Smart companion [contextual communication services]

When today´s connected ´nomads´ move from place to place and try to interact with equipment in the vicinities they inhabit, e.g. hotspots in airports, ticket vending machine on train stations, appliances in the home, they need personalized help to ensure these interactions are effective. Operators can help these users by leveraging the network connectivity of the device these users carry. They can offer personalized help on such a device, which enables customers to communicate with surrounding equipment. On the one hand, the device has network connectivity, (3G, xDSL). On the other hand, it can interact with surrounding equipment using radio (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc). In this scenario, the user relies on this smart and secure device as if it is his/her companion. This is the idea behind the concept of a ´smart companion´. This is achievable today. Operators have entered into the service offering space in addition to their core network offerings (3G, xDSL etc). With the advantages of carrier grade infrastructure and connectivity with subscriber devices, operators are in the best position to host the preferences of network subscribers (language preference, appointments, etc.) in order to provision the users´ requirements at any specific time or location. The paper discusses scenarios around such contextual services. It examines infrastructure requirements for provisioning of services to different user devices. The paper attempts to analyze the architecture, the current market situation and the challenges that have to be addressed for the successful roll out of such services.