As IP technology takes over, enhanced services will finally attain the popularity they deserve.

The introduction of 2.5G and 3G cellular infrastructures is bringing about a technological revolution in the market for enhanced services. This revolution encompasses the traditional vendors of enhanced services, as well as new players such as system integrators, and most of the major communications equipment manufacturer players, which are entering the enhanced services pool with a big splash.

All players in this market understand that it's only a matter of time before the ordinary voice mailbox systems that flourished under the older generations of cellular networks will give way to new platforms consisting of IP-based content boxes.

Moreover, the next-generation platforms for enhanced services will be a principal generator of revenue in the coming years; the struggle for market share is already intensifying.

The next generation systems, which are based on email servers, constitute the center of this revolution. The players are well aware that 'open systems' are the name of the game, and standard protocols are therefore a key factor in facilitating the revolution: in order for the new systems to transmit, store, and retrieve content, simply and easily, using VoIP, every sub-system on these new platforms must be capable of communicating with other systems and sub-systems through standardized protocols. (The email server underlying the system, for example, must operate through interfaces based on standard protocols.)

Since the next-generation systems are based on email servers, messages with attachments can be stored on them. This makes it possible to manage the content box in a manner similar to the method used to manage Microsoft Outlook: through a telephone, a PDA, or a computer. Users can open folders in the content box, and deposit content in them, in addition to content arriving from external sources. The content can then be retrieved in a data session.

The content boxes will provide nextgeneration infrastructure for storing voice messages, SMS (Short Messaging Service) messages, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages, video messages etc. The significant innovation, however, will be the possibility of storing content coming from content suppliers, such as messages about movies of a certain type (e.g. action adventure) being issued on DVD, messages concerning advanced dating services, etc.

Also, users will be able to deposit digital photographs that they have taken, clips downloaded from the Internet, and any type of information or message sent to them by other users or content providers.

Furthermore, since the next-generation systems are IP-based, you won't have to dial the voice mailbox to retrieve a message.

There are two main methods of storing and retrieving messages. One is to turn every message into an MMS message. A message, once stored as an MMS message, can be retrieved like any other SMS or MMS message, with a single click of a button.

In this case, the system functions as a new generation of answering machine. The messages are stored on the server, which is used for backup and as a gateway that receives the messages, turns them into MMS messages, and sends them to the telephone.

The second method is by storing messages in the content box. With this method, the messages can be retrieved by the telephone or the computer, similar to email retrieval. Here, too, there is no need to dial the server, because the message arrives in a data session (like email).

A further important advantage of the new platforms is the degree of independence they provide for cellular operators in changing and adapting the user interface for their portals. With the old systems, vendors made all the changes. Next-generation platforms, however, are based on standard protocols and formats, which enables operators to make changes in the display by themselves.

The vendors must therefore include in their systems formats that can be decoded by standard systems, such as Media Player, Windows, etc.

Another trend now emerging is a transition from best of breed, stand-alone messaging systems to integrated platforms which enables operators to buy all their services from a single major vendor.

The traditional systems vendors, most prominently US communications giant Lucent, Israeli company Comverse, integration company Logica-CMG and other players in this market, have not ignored these new trends. Over the past two years, all the players have embarked on major marketing campaigns, claiming that their solutions provide all enhanced services on a single platform.

Each vendor is now trying maximize use of its customer base. Voice mailbox vendors assert that every new messaging element is an extension of their voice mailbox platform, while MMS and SMS vendors claim that each new element is an extension of their MMS and SMS systems.

Nevertheless, it appears that most vendors are still providing a collection of independent systems with no real technological connection between them. Indeed, these platforms have unified management systems, unified billing systems, and so forth, but the technological connection is indirect.

The struggle in the market is still taking place at the level of the individual component. Cellular operators who need MMS systems are still buying the best MMS system, operators who need video mail systems are buying the best video mail systems, and so on.

The major players in the enhanced services market are the Israeli company Comverse, the US company Lucent, and Logica-CMG. Other players in this field are the Israeli company CTI², the US company Openwave and others.

The new kids on the block are the communication equipment manufacturers. As of now, except for Nortel, almost all of these have entered the field of IP-based enhanced services systems. Ericsson is becoming a significant player in this market. Siemens is becoming a provider of IP voice mail systems by offering products from several vendors such as Openwave, and have developed systems such as prepaid, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), intelligent networks, MMS, and video messaging.

Nokia still has no IP voice mail systems, but it offers MMS systems, WAP, etc.

Looking forward, it appears that the engine powering the revolution in the enhanced services market is the rich multimedia content and video messaging. It's reasonable to assume that, over the next two years, all the enhanced service systems vendors will strive to position themselves as vendors of advanced video systems.

At this initial stage, no substantial revenue has been derived from this field. Nevertheless, multimedia content, especially live broadcasts and content-on-demand, are soon expected to reach cellular devices directly from television studios, the stock exchange, fashion shows, etc.

As with any new technology, these applications will be confined to early adopters for the first few years. It's reasonable to assume that only a few people will be willing to pay US$50 a month for rich media content on their telephones. The mass market will probably prefer to wait for prices to fall. The common assumption among cellular operators is that we won't see massive use of these applications until 2007-2008.

Erez Marom, President and CEO of CTI² says, "I anticipate growth in the means of distributing rich media content on cellular at the same time as growth in infrastructure technology for the new generation of messaging. J2ME is one such technology. In order to facilitate widespread use of the new capabilities of advanced cellular infrastructure, cellular devices must be developed that will make it possible to operate the new services easily, simply, and quickly. That's why we're now seeing rapid development of operating systems that are designed for cellular devices, and which support J2ME: Symbian, Pocket PC, and Brew.

"J2ME, which is located above these operating systems, makes it possible for applications developers to easily write innumerable rich media applications. It also enables end users to download applications from the Internet, and either install them in a telephone, or obtain them by telephone in predefined form.

"J2ME enables users to upgrade their devices beyond the features provided by the manufacturer, and to add capabilities to a telephone that will make it possible to download games, use sophisticated messaging systems, download video clips, and so forth.

"For example, it's clear that 3G phones can run voice and video streaming. On 2.5G phones, however, it depends on the phone's capabilities. On 2.5G phones supporting J2ME, you can run programs having the ability to play video.

"CTI² enables cellular operator subscribers using our system to download from the operator's website an application that allows a 2.5G phone to run video, audio streaming, and other features usually obtainable only from 3G phones, providing that the 2.5G phone supports MIDP1, MIDP2, and MMAPI.

"The CTI² system also makes it possible to handle advanced applications, including advanced voice mailboxes, mobile e-mail, etc. Furthermore, with the help of J2ME, the CTI² platform enables subscribers to control the soft switch.

"With telephones that lack J2ME capabilities, our platform is able to receive a message as a 3G session at the IP level. The voice component is kept in the mail box, while the video component is stored on the operator's website, or on any other website chosen by the user," concludes Marom.

Thus, we should expect to see a continuing rebirth of enhanced or 'value added' services.