Once upon a time, calls were connected by an operator manually linking lines. That process was then automated and replaced by the switch. The switch contained the intelligence to keep track of all the network's subscribers, who they are, which services they have, and where they are currently located (specifically for mobile networks). These subscriber profile actions were eventually decoupled from the switch and are now termed the Home Location Register, or HLR, which is a mission critical network element. It is also the cornerstone of the Blueslice converged subscriber platform.

Moving forward from the present day, networks will be built more and more on Internet Protocol, or IP, similar to the internet as information is broken up into bits travelling over fiber optic pipes. This network core is called IP Multimedia Subsystem and is currently stabilizing in standardization bodies and trial deployments. In IMS, the HLR is known as the Home Subscriber Server, or HSS, another element built into the Blueslice platform. IMS will serve to optimize the different information running across all types of network, including mobile and fixed line, and enable service providers to easily launch new services, such as video, presence, instant messaging, and other sophisticated or high bandwidth services.

So Blueslice offers this HLR and HSS hybrid product, but we've also built some cool new features on it. For example, if you travel with your mobile phone, you'll notice roaming charges, which can get quite steep. Essentially you are paying a premium to your carrier for the priviledge of using another carrier's network while you're traveling. The network on which you're roaming sees you as a roamer and treats you accordingly. The Blueslice roaming solution makes subscribers on its platform visible to roaming networks as local users -- they are charged as locals and maintain a consistent experience. Also, Blueslice offers virtual numbers for one device or account, so a user can have a local number in New York, Tokyo, and London (for example) as they please.

Fixed Mobile Convergence, or FMC, is the ability for phones to communicate over cellular and IP/WiFi access networks, or for the consolidation of multiple phone numbers or devices into one identity. If you're on a mobile call and you walk into your home, office, Starbuck's, or any WiFi hotspot, the call seamlessly transfers over to that network, and vice versa. That way, the call is cheaper and alleviates the conjestion otherwise on the carrier's network. It also gets you access to faster data speeds for rich multimedia services without requiring the user to make any changes.

Machine-to-machine, or M2M, is the ability for valuable assets or equipment to connect to each other or to businesses that wish to track them. Examples include automatic meter readings, parking meters, and rental car tracking. As the cost of cellular data networks (GPRS) decreases, M2M is using these networks more, for their flexibility and ubiquity, instead of fixed or short range wireless. It's been speculated that there may be billions or even trillions of machines connected this way. Blueslice offers, similarly to our subscriber management, the ability for M2M companies to host all these devices as profiles in the Blueslice platform which has tools specific for M2M like two way communication, customizable fields, and better integration with their current provisioning systems. As the network evolves to support the unique needs of machines, all these assets will be within closer reach and control, and a source of immediate information.

Once upon a time, fixed and mobile networks were separate, and each had its own siloed way of managing subscriber information. In this new era of convergence, more network technologies are coexisting (eg. fixed, VoIP, WiFi, WiMAX, 2G, 3G, 4G, IMS), but the management of a given customer's information is still siloed across the various separate databases. This is expensive and inefficient, and it prevents easy deployment of coherent, converged services across the various networks. Blueslice solves this problem.

As one efficient database for all networks, the Blueslice platform is easier and cheaper to operate and maintain, takes up less space, and is much more flexible for these newly emerging networks.

And if you've made it this far, you'll probably understand our full solutions page!