IBM Delivers Telco Innovations to Improve Customer Experience

When I left for Barcelona a few days ago I looked forward to introducing the things that my colleagues and I have been working on because I was interested in hearing feedback from various kinds of people in the industry. I certainly didn't expect to read about the projects on CNN. However, they and many others have picked up the IBM press release about what we are showing at Mobile World Congress.



http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0359637.htm

PRESENCE MEETS THE "GOOD SAMARITAN"
IBM Research demonstrated how mobile phones and "presence" technology combined with health records can provide a potential "good samaritan" with information on how to aid people in critical medical situations. This combination of IBM Research capabilities and IBM WebSphere Presence Server exemplifies IBM's ability to create enhanced mobile applications for everyday life.

Another project in which I was very involved was also mentioned. I did not mention it previously in this blog because it was confidential, but Vodafone has now agreed to publicize it so it is also mentioned in the article.

SOCIAL NETWORKS GO MOBILE
IBM collaborated with its client, leading global service provider Vodafone, to extend social networks to any mobile device by taking advantage of communication enablers such as IBM WebSphere Presence Server. Demonstrated for the first time at Mobile World Congress, consumers can communicate with their social network friends regardless of where they are with voice and SMS from either a PC or a mobile phone.

"Working together with IBM, Vodafone developed 'BuddyComm,' an integrated communication service for social network users," said Mike Walker, director of Vodafone Group Research & Development. "This project was a unique opportunity for Vodafone and IBM to bring together research and innovation capability from both sides to achieve goals which neither company could reach by itself, providing real benefit to customers who are active on social networks."

Off to World Mobile Congress

Next week the Mobile World Congress (formerly known as 3GSM) will be held in Barcelona. This is the largest conference of the year for the Telecommunications industry.

In the IBM booth the Research lab in which I work will be showing several demos.

One is a service creation tool specifically for telecommunications providers. It helps the providers create new services more quickly by providing them with graphical modeling tools, drastically decreasing the need for the developer to know all of the complex protocols such as SIP, diameter, etc. I know this doesn't sound very sexy if you are an end user, but believe me you will be very happy if the Telco providing your phone service could cut down the development time of new offerings from the typical 18 months to a couple of weeks. It will happen. It's just a matter of time, since the Google and Yahoos of the world have changed the way services are rolled out.

Another is called .... Good Samaritan: Telco + Health + Presence 2.0.

This demo shows how mobile phones, Presence 2.0 technology, and integration with health records can provide a Good Samaritan with information to aid people in critical situations. A motorcycle goes off the road into a ditch. Cars driving by have no idea that there is someone in need of assistance. A man falls on the sidewalk. Strangers approach to help but have no idea that his fall was caused by weakness and dizziness due to a decrease in his blood sugar level. With the Good Samaritan technology, patients receive immediate and more effective assistance from both bystanders and trained medical personal who arrive on the scene. The system automatically identifies people in the area who are available and willing to help, and provides them with a) the location information and instructions on how to reach the person in need b) The relevant patient history at the level of information and instruction appropriate to their level of training (if any). This is enabled by a dispatcher who has an electronic unified patient record. With a click of a button the dispatcher indicates the level of training (bystander, simple first aid, medic, paramedic, doctor) and current issue and the appropriate information is sent to the mobile device of the person providing assistance.

In addition to working in the booth and meeting with customers and ISVs, I also plan to scout out the latest technologies aimed at our children .... so stay tuned for more updates!