Hours after a Paris-based voice, data and video solutions provider unveiled its new Web-based UC solution, an online publication that covers the VoIP space said the offering likely will challenge – and possibly even “kill” – a new, free speech recognition service from the Internet’s search and ad leader.

 

Telephony Online’s Ed Gubbins in a story here says that Alcatel-Lucent’s “5155 Rich Communications Manager” poses a potentially lethal danger to Google Voice, which gives users one number for all their phones and then transcribes voice messages into text.

 

Alcatel-Lucent’s (News - Alert) offering “not only matches the converged communication features newly offered by the search giant but also allows telecom service providers to leverage their own unique advantages to one-up over-the-top providers.”

 

In advance of the product’s launch at CTIA Wireless 2009, TMCnet today interviewed Ray Colbert, Alcatel-Lucent’s director of Rich Communication marketing strategy.

 

We learned during our interview that much of Alcatel-Lucent’s focus on developing the next-generation solution was Internet-based, and that the company paid attention to end users’ habits and the rising popularity of social networking tools such as Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter.

Specifically, Colbert told us, Alcatel-Lucent understands that the Web is where innovation is happening now. Grasping that, Alcatel-Lucent developed Rich Communication Manager and so-called “WebCom widgets.” The company envisions widgets and mash-ups for photos, songs and videos, that seamlessly integrate social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace (News - Alert), with a service provider’s communication assets – a network address book, presence, location, voice mail, voice calling, SMS/MMS.

 

“By blending activities previously only available on mobile handsets with services on the Internet, exciting new personalized experiences for consumers and businesses are created,” Colbert told us. “This includes the convenience of unified messaging – being able to access, manage and share all of their fixed and mobile messages and converged content in one place – a Web portal on your laptop – whether at home, work or on the move. It is all about delivering superior value. Customers are looking for value.”

 

The key here is that the service providers can take the RCM and do with it what they wish.

Here's what the Alcatel-Lucent solution looks like (click image to enlarge):

 

As Gubbins points out, Google (News - Alert) Voice offers single-number follow-me Internet calling, visual voicemail, text-message routing, voicemail transcription and simple conference calling.

 

“While the RCM is designed to arm telecom service providers with features similar to Google Voice’s, Alcatel-Lucent believes its customers can also wield their natural advantages as carriers to out-do Google and its kind,” Gubbins writes. “For example, unlike Google, carriers using RCM don’t have to assign users a new phone number and re-route calls from the old number to the new. And carriers have information on their customers’ location as well as identification authentication capabilities that OTT providers don’t have.”