GENBAND, a leading developer of IP infrastructure and application solutions, announced the introduction of the GENBAND Rich Communications Suite-enhanced (RCS-e) solution powered by the A2™ Communications Application Server and S3™ Session Border Controller (SBC). The GENBAND RCS-e solution encompasses rich end user applications and multi-platform mobile clients in addition to edge security and quality monitoring with integrated system and client management. Improving cost-effectiveness and time-to-market, GENBAND’s RCS-e solution can be tailored for entry level, economical pre-IMS deployments all the way to full-scale Long Term Evolution (LTE) network deployments. The Rich Communication Services Project and RCS-e standard is an industry initiative managed by the GSMA and builds on the universal success of the GSM standard.

“Since RCS is delivered across multiple devices and access technologies, establishing a practical security framework is challenging for operators,” said B.G. Kumar, President, Multimedia Business Unit, GENBAND. “GENBAND’s RCS-e solution allows carriers to seamlessly, securely, cost-efficiently and reliably interconnect their RCS-e services with one another and deliver fully interoperable, federated rich communication services. Our approach encompasses the access and network edge security that allows our RCS customers to interact smartly beyond the user community established within their mobile carrier’s network.”

The GENBAND A2 Communications Application Server provides carriers with the platform and capabilities to deploy revenue generating rich communications applications that help offset competitive threats from over-the-top (OTT) content providers. Services include blended address book with social networking communities, mobile video chat across devices, Instant Messaging, federated presence, video/image sharing and a single mobile application that can be customized by the operator. The A2 not only provides these services via industry standards to ensure interoperability, but also provides differentiating applications that can be tailored to meet market needs.

The GENBAND S3 SBC provides mobile carriers and IP eXchange (IPX) providers a secure, reliable, and cost-effective solution for deploying RCS-e services over IP networks. In addition to providing an extensive support for MSRP, and capability exchange between RCS-e devices, the S3 reduces the time to deploy RCS-e services by providing service providers the ability to manage and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs), as well as remotely troubleshoot any issues during the deployment – critical components in successfully launching RCS-e services.

“With the roll out of LTE, IMS commercial deployments will accelerate causing a major uptick in RCS availability and usage.  Today, RCS-e is gaining traction with mobile carriers around the world even before LTE truly hits stride in 2013, said Brian Partridge, vice president, Yankee Group.  “RCS-e solutions can be deployed at any stage of IP deployment, including pre-IMS.  We expect strong interest in RCS-e offerings that can deliver low costs and complexity while ensuring excellent quality of experience.”