Forget meeting the parents. Ericsson, the market leader in video telephony, says demand from young mobile users means more and more people are turning to speed phone dating.
Ericsson’s expert in video telephony, Eirik Stephansen, was in New Zealand recently to talk about the opportunities it offers local telecom operators.
He says services like phone dating are revelling in the capability and convenience video telephony offers.
“Dating services, in particular, are taking advantage of the ease of video telephony. You can leave video messages for prospective dates and if interested the prospective dates just makes video calls in return - it’s a far cry from having to approach someone at a bar.”
And it doesn’t end there.
“What we see right now are three categories - person to person (seeing the person you are talking to), interactive services (like mobile blogging) and streaming services like traffic cams.”
He says even watching TV on your mobile phone becomes a richer experience with interactive capabilities.
“You could be watching a contest, like New Zealand Idol, and react instantly to what is happening on stage by simply choosing a voting button which comes up on your mobile phone screen as you watch.”
Stephansen says these are just some of the inventive ways service providers can use Ericsson’s video telephony platform.
“We are yet to see everything that service providers can do with video telephony. Video telephony is an important but complex service. It’s worthwhile operators learning how to deliver it, how to win acceptance from end users and how to climb up the value chain based on a good mix of services.”
Ericsson is a leading supplier of video gateways to telecommunications operators. Twelve mobile operators are already using Ericsson’s video gateway to provide live services (like video mail, video streaming and mobile to PC calling). The majority of customers are located in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Kirstie Bedford
Communications Manager
Ericsson New Zealand
mobile: +64 21 682 679
phone: +64 9 523 7460
