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May 2005.
Solutions for Roaming and Interworking of Location Based Services Presented at MLS 2005

Last week at the Mobile Location Services 2005 conference in Barcelona, Genasys, a leading location based services provider, presented the industry's first solutions to help operators extend the reach of their current LBS applications and enable a variety of scenarios for service delivery.

"It's about getting the most out of your LBS infrastructure" explains Ryan Stanley, VP of Business Development and Strategy at Genasys. "Applications that use location as key content are naturally of interest not only in the home market but in the wider world. As one travels, wayfinding and local interest applications become even more useful. And it goes almost without saying that uninterrupted mobile resource management service is key to businesses whose people and/or vehicles are frequently crossing national and regional borders."

The Genasys LBS Roaming Enabler is a first-of-its-kind, standards-based solution to manage the efficient and enhanced delivery of LBS services in both in-roaming and out-roaming scenarios. Genasys is the current chair of the Open Mobile Alliance committee that has the mandate to define the international standards for location protocols. José Carazo, Director for Research and Development at Genasys explains that "our years of experience building location infrastructures and evaluating the needs of operators, users, and ASPs has given us a unique and strong position when it comes to designing solutions that are practical and efficient in the real world."

"With the roaming enabler already installed at one major European operator, we are already in the process of organizing the first international LBS roaming trial" notes Mr. Stanley. Applications involved in the trial process will likely be fleet management and local points-of-interest services.

The Genasys platform for interworking, the Multi-Operator LBS Solution, is an enhanced location enabling server that enables connectivity with the location systems and communication channels (such as SMS Centers) of multiple operator environments. As such, the platform not only provides a clear solution for LBS interworking but also enables a variety of scenarios for ASPs or MVNOs to deliver services to users across mobile networks.

The solution has already proven effective and profitable in Spain where Genasys hosts several location-based applications on this platform. MoviDream, the makers of an off-the-shelf mobile resource management solution, use the Genasys platform. MoviDream CEO Agustín Calvo explains why the multi-operator solution works for them: "Our customers purchase our Web-based solution in retail outlets and then complete a registration process which allows them to configure their mobile resources in the application. By hosting our application on the Genasys multi-operator solution, our customers don't have to worry about which company provides wireless service to their mobile resources -- the platform is able to find and track user positions regardless of the network."

This year's Mobile Location Services conference proved not only a useful way to meet potential customers and partners but also to take the pulse of the industry. Mr. Stanley observes, "We are pleased with the level of interest in our versatile location platforms; especially the roaming and interworking solutions. It confirms that we are moving in the right direction and anticipating the needs of mobile operators."