Roke Extends SmartSwitch to iOS

As Moore’s Law allows mobile devices to get cheaper and more powerful, more people are buying smartphones and tablets. Customers want to avoid big monthly bills, network outages and malware and so do network operators. Mobile operators will have to manage their networks closely if they want to keep their subscribers. Luckily, one software application will allow them to do just that.

Roke Manor Research has unveiled a new version of its SmartSwitch subscriber management and connection management application for iOS. The SmartSwitch allows organizations to extend their mobile policies to iOS devices and even respond to real-time device conditions.

The app by the Romsey, England-based arm of Chemring can improve data performance, improve battery life and quality of network service across multiple networks. It can also offload heavy data use onto Wi-Fi, keeping the mobile network from getting choked with packets from demanding uses such as from streaming video.

Additionally, the offering can protect subscribers from high phone bills each month and installing harmful apps that can damage their devices and cause problems with security and reliability on the network. The data that apps get from the phone can be limited.

Networks can personalize their service by offering upsells and contextual marketing to customers based on how they actually use the network. Using SmartSwitch will allow carriers to customize their offerings to subscribers and also allow them to differentiate their brands.

Roke and Tekelec also teamed up back in September to deploy SmartSwitch across various devices, engaging in interoperability testing on Tekelec’s Mobile Policy Gateway.

Roke has released other products designed to secure mobile networks recently. It debuted a NEBS-compliant inspections probe dubbed “Aquila” in June.

"The ability to monitor and collect relevant data more precisely is increasingly vital to reduce both cyber crime and support homeland security activity,” Roke Product Manager, Alan Burnett commented.