Sprint Takes Messaging into the Future

The mobile revolution, though it's been rolling for a number of years, is just now beginning to speed up. With the increased -- and increasing -- data bandwidth and expanded processing capabilities of mobile devices, possibilities for information interaction exist that most of us never imagined. How will all this expanded capability be used?

To answer this question, Sprint looked to the business imperatives that are driving enterprises toward mobile solutions. Of course, these needs include increasing revenue and reducing costs. In the mobile world, this means increasing the efficiency of the mobile workforce by bringing them the information and resources needed to sell and deliver more effectively on the devices that they carry with them. In addition, sectors such as financial, healthcare and government are subject to regulations requiring that security, privacy, and auditability be incorporated into their solutions. And even industries, such as manufacturing, that are not subject to regulation are seeing these features as essential for protecting intellectual property and inspiring customer confidence.

Several messaging protocols have been gaining in popularity. In order to harness the demand for messaging, service providers like Sprint are charged with developing solutions that utilize these various messaging media to extend business applications to mobile users, thus allowing them to increase overall efficiency and productivity. The market is looking for secure, enterprise-grade messaging solutions that can solve mobile business needs, so providers must design and deliver productivity-based instant messaging services that meet the most stringent enterprise security requirements. Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging and Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging are examples of Sprint solutions designed to meet enterprise messaging needs and increase collaboration capabilities without sacrificing security. Information workers are able to use these messaging solutions to stay connected and productive via a variety of mobile devices -- whether they are in the office or in the field.

Instant messaging has become a de facto standard for collaboration, and an enterprise necessity for speeding up business, cutting costs and improving customer relationships. However, consumer instant messaging products suffer from a lack of interoperability and security. Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging addresses those enterprise concerns by providing a secure, enterprise-class platform that is interoperable between traditional desktop clients and most mobile devices and networks. With features such as message encryption and a server-based architecture, the Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging system truly is an enterprise solution. The preservation of useful consumer features, coupled with the ability to manage the system and control instant messaging traffic into and out of the enterprise, makes Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging a viable solution for businesses looking for a secure alternative to consumer-grade and rogue solutions.

To build this security-enhanced framework for extending enterprise resources over wireless networks, Sprint Mobile Computing Services used an extensible methodology that promotes cross-platform integration by incorporating standard models such as J2EE, CORBA, SOAP, and XML schemas. This philosophy allows the extension of instant messaging to become a business enabler and can ensure that customers will not get stuck with a dead-end proprietary solution that is unable to work with evolving, next-generation technologies.

Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging integrates Enterprise Instant Messaging capabilities with applications. Instant messaging typically is an interface that facilitates conversations between people, while Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging takes messaging a step further to enable interaction with backend applications ranging from simple enterprise directories to more complex ERP or CRM systems. This interaction can be human-to-application, application-to-human or application-to-application. It is not limited to two elements (whether human or application), but can be between multiple applications and people interacting simultaneously.

In other words, Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging goes beyond chat by facilitating easy access to backend systems and data. This enables collaboration between employees at the corporate headquarters and mobile workers in the field, with simultaneous, transparent access to rich and practical business applications.

The integration of Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging infrastructure with Sprint's backbone and the Sprint PCS network provides the delivery mechanism for value-add network services, such as network presence and location information. Sprint's strategy with this market is to continue developing advanced messaging solutions by building gateways that integrate carrier services and enterprise applications.

Sprint's messaging technology can be deployed behind the corporate firewall or as a managed and hosted solution. Sprint's IP backbone and hosting capabilities, network security, WAN transport and CDMA 2000 network can be utilized together to provide customers with integrated solutions to help enable their mobile messaging initiatives.

Sprint says business outcomes can be enabled by the intelligent application of mobile computing solutions and by providing access to critical information, whenever and wherever it's needed. Sprint envisions providing the ability to initiate and manage rich collaboration using the most effective media available from a unified interface. A major component of this is presence information; that is, "corner-of-the-eye" awareness of communications availability and capabilities for colleagues and applications. Sprint's first step toward this vision was the development of Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging, which provides seamless integration of enterprise applications, carrier services, mobile and fixed devices, and person-to-person messaging. The ongoing challenge for Sprint and all service providers will be to continue developing secure mobile solutions that connect people, data and systems, and allow workers to collaborate and conduct business on the device of their choice from virtually anywhere.

Dale Bachman is senior consultant for Sprint Mobile Computing Services and can be reached at dale.j.bachman@mail.sprint.com. Ken Fernung is architect for Sprint Mobile Computing Services and can be reached at ken.fernung@mail.sprint.com. Kathi Vosevich is service launch manager for Sprint Mobile Computing Services and can be reached at kathi.a.vosevich@mail.sprint.com.