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Advanced Carrier Service Provider Metaswitch Launches Thrutu App

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March 17, 2011

Advanced Carrier Service Provider Metaswitch Launches Thrutu App

By Jamie Epstein, TMCnet Web Editor


Thrutu is a great new app currently on the market that is designed to allow a user to share multiple types of information and media while on a phone call—all with the press of a single button, and while the call is in progress.


This app has been developed by Metaswitch, a provider of advanced carrier services and software solutions that enable the migration of communications networks to open, packet-based architectures. Hundreds of network operators around the globe rely on Metaswitch Networks for consistently dependable media gateway and application/feature server solutions that create revenue-generating services.

I recently had the chance to interview Steve Gleave, vice president of marketing at Metaswitch, to learn some more about this useful and time-saving application. I was particularly interested in this product because Metaswitch is typically known for upgrading network infrastructure and the services that carriers can offer.

The Thrutu product is essentially a “consumer service” that users can download for free, similar to any other app on the Android market.

Thrutu has two elements, the first being a client app on the Android system, which will soon be available to iPhone (News - Alert) and Blackberry users; and the second, a cloud based service. “When the app is in use, the clients share information through the cloud,” Gleave said. Both the cloud service and the client app are managed and developed by Thrutu.

Gleave said that “Thrutu allows users to seamlessly share information during a phone call. For the past 10 years the carrier systems team within Metaswitch has been all about helping service providers upgrade networks, add new apps, and help them to succeed in what is an extremely competitive market.”

Metaswitch has quite a bit of experience in what service providers truly need. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the fact that phone calls are getting shorter and shorter, with some people even going as far to state that phone calls will soon become non-existent. Others feel that if phone calls end, it will mean a huge loss in social communications.

Thrutu was designed to make phone calls different. A main premise behind the product is if you can extend call minutes with sharing, subscribers will upsize their voice and data plans—which will benefit service providers, as well as allowing for a new experience that users will value.

Gleave said, “Everyone should win.”

Metaswitch’s team quickly developed the product in Palo Alto (News - Alert), Calif., enabling carriers to see the application up and running as a cloud service that “doesn’t require building the complex infrastructures that can greatly increase time-to-market,” Gleave said.

Gleave added, “Thrutu is really about ‘impulsive simplicity’—you can send a photo, by simply pushing one button—not having to think about which other applications to use. When I call you, and we are both on supported end-points, the options to share immediately appear in a transparent drawer over the call in progress screen.”

Many buttons are already defined on Thrutu including photos, location and contact details. Development camps are currently working on more; including the option for mood music, the ability to compare flight plans, and share documents, “all obvious reasons why you would want to share information during the phone call,” Gleave noted.

For businesses, Thrutu will be a natural extension. Gleave gave the example of ordering a pizza using Thrutu, where the pizza restaurant then has the opportunity to send the caller a coupon for future purchases, the menu, or even to process payment.

The target audience for this product is simply any mobile phone user that likes to communicate. Gleave stated, “It is a fun app, and we’ve had thousands of downloads in the first days on the market, with people’s responses being very positive.”

In addition to consumers, there is another audience for Thrutu—service providers. Gleave said, “Thrutu extends the conversation, and starts new ones. Our service provider customers are keen to understand how they can include over the top applications and services in their own product mix.”

Service providers usually take a very long time to launch services as there are so many things to test, scale, and then integrate, so they struggle to do things quickly. They are also concerned about possible take rates for these new services.

This is where Metaswitch comes into play, ahead of the game. Gleave said, “We launch the services, whet the appetites of consumers, test how the service will be successfully deployed, and figure out how it will interoperate with other carrier networks.”

“Metaswitch does the advance work, and then service providers can benefit from it,” Gleave added.

“Service providers around the globe want to bring services to market quickly, and combat the threat from over-the-top competitors, who are using their networks, causing attrition in their installed based and yet offering nothing to the service provider in return,” Gleave stated. “Our goal is to ultimately protect and serve the operator, giving them the tools to compete on all levels.”


Jamie Epstein is a TMCnet Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web editor for TMCnet. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Janice McDuffee







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