Unified Communications Featured Article

Metaswitch Discusses MaX at ITEXPO

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

We wrote about it back in September. But, it was just last month that Metaswitch formally named and announced its mobile collaboration solution. This solution is called MaX by Metaswitch. And it aims to arm cellular service providers with a means to sell SMBs UC solutions.

Chris Carabello (News - Alert) of Metaswitch is at ITEXPO this week promoting the MaX solution. ITEXPO is taking place at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

MaX delivers multi-persona call capabilities through a mobile native dialer. And it’s available in in three versions:

• MaX Business is targeted at micro and small businesses that want shared voice and messaging capabilities.

• MaX Family allows families to create a fixed line experience across any number of mobile devices. It features private message and collaboration feeds and has the ability to create disposable numbers and temporary identities.

• MaX Prosumer allows individuals to have different personas (like one for personal use and one for business) across one or more personal devices.

“Mobile network operators are looking for new and innovative solutions that meet the growing needs of the cord-cutting family, multiple-mobile carrying individuals and small businesses,” said Bill Haskins, UC Analyst at Wainhouse (News - Alert) Research. “Likewise, they are looking for service innovations that deliver returns on their IMS and VoLTE investments. MaX by Metaswitch has our inner-nerds overly-excited – what’s not to like about virtualizing personas on the native-dialer with AI-enabled management across personal and business identities? Combine these with group communications and collaboration, and you not only have a next-gen consumer and business experience, but more importantly, you also have a carrier service positioned for toe-to-toe competition against the growing raft of over-the-top (OTT) services knocking at every user’s front door.”

MaX – previously referred to as Metaswitch Mobile Unified Communications (News - Alert)

– is currently in proof of concept trials with multiple mobile operators.

As we reported in September, Metaswitch believes there’s a market for this because it says existing UC solutions has less than optimal mobile clients and because many UC and UcaaS solutions providers are shifting their focus from the small and medium business market to global accounts.

“We think the mobile operator can do very well here,” Carabello told me last year.

Cellular network operators already have established relationships with businesses and consumers, he said, which are increasingly cutting the cord on wireline connections and going mobile. Yet, to date, mobile operators haven’t done much beyond offering voice and data plans, he said. However, they could grow their revenues by introducing mobile-centric UC offerings, and in the process disrupt the market in which RingCentral (News - Alert) plays, he said.