HipLink & TCS Offer New Enterprise Grade Communications Solution
Effective communication means having everyone on the same page. However, any time you need to coordinate secure communications across a diverse group — from first responders covering a natural disaster to officials at sporting events to enterprise executives to facilities managers on college campuses — the biggest challenge is ensuring that messages are delivered reliably and securely, regardless of the mobile device they are using. A new partnership between HipLink and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) solves the challenge, cost-effectively with HipLink’s new HipText feature.
HipLink, a premier provider of unified critical communications solutions, has a long history of innovations in the communications industry. This spring, HipLink and TCS entered an agreement making HipLink an authorized Distributor of TCS Cloud Messaging Center (CMC) technology. The TCS CMC provides a specialized messaging platform geared specifically toward enterprise customers, delivering secure connectivity via SMPP, SMTP, MM7, SNPP, WCTP, TAP, and the Web.
This new partnership allows secure, high-speed information to be delivered to any carrier handset devices — worldwide. “Together, our resources and expertise provide a simple and secure messaging network for HipLink customers,” stated Pamela LaPine, HipLink CEO.
Simpler, direct messaging
Since pioneering the first U.S. wireless E9-1-1 solution in 1998, TCS, a world leader in highly reliable and secure mobile communication technology, has been leading transformations in public safety solutions for wireless communications. Now, HipLink’s partnership with TCS delivers a secure mobile messaging platform, ensuring interoperability across any mobile device, regardless of carrier.
With this new solution, enterprises no longer send messages across myriad public carrier networks. Instead, TCS’ CMC aggregates all the diverse enterprise’s wireless networks, allowing organizations to communicate directly to mobile handsets using the same interfaces they currently employ. HipLink integrates seamlessly with the TCS CMC and ensures the integrity of the messaging process.
With this solution, enterprises can communicate with a mobile workforce, organizations can coordinate workflows with partners around the world, and universities can send alerts to campus residents.
2014 FIFA World Cup: Bringing the world together
The challenge of creating a secure messaging service for multiple agencies came to the forefront during preparation for one of the most complex events imaginable: the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In preparation for hosting the World Cup, the city of Rio de Janeiro created the highly-sophisticated Rio Operations Center (COR) to coordinate communications among key personnel in many different city organizations and public safety agencies.
The complex safety and response network operations encompassed 30 agencies and over 2,500 devices daily. The Operations Center had to ensure instant, interoperable communications among city officials, hotel representatives, FIFA personnel, Maracana stadium officials, power and utility officials, and other World Cup stakeholders as well as a myriad of first-responder agencies.
Key individuals within these organizations needed to receive messages about traffic conditions, critical information relating to venues and events, issues of public safety, and any other information deemed important by COR.
To meet this global-scale challenge, HipLink and TCS teamed to provide the COR with a unique and comprehensive messaging platform.
The HipLink platform enabled COR to control account access, manage groups, create messages, and select recipients. COR messages were delivered through the TCS CMC platform, which determines the appropriate delivery method, converts messaging protocols, and routes the messages to the appropriate wireless carrier for delivery to the designated recipients.
Breaking the boundaries of wireless communication
A critical challenge in an event of this size is creating an environment that allows mobile devices to communicate across any carrier network, regardless of device type.
The new HipText service, offered by HipLink, uses the TCS CMC for delivering text messages to cell phones across the world with complete end-to-end interoperability to the mobile carrier networks, allowing for confirmed message receipt.
To overcome interoperability challenges, the companies have come together to develop the HCCTP protocol, a modification of standard WCTP. HCCTP allows for capture of two-way responses from cell phones across different carriers without having to define the carrier in the communication system.
This solution is unique because it means companies that use HipLink no longer have to maintain WCTP gateway access to multiple carriers if they use only HipText. Their receivers are free to move to any carrier of choice.
HipText is available at a competitive price per message. And, because it is powered by TCS, HipText is a comprehensive, high-performance and high-volume messaging solution that easily allows scaling to millions of text messages a day.
Freeing public safety agencies from restricted communications
The sophisticated capabilities of the HipLink platform combined with the broad telecommunications technology of the world-class TCS Cloud Messaging Center provided COR the first ever comprehensive and interlinking communications network.
The solution is a breakthrough that offers a model for public safety communication around the world.