Messaging and Directory Server software used around the world in the Government, Military, Aviation and Commercial sectors.

isode.com / about / news

Media Resources: Isode and the Mobile Messaging Market

Background

There is strong and growing demand for mobile messaging with Forrester Research estimating that the market for mobile messaging in Europe alone will grow by 92% over the next 5 years. Many of the solutions provided to allow users to retrieve and act on emails received whilst on the move are currently based on proprietary protocols (such as Blackberry-type devices).

Isode believes that the best route for mobile messaging is to employ products based on Open Standards for two main reasons:

• Device independence: the user should not be constrained in the choice of device to access email.
• Service independence: the owner of a device should be able to move easily between different service providers.

Why Isode?

Isode has already established a good reputation with messaging systems based on our M-Switch product line. However we realized that the standard protocols on which internet messaging is currently based (SMTP and IMAP) are not sufficient for the particular demands of mobile messaging (low bandwidth and limited storage being 2 of the most obvious).

With this in mind Isode become involved in the LEMONADE (License to Enhanced Mobile Oriented And Diverse Endpoints) working group formed by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to produce extensions to standards to support, amongst other requirements, mobile messaging.

Where do Isode's products fit into a solution?

When launched in mid-May, Isode's M-Box IMAP server will incorporate many of the (still evolving) conclusions of the LEMONADE group, including:

• Message alert: a mechanism for the user to be alerted when new messages arrive without having to proactively check the server.
• Optimization for broken network connections: a quick reconnect mechanism for when connections are unexpectedly broken (train passing though a tunnel for instance).
• Attachment streaming: streaming a voice or music email attachment to the device rather than downloading.
• Forward without download: the ability to forward a message with a large attachment to a third-party without downloading the attachment to the device.

You can read more about LEMONADE and Isode's IMAP Strategy in this whitepaper.

What is the current state of the market?

Isode M-Box was launched in mid-May 2005. Please email marketing if you wish to be included on the announcement list.