The European Computer Telecoms Group (ECT) Realises Expansion of Innovative Ring Back Tone Service, Ring-Up-Tones, at Leading German Mobile Carrier

Following the successful launch of its Ring-Up-Tones at the CeBIT in 2004, Vodafone D2 is now vastly expanding its capacities for this value-added service based on ECTs Ring Back Tone Application. ECT, Europes market leader for intelligent value-added services in fixed-line and mobile networks, won the follow-up contract for the realisation of the project. The ring back tone service has been very successful across Europe and has emerged as a profitable application for mobile carriers," said Dr. Marshall E. Kavesh, CEO and co-founder of the ECT Group. I am very pleased that the successes we predicted for this innovative service have been realised so quickly."

Düsseldorf, Munich (PRWEB) March 18, 2005 -- With the ECT Ring Back Tone Application, mobile subscribers can choose from various songs, jokes or other sounds to be played to their callers, while the familiar ring back tone is heard in the background. The service works regardless of who calls, and subscribers can easily configure their personalized ring back tone using a variety of user interfaces including web, WAP, interactive voice response (IVR), and SMS.

Additionally, the ECT Groups application offers numerous tariff models for mobile carriers, ranging from a fixed monthly fee to fees per transaction.

The ECT Group offers a customisable and scalable solution for the ring back tone service, and has realized a number of successful projects with major carriers across Europe. These include Vodafone D2 in Germany, Tele2 throughout Europe, TeliaSonera Finland, and Omnitel in Lithuania. The solution includes network interfaces for post-paid and prepaid billing and provisioning, a statistics package, and a content provider interface.

Background information on the ECT Ring Back Tone Application
The traditional ring back tone is the tone heard by someone who calls your telephone number. The ECT Ring Back Tone Application allows mobile subscribers to replace this standard tone with a personalised sound file. The mobile subscriber can assign different ring back tones to different callers or group of callers, even dependent upon the date, weekday and/or time. The personalised ring back tone can be a pop song purchased over a portal, a message recorded by the subscriber, a corporate advertisement, a joke, etc.

User Interfaces for your Mobile Subscribers: Each implementation of the ECT Ring Back Tone Application generally includes four customised user interfaces for the administration of the service by the mobile subscriber: Telephone interface via interactive voice response (IVR), a web portal, a WAP portal and an SMS interface.

Interfaces to Content Providers: The customised web portal provided by ECT offers content providers an open data interface for the uploading of ring back tones, definition of ring back tone group, pricing of ring back tones, downloading of event tickets and statistics, etc. You can make this interface available to external providers also delivering content or reserve this interface for your internal use.

There are three different architectures to realise this service: The AutoCarrier® Softswitch in a central or a de-central service node architecture with tromboning, without tromboning using the call drop back feature in the Mobile-Switching-Center (MSC) or in an Intelligent Network Architecture with the INtellECT® Service Control Point and AutoCarrier® Communications Servers as Intelligent Peripherals.

The complete solution of the ECT Group contains the following components:
•   Customised AutoCarrier® Data Warehousing and Separate File Server, e.g. for library of ring back tones, subscriber data, transaction-based records, call data records, statistics, etc.
•   Customised interfaces from the AutoCarrier® Data Warehousing to your Customer Care System and billing databases as well as to content providers.
•   Customised user interfaces and front ends for the administration and usage of the system by the subscriber, e.g. SMS, interactive voice response (IVR), WAP, GPRS PDA, mobile handset JAVA applets and web interfaces.

About the European Computer Telecoms Group
The European Computer Telecoms Group, ECT for short, was established in Munich, Germany in 1998, shortly after the German telecommunications market was liberalised. Today ECT encompasses the parent company, European Computer Telecoms AG, as well as the European Computer Telecoms Ltd. in London and the ECT Vertriebs- and Servicegesellschaft mbH in Munich. In addition, there are registered ECT Sales and Service Centres in Paris, Strasbourg, The Hague, Warsaw, and Vienna. ECT is also affiliated with Interactive Technologies Holdings Limited in Hong Kong and has a direct sales and service presence in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. In 2004 ECT received the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award" due to its being one of Germanys fastest-growing technology companies.

ECT enables highly profitable value-added services via software applications running on its own complete line of open platforms for public switching, service nodes, intelligent networks, intelligent peripherals, and next-generation networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). ECTs mobile value-added services (e.g., Mobile Office, Mobile Group Call, Number Portability, Prepaid Mobile, Ring Back Tone, and 3G Video Mail) are utilised by major mobile carriers, such as Vodafone D2, Tele2, TeliaSonera, Omnitel, the Saunalahti Group, and Hutchison. ECT's fixed-line customers include major incumbents, such as BT, Deutsche Telekom, and TeliaSonera, as well as alternative carriers, such as Tele2, Completel, Telewest, and Versatel. ECTs value-added services are also to be found at major internet service providers, such as the United Internet AG, as well as larger providers of prepaid calling cards and services, such as Alpha Telecom, the Calling Card Company Ltd., Central Telecom, and Mox Telecom. In the recently liberalised markets of Eastern Europe, ECT also provides cost-efficient and low-maintenance public switching with interconnection. In the Czech Republic, for instance, ECT has equipped virtually all the alternative carriers including PragoNet, the local subsidiary of the Deutsche Telekom Group.

ECT has developed a large family of applications for value-added services, such as fixed-line and mobile number portability, service numbers with televoting and network-based call centre functionality, ring back tone, prepaid mobile, teleconferencing, personal number, and prepaid calling cards. Additional service applications are introduced on a regular basis, all of which run on both the ECT AutoCarrier® and INtellECT® platforms. The AutoCarrier® is a class 4 softswitch that can be utilised for both interconnection to the public telephone network as well as intelligent value-added services. Via its INtellECT® Service Control Point, ECT realises intelligent networks with the Intelligent Network Application Protocol (INAP) CS1 and CS2.

For further press information:
European Computer Telecoms AG   
Hagen Gutsfeld
Marketing and PR   

Ridlerstraße 55   
80339 Munich
Germany   
Tel.: (0049) 89/ 55 29 47 -- 169
Fax: (0049) 89/ 55 29 47 - 111
E-Mail: hagen.gutsfeld@ect-telecoms.de   European Computer Telecoms AG   
Christine Wagner
Head of Marketing

Ridlerstraße 55   
80339 Munich
Germany   
Tel.: (0049) 89/ 55 29 47 - 911
Fax: (0049) 89/ 55 29 47 - 111
E-Mail: christine.wagner@ect-telecoms.de

###