Text Messaging (SMS) is an essential communications channel that subscribers depend on for sending and receiving important information with family, friends and preferred service providers. Regardless of where they are located, or what access network they are using, subscribers assume that their messages will always get through to them. SMS is a service that will not go away – long after industry analysts were writing the death notices for SMS in a new OTT-age, new use cases for the technology are being rolled out. SMS will play a vital role in emerging IoT services, and will be used to configure and wake-up remote devices connected via 4G and 5G networks.
Although subscribers expect the SMS service to work on any access network, technically, Operators require different solutions to deliver those messages on different networks. For 4G, for instance, messages are delivered via the IMS network using an IP Short Messaging Gateway, or IP-SM-Gateway for short. On the other hand, for 5G networks, messages are delivered using the Short Message Service Function, or SMSF, when a delivery route via fallback network is unavailable. Meanwhile, subscribers connected to 2G or 3G networks get their messages directly from the Short Message Service Centre, or SMSC. The SMSC acts as the central messaging post-office across all network types, and is the only function with a message store.
As Operators roll-out their 4G and 5G networks, they require a solution which can properly coordinate message delivery to subscribers across all network types. If an Operator uses different providers for their SMSC, IP SM Gateway and SMSF functions, they may experience interworking problems, increased network load due to unnecessary signalling traffic, and the cost of installing & supporting multiple platforms from different vendors. Operators must ensure they have sufficient resources to support delivery of messages across all their network types, while bearing in mind that the volumes of messages delivered over each network is dynamic. As 4G and 5G subscriptions grow, there will be more load placed on the IP-SM-Gateway and SMSF functions to deliver messages. Operators need a way to dynamically assign resources to each function to deal with changing traffic patterns on the network.
Operator messaging services are entering a new age. The emergence of 5G networks tailored for IoT applications necessitates a new messaging network function to deliver critical management messages to 5G devices deployed in the field. While Operators need to update their existing platforms to support delivery over 5G networks, any new solution needs to be able to meet 5G-specific requirements relating to private networks for large enterprises requiring a ‘network slicing’ architecture. A cloud based 5G system would give Operators the flexibility to create virtual instances of messaging platforms for these private network customers. They will also be able to use cloud services to scale resource allocations to 5G messaging dynamically in-line with network rollouts and service adoption by customers.
Openmmind’s Cloud-Native Traffic Control 6000 messaging platform is the ideal solution for today’s multi-generational networks. It provides Operators with a unique solution to expand their messaging services, features and capacity quickly & seamlessly, with minimum impact on their existing networks. Using the power of our hosted, cloud-based solution, Operator’s time-to-revenue for new features and services is greatly shortened. Our Multi-Generational Platform will deliver messages to your subscribers regardless of the access network they are using.
Traffic Control 6000 is fully NFV-compliant, and implements the SMSC, IP-SM-Gateway, and SMSF functions as separate microservices. Each service can be scaled independently on-demand to meet resource requirements. Traffic Control 6000 can be deployed in any server environment – Private Cloud, Public Cloud, Hybrid or even directly on bare metal. With Traffic Control 6000, Operators get a cost-effective, easy to deploy and manage solution for all their messaging services. Problems caused by interworking issues between different vendors are avoided. Subscribers get guaranteed deliveries of their message on any network. Our customers can build new messaging services around IoT and M2M use-cases knowing that they have a platform they can rely on.
We are living in a fast changing world where many Operators are moving to cloud-deployments for key network infrastructure, to reduce their time to market and to take advantage of the hosting capabilities of their service providers. Operators who fail to embrace the benefits of digital transformation by sticking to legacy ways of working, risk being left behind in competition for mobile subscribers and enterprise customers. Talk to Openmind today to learn how you can take advantage of our multi-generational, cloud-native messaging solution to build your future messaging network and services.
