A Dublin technology company labelled a ‘tech pioneer’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a new mobile soft phone that uses session initiation protocol (SIP) to deliver mobile voice, presence, messaging and video across multiple networks including 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, LTE and WiMax.
Cicero chief executive Ross Brennan said the new soft phone, entitled CiceroPhone 2.0, provides mobile operators with a rich media client that can allow users to make voice and video calls, chat to online friends, all at the same time on their mobile phone.
The soft phone has been developed to work on the Symbian-based Nokia S60 and various Windows Mobile Devices. Brennan said that versions of the soft phone for the Google Android and Apple iPhone format will follow.
According to Brennan, the soft phone has been tested live with a number of mobile operators across Europe.
“SIP was the bet we took in 2002 and we believe it was a good early bet,” said Brennan. “SIP has been deployed in every carrier’s IP network and enterprise domain and will eliminate one of the concerns we have with convergence – the fact that there are too many islands of technology.”
Brennan said that CiceroPhone 2.0 exploits the power of mobile phones and next-generation IMS networks being deployed by operators.
He said operators are looking beyond the current suite of independent services to combine voice, presence, messaging and video to create rich communication experience for customers.
“This is designed to deliver on this vision, merging the best of web and wireless technologies to build revenue and attract new customers.
Underpinning this new rich communications experience is the ability for users to roam across multiple network types including Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, LTE and WiMax, without any service disruption.
According to Brennan, Cicero is now at a stage where it is announcing a new mobile operator customer every two to three months and in terms of funding has made the transition from being reliant on venture capital to being reliant on cash generated by the business.
By John Kennedy
