Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a non-proprietary open standard for mobile end user equipment when it comes to the transfer and management of Internet content. It delivers Internet content to the mobile telephone, puts the Internet on the road, brings it to life and promotes mobile commerce.

The WAP "One-Stop Shopping Solution" from Materna
Maternas aim is to expand its current leading role in SMS short messaging (Materna distributes 240 million SMS messages a month) to include WAP technology and offer its customers innovative and professionally operated solutions based on WAP standards. The fact that WAP is a long-term trend, not just marketing hype on the part of manufacturers, was recently confirmed by the Giga Information Group. In a mere two years time, so the experts estimate, more people will be accessing the Internet via WAP terminals than via PCs.

WAP Portals, Personalization and Services
WAP portals are the entry pages for the world of mobile Internet communications and integrate all WAP applications on the mobile phone display panel in a neat, easy-to-understand manner. Commercial WAP portals designed by Materna for the mass market can be downloaded from companies like VIAG Interkom and E-Plus. Using the WAP portal, it is possible to access a multitude of information offerings (news, weather, sports, entertainment, etc.). Personalization allows the user to customize the portal offering to meet his own interests and needs. Personalization can be done via the world wide web.

Materna WAP Mail
One of the most sought-after WAP applications is WAP Mail. Materna WAP Mail is a WML-based application allowing e-mail access via WAP. The user of an existing e-mail account is given full access to the account via the WAP phone and can read, answer and send e-mails. VIAG Interkom was the first network operator to introduce the Materna WAP Mail service - as early as December 1999.

Materna WAP Search
With its WAP Search Engine, Materna offers help in finding ones way around the entire content offering of existing WAP sites. Even now, there are well over 30,000 WAP pages registered on the search engine. Materna WAP Search is used by network operators such as E-Plus and others. For E-Plus, a WAP catalogue was added to the search function, listing the most interesting links by subject heading.

OTA Server
Using the Over-The-Air (OTA) Server, end user phones and equipment can be configured automatically to use the WAP service. The Materna WAP Gateway has this kind of OTA configuration in order to configure the mobile phone fully automatically "over the airways" for accessing WAP content. This method transfers configuration data automatically to the WAP terminal. The entire procedure only takes around one minute and saves the customer the trouble of entering all the configuration parameters.

Mobile Unified Messaging
Mobile Unified Messaging enables WAP-compatible mobile phones to access communications functionality such as fax, e-mail, voicemail and CTI. As one of the leading providers of unified messaging, Materna offers its Office Edition product. Used in conjunction with the Materna WAP Gateway, the widest possible variety of communications media are now made accessible by people on the move via WAP telephones. For example, a companys field sales and service personnel can at any time access the pan-service journal which was previously only accessible via PC.

MATERNA Information & Communications
The Materna Group is one of the leading German software vendors in information and communications technology. Materna currently has a staff of over 900 people throughout Europe. As well as its headquarters in Dortmund, the company has branches and subsidiaries throughout Germany as well as France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. Its offering includes products, solutions and services for E-Solutions (E-Commerce, Customer Relationship Management, System Management), Mobile Solutions and Unified Messaging.

For further information, contact:

MATERNA Information & Communications
Press and Public Relations Office
Christine Siepe
Vosskuhle 37
D-44141 Dortmund
Germany
Tel. (+49) 231/55 99-1 68
Fax (+49) 231/55 99-1 65
E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.materna.de/presse