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Over-The-Top Voice and SMS: Empowering Your Apps

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What’s Over-The-Top (OTT) voice and SMS?

OTT refers to services being carried over the top of another carrier’s network, without the provider being actively involved in the network’s

operations. The openness and availability of the Internet, and its increasing bandwidth for fixed and mobile users, have made OTT possible,

creating new, disruptive markets where application developers and service providers can compete.

OTT lets you cost-effectively and efficiently incorporate calling and messaging into end-user applications and services. Such apps are

popping up regularly, from established players like Pinger that offers free calling and texting, and Google, which lets you phone a business

directly from a web search. Start-ups and established social media companies are also getting into the game.


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Empower your apps with voice and SMS With improved mobile data speeds, such as advancements to 4G and

long term evolution (LTE), developers are finding they can offer a superior

user experience — one that is very personal, visual, customized and

integrated with their social networks. But with so many apps competing

for the user’s attention, developers must continue to find ways to

differentiate.

The Internet has changed how people communicate, creating a modern-

day gold rush for full-featured apps that combine voice and messaging,

along with other tasks that people use every day. This is where OTT voice

and messaging can play a big role, but only for those developers who are

able to directly navigate telecom’s complexities themselves…or better

yet, those who can find a proven partner to help them.


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Take calling and messaging one giant step further

Imagine no longer having a phone number for every device. You want to communicate

with someone? You click their “user” button, their picture or their name. Even better…

imagine that you’re an application developer, and you’re able to seamlessly integrate

voice and SMS communication from within your app between friends, customers,

employees, vendors or other users.

This is the future OTT provides. It is a future you can realize right now.


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Simplifying the complexity While the future looks bright for developers, telecom itself can seem like a dimly

lit, dangerous path. The telecom world—upon which voice and SMS apps rely—is

very complex, especially when you consider technology, regulations and the natural

competitive relationship between carriers. Each has its own set of rigid procedures

and protocols, creating a dense maze of requirements that can result in significant

barriers to entry.

Fortunately, with Bandwidth providing the network on which your OTT apps will run,

that’s all taken care of for you. Bandwidth allows you to do what you do best - make

great apps that have voice and SMS baked right in, the way it should be. We have

a better way that helps minimize traditional barriers to entry so you can effectively

compete in telecom, empowered to create a user experience beyond the bounds of

legacy telecom.


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Who’s using OTT voice and SMS today? Pinger one of the country’s seventh biggest voice and message provider

based solely on the popularity of their apps. With Bandwidth providing the

OTT network, Pinger’s voice and text apps allow users to communicate for

free over any Wi-Fi connection.

In the month it launched, Pinger’s Textfree app surpassed Weather. com

and Pandora downloads.

http://www.pinger.com


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Who’s using OTT voice and SMS today? ÜberConference is what audio conferencing was supposed to be. Users

no longer have to remember special PIN codes; they just dial in to the

conference and are automatically authenticated based on their phone

numbers.

With its slick interface, everyone sees who is on the call and has access to

each participant’s name, photo and profile information. It even identifies

who is talking and allows organizers to selectively mute participants.

http://www.uberconference.com/


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Who’s using OTT voice and SMS today?

Not all smartphone innovations are in data. Sidecar has improved the

calling experience. Though Sidecar offers free VoIP calls over Wi-Fi

connections, its real benefit is in the variety of tasks that users can

perform during a call. For example, “See What I See” lets users stream

real-time video from the back of the phone. Other features include sharing

photos, contacts, maps and text messages—all during an open call.

“We expect OTT to evolve over the next five years, and business models will change radically. There will

likely be a boom period in 2012 and 2013, where [a lot] more new apps will become available.”

— John White, Portio Research

http://www.side.cr/


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Now, there are caveats… Regulations for all IP-based communications, including OTT voice and messaging, are still evolving. In fact, companies providing

applications and services using IP-based communication are likely to experience stricter regulation in the near future and should be aware

of the potential impacts. Or better yet, find a provider like Bandwidth to help navigate regulatory waters, with an understanding of the

following issues:

Contributing to the Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF)

Compliance with disability access obligations (Telephone and Video Relay Services, also known as TRS/VRS)

Support for lawful intercepts and records production under the Communication Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA)

Local number portability (LNP)

9-1-1 compliance

Ongoing discussions around regulating text to 9-1-1 and re-examining the definition of “interconnected VoIP”

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Choosing an OTT voice and SMS provider You’ll want to research a wide variety of companies to ensure you’ve found a provider who can not only help you meet your needs, but one

who’ll partner with you to help you create and deploy a successful application. Here’s a checklist for reference:

Nationwide footprint will full geographic redundancy and a 24x7 network operations center

A deep understanding of telecom and proven ability to apply that knowledge to the app developer community Experience powering

leading innovators

Active involvement in the evolution of telecom regulations for communication-as-a-service

Flexible APIs, pricing & deployment options

Comprehensive, easy to web-based tools

Intelligent routing and direct carrier peering

Support of local, inter/intrastate, international calls


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Bandwidth—a better way toempower voice and SMS foryour application

Bandwidth is the voice and messaging network built for the 21st century. We built our 100% IP voice network from scratch, with no legacy

analog baggage or any of the complexity and cost that goes with it. That means you can more effectively empower your application with

voice and SMS capabilities.

With Bandwidth, the voice and messaging network is finally just another part of the Internet. We’ve flipped the telecom equation, from

their network to your network. We don’t make you adjust to telecom’s complexity. Instead, we handle the complexity for you, so that you

can focus on your business.


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Conclusion Application developers now have a rare opportunity to compete with the big guys and come out ahead. Giving you access to OTT voice

and messaging capabilities has leveled the playing field; those ready to capitalize will reap great rewards.

At Bandwidth, we have already helped many developers fulfill their vision and we’re ready to help you do the same. We make telecom

easy by delivering the OTT services you need—all from a single source.

Contact us or visit our Resource Center for more information.

For more information: 855-864-7776 | [email protected] | www.bandwidth.com

http://bandwidth.com/business/resources

mailto:sales%40bandwidth.com?subject=

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