Vodafone and ip.access have just announced new consumer-based presence services using so-called ‘presence cells’, following a successful deployment of ip.access‘ presenceCell™ across multiple locations in Turkey.
Presence can be immensely powerful, especially for companies that wish to provide value-added services in the retail and m-commerce space. Presence technology makes it possible to locate and identify a device, using various techniques to determine where that device or user is located.
According to ip.access, their presenceCell technology doesn’t just rely on providing indoor coverage and capacity to deliver a return on investment. Rather, the ultra-compact base stations are designed to capture anonymous user location and phone identity information from smartphones, which can be analysed and packaged as a service for a variety of businesses.
Vodafone and ip.access launch presence services
Ilker Serbest, Location Solutions Manager at Vodafone Turkey commented, “We have been looking for a reliable and cost effective solution for network monetisation and working with ip.access we have found a high-resolution, reliable and rapid deployment solution that delivers everything we needed”.
presenceCells fit within operators privacy and permissions frameworks to capture user location and identity information from mobile devices and then direct this information to approved value added services for a wide variety of business applications. The high quality data captured by the presenceCell helps to monetise Vodafone’s spectrum and provides retail intelligence in a uniquely valuable way.
The first stage of deployment saw Vodafone roll out presenceCells across its stores in Turkey, which allows Vodafone to recognise customers as they enter the store and so provide a highly personalised service to each customer. Stage two of the deployment will now see the proliferation of presenceCells into third party retail and m-commerce locations.
From a retail perspective, presenceCells gather rich analytical data which provide retailers with consumer behaviour insights that are accurate to less than 5 metres, as well as the ability to provide customers with personalised marketing promotions when entering selected areas.
presenceCells can also be deployed to help fight payment fraud and provide an enhanced layer of security, verifying an individual by their SIM identity at the point a transaction is made, with Vodafone managing the service. Importantly, the technology does not require any handset modifications or applications, nor does it need Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to be switched on, making it a universal solution.
“This innovative collaboration is particularly exciting for us, as it’s the first commercial proof point within the Vodafone Group for this high value monetisation model,” explains Rob Jones, Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales & Operations, at ip.access. “We see continued strong interest across the market for our presenceCells offering with a particular emphasis on delivering secure mobile payment capabilities with the introduction of Closed Loop Authentication.”
About ip.access
Vodafone’s new presence services use technologies from ip.access – a company headquartered in the United Kingdom. ip.access has been creating and deploying small cell solutions for more than ten years. The company has products and solutions live in over 100 customers’ networks around the world, with the capability to accelerate the introduction of additional small cell solutions into those networks irrespective of use case, technology or deployment model.
The company’s success is built upon its ability to provide its Service Provider customers with a range of small cell coverage, capacity and presence solutions across all technologies (2G, 3G, and 4G), with a focus on a rapid return on investment and the ability to open up new markets and revenue streams.
The company has an end-to-end deployment philosophy that integrates the small cell access points with converged access gateways and comprehensive network management and performance tools; as well as a strong track record of working with trusted partners on integrated solutions.
Final words
Vodafone and ip.access appear to have developed an innovative presence and location solution. The possibilities for new services are endless – imagine walking into a bank for example and being able to receive personalised information and service without having to install a special app or enable Bluetooth.
As network operators increasingly seek to monetise their networks, solutions such as that developed with ip.access have the potential to benefit operators, retail outlets, and ultimately consumers.
This reminds of those bins in London that tracked people’s movements. I seem to recall there was quite a bit of uproar over it when people found out what they were doing.
What I’d like to know is why they don’t think the general public is going to spit tacks when they find out about this sort of thing this time.