IM automated and interactive Solutions provide services that people can rely on, avoiding delays or barriers to access. We help organizations to grant effective vital services and avoid wasting resources. Our Solutions allow companies to improve the quality and efficiency of many processes, such as automated call transfer, alert notification, registration, benefits and claims management.

This hosts our Automated Dialog Agents and is a solution to implement self-service applications created through a user-friendly graphical interface, providing multi-channel capability (video , voice, SMS, MMS, fax, email), menu navigation through DTMF or natural speech interactivity (ASR+NLU), using text-to -speech (TTS) when necessary, integrating 3rd party applications, such as external databases, billing, ERP, etc. IM Speech IVR systems provide 24/7 service, cut operational costs, and take care of the most repetitive tasks that burden contact center agents. IM Voice/Video Portal is a robust and effective environment to develop and execute innovative, real-time, interactive services for mobile and landline devices. Using the server-based platform IM.Meltemi built to industry standards, it includes an application engine and the management, administration and reporting tools needed for careful and efficient systems and services operations. Main modules are:

• Service Logic, the pivot for multimodal applications development and execution.
• Media Server and Media Processor, the two basic components needed for application execution.
• Call Control, to take care of the network interface, managing the call flow and signaling processes.

IM.Meltemi implements industry and open standards for visual presentation, video and audio communication and network interface. The user device does not require any custom software or hardware to utilize our multimodal interactive services.

There are essentially four modes of interaction supported by current phones:

• keypad
• voice recognition
• point and click (browse)
• touch

In the past, interaction with network services took place through multi-key sequences on the phone keypad. Many of the new phones added a text keyboard which makes the task more straightforward for applications like SMS, MMS, email. However, the keys remain small and a hassle to use ("Blackberry Thumb")

Most people would rather say what they want instead of struggling with the keys. The voice is a great tool to ask for information and speech recognition technology is feasible and very reliable. But the voice works well to speak commands, not to receive information. It's easier for a human being to look and read when the need is to "receive" information.

Hence, it's clear that the way forward is to use both voice and sight to interact better. When the two means of communication are supported at the same time on the device/network, it can be said that we are dealing with multimodal interaction services.

Network and service providers get benefits from the consolidation of existing interactive service systems including those simultaneously carrying mobile and fixed networks.

By using the same technology platform for their services, operators get many advantages in fields like operations, maintenance, and development. They can:

• Focus on a single and/or standard development language.
• Share service components and expensive resources among different applications.
• Optimize (reduce) port allocation.
• Streamline centralized system management for maintenance purposes.
• Cut integration costs.
• Get better integrated reports.
• Adopt open standards for protocols, development and management, therefore improving staff allocation.
• Design and develop the operations cycle allowing savings in all departments involved in the project.

The growth of features makes the phone more and more similar to a multimedia device, providing various connectivity, productivity and entertainment functions.

The number of mobile phone devices continues to grow steadily. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approximately 40 percent of the world's population is currently using a mobile phone. By 2012 75% of mobile phones will be 3G. Fixed phone technology is also developing towards almost parity in functional use compared to mobile phones. The time has almost arrived when mobile phones and landlines will be delivered through the same device. Networks have also been evolving. 3G connectivity bit rates are almost as fast as an ADSL home Internet connection. This makes browsing and other data-intensive functions such as video quite usable.

One of the key capabilities that will drive feature-rich interactive services is the simultaneous voice and data connectivity. This is a feature of both 3G networks and new landline IP architecture.

Interactive Services that can be based on IM Voice/Video Portal include:

This is an outbound solution which allows the creation of multi-channel active campaigns through a simple web-based graphical interface. It is possible to create massive simultaneous information distribution tasks through any channel integrated in the platform (voice, SMS, MMS, video , Fax, e-mail) in any mix.

The IM.NOS Notification System allows a contact center to communicate on a proactive basis with customers, users, and staff, providing them with the information they need before they ask for it. The IM Notification System is based on the IM.Meltemi®2.0 Platform which enables the system to be seamlessly integrated with other Contact Center applications and features.

IM.NOS always keeps people up to date – whether they need to be reached by an outbound voice/video call to a landline or mobile phone, SMS/MMS, fax or email. Moreover, if action is required based on the received notification, users can seamlessly connect to the Contact Center, either through a self-service IVVR application or a Call Center human agent.

Thanks to the Meltemi features, our application templates embedded in the Notification System:

• Deliver real-time notification using the configured preferred channel,
• Ensure all parties involved in the interaction have the same up-to-date information,
• Help to consolidate customer relationships,
• Minimize communication costs and
• Integrate with self-service, contact center and business management systems.

IM.NOS combines Meltemi communication and integration capability with automation modules to design the required proactive strategy.

Campaign's execution planning can be based on schedule and/or events. Rules and delivery options are IM.NOS "intelligence" and can be managed via a simple web interface, resulting in immediate impact on IM.NOS operations.

An automated e-mail processing system is a valuable component of customer care. The current competitive landscape no longer allows companies to fail to respond quickly to email enquiries: the customer deserves a rapid response. Indeed customers expect companies to provide complete and accurate answers almost immediately. Without automatic email responses, customers will feel unacknowledged and doubt the company's ability to meet their needs. Intelligent message handling and scripted answers let you respond faster, using less of your agents' time. IM's email management system is designed to handle exponential increases in customer inquiries, protecting you from backlogs of unanswered requests and unhappy customers.

IM Email Response Solution provides an effective email service while containing costs.

• Meets required service levels with intelligent message handling and automatically scripted answers.
• Customers get faster, consistent answers by email as well as chat and phone (knowledge base can be shared among the different channels).
• Save on agents' training and support their work with email response automation.
• Easy management of long-term growth and spikes in email volume with a scalable system with proven reliability for up to thousands of concurrent interactive sessions.

IM Multimedia Interaction Recorder (IM.MIR) is a recording system for voice calls (PSTN and VoIP), video calls and data, representing an optimal solution for contact centers, financial institutions, and public safety organizations.

Our systems for interaction recording ensure compliance with both external and internal rules and processes, avoiding improper management of information recording and storage that can result in fines and litigation. Poor recording processes may cause damage to the company's reputation, higher fraud risk and an increase in customer churn.

IM.MIR is designed on top of IM.Meltemi®2.0 SDP and inherits its features such as open and flexible interfaces for seamless integration with IT and Network infrastructures. Our Professional Services help Clients to meet their recording requirements by creating leading-edge applications. We also offer flexible hosting options for recording Solutions.

IM.MIR is a valuable tool granting:

• Compliance with regulations requiring recording of transaction information (also jointly with IM Virtual Agents specializing in credit card payments, name and address capture, etc.).
• Documentation of verbal contracts defined by customers with automated or assisted services.
• Verification of spoken information accuracy.
• Business insights and process optimization.
• Voice mining to analyze recorded transactions.

This application provides the capability to send/receive faxes by e-mail, improving fax communication by making it a more private, flexible and easily accessible channel, while minimizing the related hardware costs.

Telecom Operators need to address the growing demand for new applications that enable customers to view, hear, interact and access multimedia information seamlessly anytime, anywhere, anyhow.

Since the beginning, IM has been a strategic partner for Carriers providing Customer Interaction Management Solutions for TDM, SIP, and IMS networks.

The IM.Meltemi®2.0 Multimodal Service Delivery Platform, powering our Carrier Solutions, allows implementation of flexible, high-performance, low cost applications in fields like Customer Care, IP Call Center, Value Added Services.

Using IM Carrier Solutions, Telecom Operators can rapidly deploy services for their own customers (In-House mode) or for the customers of their clients (Centrex mode) while benefiting from our innovative service automation design approach based on Natural Language Understanding.

Whether landline, wireless, broadband, cable or satellite, we help to advance Telecom business with Solutions for:

• automated self-service and conversational agents;
• outbound notification;
• self and assisted service mix;
• order provisioning for business/consumer services;
• service inquiries and technical support;
• and much more.

IM Carrier Solutions can be deployed in distributed configurations, generally in N+1 redundancy (local or geographic) to increase system reliability and service availability. In MSDM (Multimedia Server Dual Mode) configuration, it is possible to manage TDM, IP, and IMS network connections simultaneously; this helps during migration processes from TDM to IP as solutions with any mix of TDM, IP, and IMS connectivity are possible even on the same server or interface board. IM Carrier Solutions increase revenues, enhance customer experience in interactive services, and reduce Cap-Ex and Op-Ex expenses.

In an ever changing market, being competitive is a must for network and service providers; to retain their customers, improve revenue flow and keep them happy, new value-added services are to be developed and deployed. The Internet and other open networks provide means for new operators to deliver services from points far beyond local exchange boundaries. Thus, carriers have the imperative to make the right choice, when selecting their value-added service platform. Interactive Media's Network IVR (IM.NIVR) is a carrier grade multichannel platform which is able to run multiple value-added services in one integrated system thus eliminating the need to deploy several separate solutions from different vendors.

IM.NIVR is an end-to -end solution that connects to TDM, SIP, and IMS converged networks (mobile and landline). Using IM.NIVR allows carriers to consolidate and converge services over different networks bringing several advantages:

• Reduces Capital Expense. A single multi-point solution replacing multiple single point solutions can reduce the associated CapEx by up to 80%.
• Reduces Operational Expense. When multiple services run on the same platform, most expensive resources can be dynamically shared across services. This leads to a reduction in the associated OpEx of up to 50%.
• Leverages Multiple Services. Multiple services presence in the same platform allows individual services to interoperate, to leverage and share each other's capabilities (a feature which is not granted by the "one service per platform" paradigm).
• Grows Over Time. Each service on the IM.NIVR system is independent from the others. It can be modified, updated, scheduled, integrated, and customized by a service provider using the remote configuration and administration tools.
• Allows Planning For the Future. Services running on IM.NIVR can be accessed over TDM or SIP trunks or both. This helps network planners as they consider migration from the legacy TDM environment to the VoIP/SIP environment.
• Increases Common Knowledge. Support and development of services are streamlined by the use of the same technology; consistency of branding is ensured by sharing the same "look and feel".
• Features Carrier Grade Architecture. Service uptime is very impor¬tant to Carriers; IM.NIVR is based on fault tolerant and high availability modules to achieve carrier-grade level keeping an optimal scalability. Servers can be deployed at different geographical locations. Databases are automatically kept in sync via real time updates over a TCP/IP connection.
• Has an OA&M Subsystem. IM.NIVR features powerful integrated management software, offering both a user web interface and an SNMP interface for easy collaboration with a carrier's network management system allowing visibility of system and equipment alarms.

Interactive Media Network IVR system features:

• Scalable. Each server can deploy between 8 and 720 ports; add more capacity/servers as your needs increase
• Reliable. Windows/Linux operating system in a carrier-grade server, with redundancy options
• Customizable. Brand your system with your company name and company colors
• Manageable. Web based system administration of system resources
• Flexible. All services are accessible over TDM and IP interfaces
• Expandable. Start with one service and add others as needed
• Useable. Same look and feel for all services
• Adaptable. Begin offering services over your TDM network, easily migrate to VolP/SIP
• Convergence. The very same service is available on TDM and SIP ports without any change
• Ready for next-generation-networks. video ideo features embedded in the base platform can be made active by just adding a new license option.

Source: Interactive Media

Interactive Media designs and delivers IMS-compliant systems spanning from borderline systems (such as gateways) in the Transport layer, to media and resource controllers in the Control layer, to application servers in the Service layer. Our Solutions enable mobile and landline carriers to reduce time-to-market for rolling out new multimedia services and making them available irrespective of the users' location, by integrating existing network elements and terminal devices.

IM-AS (Application Server) is an element of the Service Layer and it hosts application and content services. Generic service enablers that manage service elements like user groups and presence are also included. These service elements are connected to users through the control layer.

IM-MS (Media Server), which includes the MRF (Media Resource Function) Controller and Processor, provides relevant multimedia resources (conferencing, announcements, interactive voice response, etc.) and the interfaces to connect to Accounting and Billing Systems.

IM-VGW (Video Gateway) is a border signaling and media gateway which is able to provide interoperability between packet and circuit switched networks for voice and video ; it also includes the capability to manipulate media format according to network requirements.