In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week CEO Dario Calogero introduces Ubiquity.
What does Ubiquity do?
Ubiquity Group is a global multi-channel messaging platform provider, focusing on ubiquitous communication for Large Enterprises, SME (small and medium-sized enterprises), and Developers, providing innovative solutions. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, the company has 184 professionals across Europe, India, and the Middle East, in 8 offices locations.
When did you launch and what growth have you seen?
Ubiquity was founded in Milan in 1999 and immediately positioned itself as a specialist player in IT and telecommunication solution provider for large accounts.
In 2003 Ubiquity announced the Transactional Messaging Platform to send/receive notifications and became the trusted provider of Alert SMS management services for the leading Italian financial institutions.
Over the next few years (2003 – 2009) Ubiquity consolidated its position as the market leader of Alert SMS management for the Italian banking and financial sector. In 2009 Ubiquity launched the Bulk SMS platform, targeting other sectors and began managing mobile marketing campaigns.
In 2016, the total notification traffic directed by Ubiquity Group was over 16 billion, with more than 56% growth rate compared to the previous year.
In 2010 Ubiquity became an OLO Telephone Operator (Other Licensed Operator) authorized by the Ministry of Economic Development Department For Communications to manage Premium and Bulk SMS numbers. In 2013 Ubiquity added new platform services such as push notification, loyalty campaign systems and tools for direct cross-channel marketing. In 2015, Ubiquity developed an SMS application for Oracle Eloqua, Oracle’s B2B (Business to Business) Cross-Channel Marketing solution.
In 2016 Ubiquity obtained ISO 27001 certification and became a partner of GSMA, set up Ubiquity International SA in Switzerland and acquired Solutions Infini, a mobile communications platform market leader in India.
What are your main goals?
Ubiquity supports the clients in their digital mobile transformation. Our “Ubiquitous Communication Platform” manages Bulk and Premium Alert, E-mail and Push Notification, Instant Messaging, and Voice.
Additionally Ubiquity provides consultancy services, exploiting its long-standing experience in the messaging sector and collaboration with large companies.
Ubiquity handles both Premium notification, paid by the end user and Bulk notification, free for the receiver and paid for by the sender. In both cases, the services are provided through secure connections with Mobile Network Operators or other international partners. In the case of Push Notification, the service offer is more centralized and transparent compared with the other providers with fallback SMS. For the E-Mail service, the Platform provides the management of transactions and marketing campaigns, and voice-based inbound and outbound solutions and campaigning solutions.
Among the most used services provided by our Platform, there are the management of Alert, the One Time Password and PIN Codes sent via SMS.
Where do you see yourselves in three years’ time?
We are working hard to expand and implement our Platform and footprint globally. In the next few years we will become a bigger and bigger player in mobile messaging industry, thus opening new markets and launching new services anticipating market trends.
What aspect of mobile is most exciting to you right now?
Mobile-only communication is the next big thing in technology, (most of all) in our lives and daily experiences. This will change the way customers communicate with the businesses. As a Global messaging Platform Company we are delighted and honored to support our customers in their digital transformation, towards an “always-on” experience, safe, performing, complete.
Additionally Rich Communication Suite (RCS) and Chatbots will disrupt the A2P mobile communication industry over the next few years.
What’s the most critical issue that will hit mobile within the next 12 months?
We believe security will be one the most critical issues within the next 12 months.
Cyber Attacks, mobile security, hacking strategies, cryptosystems, and infected mobile communications: a world of threats is growing and risking mobile communications security. The data are merciless: cybercrime kills more than one million victims a day all over the world with hundreds of billions damages.
More than ever, it is time to develop and acquire real-time Alert Infrastructures, able to – for example – notify the success of a withdrawal, of a payment by credit card, a bank transfer, a short digital business that invests our finances or our “data.” Ubiquity is there.
Apart from your own, which mobile companies are the ones to watch in the year ahead?
Right now there are lots of startup mobile companies offering interesting business models. In addition, there are plenty of venture backed mobile companies, still present in the market.
However, we should also have an eye on the big players such as operators, banks, retailers.
We have been featured by Juniper Research as a worldwide Mobile Messaging Leading Challenger.
Ubiquity has garnered an impressive amount of experience in the industry, having been founded in 1999. Juniper believes that Ubiquity is a leading challenger to players such as GENBAND and Tata Communications due to its strong service base in the fields of SMS and push notifications and variety of the solutions that it provides.
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