Ever hear the expression "you are what you eat?" Well, a similar analogy might hold true for mobile operators. Offer only flat-rate data plans to subscribers, and you'll find yourself falling flat in lots of other areas - from revenues to subscriber growth.

But with the rising costs of implementing sophisticated server technologies - not to mention an increasingly competitive environment where everyone wants to profit from the surging demand for data - how does a service provider expand its offerings?

In a recent webinar that explored new cost-efficient approaches and architectures for growing 3G mobile service revenues beyond flat-rate data plans, Ray Adensamer, senior product marketing manager for RadiSys, explained how the Integrated Mobile (News - Alert) Media Server can help. IMMS technology is designed to deliver two-way personalized 3G services, along with new methods to monetize one-way streaming services passing through the Mobile Service Provider networks, all while positioning your network for future 4G/LTE (News - Alert) mobile architectures.

The free, hour-long webinar is loaded with ideas for mobile network operators, telecom equipment manufacturers, Video over IP (VoIP) application vendors and system integrators - plus product managers and software architects interested in developing personalized, interactive video telephony services.

One service poised for growth is mobile couponing, Adensamer recently told TMCnet. By managing the communication between manufacturers, retailers and consumers, service providers can use mobile couponing to capture revenue as opposed to simply facilitating a transaction."Paper-based means you're pushing content to consumers, but with mobile couponing you can get consumers to pull coupons," Adensamer told TMCnet. "We've asked service providers, 'Why not integrate Interactive Voice and Video Response (IVVR) capabilities with the delivery of mobile coupons to mobile phone?'"

For example, consumers see a sale and dial a number to receive a coupon. The IVVR session could then instruct the consumer to opt-in to receive a coupon, get more audio-based or text-based information on the product, or even forward a call to a product expert or sales representative. A network operator could manage the distribution of the coupon through SMS or MMS modes via its networks and capture revenues through several different business models.

Want to learn more? If you missed the May 13 presentation, you're in luck. The full session, complete with a Q&A from participants, is available through TMCnet's archives.