Single Number Service Reality by CounterPathSingle Number Service Reality by CounterPath

A single number service for voice, IM and SMS, that goes beyond rudimentary find-me/follow-me services.

CounterPath's NCG Exchange's (Network Convergence Gateway) highly flexible, network- and device-agnostic architecture means a wireline operator's customers now can put a single phone number on their business cards with the confidence that they can always communicate with a single number by voice, IM and SMS--an ability that goes beyond rudimentary find-me/follow-me services.

NCG Exchange provides Telcos, cable operators, hosted VoIP providers, Internet telephony service providers, CLECs and other wireline operators with a rapid, cost-effective way to expand into the mobile market while targeting enterprises that have a large and growing number of mobile workers. With NCG Exchange, wireline operators can immediately provide their enterprise, SMB and SOHO customers with mobile VoIP and messaging services that are delivered over-the-top (OTT) of mobile networks, regardless of which carrier the customer uses.

Hosted and provisioned by CounterPath, NCG Exchange services work with any mobile handset without installation of any software on mobile handsets. To further enhance the NCG Exchange service, operators can deploy CounterPath's Bria iPhone Edition or Bria Android Edition softphones, giving their customers additional options of communicating over Wi-Fi and 3G/4G IP alongside the standard mobile voice and SMS channels. Operators can also leverage CounterPath’s Bria desktop/laptop PC or Mac softphones, allowing their customers to use their services across desktop softphones and mobile phones.

I spoke with Todd Carothers, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Products at CounterPath, and it sounds like the Tier II/III carriers that are contemplating signing may have rollouts this year. In the past I've lamented over the shortcomings of rudimentary find-me/follow-me services because they are inefficient and waste bandwidth/resources thus cost more and are great for blocking traffic scenarios. The old TBCT feature used in optional Telco PRI provisioning lacked adoption by most industry equipment manufacturers. NCG Exchange goes way beyond TBCT and enables more communications glue and bridges a huge gap.

Now some cool features follow the initial NCG Exchange.

Wireline Messaging: SMS, Instant Messaging and Presence: Provides VoIP users with the ability to send and receive text messages to and from the mobile network. It also enables an IM service and presence capability, forging a community of users.

Wireline Call Continuity (WCC): Enables users to move calls from their desktop or mobile VoIP phone to another device, including their standard mobile phone or smartphone. This eliminates the inconvenience with switching phones when in a conference call or asking someone in a direct conversation if you can "call them back from the car" or if you can "switch to your office phone."

Wireline Mobility: CounterPath's Wireline Mobility application enables messaging over any mobile phone and any mobile network. It also allows extended wireline voice and messaging services to smartphones and feature phones.

Todd also told me about the capability to ring multiple devices, and that is a feature that will be welcomed in numerous verticals including emergency responders. On the roadmap is the provisioning server that will evolve to a client-management server. CounterPath’s optional Bria is a softphone app that resides on Windows or Apple OS. Bria also resides on Android and, though optional, using Bria creates an enriched user experience for voice and messaging (mobile messaging coming this summer). For each VoIP DID number registration, a mobile registration or SPID (Service Profile Identifier) will exist and match up to the VoIP DID SPID. Another opportunity is to use SMS as a choice over voice, which is appealing to younger markets that prefer texting. The aforementioned benefits and having one number published could be a real boon to current users of SIP trunks and an enticement for those looking to get some sense of balance or control over their cellular costs.