this new technology after its `successful implementation' in China. Nu Link says the new wireless router works on the Starent Networks' hardware Platform ST16 Intelligent Mobile Gateway and is specifically designed for General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) and 3rd generation wireless systems, predominantly used in Europe.

For now, the Indian subscriber has to wait for the trials in China to work out so the technology can hit the Indian scene subsequently.

Picture by Mohammed Yousuf

rsavitha@hotmail.com

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