What you’ll learn:
- Features available with Oracle’s Enterprise Communication Platform (ECM).
- How integrating AT&T’s IoT and network APIs helps users take advantage of ECM.
- Range of potential applications for the platform.
Oracle, looking to enhance its real-time communications in its cloud applications, has integrated AT&T’s IoT connectivity and network APIs into its Enterprise Communications Platform (ECP). This integration will enable Oracle’s cloud customers to connect and manage their IoT devices on AT&T’s network.
Built around the company’s Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), ECP acts as a communications foundation and edge architecture that lets users embed within their Oracle application stack, mitigating the burden of having to manage complex integrations and network contracts. Driven by AT&T’s APIs, ECP provides the groundwork for new industry applications across many sectors and supports multiple IoT protocols to connect edge and mobile devices over public and private communications networks.
Key Features of the Enterprise Communications Platform
Integrating AT&T’s APIs within ECP also offers enhanced services such as video and audio streaming, recording capabilities, edge distributed processing, authorization, authentication, and more. Furthermore, ECP brings a host of features that make it easy to develop and manage innovative communication capabilities:
- Conference: The conference function in ECP combines IoT device data with human interaction to support a wide range of use cases, such as basic connectivity to the cloud, integrating data sources, mission-critical incident management, event history, etc.
- Edge Management: The ECP network edge device is an on-premises platform that abstracts the complexity of managing several devices and optimizes data transmission. It also streamlines data processing; captures and processes voice, video, and data at a remote location; and coordinates with the edge management to keep the data, devices, and process synchronized between the Oracle Cloud solution and the ECP network edge device.
- IoT Device Management: Tracks, monitors, and lifecycle manages large numbers of connected devices. In addition, it ensures devices work properly, are secured after deployment, provide authenticated access to the devices, monitors health, and can troubleshoot potential device problems remotely. The Device Manager allows for registration of connected devices individually or in bulk, and may readily manage permissions so that device access is authorized and authenticated.
- Mobile Device Management: Provides security, control, and policy enforcement for a wide range of devices that use the Android operating system. It also manages the Android device lifecycle applications and integrates flexible device policies. With MDM, users can see the status of their mobile devices and take action remotely, if necessary, via portals.
- Connectivity Management: Supports secure, access-agnostic connectivity services so that IoT devices can connect to the Oracle Cloud. Connections may be made directly to the Oracle Cloud or via an ECP network edge device. Moreover, it optimizes network efficiency and enables the IoT operations manager to set data-transfer capabilities for specific IoT devices or get alerts about unusual data spikes.
- Authentication and authorization: As the title suggests, authentication and authorization makes it possible for users to intelligently control access to ECP, enforce policies, audit usage, and provide operational information. It also offers a method of identifying a user's device.
Potential ECP use cases include communications-enabled restaurant operations, automated utility grid management, and enhanced telehealth capabilities. FirstNet, America’s public safety network, is a prime example of ECP’s capabilities, which provide secure communications for critical functions, including dispatch command centers and near real-time camera feeds for first responders.
“Our mission has always been to help improve the way the world communicates, and with ECP supported by AT&T and FirstNet, we’re taking a massive step toward that vision,” said Andrew Morawski, Executive VP and GM of Oracle Communications. “Together, we can help organizations across industries benefit from the full potential of 5G by building a new generation of vertical applications offering endless opportunities to innovate.”
