Experience That Counts

The Global Application Platform (GAP^SM) embodies Preferred Voice’s vision of the future for enhanced services deployment: a unified platform integrating telecommunications applications, easy-to-use subscriber web interfaces, simplified billing and provisioning interfaces, and the latest in intelligent networking technology. The GAP is designed to offer service providers and carriers a wide range of enhanced service applications to rapidly reduce subscriber turnover and increase ARPU.

Central to the operation of the GAP is the My Phone Services Suite of enhanced service applications. With many applications to readily pick and choose from, service providers and carriers are enabled to tailor their offerings to best-fit dynamic market requirements and optimize the return on their investment. Innovative trend setting and mainstay enhanced service applications include:

• Rockin’ Ringback™ – Personalized ringing on any phone using music or messages.
• Push-2-Connect™ – Instant conferencing or instant chat calls.
• Content Suite – Ringtones, games, and graphics for cellular phones.
• Mobile Video – Mobile video conferencing, video streaming, and video downloads.
• RemindMe – Voice operated reminder service.
• VoiceDial – Speed dial by using spoken names.
• Emma PR – Voice driven automated phone receptionist service.

At the core of the Preferred Voice enhanced service offerings are its patent pending technology and applications. New service offerings are continually under development at Preferred Voice to ensure that carriers have the most viable applications available.

Subscriber personalization features are the key to successful enhanced service offerings. No one application will work for all subscribers. Each subscriber will prefer and utilize various features of each application differently. With Preferred Voice technology, applications can be customized, combined, and configured to meet carrier needs.

The GAP is a versatile system implementing a large range of industry standards (3GPP, OMA, ITU, IEEE, ATIS, and others) to provide rapid setup and operation with service providers and in carrier networks. The GAP is a future-safe, carrier-grade platform for current and next-generation enhanced service offerings.

Scalability

Carriers range in size from those having over a hundred switches and more than twenty million subscribers to those with a single switch and several thousand subscribers. Preferred Voice has been addressing carriers of various sizes for a number of years now and, using this experience, has designed its platform from the ground up to be exceptionally scalable to ensure that deployments are very cost effective in both large and small carrier networks alike. The GAP system can be cost-effectively scaled to support statistically utilized services for several thousand subscribers to tens of millions of subscribers.

Performance and Reliability

GAP system components make use of single and/or dual high performance hyperthreading-capable Intel processors and the Microsoft Windows series of operating systems. The GAP system components can be configured for various levels of redundancy to increase reliability. RAID hard drives are available and redundancy for trunk interface components can be setup for 1:N operation. Primary system server functions can be set up for 1:1 redundancy and load sharing. Carrier grade reliability and performance are paramount aspects of the GAP system.

User Interface

Even the best application concepts with great potential can fall short of successful realization, if the user interface is not very user friendly or intuitive. Preferred Voice takes great care in developing and critically evaluating its entire portfolio of interfaces for subscribers. Subscriber interfaces for various applications include web screens, WAP, interactive telephony (IVR), Text-To-Speech (TTS), and speech recognition. The TTS and speech recognition features implement highly acclaimed ScanSoft technology.

Web based access for subscribers is easily integrated into existing web screens provided by carriers. The Preferred Voice services are accessed using hyperlinks on the carrier’s web pages. Preferred Voice then provides carrier branding and a similar look and feel for its application web screens.

Unparalleled Network Integration

We strive to provide our customers with a competitive edge through internal innovation, extensive software and hardware development, and large scale product testing. The GAP system can be integrated with a wide variety of switches from manufacturers including Nortel, Lucent, Motorola, Ericsson, and others. Preferred Voice possesses extensive experience integrating its equipment with a wide range of software loads from these manufacturers. This experience ultimately results in a seamless integration and rapid time-to-market.

Voice channels on the GAP can operate with T1 and E1 trunks or higher density links. Signaling and call control are accomplished using SS7, AIN/WIN, CAMEL, RLT, IS-41, ISDN PRI 2 B-Channel Transfer, and traditional signaling methodologies. The TCP/IP interface is capable of operating using Gigabit Ethernet.

A variety of network configurations can be accommodated with the GAP system. For larger carriers owning their inter-machine trunks, the GAP may be centralized to enable a single site for reduced hardware maintenance. For smaller carriers, the GAP can also accommodate a collocated, distributed architecture with all real-time and trunk cost critical hardware at the switch site. Combinations of centralized and distributed GAP systems can also be put in place to accommodate regionalized operating centers. For certain applications, Preferred Voice can provide additional reduction in deployment costs to carriers by further sharing portions of GAP system resources in a hosted environment at the Preferred Voice data center.

Billing Integration

Preferred Voice has extensive experience integrating with carrier billing systems. For enhanced services that utilize web based purchasing or specialized call charging, the GAP system is designed to provide call and purchase detail records in compatible formats for carriers. Preferred Voice can supply its API or can work with the carrier to implement a proprietary interface.

Provisioning and Maintenance

The GAP provisioning software, using a proprietary and modular interface layer, is compatible with many existing legacy switch provisioning systems. The provisioning interface can also be adapted to meet specific carrier requirements. In addition to the innovative interface, the Preferred Voice provisioning software enables carriers to integrate with maintenance systems for generating reports and statistics.

Service Deployment

Preferred Voice offers innovative products and services to meet carrier needs. Most commonly, Preferred Voice is able to offer carriers a revenue sharing arrangement whereby carriers can very cost effectively and rapidly bring new applications to their subscribers. The basic revenue sharing business model enables carriers to deploy with a comparatively low up front cost while rapidly generating additional ARPU and reducing subscriber turnover.

The Preferred Voice revenue sharing program includes full and complete billing, web/Internet, network, customer service, and provisioning integration. Preferred Voice also provides technical, customer service, sales, and account provisioning training.

Appropriate professional resources are assigned to coordinate all activities necessary for service deployment. All pertinent customer data and requirements are obtained to ensure timely and efficient installation. Prior to in-service availability for subscribers, all features of the software application and hardware are thoroughly tested.

In conjunction with its enhanced service application offerings, Preferred Voice provides a full-service marketing program for carriers to support the introduction of the enhanced services to subscribers. The Preferred Voice Market Rollout Support program provides assistance with marketing campaigns, establishing timelines, and overall marketing coordination support.