
US
: Consumers can now create their own personal video greeting on their
mobile phones for any of the different people in their life -- from
a boyfriend or girlfriend to a supervisor at work to a family member.
At Demo Mobile today, Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), the leading
provider of open software products and services for the communications
industry, announced the availability of Openwave Video Voicemail and
Openwave Video Portal, to help operators offer an enhanced and personalized
user experience for 3G networks and phones.
Openwave Video
Voicemail and Portal will make it easier for operators to drive the
much-needed awareness and adoption of 3G services, by delivering an
intuitive user experience for all of their 3G services. Operators
can benefit from an easy-to-implement technology that consolidates
a number of their services onto one platform (voicemail, video voicemail
and video content).
"The lesson
that the industry at large has learned from gaming and entertainment
applications is that personalization is key for driving revenue in
the operator community," said Richard Wong, general manager of
messaging at Openwave. "By giving end users the option to leave
different types of video messages for different people in their social
network or work environment, operators can perfect the user experience
by giving users a voice and character that's truly their own. As a
result, operators can attract and keep subscribers with this service."
Examples of customized
video greetings, which users can modify for different audiences, include:
-- Designing
a personal greeting that allows subscribers to record
themselves. Examples include a parent recording a message for their
child away on an overnight stay at camp where the child gets the
message, "Goodnight honey. I will see you tomorrow." A business
case
scenario is recording a video for a supervisor with the message, "I
am
away from the office please leave me a message."
-- Among the celebrity greeting options, users can opt to select "Dirty
Harry" with a video voicemail of Client Eastwood saying, "You've
got to
ask yourself a question -- Do I feel lucky?" to their
boyfriend/girlfriend or friend.
-- For gaming buddies, they can pick a character, like Avatar or a
character from Doom, to leave their messages and the "animatron"
will
lip sync the message with the end user's voice recorded.
Openwave Video
Voicemail differs from other video solutions on the market because
it offers more than just a traditional "record-and-send"
video message. Received in a similar fashion as a voicemail greeting,
Openwave Video Voicemail offers a highly personalized greeting that
allows users to personalize different video images for any audience
and also provides a video tutorial that guides the end user through
the set-up of the new service. The service activates when users make
a phone call and the receiving party does not pick up.
Openwave's Video
Voicemail and Video Portal are part of Openwave's IP-based voice messaging
platform, which allows operators to run multiple services, making
it easier to integrate the products needed to deliver an intuitive
messaging experience. Openwave's messaging products are designed with
all subscribers in mind so subscribers on legacy phones will still
receive multimedia and video messages in a format best designed for
their handset.
"Openwave
is helping operators attract new users and build loyalty with existing
customers by offering the newest applications and services supported
by third generation networks or 3G." said Chris Shipley, executive
producer of DEMO conferences. "When it comes to wireless data,
consumers demand personalization; Openwave is taking data services
beyond gaming, ringtones, and wallpapers to the next generation of
messaging where end users can personalize the messaging experience
through video messaging."
About Openwave
Openwave Systems
Inc. is the leading independent provider of open software products
and services for the communications industry. Openwave's breadth of
products, including mobile phone software, multimedia messaging software
(MMS), email, location and mobile gateways, along with its worldwide
expertise enable its customers to deliver innovative and differentiated
data services. Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood
City, California.