Jibe Mobile today announced its partnership with SFR to offer native RCS devices providing applications via the cloud. SFR said it will be providing rich communications suite-based native messaging for Samsung and Sony Mobile smartphones supported by Jibe’s communications cloud.
Native devices have been one of the sticking points for operators to start deployment of RCS messaging solutions. As these devices now become available, this is one of the key barriers to operators going down this path. The other key challenges have been to be able to ensure the offers are competititive to solutions such as Viber, WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage and the interoperability to allow end-users to seamlessly communicate with other partners who might be on a different mobile network. With Jibe’s IP Communications Cloud and RCS Hub these challenges are also addressed.
SFR is enabling its end-users to upgrade their messaging from text messaging to advanced IP messaging. This offer is branded Joyn and is initially available on the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Mobile Xperia – Z2, Z3, Z3 Compact and M4 Aqua smartphones. More information (in French) about SFR’s service can be found on their website.
The service is similar to over-the-top messaging services by showing the delivery status of your message, the ability to create groups and the ability to send multimedia messages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXq7btpgvcc
Jibe said it is constantly adding new functionality and updates in 2 to 4 week cycles to ensure the product stays competitive with the OTT players. End-users can provide feedback to SFR and Jibe on their experience with the product. Jibe said it regularly monitors end-user comments in Apple’s iTunes and Google’s Play app stores to keep on top of any issues or new ideas for functionality. The app is currently the highest rated RCS app and scores consistent levels of rating as the OTT apps.
“This launch marks a major milestone, as the world’s first native devices running on an RCS cloud are now able to rapidly and cost effectively deliver the reach and continuous innovation which enable carriers to take advantage of the significant position they hold in most markets with SMS.” said Amir Sarhangi, CEO Jibe Mobile. “With strong support from OEMs such as Samsung and Sony we have established the operational blueprint for each operator to seamlessly upgrade, deliver and interconnect with operators globally to provide an unparalleled user experience for all mobile consumers.”
Claudia Bacco, Managing Director – EMEA for RCR Wireless News, has spent her entire career the telecom, IT and security. Having experience at an operator, software and hardware vendors and as a well-known industry analyst, she has many opinions on the market. She’ll be sharing those opinions along with ongoing trend analysis for RCR Wireless News.
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