How can I enable a single, unified sign on for my customers across multiple screens?

Next Generation Communications Blog

How can I enable a single, unified sign on for my customers across multiple screens?

The new world of broadband is about applications - more applications made available on more devices and across more access networks. This demand for more bandwidth-intensive services is also generating increased interest in multi-service packages - bundled offerings, like triple and quad play - which represents a significant opportunity for network operators.
 
Of course, the ability to provide the variety of services that subscribers are looking for, including IPTV, VoD, high-speed Internet access, VoIP, and other integrated multimedia services, also requires a network that is capable of delivering them reliably to the growing variety of user devices. 
 
Quite simply, traditional IP networks were designed for services that don't rely on best-effort data transfer, like email and Web browsing. They are not, however, designed for revenue generating triple play services that depend on varying levels of QoS to ensure reliability and consistency of service.
 
That's where Alcatel-Lucent's Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture comes in to play - it allows network operators to cost effectively deliver real-time services to the mass market while guaranteeing QoS. The TPSDA's components collectively allow operators to ensure their subscribers have reliable access to the services they want, when they want then, and where they want them.
 
Supporting any combination of home gateway, access technology, aggregation network, authentication protocol, connectivity model, subscriber management and policy enforcement, the TPSDA provides a flexible, scalable solution for triple play services catering to any market.
 
But, simply providing access to services - even on multiple devices - is only part of the challenge. Among the keys to a successful multi-service offering is the ability to integrate services and subscriber preferences across multiple devices, and provide single sign-on across them. Users want to be able to sign on to access their services once, and then have access to those services and customized settings on multiple screens. For instance, if a user starts an in-demand video on the train on his laptop, he should be able to, upon arrival at home, be able to turn on the IPTV STB and continue watching the program from the same time stamp at which he left off, without having to locate the program, find the right scene, etc.
 
Because the IMS-ready Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA integrates network, service, and subscriber management from the network core to the end device, it provides the flexibility for operators to identify and manage subscribers, their preferences, and their activities in a unified fashion across all access networks and devices.
 
While service innovation and quality are a necessity, today's next generation high leverage networks will soon make bandwidth limitations and service reliability issues a thing of the past. Instead, network operators, in addition to developing alliances with the right application developers and content providers, will differentiate themselves through personalization, customization and integration. 
 
By leveraging technology like Alcatel-Lucent's TPSDA, operators will be able to eliminate the traditional gaps between different devices and different access technologies, unifying all services for their subscribers on a single architecture.
 
For more on the Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA, read the white paper, Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture.


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