The first ever Telecom API conference ran in London from 11-13th November.  We ran a packed pre-conference workshop (see picture opposite) entitled, “All You Wanted to Know About Telecom APIs, But Were Too Afraid to Ask!” with about 30 attendees from around the world.  Presentations included Tropo, Apidaze and Telestax.  Below are the slides presented at the event.  In 2014 IIR are planning a Next Generation Service Platforms event which brings together the legacy (IMS/NGIN/PSTN), APIs, and WebRTC in one event.

I show below the some slides that capture some of the highlights from the event:

• Telefonica case study on using product representations to manage the balance between reuse and agility with API platforms;
• Telecom Italia on their API growth, from 1B to 1.5B transactions per month (note this does not include cloud service API transactions that some telcos use to bump-up their numbers);
• iDirect (Satellite Comms) shows API are relevant in their business with a model very similar to Telecom Italia in working with partners;
• Great case study from Thomson Reuters that makes every Telco’s API platform look like a sandbox compared to their 50 microsecond performance (not milli, micro a thousand times smaller). Highlights the growing issue of API complexity (as discussed in the Telefonica and Telecom Italia case studies);
• Zain Kuwait shows important of BSS (Business Support System) APIs in helping partners sell more of your services;
• Excellent review from BlueVia on what it takes to build mobile payment service success; and
• Tripadvisor show the model telcos must adopt in embedding their services everywhere.