1. www.comarch.eu no 2/2009 (10) Comarch Telecommunications Business Unit Comarch Technology Review is a publication created by Comarch experts and specialists. It aims at assist- ing our customers and partners in obtaining in-depth information about market trends and developments, and the technological possibilities of addressing the most important issues. in focus Mobile Technologies >> Behind the Scenes of Mobile Products Smartphone Operating Systems >> Loyalty Card Killer! >> Location-Based Services: New Opportunities for Innovation >> Smartphone the Best Tool for Cutting Field Service Costs and Increasing Productivity

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3. Preface < 3 In todays times, were all aware that the world is mobile. And its not only because people carry mobile handsets Editor-in-Chief: Katarzyna Gajewska DTP&Graphics: Jakub Malicki Proofreading: Martin Jones Publisher: Comarch SA, Al. Jana Pawa II 39a, and laptops around with them religiously, but rather 31-864 Krakw mainly due to the outstanding possibilities offered by Tel. +48 12 64 61 000, Fax: +48 12 64 61 100, existing services, systems, environments, resources and e-mail: marketing@comarch.pl communities when mobilized. Mobile devices are simply www.comarch.eu enablers. More important, is how each and every solution Print: Skleniarz Printing House, ul. J. Lea 118, should be tailored to the mobile device in order to enrich 31-033 Krakw Circulation: 1 000 the end-user experience and provide the right content at the right time: Here and Now, on demand and without Technology Review is a free publication limits. Business models for mobility will be driven by QoS available by subscription. The articles and AoS of services, as well as by the interoperability of published here can be copied and reproduced voice, data, multimedia and payment services. Telco dumb only with the knowledge and consent pipes or smart pipes network services will support user of the editors. The names of products and Pawe Bieryt companies mentioned are trade marks and communication, interaction and mobility, entertainment and trade names of their producers. professional activities. Comarch SA Position: EVP Professional Services In this issue of Technology Review we present various To receive your subscription to the electronic Department: Telecommunications aspects of mobility as it opens new markets and Business Unit version or see the previous issues, please opportunities emerging from already existing legacy visit technologyreview.comarch.com. solutions in telecommunications, as well as NGN and 4G, which have vast potential for converging and evolving, and Since 1993, Comarchs Telecommunications both of which are enriched by mobile access channels. Business Unit has been specializing in From Smartphone technologies, through applications designing, implementing and integrating solutions and services for telecommunication in LBS, Loyalty and Digital Homes, towards the solutions operators. in telecommunications providing a third dimension to Experience gained during this time, along with Service Assurance and Networking, the excellence of its knowledge of the latest industry trends, intelligent networks with mobile assets is presented step- allows the company to flexibly adapt itself to by-step. the needs and expectations of every client. At Comarch, we strongly believe that when the right approach to mobility is adopted, services can evolve Worldwide Offices: Poland rapidly, systems can be enriched with network intelligence, Belgium self-tuning and self-adaptation; environments can be Germany simplified to service delivery platforms; resources can be France managed more easily by All-IP technologies; and unified Lithuania processes and communities can grow dynamically. All Austria these factors will enable positive market segmentation Panama Russia and lead to highly lucrative business openings in the near Piotr Madej Switzerland future. Join us in our vision and enjoy reading! In Focus ularity mainly in North America. From its very incep- by a third party. Application distribution is also far Linux tion, the key feature of BlackBerry was push email (the from satisfactory the only methods for shipping possibility to receive email directly), which attracted are through Apple. However, since the phone itself is No royalties or licensing fees and the ability to real interest from various companies. in high demand in the United States and is gaining in freely change virtually anything were likely the main popularity in other parts of the world, it is wise to also motives behind the decision of many smartphone provide an iPhone version of your application. manufacturers to use the Linux kernel as the base for their own platforms. Platforms produced by Motorola and DoCoMo gained the most popularity on the Asian Although BlackBerry has recently increased its Windows Mobile market. Nokia and Google also invested in Linux-based market share, the alliance between Nokia and Micro- platforms: Maemo and Android respectively. soft announced in August, may bring it to a halt. The Windows Mobile is Microsofts operating system for The variety of different vendors Linux-based purpose of the agreement is to bring business soft- smartphones, PDAs, and other devices. The first ver- platforms, highlights the fact that many sides are ware to smartphones and (officially) pose high-end sion was released in 2000. Due to Microsofts domi- interested in its growth, yet the lack of compatibil- competition to companies such as BlackBerry. Nokia nant position on the market for operating systems for ity between them currently makes it impossible to smartphones containing both Microsoft Office and PC, office suites and web browsers, many believed treat Mobile Linux as competition to the platforms email programs are likely to be the key development that the impending success of Windows Mobile is described above. Industry standards or de-facto stan- born from this collaboration. just a matter of time. Indeed, the option to easily dards can alter the situation. An additional opportunity The usage of Java language makes development for exchange and use documents and emails with a PC for Linux on smartphones is the scope for single plat- BlackBerry relatively easy, for instance when compared is still a major selling point of the OS. form success. These days, Android and Maemo look to Symbian. It is also easier to find developers who can the most promising. In fact, media reports surface start developing for the platform without additional nearly every six months, claiming that undisclosed problems. The range of APIs available is another advan- Nokia sources reveal that the company will, in fact, tage of the BlackBerry platform, though it may not be as abandon Symbian in favor of Linux. comprehensive when compared to the Symbian case. However, with popularity limited to North America this renders it suitable only for selected solutions. android Following the release of Apples iPhone in 2007, many iPhone OS expected that internet giant Google would release its The most plausible reason for the less sizeable suc- own gPhone. Eventually, this turned out not to be the The first iPhone was released by Apple Inc. in June 2007. cess of the Mobile version in comparison to desktop case, but in November 2007 Google did announce the onsidering the recency of its innovation, the iPhones Windows is likely related to the unwillingness of lead- early version of the smartphone operating system immense popularity is impressive, and is only continuing ing smartphone manufacturers to integrate it into the Android. The congregation of companies officially to grow. Although the contribution to its success made majority of their devices Windows Mobile is pres- interested in Androids success is the Open Handset by marketing is still being debated, the iPhone undoubt- ent mainly in HTC phones. In 2009, Microsoft signed Alliance, which consists of mobile operators, software edly has vast influence on all the other platforms. an agreement with LG Electronic to license Windows companies, semiconductor companies and handset Similar to the BlackBerry, the iPhones popularity is Mobile. However, with the attention of HTC focused pri- manufacturers (e.g. HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung Elec- far greater in North America than in other regions. marily on other platforms (mainly Android), it may not tronics, Sony Ericsson). The OS is developed as open halt the trend of a decreasing market share. source on the Apache License, and is based on the Following a common theme, Windows Mobile mar- Linux kernel on the GPL license. ket share is also more extensive in North America than in to other regions. Development for Windows Mobile-based devices is similar to development for standard Windows. Third party developers have several options available to them when deploying a mobile application, includ- ing writing a native code with Visual C++, which pro- Currently, there are only 3 iPhone devices out on vides more comprehensive APIs, or writing a managed the market: Original, 3G and 3GS, which is potentially code that works with the .NET Compact Framework, problematic, with regard to wider adoption of the OS. which is actually a subset of the .NET Framework and Unfortunately, developing for the iPhone is not as hence shares numerous components with software easy as using it. Objective C, the language used in development on desktop clients. The resemblance iPhone development is not widely known, and is gen- to desktop Windows and the .NET Compact Frame- erally limited to Apple-related developers. The number work makes Windows Mobile particularly suitable for The first Android phone hit the market in October of APIs available is also underwhelming, and there business application implementation, although other 2008. It was made by HTC and sold as HTC Dream, are numerous features that cannot be implemented applications can also be created. but was also branded as T-Mobile G1, Era G1 and Rog- technology review [www.comarch.eu]

9. In Focus < 9 ers Dream. Android phones did not sell as rapidly as Palm webOS is and enables creating location-based products, such the iPhone, but this may change with the arrival of as Google Latitude or Comarch Mobiloc. additional phones from alternative manufacturers. For Another Linux-based platform that could become In addition, user interface hardware varies with instance, Google expects 18 Android phones by the end a major player in the future is the Palm webOS. different smartphones, although following recent of the year from 8 manufacturers. Currently, the main Palm Inc., a company with vast experience in the developments (since iPhones success) it appears selling point of the OS is the possibility for integration PDA market, aspires to become the iPhone killer and that the touchscreen may now be the standard. For with Google services, such as GMail and GoogleMaps. repeat its success. The first stores selling the device some products, miniature QWERTY keyboards may Google provides developers with Java API powerful with the OS (Palm Pre) witnessed long lines, while be especially useful, while wheels can be used for enough to satisfy most needs and implement various favorable reviews in the press highlight its potential. certain additional buttons, to improve user interac- types of solutions. Moreover, advanced developers However, only time will tell. tion with the product. may implement the native C application and deploy In addition, the Asian market currently enjoys it within the phone, making it possible to use virtu- smartphones with a number of unusual hardware ally all of the telephones functions. The development features, including ones which alter the phones scent, for Android is not very difficult and finding developers or check the intoxication level of the user. should not be an issue. Although there arent many Smartphones also differ in screen size. They vary devices on the market yet, Androids popularity is from fairly small monochromatic versions found in the growing and platform should certainly be considered There is an SKD for WebOS and developers can older devices to those which are (surprisingly) quite when planning a new product. consider writing code for the device. However, due to sizeable: 16 million colors and even 800 x 480 pixels, its current small market share, this device is a less such as on the Nokia N900. Handling such a variety attractive target for mobile applications, unless the of screen resolutions is not always an easy task from Maemo device is shipped to your customers together with the programmers point of view. Complicating the situ- the software. ation further, is the orientation, which in some models Maemo is a Linux-based OS for mobile devices devel- changes on the fly, depending on the physical posi- oped by Nokia. The first device, Nokia 770, was released tion of the device or the location of the keyboard slider. in November 2005, and was classified as an Internet Hardware Additionally, some telephones, such as the Nokia E90 Tablet. Due to the lack of GSM telephony hardware Communicator, have more than one display. and a fairly large touchscreen, it was far more effec- Smartphones tend to utilize the most advanced hard- tive as a tool for web browsing than the majority of ware currently available on the mobile phone market, alternative phone screens. Various voices claimed that although they often differ from one another. In fact, restrictions the device was not intended to challenge Symbian significant differences may exist even with devices OS Nokia devices. Finally however, in August of this based on a single operating system. As a result, the One of the biggest traps waiting for those with a lack year Nokia announced the first Maemo phone N900, product developer should know what hardware is of experience in developing mobile products is likely preceeded by rumors that Maemo will be chosen by essential for the product, and which particular smart- to be the number of restrictions. Many think that the Nokia for their smartphones. phones utilize it. smartphone OS will grant them access to everything, For some products, CPU speed (e.g. for encryption) similar to that of an OS on a regular PC. might be key, while others may require advanced ani- Symbian includes the Symbian Signed program, mation effects and hardware graphics acceleration. through which a product must go in order to obtain The majority of smartphones have a built-in cam- access to certain phone capabilities. To pass the era, with differences in resolution and the time the program, one has to guarantee that the product has device requires for saving a picture. Many smartphone passed a number of tests and must also pay for the products use a camera to obtain information from the signing process. There are also capabilities that require The major advantage of the Maemo platform is that environment or for scanning barcodes. the device manufacturers approval, which might be its development is similar to standard Linux, thereby Today, one can find smartphones with various types both difficult and extremely time consuming to achieve. making it attractive to Linux enthusiasts, who want to of hardware, which can be used to connect to other The official reason for Symbian Signeds existence is extend their product range to mobile devices. Due to the devices. As a result, the smartphone can remotely con- to prevent the installation of malicious software on enormous capability of the platform, it is hard to imagine trol other devices, as well as exchange data. the phone. an application which cannot be implemented to Maemo. A WiFi connection enables access to fast, cheap, In order to develop applications for the BlackBerry Currently, there is only one smartphone available on and unlimited Internet, and facilitates the operation device and use certain features noted as sensetive the market, since the previous Maemo-based devices of more mobile web scenarios. a fee of $20 is required for signing keys and registering released by Nokia were not equipped with telephony An accelerometer and magnetometer are used on the RIM website. This process is used to track the features. However, the platform is extremely powerful to trace the actual motion of the phone, and allow usage of these sensitive APIs, and does not require and it is likely that it will become more popular in the users to interact with the application in a far more any testing or the RIMs approval. future. Thus, it is crucial to take this into account when natural manner. Development for the iPhone was originally restricted planning a long-term project. GPS and information from the GSM network can be to Apple Inc. and several other companies selected used to retrieve information regarding where a phone nr 2/2009 (10)

10. 10 > In Focus by Apple. Currently however, there is a public SDK uses its own dialect in addition to C++ that must be ing system. Typically, a non-native language can be (Software Development Kit), as well as the option to understood in order to write the most advanced and useful for relatively simple products that should work create an application for the iPhone after purchas- efficient programs. on as many types of devices as possible. ing a Macintosh computer and paying for an iPhone BlackBerry uses two versions of Java, Java Java Micro Edition (JME) is the language designed Development Program membership ($99). It is worth Micro Edition and its own Java API. to operate on all low resource devices, and works on noting that even this public SDK lacks the API for cer- Apple decided to create a language entitled Objec- most phones, not just smartphones. However, the tain features only available to Apple. tive C, also incorporating it into the iPhone. Generally more recently created platforms (iPhone, Android) One of Androids design bases is that All Apps are speaking, this language is only popular within Apples lack its native support. Furthermore, various bugs Created Equal. The notion is that there should be no own ecosystem, and there are few developers with exist within different implementations of JME on dif- difference in the possibilities available for applications expertise in its field. Although it is worth noting that ferent phones, and the advantages of writing one preinstalled on the phone by the manufacturer and its popularity has been growing with the success of code for several platforms are diminished, due to the all 3rd party applications. the iPhone. necessity of solving a variety of issues specific to Android development can be conducted using its each phone model. own version of Java. Following Nokias acquisition of Trolltech (the com- Programming Languages pany that developed the Qt Framework) in 2008, there has been an ongoing effort to provide Qt on Sym- Knowing which programming language is native to a One to rule them all bian and Maemo phones. When this is completed, particular platform is crucial, as this is the key deter- an option to utilize QT for writing a single code for minant of product development cost and mainte- Excluding those that are native, some smartphone Symbian, Maemo, desktop Windows, Linux, and Mac nance. The more popular a language, the easier it OSs enable writing programs in alternative languages. should exist. is to find developers. The less complicated it is, the Such programming languages are less efficient and The Internet is also a common environment for more optimum the speed at which the product can grant more restricted phone access. However, they all mobile operating systems. There is no access to be developed. are also are more straightforward, and, if supported smartphone capabilities from a web browser, but for Symbians native development is carried out in on more than one platform, enable users to write a sin- certain products, for which most logic can be shifted C++, which is a popular language. However, Symbian gle program (single code) for more than one operat- to the server side, mobile web is also a possibility. For technology review [www.comarch.eu]

11. In Focus < 11 advanced products there are also web-related technol- However, the iPhone is a completely different story as ogies, such as Flash Lite and Mobile Web Widgets. the platform is reasonably closed and the first ques- tion should always be whether the functionality can be implemented. Following this, if you are certain of application Development the feasibility and have experienced developers, the implementation should not take longer than it does When compared to desktop, mobile applications are for Android or BlackBerry. far less portable and usually must be written sepa- rately for all required platforms, as there is no uni- versal programming language for all mobile devices. Summary Java Micro edition is sometimes viewed as a univer- sal language (although not supported on certain plat- Without a doubt, choosing a mobile operating system forms), but using it frequently leads to more problems is case specific there is no single platform ideal for than solutions. It is not the native language for most every product, and you can make the most informed devices, meaning that the application almost never decision simply by choosing a platform that best fits Piotr Janas appears to be native. Moreover, compared to a native, your particular situation. Comarch SA usually lower level programming language, Java appli- Usually, the most important factor is popularity of Position: Senior Software Developer cations offer inferior performance and are less user- the platform the larger the number of devices, the Department: Telecommunications Business Unit friendly, which may result in customer reluctance to larger the market for the product. It is important to take Info: Piotr has been developing for Mobile use them. An additional disadvantage of Java is the into account the fact that popularity varies by region platforms (mostly Symbian) for 4 years. lack of APIs, which means that only certain features (especially North America), and can change drastically Currently located in Helsinki, he supports can be implemented. Thus, inexperienced develop- over the product development period (such as in the one of Comarchs key clients, and closely ers may not even realize that a feature they plan to recent case of the iPhone). Popularity can rarely be follows changes in the mobile world from an expert perspective. acquire is not actually feasible in Java prior to start- ignored, if the product can work on devices bought ing development. This often leads to bitter disappoint- especially to run it. ment and, what is more important, financial losses. Most products have hardware without which they However, it should be said that some, not very com- simply cannot function. In fact, some products can plex applications can be successfully implemented operate significantly better, using specific types of utilizing Java ME. hardware. Access to a phones hardware is enabled When dealing with moblie software, one should for programmers in programming languages that have also be aware of the various differences between a major impact on the cost of product development devices based on the same platform. Due to the binary and its maintenance. It is also important to remem- breaks between different versions of the same plat- ber that there are restrictions that can make some form, APIs availability, screen resolutions and hardware products impossible, or even unprofitable to create configurations, it is impossible to write an all-in-one for a particular operating system. application even on a particular platform, unless it is a Finally, creating a comprehensive mobile applica- fairly simplistic piece of software. However, going into tion is not an easy task and some may try to avoid specific details of such issues is outside the scope of it altogether. However, the mobile market is growing this article. Thus if you do encounter similar problems quickly, and ignoring this fact is not wise. Thus, if you and do not have experienced staff, it is advisable to do not have sufficient experience, it is recommended use the services of an experienced company to help that you select a company that will aid you in repre- you complete your project. senting yourself in the mobile world. It is important to The required effort is not the same for all plat- note that creating a high-quality multiplatform mobile forms, and varies strongly depending on the type service is not impossible and there are people who Grzegorz Wchocki of application to be implemented. Some features can do it for you. In Focus points can be granted. For a fully interactive solution, and the win) is not available. Here, a mobile phone can Dictionary additional customer-facing displays of the POS sys- act as an additional marketing canvas. tems can also be used, and these are able to present There are also various potential benefits for telco NFC Near Field Communication: a short-range all coupons and offers that the customer is entitled to. companies. The first of these is based on basic human high frequency wireless communication The coupons will also be transferable between phones, nature. With the increasing role of mobile phones and technology, enabling the exchange of since sellers generally do not have a preference as to the number of services they provide, people are less data between devices over a very short which customer actually uses the coupon, focusing eager to switch their phone and the operator. This could distance. instead on the additional profit generated. have an impact on the loyalty aspect of mobile compa- Of course NFC also has some limitations. With the nies, without the need to operate a single loyalty pro- RFID radio-frequency identification: the use of an bandwidth limited to 424 kbit/s, it is impossible to gram. There are a number of other possibilities as well. object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) send large volumes of marketing information over One of them is the usage of NFC-enabled phones as applied to or incorporated into a product, a short connection period. NFC should then be used top up collectors. During cash transactions, there could animal, or person for the purpose of identi- as the first point of offer presentation, with customers be an option for taking mobile top up in exchange for fication and tracking using radio waves. receiving more detailed information and audio-video relinquishing the change. content via an Internet connection. * from the NFC Mobile Payments & Marketing Opportuni- Summary ties: Forecasts & Analysis 2009 2014 report by Juniper Evolving Market Research As it appears, Near Field Communication technology The revolution could also take place in our wallets, as can evolve into a highly potent marketing tool for loy- mobile phones containing built-in NFC technology can alty program operators. With the use of NFC, compa- be recognized by numerous different loyalty programs. nies could reap double the rewards. Directing expertly This should eliminate loyalty cards from the market, targeted offers to the relevant customers will increase with their only remaining presence being on the opera- sales, and will also bring about a reduction in costs tors company logo on the phone display background. due to the now extinct requirement for producing Joining a new loyalty program will be a very simple advertising and promotional materials in paper format. process as well, requiring only minimal application In addition, customers can appreciate additional ser- installation, which can also be sent by a NFC device vices, faster payments and simplified usage. Further- or downloaded from the Internet. The installed appli- more, telecommunication companies can still claim cation will primarily collect registration data and take their share, even if their loyalty programs do not benefit care of appropriate presentation of the marketing offer, directly from NFC solutions. Besides, they own a tool as well as coupon management. which would most likely bring about a radical change Like any other type of technology NFC can also in loyalty operations in other industries. be used for entertainment, which generates profit. An obstacle to the common use of this solution is the An example of this potential usage is the POS lot- currently limited number of NFC-ready phones, and the teries. During the transaction, the loyalty system is even smaller availability of NFC receivers at the POS. But able to select a prize for the customer. This could the situation is changing, and the prices of the devices be a gift, additional points or even a discount. If the are decreasing successively. According to a report pro- customer wins, the relevant notification is displayed duced by the UK-based company Juniper Research, NFC on his phone. This lottery concept is already present mobile payments will exceed $30 billion in 2012, whilst in some loyalty systems (a good example would be the forecast for 2009 is currently at $8 billion*. Also, the Comarch Loyalty Management CLM), but there are first loyalty programs utilizing NFC technology are already numerous cases where the necessary device at the on the market. A good example is Italian fashion house POS (which would inform the customer of the lottery Miroglio, which commenced operations this year. In Focus Making Money references New revenue streams are great when they are mak- 1 Magnusson, C., Tollmar, K., Brewster, S., Sarjakoski, T., Sarjakoski, T., and Roselier, S. 2009. Exploring ing money. But can you predict the earning potential future challenges for haptic, audio and visual interfaces for mobile maps and location based services. of these same services in 10 years? In Proceedings of the 2nd international Workshop on Location and the Web (Boston, Massachusetts, Taking profitability into consideration, there are numer- April 04 04, 2009). LOCWEB 09, vol. 370. ACM, New York, NY, 1-4. ous ways of making money on a mobile service. However, 2 Dataquest Insight: Consumer Location-Based Services, Subscribers and Revenue Forecast, 2007-2013, since users do not want to pay directly for the services http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=1035015&subref=simplesearch they use, it seems that advertising is taking the lead. 3 Rao, B. and Minakakis, L. 2003. Evolution of mobile location-based services. Commun. ACM 46, 12 (Dec. The key to success in mobile advertising is making the 2003), 61-65. advertisement truly context dependent and not explic- itly visible to the user. An advertising model based on texts and banner ads used by popular web browsers est in the application among customers. Thus, LBS Conclusions may serve as a good example: users are given not ads, applications should also be free, in order to gener- but additional links to sites they are already searching ate popularity and guarantee that their designers Localization-based services combine vast numbers for. Mobile advertising should and can be enhanced to achieve success in the market. However, noone has of formerly separated technologies into one location- contain similar features. It is vital that mobile applications yet been able to provide a truly free, comprehensive aware platform. LBS have been treated as an addition and services are highly context dependent. This means location-based service, that has not also incorpo- to what is already available within the device. However, that the system must be able to predict what types of rated advertisng. Why? The answer may be as simple we believe it is powerful enough to evolve into the heart services the user might need at that very moment, and as this: we do not know how to generate profit from of mobile platforms and mobility itself in the future. It the device should be ready to offer those services to the a service without either selling the service itself to is highly likely that future mobile applications and ser- user. Predicting what a user wants and when the technol- the customers or selling advertising space. Thus, we viceswill be driven by knowledge of where the device ogy is capable of doing it is not easy. However, we can believe the monetizing of mobile services is a good is currently, and what is the most necessary service be sure that the location of the device will play a crucial place for innovation. If someone finds a novel, effi- at that time. The handset should determine what is role in making the application context-aware. As such, cient way of making money from a service, which needed at that moment and how this should be made we believe that the location is the most important and is free for the user and does not involve bombard- available to the user. This constitutes the road to pro- powerful context-related factor imaginable. ing customers with more ads, it would be a ground- viding a reliable service, fulfilling customer needs and Many of todays users are fed up with the amount breaking invention. guaranteeing revenues. of services, applications, information and advertising presented to them in the virtual world, and are look- ing for a higher level of specification. No one wants to hear about a new tariff promotion when sitting in a res- taurant, and this is something the software should be able to predict. Numerous things can be inferred from the device position, speed, direction, average move- ment or the area where the user spends the majority of working hours. When at work, users are likely to be more interested in services such as a new option for dinner or a new parking service. Conversely, during their first visit to a city, a person may want to know the three most important historical monuments to see during a single day trip. Then, a few days later, a shopping center available nearby serves as a new point of interest. With the exception of advertising, we are not aware of many other ways of effectively profiting from the popularity of a service. Thus arises the Grzegorz Wchocki Marek Konieczny question of advertisings dominance over alternative Comarch SA Comarch SA methods for creating profit from LBS in the future. Are Position: Senior Software Analyst / Position: Team Leader there any other possibilities? What will be the main R&D Manager Department: Mobile Software R&D source of funds for LBS creators in 10 years? We do Department: Telecommunications Info: Marek is currently responsible for not know the answer, but we are certain that every- Professional Services leading and coordinating test teams in Pro- Info: Grzegorz leads the R&D unit, the main duct Testing projects for portable devices.. body expects the mobile services being provided goal of which is exploring new mobile-rela- to be free. The free-of-charge model fosters inter- ted technologies, in addition to searching for new opportunities on the mobile market. technology review [www.comarch.eu]

19. Smartphone: The Best Tool for Cutting Field Service Costs and Increasing Productivity Does your field service continually require more and more funds? Do your customers seem to be dissatisfied, and are the number of Where is my tech? escalations refusing to decrease? There is a simple solution: buy gadgets, go with the trends and be green. Your company will not only save money, but will enjoy increased revenues as well. nr 2/2009 (10)

20. 20 > In Focus An attractive offering, high quality of prod- ucts and satisfied customers are factors that may contribute to a telecom operators success To affirmatively answer this question, vendors of FSM systems extend their product portfolio with solu- tions based on mobile technologies. Mobile software sible for their improvement and optimization have been used for many years. They allow optimizing staff and equipment use, dispatching cost and efficiency, as well on the market. Two of these factors are clearly related and hardware available on the market today ensure the as all additional costs related to services, such as phone to the work of field staff. Field employees are respon- following: calls, drive costs, paper usage, etc. The most popular sible for the high quality of services, as they maintain > Possibility of building ergonomic and high-usability- methods of field workforce optimization are: the operators network infrastructure to ensure ac- focused mobile systems > Scheduling with intelligent mechanisms of optimi- cess to all services adhering to contracted service > Hardware parameters enabling advanced, elaborate zation level agreements (SLA). For customers, field forces mobile application functionalities > Dedicated task lists for field employees are also company representatives. If a company uses > Moderate costs > Dispatching based on a wide range of criteria, tak- self service solutions, they may even be the only rep- ing into consideration the availability of employees, resentatives who are in contact with the customers. The elements of operator strategy that can be sup- locations and competences This shows that quality work of field service staff is ported by mobile technologies include high quality the key element for an operators success. field service, higher level of field staff control, as well These mechanisms, which in theory bring many oppor- As a result of the recent economic downturn, the as simplified fulfillment of work orders. This article will tunities for an increase in productivity and rationaliza- cost of telecom services has become the main focal consider how mobile technology support in the field tion of service costs, are blocked or limited because point for providers. Operator business costs have service management domain enables rationalizing of general organizational problems, namely: a great impact on product prices, and telecoms have costs and productivity. Is investment in mobile soft- > Minimal possibility for real-time dispatching used methods of improving productivity and rational- ware and hardware cost-effective? If the answer is > Schedules based only on estimation of task dura- izing customer field service costs for a long time. Con- yes, as advocated by research conducted by Aberdeen tion without determination of actual task duration sequently, field service management (FSM) and opti- Group for instance, then which mobile functionalities > Limited possibilities for rapid task reassignment mization systems should be planned by the majority and features can help in reducing costs and increas- (employees often spend their mornings on mak- of service providers. Not only do FSM systems allow ing productivity in field service departments? ing to-do lists) automated scheduling and effective resource man- > Limited possibilities for real-time task completion agement, but they can also support work order dis- reporting, and updating of business processes (task patching and fulfillment of field work orders. This brings Optimization in Practice reports are usually filled in after all daily field tasks real benefits to network maintenance and customer are completed) service departments. But perhaps operators can do Because customer service and network maintenance > Absence of exact knowledge regarding current even more? are usually the main components of a service providers pending assigned field work and no possibility for operational costs, methods and technologies respon- assigned the best resources to urgent tasks Cost Drivers Increase Focus On Mobility Average Performance Improvements | From Mobile Field Service Increasing service-related costs (workforce, fuel,parts,fleet, vehi- 61% Performance Category average Improvement cles, etc.) Mean time to repair - 21% Customer demand for faster and improved service issue resolution 44% Overtime costs - 13% Need for improved data capture and information form management 40% insight Service profitability + 17% Shrinking product margins placing 20% more pressure on service revenue contribution Workforce productivity + 22% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% % Of All Respondents Source: Aberdeen Group, 2008 Source: Aberdeen Group, 2008 Figure 1. The main cost drivers in field service and average improvements from mobile support. technology review [www.comarch.eu]

21. In Focus < 21 Comarch FSM Mobile, all information regarding field work on the handset screen. Mainly, the problem is the lack of current knowledge > real-time schedule changes this is done auto- Fuel and Drive Time and shortage of tools for rapid operational activi- matically by sending information to a field employ- ties. ees handset, without the necessity of looking for the When discussing cutting costs and increasing produc- However, mobile technologies may help, since they employee telephone number in the database, or for tivity, the cost of a particular field intervention and its allow putting the right strategy, such as optimization, calling the employee back to the office for new print- average duration should be taken into consideration. on the front line of field service. Due to mobile features, outs with an updated task list. Fuel consumption and vehicle utilization are easy to front line staff are drawn closer to the dispatcher/ > Fast and accurate documentation smartphones calculate and important for every intervention cost. scheduler. Mobile solution functionalities that resolve come with standard multimedia tools, such as Both of these are simple driving distance functions. this basic problem of optimization include: a camera and a dictaphone. This allows for quick Mobile technologies and applications can support the > Current status of planned work employees dont and full document intervention, as well as for add- service provider in several ways in this regard. have to complete a report at the end of the day. ing file attachments in real-time. This is vital in emer- One such supporting solution is the aforemen- Instead, they fill in task completion reports online, gency situations and is useful for sequence tasks tioned synergy between optimization mechanisms right after completing their work. Optimization mech- on the same site where complete documentation is and mobile solutions. The field work optimization sys- anisms are able to update schedules in real-time immediately accessible for consecutive activities. tem, which is responsible for calculating the shortest and fit plans more efficiently for real field staff work. and easiest route between work order locations, is Another benefit is that business processes related Mobile applications in the hands of field staff become able to send this optimal work orders list in the right to field staff work may be updated automatically in a tool similar to a remote control in real-time, leading order, to the right technician in field, provided they use real-time. For example, installation of new services to increased productivity and efficiency of any opti- a mobile application. As a result, the field technician can be reported as finished on-line, and service time mization mechanisms. This shows synergy between knows exactly how the work should be organized in of activation is shortened, raising customer satis- field service management modules (mobility and opti- order to optimize driving time and distance. faction. mization), which is a great advantage. Distance-effective field service management may > real locations Today, GPS tracking is a common A number of areas can be optimized by using be achieved by integration with mobile navigation element of mobile equipment. It sends location data mobile technologies. We will focus on several of these systems. Customers and network elements may be from the field and allows next step planning of the in this article: placed in various locations. Being on time and using field service department by a dispatcher. For exam- > Fuel and drive time the easiest and shortest route is certainly very impor- ple, in urgent cases (emergency orders), it allows for > Papers, calls and resulting mistakes tant. Field service management systems with mobile the dispatch of whichever employee can reach the > First-time fix rate applications support field staff by sending locations location the quickest. > Optimizing usage of up-sell opportunities of work orders to navigation systems, as a Point of nr 2/2009 (10)

22. 22 > In Focus Figure 2. Field order fulfillment both with and without mobile application support Technician calls dispatcher to change Field order fulfillment (without order status Technician advanced mobile support) Technician takes goes back to Back office Technician the office to printouts with list Technician copies data drives to order leave protocols, of tasks from his fulfills an order from paper to site paper office electronic forms agreements Technician calls Dispatcher for order details optimization Costs for Technician time, Fuel, Vehicle Phone calls, Back office Technician time Printing costs utilization Dispatcher time employees time Field order fulfillment (mobile support) Technician drives Technician to order site fulfills an order Field order fulfillment (mobile support) Real time schedule, On-line access to order data, Optimal route On-line completion reports, Navigation e-documents and e-signatures Interest on the planned route. Thus, the field employee savings as well. One of the many reasons is that an business purposes is become more frequent as well. is relaxed due to the optimization of his route and no employee no longer needs to go to the office to print Another significant benefit of electronic technologies is subsequent waste of time and fuel. Additionally, he all of his daily tasks. Because he has a detailed task that knowledge, documents, agreements and pictures also knows his exact destination and is able to go list on his mobile, he may go to the first order in the no longer have to be printed on paper. This not only there directly. field directly from his house. If he does need to print saves money (paper cost) but most importantly helps Another important aspect that should be consid- something, he can do it with his smartphone as well. protect the environment. Mobile technology allows for ered when discussing cutting driving costs is the The employee may not only begin his work at his home, an entire office to exist within a single handset, aiding immediate handling of emergency orders. Due to real- but also finish it there. Field staff arent required to go the user in becoming truly green. time employee location monitoring (GPS data from to the office to complete reports about executed tasks; Paper printouts in field service management unsup- mobile devices), this type of order may be fulfilled this may be done online using their handsets. ported by mobile technologies are used as basic doc- by employees who are in the nearest physical prox- uments, with information regarding schedules, task imity. Thus, the intervention occurs as soon as pos- details and execution reports. All of this data may be sible, while also cutting down costs, due to a reduc- Papers, Calls and Mistakes accessible via a mobile application, and the com- tion in distance. pany doesnt have to invest in and waste a significant Time is money this common saying proves very The evolution of IT technology has created more pos- amount of paper to perform field service department true in relation to field service. Faster order fulfillment sibilities for performing various activities on a com- tasks. At the same time, back office employees dont lowers costs of order execution and can help increase puter screen, including reading books, contacting other have to waste their time copying data from paper to the number of completed work orders per day. The use people, watching movies, drawing pictures, etc. With electronic forms, because all important information is of mobile applications by technicians, effective route the evolution of mobile technology and devices, more instantly placed in the right database. planning and mobile navigation all lead to the afore- and more people are using IT technology functionalities The situation is quite similar when it comes to mentioned cost-effectiveness. This results in a time on the go. Similarly, the use of mobile technology for phone calls. In field service departments without any technology review [www.comarch.eu]

23. In Focus < 23 support of mobile technology, the dispatchers job is office because he forgot or requires additional infor- Summary mainly to speak on the phone. He not only notifies mation regarding the task. Field work is supported by field employees about schedule changes over the the mobile application, which, according to particular In the competitive telecommunications market, any phone, but also uses it to report task completion or purposes, stores and presents the field employee with activities carried out by a telecommunication com- status changes, and inquire about task details. The data about the customer, work order, tasks, required pany resulting in cost cutting and improvements in cost of calls and the dispatchers work is clear, but activities and equipment. It provides access to net- employee productivity are extremely important. Mobile there is an additional cost mistakes and their con- work data and enables its update. Additionally, it also technology, by effectively supporting field service sequences. Mistakes are caused mainly by providing prints documents and captures customer signatures. work, meets the challenges and opportunities of the imprecise information over the phone. Mobile solu- A technicians smartphone can present a very wide telecom market. Operators should start looking for tions for field staff enable access to detailed data variety of data and have numerous supporting tools. vendors who are able to offer vast support in this regarding tasks and current schedules in real-time, In field work, the more information about the task is domain, have experience on the market and provide without making any phone calls. They make it possi- provided to the filed staff, the more likely the interven- elaborate solutions, which will help revolutionized field ble to fill the task completion data online with memo- tion is to bring a positive resolution. services grant highly valuable benefits that are very rized facts, without any misunderstandings or prob- difficult to achieve by other means. It is important to lems. This also decreases the dispatchers workload, consider vendors who are experienced not only in the enabling him to perform more orders and cooperate Technician as a Salesman field service management area, but in mobile technol- with more technicians. Because the range of dis- ogy as well. Mobile solutions have different features patchers responsibilities is lowered, people working A mobile handset as a solution to improve first time when compared to those of other IT systems. Mobile in this position wouldnt be expected to have exten- fix rate is a fascinating concept, but is it possible to equipment for large field service departments results sive qualifications, further lowering HR costs. make this indicator exceed 100%? in significant costs (each technician must be equipped If a technician is equipped with accurate data and with a smartphone, which in many cases is highly appropriate tools, he, in effect, becomes a sales person professional and fitted precisely to the technicians First-time Fix rate for the service proivder. An appointment with a cus- needs). If the service provider deploys a safe, easily tomer is a great opportunity to increase the value of adoptable and stable solution that has an additional An increase in the first-time fix rate is always a key for the contract and convince that person to buy other range of functionality, changes in monthly reports the telecommunication operator. The higher its value, products or services from the operator. Customers regarding cost, productivity and revenues are sure the higher the productivity and the greater the cus- do not typically favor telemarketing, but they may be to follow. Access to network elements/inventory data Effective changes in technical service depart- > Possibility of conducting additional activities related ment organization and mobile tools to guide techni- to work order, such as printing completion protocols, cians through selling, may not only bring productivity Szymon Uczciwek capturing customer signature, etc. increases and decrease general costs of the company, Comarch SA but may also have a highly positive impact on sales. Position: Telco Consultant Department: Telecommunications If a technician has online access from his mobile This concept is certainly worth considering, since it Business Unit device to all tools required for a given task, he can may lead to opening an extra sales channel, and ulti- Info: Szymon is currently responsible for easily finish his work without having to go back to the mately improving business performance. the Comarch Field Service Management solution for telecom service providers. nr 2/2009 (10)

24. 24 > In Focus Digital Home: a Dream or a Fact? UPnP is the technology of tomorrow, which began the day before yesterday. This year, the UPnP Forum initiative is going to celebrate its 10th anniversary, incorporating almost 900 international leading compa- nies in computing, printing, networking, consumer electronics, home appliances, automation, control, secu- rity and mobile products. The main goal of UPnP technology is to enable seamless connectivity of various devices, forming networks in home or corporate environments, and enabling a Digital Home experience. Due to its design, adding new devices or programs to the network should be as easy as plugging a piece of hardware into a PC. The devices and programs connected familiarize themselves with the current net- work setup due to service discovery and advertisement, and immediately configure themselves accordingly, with regard to devices already connected. In short: UPnP is a framework for building networked applications. technology review [www.comarch.eu]

25. In Focus < 25 The Dark Side of Living Digitally to which Microsoft quickly responded with their UPnP model. In October 1999, the UPnP Forum was formed, At the beginning there were only zeros and ones. All as an industry initiative designed to enable simple and could use them, but soon it was discovered that each robust connectivity among consumer electronics, intel- had their own unique way. Many wanted to be the first ligent appliances and mobile devices from different to establish a standardized method of playing with vendors. UPnP technology is a key standard required bits. As a consequence, the darkness of misunder- for an interoperable network in a digital home, but it standing fell, and people could no longer communi- does not specify all aspects of interactions between cate with each other. devices, defining rather the frame protocol of com- Electronic devices have generally tended to only munication. be compatible with the same manufacturers devices, Todays consumers continuously acquire a wide without a common language that would enable com- variety of digital content on their devices. At the same munication with numerous complementary machines time, they want to be able to easily and conveniently from other vendors. To extend a home entertainment manage, use and enjoy this content, wherever they system for instance, one has been limited to the ven- are and whatever devices they have at hand. In order dor of the appliances they had already purchased. But to address this need, the Digital Living Network Alli- real trouble was still to come ance (DLNA) was established in 2003, with the aim of Consider a simple, everyday case. Imagine you creating a generic, interoperable network of compat- want to share pictures taken during your last sum- ible devices from various vendors. DLNA guidelines mer vacation, showing you standing proudly by the were created and published to provide manufactur- erupting Strokkur geyser in Iceland. Your friends have ers the opportunity to innovate and differentiate their just popped in, the pictures (zeros and ones in this products, and to simultaneously satisfy the consum- case), recorded by your mobile phones high resolution ers desire for trouble-free access and management digital camera are still sitting snuggly in your pocket, of their content. and your brand new panoramic HD plasma is ready Today, a vast number of Home Network, Mobile and waiting in the living room. At your disposal is the Handheld and Home Infrastructure Devices are DLNA perfect medium to begin the show and make your certified, including media servers, renderers, players, friends truly jealous of what a fantastic vacation you printers, up- and downloaders and controllers from had. All you need to do now is transfer the pictures approximately two hundred vendors, including Alcatel- from your mobile to a laptop using a USB cable (by the Lucent, Canon, Dell, AMD, Hitachi, Lenovo, NEC, Nokia, way, do you happen to have one on hand?), burn the BMW or Sony Ericsson. picture onto a DVD (of course, you have a spare disk ready, right?), insert the disk (still hot) into your DVD player and press play. Here you are; the zeros and The Future ones are now being transferred from the DVD player straight to your plasma set. Two questions arise: do After all the devices on the market are DLNA/UPnP cer- you have the feeling that the fact that your attention tified, configuration of the home network will be easy has been focused on trying to manage zeros and and secure like never before. One click of the button ones rather than actually enjoying the pictures is or Touch and click slogans will eventually come into fundamentally flawed? And secondly, are your friends full force and cease to be merely promises. With no still there in the room, waiting patiently to see the final additional configuration, or installation of drivers, you result following a painstakingly slow ten minutes bat- will be able to interoperate with all home devices in tling with raw data? your network, such as TVs, media storage devices, laptops, mobile phones, digital cameras and printers. But more is coming, if you dare to imagine Trouble-free Solution Think about sharing your favorite pictures from your private home collection with your friends, while drink- Universal Plug and Play saw the light in the late 1990s, ing a beer in a downtown bar. Even if your computer just as networks were growing in popularity. Several is shut down, you can wake it up remotely from your vendors were coming up with solutions to make net- mobile phone and access the content you want. works and networked applications easier to manage. How about streaming your local teams hockey One of the earliest attempts was Suns Jini offer, with game while in a hotel on another continent? You dont its innovative lookup service concept (continued to want to miss it, but theres no need for concern: you this day within Apache Foundations River project), can watch it hundreds of miles away, streamed right nr 2/2009 (10)

26. 26 > In Focus to your room, thanks to remote access to your home Comarch Competences > Implementation of UPnP/DLNA compatible network. Or perhaps you are not particularly interested stack for Symbian OS-based devices. The com- in hockey, but would like to check on how your young Comarch has been engaged in Digital Home tech- ponent is now used in several Nokia smart daughter is doing in her room, using an IP camera, nologies since 2004. With extensive knowledge phones, including N95, N81, N78, N96 and which will send the video image directly to the TV set of basic DH standards such as TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP, N97 in your hotel suite? XML, SOAP, UPnP and DLNA, the Professional Ser- > Engagement in commercial projects involv- Or perhaps, once you have driven into the garage, vices Business Unit highlighted the strength of ing UPnP: Linux-based tablets, Internet Radio you would like your cars entertainment system to its competences within the field. Important mile- devices and UPnP Certification Test Tool automatically download a couple of MP3 files, which stones include: Upgrade your wife has just downloaded to your PC from mys- > Joining the UPnP Forum as a member > Participating in DLNA Plugfests and interoper- pace.com the previous night? > Contributing several successfully completed proj- ability testing UPnP workshops internationally ects, including: (2005 Lihue, Hawaii, USA, 2006 Sapporo, > Extending the UPnP Certification Test Tool Japan, 2006 Taipei, Taiwan, 2007 San Diego, implementation for the UPnP Implementer CA, USA, 2007 Sanya, China, 2007 Portland, Committee. The tool is used for verifying the OR, USA, 2008 Kobe, Japan, 2008 Durham, NH, conformance of Control Points with UPnP USA, 2008 Seoul, Korea) With DLNA and UPnP, the above cases of tomorrow standards > Presenting the Digital Home Demo Booth for the are already happening today. QoS related parameter optimization > load balancing > Increasing network complexity and OPEX reduction pressures, causes operators to change the way they > RACH load optimization operate their networks > optimization of home base stations > Self-Organizing Networks (SON) promise to reduce the manual effort needed for network operation, by making networks capable of self-organization and resource management > Comarchs product portfolio supports SON use cases via automated process management and integra- Self-Configuration tion of planning and optimization, configuration management and network provisioning capabilities Self-configuration refers to the plug & play behav- ior of new network elements. Automatic deployment Ideas related to network automation and introduc- Self-Planning of new base stations is key and covers the follow- tion of self-organized mechanisms have always been Sel-planning is achieved via self-configuration of ini- ing activities: on operator wish lists. According to Yankee Group, OPEX tial parameters and re-computation of parameters > automatic configuration of initial radio/transport related to network operation constitute as much as during continuous self-optimization. The amount of parameters 20% of the cost and tend to grow as networks mature. manual pre-planning activities should be reduced > automatic data alignment for neighbor nodes (real- As the number of technologies, vendors and base to minimum and cover basic coverage and capacity ized for LTE via standardized Automatic Neighbor stations in a network increases, so does the network planning. As a result, the planning tool will deliver only Relation (ANR) management) planning and management effort. Time-consuming a few parameters, such as location, number of sectors > automatic connectivity establishment manual work is still required in many workflows, such and other basic cell parameters, while the rest will be > self-test as parameter planning, optimization and handling of derived automatically. > automatic inventory site failures. On the other hand, the technology and > automatic authentication and SW download market dynamics put