Messaging: Mobile E-Mail: Mobile Multimedia Messaging: Unlocking
E-Mail's Potential
Bob Emmerson ROAM December 2000

Mobile network operators now have a unique opportunity to take command
of a gigantic mobile messaging market, argues Bob Emmerson.

We are seeing an accelerating use of e-mail. For many enterprises and
individuals this medium has become a mission-critical communications
tool. In fact, e-mail has become so important for enterprises, SMEs and
many individuals that it is now more than an application: messaging has
become a network resource.

In parallel we have witnessed a dramatic increase in mobility - it's the
raison d'etre for this publication, and wireless communications has
already created a gigantic market that continues to grow at an
unprecedented rate. In fact, it is probably the only high-tech sector
where reality constantly outperforms optimistic forecasts.

Put these two developments together and the conclusion is obvious: the
demand for mobile e-mail is already huge and it's going to get much
bigger.

It will get bigger because the market will demand unified messaging -
access to one mailbox from any client device, anywhere, at any time, and
over any network. And after that it will probably start asking for
multimedia messaging. At this time it is too early to tell if people
will start sending digital postcards over the airwaves and the market
for wireless video is way off. But Nokia is backing this one to the hilt
and the Finns have a habit of being right when it comes to wireless
futures.

More attractive with GPRS, but the case for mobile e-mail clearly
becomes more attractive when GPRS services are up and running. Road
warriors are then 'on line' all the time and e-mail comes in
automatically. The model is the same as that of the wireline LAN.
Messages come in more slowly, but that doesn't matter; this is not an
application that demands high-speed transfer. However, users are not on
line to their normal e-mail server (the corporate host or ISP) unless
that ISP is also the network operator.

Dial-up connections from hotels and airport lounges establish a regular
client/server session, but this can only take place when the client
device is assigned (dynamically) an IP address by the server. This is
needed in order to send e-mail to the correct location, and each dial-up
establishes a new IP address.

In semi-technical parlance, a dial-up link makes the user part of the
regular 'home' network; a packet-switched virtual link does not. Users
in this environment are said to be in a 'remote' network.

IP addresses are associated with a fixed network location, but when the
packet's destination is a mobile node, each new point of attachment made
by the node is associated with a new address (a network number). This
means that transport mobility is not possible.

The long-term solution to this problem is something called Mobile IP .
But in the near and medium-term you have no alternative but to use the
network operator's mobile e-mail service. Operators therefore have a
lock on this market until the IETF nails down the IP Mobility spec - and
the industry implements it.

MAKE OR BREAK

Nobody likes locks on key markets such as messaging, and it is somewhat
surprising that this issue has not received wide coverage in the media.
And the fact that operators have a very poor track record on the mobile
data front is not encouraging. On the other hand, the market is going to
start demanding robust, cost-effective services, and mobile e-mail could
be the White Knight application that operators need to fund those
massive 3G investments. And if they do not respond in time, then
marketing-savvy virtual operators such as Virgin Mobile will. These guys
follow the money.

Here's another take on the messaging scene. "Messaging will be the
primary driver of wireless-data adoption over the next few years,"
according to Dave Jackson of Cahners In-Stat. "We estimate that the
number of wireless messages sent per month will balloon from three
billion in December 1999 to 244 billion by December 2004."

Mobile commerce and location-based services will follow messaging as
growth vehicles, Jackson adds. However, In-Stat warns that the success
of wireless data will depend on the build out of a new infrastructure
that can handle location-based services, high levels of security, new
payment options and detailed billing. "After that, the march toward
wireless data will become a stampede."

Put another way, before you release the e-mail genie you have to open
the bottle.

UNIFIED MESSAGING

There's nothing new about the idea of being able to see all message
types - e-mail, voice mail and faxes - via the same client interface,
such as Exchange or Notes. But behind the unified, client view of
messaging there is a serious integration issue: voice and facsimile
belong to one world and e-mail to another.

The old world way didn't work, and unified messaging (UM) became one of
those developments that began to look like a good idea at the time.

However, times change and the new world environment of IP and e-mail has
turned mobile UM into a 'must have' application.

But the market needs more functionality than mere unification.
Individuals must be able to personalise their e-mail service, for
example, in order to prioritise particular messages. And enterprises
need delivery mechanisms that detect and block viruses and spam before
they reach the desktops.

In addition, access to unified mailboxes must be enabled from a wide
range of mobile devices - smart phones and PDAs as well as notebook PCs.

That's today's benchmark, and it indicates that these mailboxes must be
accessible using an 'anywhere, anytime, any device, any network' model.

The quickest way of matching this messaging model is to use e-mail as a
de facto bearer, and to transport voice mail and faxes as attachments.

In addition, location-based messaging and location-based applications
can be incorporated. And via WAP the location can be made available to
the application using cell ID.

These useful features indicate that UM can easily evolve from e-mail,
and they underline the importance of getting this media type up and
running as soon as possible.

LIMITED RESOURCES

If you are still reading this article, then you probably know all about
long, expensive downloads from hotel rooms. Long - because somebody sent
you files or faxes you didn't need at the time. Thin-client devices will
only indicate that there is an attachment, and in the case of a fax it
can be redirected to the nearest machine. However, the underlying
problem is the same - the smart phone or PDA will choke on all the
messages, and there is a very real danger that the one or two really
important e-mails will be overlooked among the reams of electronic junk
mail.

Fortunately, this one has been solved, although implementation is thin
on the ground. If the service provider uses IMAP (internet messaging
access protocol), users can read the headers in the message without
having to automatically accept the contents of their mailbox and wait
for attached files to download. This feature is known as 'in-place'
messaging. Messaging overload while mobile can also be minimised via the
use of triggers and filters.

In addition, service providers can employ solutions that effectively
stretch resources. For example, Onset Technology has developed an
impressive way of converting faxes to editable text and presenting it in
an e-mail format. This is done by applying probability algorithms to
images that have been optimised for processing, and then converting the
result using a mix of optical character recognition engines. The final
result is a structured e-mail message having standard message components
such as sender, subject and message body. The company is also working on
a similar solution for voice mail.

ONE OBVIOUS CONCLUSION

It's wake up time on the mobile e-mail front.

This isn't one of those windows of opportunity - it's a wall-to-wall
sliding door. Systems vendors have seen it coming; now it's time for
operators to get services up and running. Release the genie and the flow
of much-needed data revenues will start

WHAT IS MOBILE IP?

Mobile IP is an enhancement that provides forwarding of traffic to
moving users. It uses agents in the user's home network and in all
foreign networks.

When logging on to a remote network, users register their presence with
the foreign agent, and the home agent forwards the packets to the remote
network. Without this enhancement 3G's packetised voice service will not
function, but the real driver here is really high-speed mobile data
using a mix of air interfaces. For example, Bluetooth, Wireless LAN and
other technologies that will deliver rates of 20 Mbps and more.
Currently, 4G is the term being used to cover this broad and somewhat
undefined development.