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The ongoing financial crisis and talk of recession has left a lot of Internet marketers worried about whether they will be able to stay in business over the coming months and years. Many people who now work from home on the Internet are also worried about whether or not they will be able to continue selling their products and services.

However, an economic crisis also offers opportunities as well as dangers. In times of anxiety and economic uncertainty the business that responds to customers` needs and wins their trust is the one that will survive and prosper in the midst of doom and gloom.

Because of the interactive nature of the Internet it offers many opportunities for online marketers to get to know their customers and website visitors, learn what they want and respond to their needs by engaging them in a friendly, informal dialogue that develops into a relationship of trust.

This relationship building process can be done in several ways, for example by inviting people to comment on your blog posts and then responding with follow-up comments. Another option is to participate in forums that attract your target market. Social network marketing sites, email, instant messaging and Skype all offer the Internet marketer opportunities to communicate with clients at various levels of intensity in order to discover where they are coming from and build rapport with them.

The key is to build trust by listening and then following up with products and services that meet their needs at prices that suit their pockets. Remember, it takes time to build trust. Trust is a two way process that is both rational and emotional. You cannot win a prospect`s trust without putting in some preliminary spade work. Rushing at them with products first is not a great way to raise your credit rating with your prospects.

One good way of getting to know your target market better is to set up an online survey and offer your prospects an incentive to complete it. The great thing about online surveys is that they take full advantage of the interactive nature of the internet and are cheap or even free to run as well as being easy to set up. You can use online platforms such as Surveypro.com or Surveymonkey.com to set up and manage your survey from.

You can use a customer survey to find out about your customers` impressions of the products or services you offer. Another approach is to keep the survey focused firmly on the customer. Either way, make sure you have a clear focus from the beginning so that everybody knows why they are taking the survey.

Offer your prospective survey takers an incentive to do the survey such as a free report or ebook that can be downloaded on completion.

Keep the survey short, invite “yes” or “no” answers by asking closed-ended questions, include some multiple choice questions and assure participants that any private information they give you will remain confidential.

When you look over the results keep an eye out for trends and surprises.

Publish the results of the survey on your website or blog and invite comments.

The whole process of survey taking and reporting should be treated as a trust-building exercise and an opportunity for increased interaction with your client base.

A successful survey campaign will also have brought you a lot of valuable information about your target market which you can now use to present your prospects with goods and services that more closely match their needs and win their loyalty.

So, in recessionary times, a customer survey is an excellent tool for building stronger ties with your target market, winning the trust of your clientele and thriving in the midst of recession.

——

Darrell Howell is an Internet Marketer and Blogger. Check out his Blog at http://www.blueridgemoney.info Sign up for a free Internet Marketing Newsletter here.

I hope that you have benefited from the past few months of my articles. We’ve been focusing on the only three ways that you can grow your business. I got these three ways from one of my marketing “hero’s” Jay Abraham.

Here they are again:

1. Sell to more customers
2. Increase your transaction value
3. increase the number of times a customer buys from you

Today’s focus is on the one that most people would think, “Sure, that would be great to get them to buy more often, but how…?” It’s actually simpler than you may think. In fact, you may already have a perfect product set up for continuity, but you aren’t capitalizing on a few simple ideas.

So I’ve broken this article down into what I feel are the three most powerful ways to increase the number of times a customer buys from you. As you read this article, think of ways you can incorporate each of these ideas into what you have already built.

If you are just beginning to build your online business, then write down a plan of how you are going to use these strategies as you progress.
The $2,496 Glass of Water:

On March 4, 2004 I read a post in a popular marketing forum by a guy named George Wright. The post was titled, “The $2,496 Cup of Water.” It has forever left an impression on me as one of the most powerful ways to get someone to continue to purchase from you over and over again. I wanted to give you a part of his message here:

“When my daughter was 14 she was inline skating. All of a sudden she started feeling very “dry and dizzy” and in great need of a drink of water. Being diabetic she had been trained to “be in tune” with her body and she knew that she needed some water right now along with some glucotabs that she carried all the time. She skated into a donut shop from which we bought donuts on a weekly basis. I need a drink of water she said. “No free water” was the curt reply from the woman behind the counter. “Please” my daughter said, “I really need water”. Again “no free water” was the reply. “How much” my little girl asked, “50 cents” she paid the money and drank the water and came on home.’

“After telling me the story, it was all I could do to not pick the phone and express anger to the proprietor. However, instead I explained to my daughter that the cup cost money, and the time it took to pour the water was to be considered also. I also explained to her that she would know how it felt to be thirsty if in the future some one asked her for a drink of water and she could have compassion. Since then she has proved many times that she is generous and would help someone in need.’

“I never went back to that donut shop. In fact I forgot about it until the other day when a friend of mine wanted to stop for donuts, ‘not there’ I said ‘let’s go over there to the next one.’

“After I got home I did some figuring. Conservatively I spent 3 dollars a week there sometimes even 6 to 10 dollars a week. It’s been 12 years. So let’s say $4 X 52 weeks is $208 a year. $208 X 12 years= $2,496. Wow! that’s a lot for a drink of water.’

“This is not a judgment as to right and wrong. It’s merely the story of a $2,496 cup of water. This makes me want to be sure to give the “water” or whatever else I can to my customers. Water can cost.”

I love this story from George because it shows the power of how you interact with your customer. It could be your sales page, your emails, your customer support, your products… all of these are types of water that you are giving your customers.

If they are happy with what they are getting, they will continue to come back over and over again. As soon as it stops, so will they.
The Product Pipeline:

I haven’t seen many people do this as effectively as one internet marketer who I have looked up to ever since I first got online. His name is Armand Morin and he is one of the true legends of internet marketing.

One of Armand’s first products was called Ebook Generator, and it was a simple program that helped people create their own ebooks. After he started to sell this product, he had a lot of people ask him how he made his ecovers for his ebooks. He saw that all of his customers needed this, so his next product was Ecover Generator.

After they had their ebook and ecovers, the next thing they kept asking him for was something to help them create sales letters, and next came Salesletter Generator, then followed by Audio Generator, Video Generator and more. Do you see the psychology behind why this works?

He then went on to create dozens of other products that all complement each other. Now what Armand told me (and I’ve seen happen as I’ve promoted his products as an affiliate) is that within 30 days of someone buying any one of his products, they will almost always buy three to four more products during that time period (and often a lot more).

I want you to think about this while you are creating your products and services. If you pay attention to what your customers want, and you create products and services that are related to each other, you will see two important things.

First, you will be increasing the value you are giving to your customers.

Second you will be increasing the number of times that they will purchase from you each month.
Creating Continuity:

I’m sure that at some point in your life you have signed up for (or know someone who has signed up for) one of the “Get 6 CD’s for $1.00” promotions from Columbia House or BMG.

The numbers are always different but the idea is that you pay just $1 to get six CD’s and are committed to buying 10 more CDs over the next 10 months at full price. Then each month they ship you a new CD and bill you full price.

This is an example of a continuity program. It is an incredible strategy to boost your transactions per customer because you make the sale once, but you get paid over and over again. This newsletter that you are reading now is another example of a continuity program.

I want to share a quick story about a company that isn’t using continuity. Each month they have to fight hard for new customers.

The name of this company is BodyBuilding.com and they are one of the largest supplement companies in the world. The problem they have (at the time of this writing) is that they have no continuity program set in place.

For example, if you go to their site and buy some creatine or protein, in 30 days when you have finished using the supplements, you have to go back to their website and re-order (or just go to the closest GNC and buy from their competitor).

Do you see the problem this creates for them? They have to keep getting new customers, or hope that they come back on their own so they can re-sell to them.

Instead, if they were to put all of their customers on an autoship program, then they would make the sale once, and every month would get the customer to re-order without having to put forth any extra effort.

This is also convenient for the customer who knows that they can expect a package of supplements before they run out of their last supply without having to remember to place an order.

Again, this is another powerful way to increase the number of times that your customers will be purchasing from you.
Are Your Numbers Looking Up?:

Over the past several months, I hope you have been able to realize that no matter what point you are at in your business, there are powerful strategies you can leverage to increase the amount of profit your company brings in.

Most of these strategies are simple to implement, yet a huge percentage of business owners never capitalize on them because they simply don’t understand how to make the most out of every sale.

If you’re not sure where to start, pick one of the ideas I’ve talked about over these last four issues and set a goal for what you expect your sales to arrive at once you’ve implemented it.

Then, once you have the first strategy down, start another and another until you are bringing in sales from multiple angles.

About the Author:
Russell Brunson has been a successful internet marketer over the last 4 years, he is actively helping other people to achieve their goals online. For more information go to Internet Marketing also located at http://www.DotComSecrets.com

If you`re a frequent flier or a frequent traveller, you`ll be familiar with the lonely feeling that constant travel can sometimes instil. Whether you`re a businessman who is required to traverse all corners of the country as part of your job, or you live in New York and are in a long-distance relationship with a lover in San Francisco, you probably feel that there should be more to travel than simply getting from one place to another!

But never fear – there is a solution! Many leading airlines and hotel chains now offer loyalty programs that help loyal customers collect points and airmiles for both hotel stays and flights – a system that delivers rewards on an entire range of other goods and services. A hotel loyalty card, for instance, allows you to collect points on every hotel stay that you make. Collecting a certain number of points will allow you to reap certain exclusive benefits that hotel guests without loyalty cards won`t be able to enjoy.

A common reward afforded by hotel loyalty programs are the luxury of free nights, complimentary in-room movies and even upgrades to the hotel penthouse or a luxurious resort – so your hotel holiday experience can be enriched at every turn. Additionally, owning a hotel loyalty card can allow you the benefit of cheaper car rental services, so you`ll be able to explore the surrounding areas around your hotel with ease. This can come in especially handy if your hotel is located just outside the city centre, or if you`re staying in a particularly secluded part of the country.

What`s more, hotel honors rewards systems can incorporate additional benefits like offers on cruises around the world. This can include carnival cruises in the Bahamas and other luxury Caribbean islands, which can depart from a range of easily accessible American destinations, including Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans.

And, if you`re a parent, you`ll even find that hotel loyalty programs will help you accrue benefits that will benefit your partner and children as well. For instance, many hotel loyalty cards will offer deals or discounts on travel to theme parks and entertainment parks all over the country, including prime vacation destinations such as Disney World and Universal Studios.

If you already participate in a hotel rewards system and you`ve built up a number of points that you have yet to redeem on benefits, you might be able to find interesting and commendable ways to put your loyalty points to greater good. Hilton`s hotel loyalty program, for example, allows you to redeem your honors points to any number of charitable organisations supported by the company. In this way, not only will you be able to exercise your charitable instincts through your loyalty program, you`ll also be able to experience personal and spiritual rewards that are sure to make all your future travels more enjoyable!
——–

Andrew Regan is an online, freelance journalist.

If you`re a frequent flyer, you`ve probably thought about getting a frequent flyer card so you can accrue miles each time you fly, which can then be redeemed against free or discounted travel another time. After all, doesn`t it make sense to give yourself a little reward in return for all your jet-setting? And as you travel, you might also stay at a particular hotel or chain of hotels, some of which might operate similar loyalty programmes where guests can collect points towards a future stay.

If you collect points based on either scenario, your wallet or purse may well be bulging with numerous loyalty cards and you could be wishing you could add the points garnered across all the schemes into a single scheme that can offer both free or discounted flights and hotel accommodation – or any other incentive. But does such a scheme exist?

As the value of points can vary depending on how they are collected or redeemed across all the available schemes, it`s difficult to know exactly how much value you may hold in each reward program. As a result, travellers frequently debate how much accumulated points are worth and it is often the case that users need to travel far and often, or spend a great deal of time in a participating hotel in order to accrue enough points to redeem against free or discounted rates in the future.

When you do accrue enough points to be able to redeem them against a flight or hotel stay, it can often be the case that your chosen flight or hotel may have a `quota` of reduced or free seats or rooms, so you might have difficulty in redeeming your hard-earned points when you want to, if the quota has been reached. Furthermore, with rising airfares, taxes and other charges that can affect the price of flights or accommodation, you could end up with a wallet full of loyalty cards that are virtually worthless!

Recently, there has been a massive change in the way reward programs work, with many reward schemes forging affiliations with other companies which allow cardholders to collect and redeem points across a range of products and services. The Nectar Card, for example, was introduced in the UK by British Petroleum and allows drivers to collect points every time they buy fuel. In addition, points can be used to redeem or collect points across a wide variety of shops and services – ranging from Sainsbury`s and Argos to Thompson holidays and car rental.

The Hilton Honors hotel loyalty program is another scheme that allows members to collect and redeem points in several different ways. Through this scheme, members can earn both points and air-miles which can be redeemed towards stays at over 2,800 hotels worldwide as well as flights with over 50 participating airlines. The scheme also allows you to collect points through an affiliated credit card and you can even buy points if your balance falls just short of that dream trip! Plus, if you`re feeling generous, you can transfer your points to family and friends, or donate them to charity.

With so many loyalty schemes available on the market and covering a host of industry sectors, consider whether your next loyalty scheme will reward you for all your efforts, or leave you empty handed – apart from a wallet full of collector cards, that is.

Elisha Burberry is a freelance writer who loves her job and the occasional glass of red wine.

To keep their customers coming back, the majority of cruise lines now offer some kind of customer loyalty scheme. These vary from each cruise operator and can include future booking discounts, invites to VIP parties, and onboard privileges such as priority embarkation. But is this enough to keep your loyalty? Or are you really looking for cabin upgrades and onboard credit?

Here is a summary of each cruise lines membership club and benefits to tempt you to come back time and time again…

Royal Caribbean International – Crown and Anchor Society

Membership to the Crown and Anchor Society is automatically granted after your first sailing. The club offers discounts and benefits according to the number of “cruise credits” obtained. These are calculated by the number of days at sea and the cabin grade you sail in. As their sister company, you will also receive equivalent recognition in Celebrities membership club. There are 4 tiers within the club escalating from gold to platinum, diamond and diamond plus. As a gold member, you can expect onboard bonuses such as complimentary wine tasting and a small commemorative gift, as well as online booking discounts. As your membership level increases you can look forward to priorities over other customers with check in, and waitlisted services such as spa treatments or shore excursions.

Celebrity Cruises – Captains Club

Celebrity’s 3 tier Captains Club offers a slightly more generous loyalty scheme which involves a one category upgrade at the most basic membership level, which is also applicable when booking your cruise through a travel agent.
The tiers range from Classic, Select and Elite, and loyal customers can expect invitations to onboard parties, behind the scenes tours and at the highest level, guests can take advantage complimentary use of the Thalassotherapy Pool, where available, and also a private departure lounge.

Norwegian Cruise Lines – Latitudes Program

As a past guest, NCL do offer some pretty good reductions when rebooking with them, aside from this, many of the benefits of their club, which ranges from bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels, are nothing to get too excited about! Whilst they offer the standard past guest party, plus priorities over other guests with check in, disembarkation, and reservation only restaurants, having completed 14 cruises, and earned your platinum status, all you really get is complimentary dining inthe “Le Bistro” restaurant, which would usually incur an additional charge. Oh and you get a latitudes ship pin…

Princess Cruises – Captains Circle

The Captains Circle club features gold, platinum and elite levels of membership with all levels receiving preferential pricing offers on selected itineraries throughout the year. Further standard membership benefits include, “exclusive events”, no doubt that will be another captain’s party then, and also a Princess Passport, a scheme whereby guests receive stamps, depicting the cruise destination which are then signed by the captain and displayed in a Princess Passport.
As membership increases to platinum status, guests are entitled to priority boarding, free internet minutes and upgraded travel insurance. (If the basic level is purchased) Guests that reach their 16th cruise, or their 150th cruise day with Princess will be members of the elite club, where extras such as a complimentary mini bar, upgraded bathroom amenities and a 10% discount in certain onboard shops will be applicable.

Costa Cruises – Costa Club

Loyal customers will be pleased to hear that Costa offer one of the most rewarding loyalty schemes at sea. Whether you are a basic aquamarine member, coral member or their highest pearl member, you can receive a 5% discount on any of their cruises. In addition, guests at aquamarine level will receive a generous 20% discount on wine packages, mini bar drinks and laundry service, 10% off Costa merchandise, and a cocktail with the captain complete with a souvenir photo.
Membership to the club is achieved through earning points; these are accumulated through cruise days with Costa as well as onboard spending. At higher levels of membership, guests will qualify for priority boarding and disembarkation, a complimentary meal in the a la carte restaurant, a bottle of wine and welcome gift.

P&O Cruises – Portunus Club

Membership to the Portunus club is automatic after completing your very first sailing with P&O Cruises. Throughout the year, there will be selected Portunus sailings, which give members reductions on standard cruise prices.
At a basic level, ruby members are entitled to a 5% discount on onboard spend, this increases to 7.5% when you reach sapphire level of membership, and gold members can take off an extra 10%. At the highest level, gold members will also get a dedicated check in service and priority disembarkation.
Members of the Portunus club can also gain points from sailing on Ocean Village, Princess Cruises or Swan Hellenic.

Cunard – World Club

World Club has 4 levels of membership; silver, gold, platinum and diamond. Automatic membership is granted after your first sailing with Cunard. After this, members are entitled to a 5% discount of further sailings.
Further benefits for guests who have completed 20 days onboard include; a souvenir gold membership Cunarder pin, complimentary internet minutes, and cocktail party invitation. As guests reach platinum level, they can expect, in addition to lower level benefits, a 20% discount on dry cleaning and laundry service, 10% off White Star Luggage Delivery service, additional internet minutes and a platinum member Cunarder pin. Diamond members will also receive priority luggage delivery.

MSC Cruises – MSC Club

MSC’s loyalty club consists of 3 tiers; classic, silver and gold. Membership is awarded by a points system which accumulates with the number of cruise days taken with MSC.
At each level, members will receive a welcome cocktail, a 5% discount on excursions and 5% discount in onboard boutiques. As a classic member, you are entitled to a 5% discount on most cruises, silver members will receive 8% and gold can take off an additional 10% off their cruise cost.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines – Oceans

Each night spent onboard a Fred Olsen cruise will earn you 1 point. Once you reach 30 points, you will qualify for their first level of membership. At this “blue” level, guests will receive 5% off both onboard spending and shore excursions booked prior to departure. As you reach 31 points you enter the silver level where members will receive a 2% cruise discount, Oceans cocktail party and usually priority embarkation. Once you have exceeded 100 days onboard a Fred Olsen cruise, you will be rewarded with a 4% cruise cost discount, personalized luggage labels, a welcome aboard gift plus a complimentary shuttle bus pass.

Carnival – Concierge Club

After your 10th cruise with Carnival, you will enter their membership club at the platinum level, then, those members who complete their 25th, 50th and 75th sailings will receive a shipboard credit representing 25, 50 or 75% of their cruise fare. Those who reach an impressive 100th sailing will earn a complimentary cruise of up to 8 days.
In addition, all platinum members are eligible for priority check in, disembarkation and dining waitlists.

So are the cruise lines really doing enough to keep you coming back? Priority check in, early disembarkation and a captain’s party invite is certainly better than nothing, but, as a loyal customer, would this sway you to rebook with them? Or do you feel that the cruise experience they offer is enough to keep you loyal?

Genna Roberts is web editor at inside cruise – an online cruise community with all the latest news, features and reviews.

Come join us! Inside Cruise Community

Staying at a hotel doesn’t just have to be about enjoying the short time you’re there anymore, with hotel loyalty schemes encouraging visitors to think of the long term by offering points and air miles with every visit. But, before deciding whether you’d rather save up loyalty points or collect air miles, there are a number of factors to consider. For example if you travel often and are likely to accumulate air miles on a frequent basis then saving up air miles might be the right choice for you, enabling you to save for free flights in the future.

However, while free flights are tempting, you may find a cheaper alternative and, as a result your air miles will be wasted. Also, many people typically collect only a handful of points every year or two which is an insufficient amount to qualify for a free flight. As a result, the collectors of the air miles simply forget about them and let them lapse. This can also cause travellers to look at whether other loyalty schemes might be better suited to them, such as collecting loyalty points.

Loyalty points earned from a hotel are a little bit more complex than earning air miles, as the rewards they offer can vary widely with each hotel chain. While this may be a downside to some, others may find that this is an advantage as it makes the points more versatile. However, a good hotel loyalty scheme will allow you to swap the accumulated loyalty points for air miles or other rewards if you wish.

However, many loyalty point schemes tend to offer much better value in terms of the percentage of reward given against the amount spent. For example, staying at a particular hotel for one night may earn you 50% of the points needed for a free night’s stay and, therefore, after two nights stay, a free night at the hotel is earned.

Many regular travellers consider the fact that hotel loyalty points can be saved up as a major advantage when picking between the points and air miles. This means that after a few stays at a particular hotel you may be entitled to a free stay – an excellent reward for loyalty, particularly to those who travel on business regularly, as the points will soon mount up. These points could also be exchanged for extra perks during your stay at a hotel, rather than a free stay, such as free use of the swimming pool or fitness facilities. Visitors to certain hotel chains may also find the amount of benefits they enjoy increasing the more they stay with that particular chain.

So, when considering joining up to a hotel loyalty scheme, it’s important to take into consideration your individual circumstances, especially how much you travel, how much you spend and how often you stay in hotels and how often you use the facilities. You might find being in such a scheme to be hugely beneficial not only to you, but also your wallet!

The Nokia Corporation is presently the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, racking up more than one third of the global market according to last quarter reports of 2006. The Nokia Corporation – presently the largest Finnish company was created in 1967 as a conglomerate that dealt with a host of business ranging from paper product to personal computers.

It was the electronic section of the cable division that took initiative of the mobile revolution in the late `80s and eventually took the company to its zenith. When the world was getting connected through GSM mobile networks, there was no looking back for Nokia. Today, in the age of Java and Symbian C++ applications, Nokia remains the world`s number one not only for the outstanding loyalty from its traditional customers but for innovations it has brought to the mobile technologies.

Of late, other players in the market, especially Sony Ericsson and Samsung are putting a lots of pressure on Nokia`s position because of their specialized expertise in fields like LCD display, music and camera. Nokia have not only kept up with changing time but also maintained its much envied reputation for reliability and user-friendliness.

The recently released multimedia mobile devices – the N series – have taken the mobile market by storm. Each member of the N series is a 3G smartphone with Series 60 platform and specializes in one or many multimedia fields. Nokia smartphones have been very successful across all segments be it music phone, photography centric N93 or N95 or sports centric 5500. Business mobile handsets from Nokia are the most sought after for their subtle looks and high end functionality. Nokia has been liberate in experimentation with mobile design and largely responsible for the concept of a “fashion” phone. The Nokia Sirocco and the L`Amour collection bear witness to Nokia`s indulgence in high fashion.

The Nokia mobile phone collection could represent the whole spectrum of mobile phone user community – there is one for everyone.

Buy Mobile Phones

Part 1 of 3

Contents:
Strengthening Loyalty with New Services
From Still Photos to Interactive Video
Flexibility Is Key
The OmniVox3D® Application Server Solution
Seamless Environment for Speedy Service Delivery
Modular Design for Varied Network Deployment
The Quest for Interoperability
Benefits of Dialogic® Host Media Processing Software
Long-Term Relationship Adds Value
Design Delivers Service Reliability and Performance
Distributed Architecture and Web Technologies
SIP Session Management
Working Together to Benefit Customers
References
Appendix
Acronyms

APEX Voice Communications is a member in the Dialogic® Partner Program.

Executive Summary
To win in today’s volatile wireless services market, service providers need to design, develop, and deploy new enhanced video services and be prepared to ramp them quickly when they become popular. The OmniVox3D® Application Server from APEX Voice Communications represents a unique and successful approach to this business challenge, seamlessly combining a powerful, open application server with a flexible application creation environment and a robust management interface. OmniVox3D benefits by using Dialogic® Host Media Processing Software to deliver media processing on standard servers rather than specialized hardware.

Strengthening Loyalty with New Services
Today’s wireless users are increasingly demanding, as they continue to expect more new services at a lower cost, and they have little tolerance for missing out on the latest applications. At the same time, emerging technologies, together with new regulatory and business models, which include number portability, low-cost roaming, and open handsets, are giving consumers more flexibility than ever in choosing a service provider.

Customer fickleness and a hunger for innovation have become service provider focus areas. In a recently published study of mobile operators, Infonetics Research, a leading international market research and consulting firm specializing in data networking and telecommunications, asked service providers to identify their biggest business challenge. The survey participants rated customer retention and competition as their major concerns while a focus on profitability alone rated only seventh [Infonetics].

The technology that service providers seem most excited about, as they seek to maximize the spending of current customers and strengthen the loyalty of free-spending, cutting-edge users, is video.

From Still Photos to Interactive Video

The excitement generated by video technology began with the advent of camera-equipped handsets capable of capturing digital images and sharing them over the network. This service became extremely popular, and video clips soon followed. Today, the trend is interactive multimedia.

Video IVR is an interesting example. Conceptually Video IVR is similar to traditional IVR but with video added to enhance the experience. The user interacts with a real-time video stream by pressing DTMF buttons at the endpoint (typically a mobile handset), or by speaking when speech recognition is in use. Typically Video IVR is delivered over 3G video calls but could be delivered over any medium able to carry voice, video, and DTMF signals between the endpoint and the Video IVR server.

One of the advantages of Video IVR is that it places all the application logic on the server, which requires that the endpoint act only as a thin client. From a compatibility standpoint, a Video IVR application needs to be developed only once for it to run on all 3G handsets. Delivering applications as Java applets, in contrast, can require hundreds of different builds to cater to the different 3G handsets available today.

Many popular voice applications can move naturally to video:

• Voice mail to video mail
• Voice conferencing to video conferencing
• IVR with a video response
• Chat to video chat
• Ring tones to video ring tones
• Call center to video-enhanced call center

Flexibility Is Key

After witnessing the explosive popularity of enhanced services such as color ring back tones, service providers have learned that they must be nimble in providing new enhanced services. They must be able to react more quickly than their competition to monetize emerging opportunities by moving from concept to deployment quickly.

A successful tactic that is rapidly gaining popularity is the deployment of multi-service application servers with integrated service-creation environments, based on industry standards. Such an application server increases productivity while simultaneously reducing time-to-market, at an affordable cost. A practical, proven model for this type of approach to rapid service creation and delivery is the SIP-based OmniVox3D® Application Server from APEX Voice Communications, which uses Dialogic® Host Media Processing Software for delivering media.

The OmniVox3D® Application Server Solution

The APEX OmniVox3D Application Server provides the power to design, develop, and deploy customized enhanced services and value-added IP multimedia services on a flexible, open architecture. Applications developed in OmniVox3D can run on both IP and TDM/SS7 networks, making it an excellent choice for today’s hybrid environments that include both existing and next-generation services.

Because its design is modular, OmniVox3D can provide outstanding results on today’s networks, including those running VXML gateways or IMS softswitches. Its architecture makes the underlying network interfaces and protocols transparent to the application, providing the ability to create or import an application once and run it in a variety of environments, including wireline and wireless intelligent networks.

END Part 1 of 3

APEX is a leading worldwide supplier of IMS-compliant (SIP) Applications Servers, Multi-Service Platforms and Service Creation Environments. With over 15,000 installations across 95 countries, our carrier-grade solutions for value-added services, multi-media IP services and real-time billing services, are ideal for fixed and mobile Service Providers, System Integrators, ISVs and OEMs. Please give us a call toll free in the US/CA at +1 800.727.3970 or +1 818.379.8410 Visit our corporate website: http://www.apexvoice.com Contact pages can be found at: http://www.apexvoice.com/index.php/11

Part 2 of 3:

Seamless Environment for Speedy Service Delivery

The OmniVox3D Application Server provides a strong and flexible execution environment. It delivers scalability and reliability to deployed applications, allowing a service provider to increase resources for service delivery easily without compromising quality. At the same time, the OmniVox3D Application Server provides flexibility in creating new applications as a result of a tightly integrated OmniView® Service Creation/OAM&P Environment. This seamless environment allows applications to be designed, developed and deployed in days, rather than months, decreasing both time-to-market and time-to-ROI.

See Figure 1 for a sample of OmniView’s browser-based interface, which can be used locally or remotely. Its rich command set for service development includes ASR, TTS, LDAP/IMAP, ODBC, SNMP, C-Sharp, VBScript, JScript, and others. In a SIP-based network, OmniVox3D offloads media processing functions and supports a variety of SIP-compliant components.

Source: APEX
Figure 1. OmniView’s Browser-Based Interface

Modular Design for Varied Network Deployment

Designed with attention to openness and versatility, OmniVox3D can be deployed as a standalone IP-based application server solution or in conjunction with the OmniVoXML® media gateway, as part of the APEX Multi-Service Platform, (APEX MSP™) to serve applications such as Messaging, Prepaid, Conferencing and IVR.

To ensure that it works equally well in either deployment scenario, OmniVox3D has been designed to integrate as a core network element in any standards-based network, including those that must comply with IMS and other standards. An important benefit of OmniVox3D’s modular design is the ability for customers to use varied network configurations to match unique network requirements. Such a design strategy also gives service providers the power to deliver new, state-of-the-art services to subscribers without compromising carrier-grade performance.

Because of its field-proven combined OAM&P and service creation capabilities, OmniVox3D continues to grow in popularity with over 15,000 installations in 95 countries at more than 250 service providers, processing hundreds of millions of calls each day.

The Quest for Interoperability

Dialogic® Host Media Processing Software (Dialogic HMP Software) is an important component of OmniVox3D. Used as a media server, it allows both timely voice and video service creation and successful service delivery. Both products are designed to support the latest open standards to allow easy integration with advanced voice and video technologies.

Dialogic HMP Software performs media processing tasks on general-purpose servers based on standard server architecture without requiring specialized DSP-based hardware. It supports the initiation and termination of multimedia calls, which include SIP-based call control and H.263 video format. The software synchronizes voice and video streams for playback on IP video phones and IP-enabled soft clients and allows connection to a 3G network. Dialogic HMP Software can also deliver only the audio portion of a video call to an audio-only endpoint for 3G/2G gateway functionality.

Because it understands the value of open standards to service creation and delivery in the OmniVox3D environment, Dialogic strives to provide the highest level of interoperability by developing products such as Dialogic HMP Software using SIP, H.323, and 3GPP standards as well as MSML. Dialogic engineers continually perform interoperability testing between Dialogic HMP Software and third-party components, and they focus on adding new standards-based functionality (such as video using 3G-324M) as early as possible. Dialogic’s goal is to help enable APEX developers to accelerate their work and allow them to focus on enhancing OmniVox3D for their customers without interoperability concerns.

Benefits of Dialogic® Host Media Processing Software

Dialogic HMP Software also provides OmniVox3D developers and customers with the advantages of a software-based solution, which does not require specialized hardware for media processing:

• Ease of use — Installing and updating software is easier than installing and updating hardware because these activities are electronic and not physical.
• Flexible licensing — Software resources are purchased separately as needed as part of a software license instead of in fixed bundles of resources on various hardware media board models.
• Easy maintenance — When more processing resources are needed, resources can be added through software licensing rather than media boards, which must be ordered and shipped. In the case of hardware failure, a license can be moved to another server, which is easier than swapping specialized hardware boards that are generally stored as spare parts.

Because OmniVox3D uses Dialogic HMP Software, selling OmniVox3D is easier and more cost-effective since media servers can be downloaded as software, eliminating the need to transport and install hardware media boards. This software-based flexibility reduces costs and increases APEX’s ability to deliver demonstration units and roll out product trials, which, in turn, can accelerate the sales cycle.

Long-Term Relationship Adds Value

Because APEX has worked with Dialogic and its products for more than 18 years (since 1989), APEX is able to use the full range of Dialogic® IP and TDM products to provide solutions to its customers in virtually any deployment scenario. For example, APEX engineers are adept at using Dialogic HMP Software in either a Linux or Windows® environment, which is a result of APEX’s development philosophy of interfacing to media servers and gateways using open standards such as MSML/MOML and VXML.

APEX engineers are also skilled in using Dialogic® HMP Interface Boards, which allow host-based resources and IP transcoding to be accessible from a PSTN interface, and the Dialogic® 1000 Media Gateway Series for seamless IP-PBX connectivity. APEX can also deploy the powerful Dialogic® Multimedia Platform for AdvancedTCA (MMP for ATCA) for its customers who are ready to move to AdvancedTCA. MMP for ATCA can deliver applications such as voice and video mail, video portal, color ring back tones, unified messaging, and audio conferencing over IP and PSTN interfaces in wireless and wireline environments using standard protocols for session and media control.

Design Delivers Service Reliability and Performance

Because of their excellent initial design and wisely engineered enhancements, the OmniVox3D Application Server and OmniView Service Creation Environment have continued to be a leading system for designing, developing, and deploying services since their introduction in 1989. With its integrated OAM&P environment, OmniView can also manage applications from a single point once they have been deployed, whether on a single server or a network of servers for service provider and enterprise customers worldwide.

The OmniVox3D Application Server, OmniView Service Creation/OAM&P Environment and SIP Session Manager are the core elements of the APEX Multi-Service Platform. See Figure 2 for a detailed illustration.

Source: APEX
Figure 2. APEX Multi-Service Platform

Distributed Architecture and Web Technologies

The OmniVox3D Application Server is built around web technologies, making it an excellent fit for high-volume services that require superior performance and reliability. OmniVox3D’s distributed architecture and scalable design provides the ability to create voice and video applications once and run them in multiple environments including Next Generation Networks (NGN) and Advanced Intelligent Networks (AIN/IN). OmniVox3D’s unique design also allows its users to grow, without forklift upgrades, while continuing to take advantage of changing computing and network environments.

The OmniView Service Creation Environment handles the arduous task of designing, developing, and deploying services with an easy, open-standards-based application development environment. OmniView’s browser-based development tool also simplifies and accelerates testing and, equally important, test management. This integration gives application developers the power to decrease prototyping and implementation time while still ensuring applications are robust, which is critical in today’s extremely competitive services market.

OmniVox3D’s open architecture also offers load balancing and fault tolerant configurations, providing an environment with no single point of failure. Thus, OmniVox3D enables the continuous operation of hosted services. The flexibility of distributed systems also gives growth paths to an Application Server that may be configured to meet most network configuration and service requirements.

OmniVox3D works in a wide variety of network environments, from Wireless and IMS Networks, to the enterprise back office that needs to add voice, as shown in Figure 3.

Source: APEX
Figure 3. OmniVox3D Application Server Architecture

The OmniVox3D architecture is designed to interoperate with standards-based IMS network elements including SIP MSML Voice and Video Media Servers, powered by Dialogic HMP Software.

The basic design allows applications to run regardless of the underlying hardware so long as the hardware supports the latest standards.

END Part 2 of 3

APEX is a leading worldwide supplier of IMS-compliant (SIP) Applications Servers, Multi-Service Platforms and Service Creation Environments. With over 15,000 installations across 95 countries, our carrier-grade solutions for value-added services, multi-media IP services and real-time billing services, are ideal for fixed and mobile Service Providers, System Integrators, ISVs and OEMs. Please give us a call toll free in the US/CA at +1 800.727.3970 or +1 818.379.8410 Visit our corporate website: http://www.apexvoice.com Contact pages can be found at: http://www.apexvoice.com/index.php/11

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