User Identification Solutions in Converging Networks

Mike Pluke

ETSI Specialist Task Force STF 157

Leader of :

ETSI STF 157

• The Human Factors group within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is leading this work.

• The Specialist Task Force comprises 3 people funded to study “User Identification Solutions in Converging Networks”and produce an “ETSI Guide” document on the topic.

The Terms of Reference

• Discover real user requirements for user identification

• Develop an implementation-free expression of these requirements

• Identify potential solution options

• Create an implementation “Roadmap” for solutions

So What Is The “User Identification” Issue

• The number of communications systems is increasing

• Each system has its own identification system

• Telephone Numbers mean very little

• Contacting people isn’t necessarily getting easier

• Identification-system developments are uncoordinated

A Typical Case

• A fixed telephone on their office desk

• A mobile telephone

• A fixed (shared) telephone at home

• An email address used for work purposes

• A personal email address used at home

A person can have:

Which of these is Mike Miles?

Communicating Today

Communicating Today

Communicating Today

Communicating Today

• The caller has to guess the most successful way to communicate

• Most callers don’t know all the user identifiers• Terminals are linked to communication type• User identifier schemes linked to communication type• Some user identifiers are linked to terminals• With a new service supplier you can keep the same

telephone number but your email address must change• Terminals/user identifiers linked to users’ roles

What’s Wrong?

Solution Attempts

• Supplementary services can match people to locationse.g. Call Diversion

• Some systems can locate the called person if they register themselves on a different terminal

• You can register your own internet domain name

• BUT frequently these systems give the wrong results

• Many solutions lock users to 1 provider• Proprietary solutions are incompatible• Most solutions rely on fixes applied to

legacy systems• Most solutions are unfriendly – to the caller

and/or to the person who is called• There is probably no fully comprehensive

global solution

Problems With Current Solutions

Human Communication Needs

Even though modern communications systems may create new communication needs …

Basic communication needs have changed very little since the dawn of man

Historic Communications NeedsPeople have always needed to contact:

An Individual

“Mary Jones”

A Role

A local locksmith

A Place

“23 Dearing Lane”

A Group

The Sales Team

Tomorrow

Individuals, roles, groups and places

People will still need to contact:

People Not Terminals

“People are outsiders in the current communications revolution. Computer hosts, pager terminals and telephones are addressable entities throughout the Internet and telephony systems.”

Extract from “The Mobile People Architecture” from Stanford University

High-level User Requirements

• A unified way of setting up a communication

• Reduce the complexity for the caller

• Make it easy for the called person to manage their communications

• Give more options to the caller and the called person

What’s Needed?

• Only 1 user identifier needed per individual or role

• An integrated user identifier search mechanism• Recognise that Martin Böcker = Martin Boecker• Protect privacy of personal data• Protect location privacy• Automatic capture of user identifiers• Intelligent agents to manage complexity for the

calling and called parties• ……

The User Identifier In Use

• This format is not a proposal

• The User Identifier must be unique

• The format should be “user friendly”

How It Might Be?

How It Might Be?

How It Might Be?

What next?

• ETSI STF 157 will continue to work on refining the user requirements for User Identification solutions

• At the same time potential solutions will be investigated to validate the practicability of the requirements

• A draft ETSI Guide will be available in August 2000

• Publication is likely by the end of 2000

What next?

• ETSI STF 157 is very keen to liase with all groups with an interest in this area

• We are also very happy to receive ideas from individuals within these groups

• My email (as STF Leader) is:

Mike.Pluke@castle-consult.com