With reality shows such as “American Idol”, “Survivor”, “Joe Millionaire” and others continue to drive what the industry nicknames short message service, or SMS, calls, network providers need help in handling all the traffic.
What’s at stake? Millions of dollars and the overall success and profitability of these audience participation programs because sophistication is the name of the game.
Tekelec (Nasdaq: TKLC) announced today it has developed a solution to aid wireless carriers in managing short code marketing campaigns. Just last season, American Idol 2 set record SMS traffic levels. And even higher SMS traffic levels are expected during 2004 and beyond as viewers cast their votes for favorite contestants.
Router manages growing ‘short code’ traffic
In addition to managing SMS routing, Tekelec’s new Short Message Gateway (SMG) handles the increasing number of SMS calls traveling over wireless networks as marketers race to hook viewers. Tekelec’s SMG manages SMS traffic generated by short code — easy to remember four- to six-digit numbers linked to specific marketing campaigns.
“We believe the short code capability is one of those ‘killer apps’ for which carriers are searching,” said Fred Lax, Tekelec president and CEO in a statement.
Traditionally, short service message centers handled both mobile-to-mobile traffic and mobile-to-machine (short code) traffic. But limited capacity required operators to deploy multiple message centers to accommodate short code activity, which comes in large bursts. Conversely, the Tekelec SMG is capable of handling more than 8,000 messages per second…over double the capacity of the most efficient message centers available today.
“Carriers are recognizing the importance of readying the network to handle the high traffic loads that these promotions generate,” Lax said. “The SMG will ease the short messages service center [SMS-C] congestion previously experienced in peak voting periods.”
SMG bets on performance and reliability
The key for Tekelec was handling increased traffic. The new SMG offloads mobile-to-machine traffic so that it never reaches the message center. Operators are able to use the existing SMS-C to perform its intended function … managing mobile-terminated traffic. Fewer SMS-Cs in the network reduce capital expenditures, operational costs, and increase network reliability.
Tekelec designed the gateway to offer service center operators functions outside basic messaging services including: an analysis engine, destinations such as domestic mobile, international mobile, and email addresses. The company said all can be managed easily.
Tekelec is a developer of telecommunications signaling and switching solutions, packet-telephony infrastructure, network monitoring technology, and value-added applications. It has a major facility in Morrisville.
Tekelec: www.tekelec.com
