VON: TCS leverages E911 platform

SAN JOSE -- TeleCommunications Systems, best known for providing nomadic E911 service is leveraging its existing platform to offer advanced services to VoIP providers. The company this week announced a VoIP Application Partner Program, designed to help service providers identify and deploy new services on their existing TCS platform to generate new revenues.

“Our theme for the year is ‘get beyond compliance,’” said Jon Croy, senior director of the VoIP business unit for TCS. “We can do more for them, and the beauty of it is, we can do it on the platform they already have for E911.”

The partner program is intended to create a community of developers who will create revenue-enhancing services, Croy said. TCS already hosts the server that enables location-based services for Qualcomm, and he envisions offers that take advantage of location to generate more intelligent directory or information services, such as helping consumers locate nearby restaurants or stores and connecting them via voice channels.

“We look at an enhanced 411 service that is more like the Yellow Pages than the white pages – instead of asking for a specific listing, you ask for a category of listings,” Croy said.

Other options include family-friendly and security services that take advantage of the GPS capabilities built into today’s cellphones.

“We want to bring as many rich features like unified messaging, pushed conferencing and targeted advertising, as we can,” he said.