The Richardson, Texas-based company has only one publicly announced customer, business telephony provider Strata8 Networks, which has operations in some 20 states of the US. However, newly appointed CEO Alastair Westgarth said trials are at an advanced stage with a number of larger carriers.
We hope to have four to six operators online with our technology by mid-2008, said Westgarth, adding that this is expected to include one or two Tier-1 players in Europe, as well as perhaps a second in the US.
Tango’s technology is posited on the existence of an IP Multimedia Subsystem architecture at a mobile operator. It delivers FMC without resorting to client software on handsets or relying on dual-mode cellular/WiFi phones and a wireless LAN in an enterprise, though it can work in these environments. It works across mobile technology generations (2G, 2.5G, and 3G) and different radio access modes (GSM and CDMA).
It works by deploying its Abrazo servers in two places. There is a main device in the core of the carrier’s network, called the Abrazo-C, and one on the enterprise’s premises, called an Abrazo-E, to interoperate with its PBX.
We can also deploy the C and the E servers in the cloud for managed or hosted services, said Westgarth. He said a single C can support multiple Es though an enterprise with multiple sites need buy only one Abrazo-E.
When a corporate user makes a call on a mobile phone, the accompanying signaling information is picked up in the carrier network where the Abrazo-C decides how best to route it from a cost perspective. If the user is in another country and their company has offices there too, the home carrier routes it to the Abrazo-E in that country so it can be treated as a local call there.
A feature Tango will be adding to Abrazo is support for the Voice Call Continuity to enable seamless handover between cellular and WiFi. We’ve also filed some patents on technology that allows us, if the carrier desires, to put control of the VCC function on the enterprise side instead of in the carrier’s network, said Westgarth.
