By Amy Tierney

As any network operator and developer in the communications technology space will tell you, services that helps them do their job more quickly and efficiently is always a welcomed addition. And as Web applications increasingly become the hot new tool for developers, more and more end users are deploying Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service.

 

The hosted service helps application developers access network capabilities. Powered by a standards-based platform, network operators and developers can tap into key network information through a common API.

 

Specifically, Alcatel-Lucent's application enablement combines service providers' expertise with the speed of the Internet to offer developers a new world of richer services and experiences, the company said. And in the mobile space, speed and accuracy mean everything.

 

That's why Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service supports two mobile applications. The first, called ShopAlerts, is a location-based mobile marketing service solution available to brand marketers that want to deliver relevant messages on an opt-in basis to customers when they are near a store or other relevant location.

 

The service, hosted by Alcatel-Lucent and provided by location-based advertising solution provider Placecast, delivers specific promotions and deals based on location triggers that can be built into a company's overall CRM program. The technology gives users the ability to send personalized alerts to millions of consumers in real-time, Alcatel-Lucent said.

 

Alcatel-Lucent Open API Service helps ShopAlerts query a user's location to ensure that shoppers receive the correct content at the tight time. Using the Open API Service service, ShopAlerts can get to market faster with less rework for each additional carrier and user.

 

ShopAlerts will roll out commercially in the first quarter.

 

That's not all. Alcatel-Lucent's Open API Service also supports AGENT511 TextBlue solution, an application that gives public safety agencies the ability to acquire real-time text, multimedia, and location data from mobile phones.

 

With the Open API service, the server acquires cross-carrier location information so first responders can immediately find a location where medical or emergency services are necessary. What's more, AGENT511 has rolled out a self-service transportation and public works applications that can match the location of an emergency to available resources.

 

As mobile devices, including smartphones, increasingly become more of a modern day necessity, so too will end users' adoption of such services as ShopAlerts and AGENT511.