Pactolus - Byline Articles

Byline Articles
	Pactolus SIPdev.org Awarded “Best of Show” at ITEXPO West 2008 Service Creation Environment Enables Scalability, Innovation and Reliability by: Kenneth Osowski September 2008 MARLBOROUGH, MA (September 22, 2008) Pactolus Communications Software, makers of SIP applications and service creation/delivery solutions, has announced that its SIPdev.org Developer Community's open source framework/open access service creation environment (SCE) has received the "Best of Show Award" for Open Source products at Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC)'s INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West 2008.

	Taking A Pulse… Recent Poll Reveals Prepaid Industry Trends by: Kenneth Osowski August 2008 Along with editors from a technology telecommunications media outlet and a respected industry analyst, I recently participated in an online education roundtable on IP migration for prepaid service providers. This session was attended by approximately 100 services executives and professionals.

	From the Mailbox Responses to The Prepaid Press Reader Questions by: Kenneth Osowski July 2008 I started writing this column over a year ago with two goals in mind: helping you stay informed, and taking the opportunity to learn from your questions, concerns and inquiries in return. Over the last 3 months you’ve emailed several questions, many of which also came up in this week’s “Time to Ditch The Switch?” webinar (The Prepaid Press subscribers were specially invited). Here are some of those questions and answers from the webinar panel, which included myself, Brian Partridge, Director of Enabling Technologies for The Yankee Group, Erik K. Linask, Group Managing Editor of TMC, and Tom Regan, Manager of Customer Service for Pactolus.

	Managing Equipment & Capacity Upgrades Planning Ahead Can Help Reduce Call Loss Vulnerabilities and Protect Revenues by: Kenneth Osowski June 2008 Suppose that you’ve purchased a home for $200,000. Then you add a new kitchen, upgrade the baths, and maybe add some overall square footage and nicer exterior landscaping. Would you want to limit your home insurance payout in the event of a disaster to the $200,000 you initially paid? That’s a gamble that few would want to take.

	The State of Prepaid Technology: Start Your Engines! A Look Under The Hood At Real Time Rating Engines What They Are and What They Can Do by: Kenneth Osowski May 2008 Undoubtedly, one of the most important elements of a prepaid service provider’s infrastructure is the Real Time Rating Engine (RTRE), pronounced “Are-Tree.” It’s the controller for translating a business model and service policies into actual services, and monetizing those services.

	The State of Prepaid Technology: Productive Coexistence Making Prepaid and Postpaid Services Successfully Co-Exist by: Kenneth Osowski April 2008 Prepaid market sectors are now flattening under competitive pressure from the attractive service bundles available to residential VoIP and prepaid Wireless subscribers. To retain revenues and remain competitive, an increasingly significant portion of prudent prepaid service providers are considering expanding into new and more attractive postpaid service bundles that reflect many of the best benefits of residential VoIP and wireless packages. But now, more than ever, prepaid service providers need to retain their customers, yet they also need to control their credit exposure and carefully manage risk, and are understandably cautious in evaluating and approaching this service expansion strategy.

	Part II: The Other Prepaid Calling New Model Promises to Ripple Through The Industry by: Kenneth Osowski March 2008 As we discussed last month, new innovations, pricing and dynamics are increasingly shaping the prepaid service provider’s relationships with wholesale minutes providers, and just as on the retail level, VoIP is transforming wholesale minutes in four ways: pricing, reach, quality and packaging. As wholesale carriers migrate to IP and SIP wholesale termination, the biggest near-term impact will undoubtedly be on the pricing and packaging of wholesale minutes.

	Another Kind of Prepaid Calling VoIP Changes Everything Again by: Kenneth Osowski February 2008 Most analysis of the prepaid market centers around the innovations, economics and various market forces that help define the prepaid service provider’s interactions with end customers. Far more predictable until now - and thus seldom analyzed – have been the innovations, pricing and dynamics that have shaped the prepaid service provider’s relationships with wholesale minutes providers.

	Ringing in the New… by: Kenneth Osowski January 2008 As suits the start of a new year, this month we’re ringing in the new. While that’s usually a good thing, the ‘new’ in question this time is a powerful new set of competitors now eyeing the prepaid market: the cable companies.

	' Tis the Season… by: Kenneth Osowski December 2007 With the season's change here and the year winding down, it's time to look back on some of the events that defined prepaid telecom in 2007, and look ahead to some of the trends that are likely to help shape 2008.

	Caveat Emptor When Negotiating IP Licensing by: Kenneth Osowski November 2007 How (And Whether) You Profit Depends On How You License Whether they're launching a new prepaid service business, migrating existing customers or implementing a 'cap and grow' strategy, Prepaid Service Providers are drawn to SIP-based IP services and service delivery networks for their flexibility and fiscal advantages. We've recently reviewed how IP networks give prepaid service providers far greater freedom to respond to competitive threats, and new flexibility to aggressively, rapidly pursue new types of profitable services and customer sectors.

	Prepaid VoIP: Beyond the Card Game by: Kenneth Osowski October 2007 How Innovative VoIP-based Prepaid Solutions Can Generate New Revenue Streams Several factors are driving prepaid service providers to evaluate the potential gains of expanding their business models by adding new VoIP-based services that dovetail with their existing prepaid card services. This month, we’ll look at business case rationales for service product expansion, some potential services that may be synergistic to your existing calling card services, and briefly discuss the key service delivery platform capabilities that can optimize success and possibly drive migration.

	A Look Under the Hood at JAVA and XML by: Kenneth Osowski September 2007 Why Application Engines Matter to Prepaid Services Over the last six months, we've looked at some of the prepaid telecom market's major opportunities, threats, innovative potential business models and network options. We've reviewed VoIP's emergence as a platform of choice. This column looks 'inside the wheelhouse' of IP telephony, comparing the two dominant IP service platform approaches – XML and JAVA – and how their relative strengths & weaknesses can affect Prepaid Service Providers.

	Today's VoIP – Part III by: Kenneth Osowski August 2007 Hosted Applications Model Fuels New Multi-Service, Multi-Market Expansion Opportunities Over the course of this three part review, we've looked at VoIP's earliest business models and pioneers. We've explored the service expansion limits, differentiation challenges and high costs of unique services infrastructures such as those built by VoIP services pioneers, and we've tracked the various service delivery business models that evolved.

	Today's VoIP – Part II by: Kenneth Osowski July 2007 Market Ecosystems, Business Models & Infrastructures Last month, we looked at VoIP's early years and two of its first stars: Skype & Vonage. In the few short years since these pioneers took the industry by storm, VoIP has evolved from a next-gen sensation into both a solid business sector and a stable, flexible network infrastructure that offers attractive economics and differentiation opportunities.

	VoIP Update: Part 1 of 3 by: Kenneth Osowski June 2007 As the migration to Voice over Internet Protocol-based calling has expanded within the prepaid market, the buzz surrounding it has also increased. In the process, the term VoIP itself has become muddied, and it's creating potentially costly confusion that is not particularly helpful for prepaid service providers looking to migrate and grow.

	The State of Prepaid Technology: A New Kind of Phone Fraud by: Kenneth Osowski May 2007 What Prepaid Providers Should Know Normally, we focus on exciting new opportunities, technologies and markets for prepaid service providers. But, there is a new kind of fraud that's emerging, and it is important that you understand what you can do to insulate and protect your business and customers.

	European and U.S. Wireless Shows by: Kenneth Osowski April 2007 Different Markets, Different Approaches Last month's 3GSM Show in Barcelona and the CTIA Show in Orlando, Florida underscores just how different the U.S. and European prepaid wireless markets are. In the US., the focus is on marketing. In Europe, it's on services.

	The State of Prepaid Technology by: Kenneth Osowski March 2007 Expanding Your Business In a Changing Market: Part 2, A Look At Platforms In the January issue, we looked at some new subscriber features that can help you create and drive incremental revenue streams that help you grow despite the industry's increasing margin pressures and consolidations.

	MVNO Summit 2007 by: Kenneth Osowski February 2007 Conference Highlights The 3rd Annual MVNO Summit, held at the Ventana Canyon Resort in Tuscon, Arizona January 29-31, focused on ways that MVNOs in North America can help ensure the success of their rollout strategies. In particular, the well-attended conference highlighted the importance of developing value-added services to address emerging wireless market opportunities.

	Expanding Your Business In A Changing Market by: Kenneth Osowski January 2007 Part One – A Look At Features With increasing margin pressure and the consolidations now underway in the prepaid card business, many prepaid service providers are looking to add new revenue streams and protect their margins with new service features.

	Prepaid Telecom Services by: Kenneth Osowski December 2006 Translating 2006's Advances & Innovations Into 2007 Margins 2006 saw prepaid telecom services margins continue to be unstable, but also saw the advent of technology advances and emerging trends that can help drive new growth and opportunity in 2007. These include:

	The State of Prepaid Technology by: Kenneth Osowski October 2006 IP Communications Networks:What You Need, and What You Don't Want Walking around the last Fall VON trade show in Boston, you'd have found 300+ companies with a core focus on VoIP and SIP, each proclaiming that they are the next “must have” IP communications solution. One thing is for sure; VoIP technology is no longer considered a sideshow without market traction.

	The State of Prepaid Technology by: Kenneth Osowski September 2006 How Can We Help? And more to the point, how can we help you with your technology concerns? I'm genuinely pleased to be joining The Prepaid Press, and I look forward to receiving and responding to your questions, concerns, industry rants, etc. We'll be focusing on the technology that enables prepaid applications and I'll be working with some of the industry's top minds to get the answers you need, delivered via this column.

	To SIP or Not To SIP by: Kenneth Osowski October 2005 Is it Better To Leverage the Market or Fight It? For prepaid service providers, the future is now. New vendors are entering and incumbents are aggressively expanding the prepaid market - with new low cost solutions - and building services and revenues by leveraging the increasingly-pervasive IP infrastructure and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) services ecosystem. In doing so, they're accessing a long-term opportunity and business model that's completely inaccessible via traditional TDM networks.

	New arrival Broadband virtual network operators taking a cue from MVNOs by: Kenneth Osowski April 2005 The market for VoIP (Voice-over-IP) services is accelerating at an extremely rapid pace. Service providers, both incumbents and new entrants, are trying to find their way through a maze of VoIP technology choices in search of delivering a unique value proposition to potential subscribers. We have all seen the press on VoIP services such as those offered by Vonage, AT&T, 8x8, Verizon, USA Datanet and many others. These services have been marketed directly to the end-user, typically residential and small business customers.

	Experts predict Prepaid players forecast industry trends for 2005 by: ICN Staff Contributors: Bruce Burke, Maxime Cochet, Thomas K. Crowe, Dave Fehrman, Steve Frazee, John Hickey, Steve Mott, Kenneth Osowski, Frank Pizzo, Dr. Judy Reed Smith December 2004 For some in prepaid, 2004 has been the worst of years with bankruptcy or a severe curtailment of business activities. For numerous others, their businesses were acquired by larger companies, and they're now reaping the benefits.

	Migrating to a software telephony architecture by: Kenneth Osowski July 2004 Not too long ago, a TDM-based service node connected to Class 5 circuit-switching platform could cost millions of dollars. Now, utilizing open architecture software and networks, the same capabilities can be built on a fully-redundant Linux hardware footprint that costs less than $25K. Instead of costly circuit-switched, single-application platforms, carriers can deliver multiple services on a single applications server or cluster of distributed servers, utilizing Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which has emerged as the industry standard for Voice over IP applications and other media transmitted as packetized data.

	Experts Predict 2004 Ready or not, 2004 is upon us. is your company prepared for the new year and its challenges? to help you plan and anticipate what's ahead, we've called upon our prepaid experts in the areas of market research, wireless, stored value, retail, marketing, technology, legal and regulatory and point of sale. by: Dr. Judy Reed Smith contributed by Vinny Annunziata, Thomas K. Crowe, Steve Frazee, Richard Allen Harding, John Hickey, Jeff Lenard, Steve Mott, Kenneth Osowski and Dr. Judy Reed Smith December 2003 An overview going into (almost) mid-decade While the past three years have been horrendous for those who built large networks in the 1990s, the prepaid industry has evolved partially by leveraging low prices for those large networks. As we approach the middle of the decade, the prepaid industry experiences continued growth and healthy new product opportunities. In the coming year, watch these four major drivers of change in the marketplace:

	New choices How SIP and VoIP can be utilized independently by: Kenneth Osowski November 2003 Voice-over-IP (VoIP) or Voice over Packet (VoP) technologies promise to replace TDM-based networks as we know them. The often-heralded motivations for carriers to take the "packet route" include a significant reduction in cost structures and much higher degree of flexibility in changing network topologies and deploying enhanced voice services.

	Enhanced service delivery in the packet voice network by: Grant Henderson and Kenneth Osowski May 2002 Both traditional and emerging telecommunication service providers alike are facing some very challenging business and economic times. Most are looking to increase their revenues while reducing infrastructure budgets. How is this achievable?