BroadSoft

Rich Communication Suite

With the availability of mobile broadband, a lot of the communication options that were previously limited to a PC interface are now available to mobile devices. Applications such as multimedia, file exchange, instant messaging, presence and Social Networking are becoming as common on mobile devices as Short Message Service (SMS) and multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

While mobile broadband makes these rich services available to most mobile subscribers, they are often offered in silo. Subscribers have to monitor and use multiple independent applications to ensure they don't miss a call or that their presence status is shared with all their friends on different platform.

The Rich Communication Suite is a consortium of service providers and vendors who are working on defining a set of rich services that can be offered to mobile subscribers as an integrated solution. RCS defines some standard capabilities like enhanced calls, enhanced messaging and enhanced phonebook which should be supported by mobile carriers the same way SMS is supported today.

The same way SMS is integrated with the subscriber's mobile identity, RCS enhanced capabilities are associated with the user's identity so subscribers don't have to manage different profiles and applications to communicate with their friends and social network. They have one identity which they use to publish their presence, send SMS, exchange files and send IM messages via a common, well-integrated user interface.

BroadSoft offers a complete RCS solution today. The BroadSoft RCS solution provides users with the benefits of RCS and extends it to non-mobile devices.

BroadWorks ability to decouple the user devices from the user profile allows for delivering RCS capabilities to other devices such as fixed-lines and consumer electronics. For instance, BroadWorks allows users to send and receive SMS message from a fixed-line, or conduct a multimedia call via their TV set. In addition to expanding the communication options, BroadWorks multimedia offer allows for simplifying the user experience and leveraging the carriers offering.