Member News

Boku, Inc., the global leader in online mobile payments, today announced a partnership with PlayJam the premier global platform for games on TV. The partnership brings carrier billing to smart televisions and other consumer electronics around the world, including devices from Samsung, Panasonic, LGE, Vizio, Western Digital, Google TV and VESTEL.

This agreement allows more than 90 Million consumers to use their mobile phone number to purchase games, upgrades and other services on PlayJam’s global marketplace. PlayJam’s network represents over 45% of all games played on Smart TVs in over 100 territories worldwide and serves over 150 TV apps on a wide variety of CE manufacturer devices. Users can checkout simply by entering in their mobile phone number with the charges appearing on their carrier bill.

“We’re committed to bringing a seamless gaming and payments experience to all of our customers, regardless of market or device, and mobile payments through Boku will play a critical role in that commitment.” said Charles Tigges, Chief Commercial Officer for PlayJam. “In some instances, a customer in the United States might use Boku to checkout on an LGE TV with one of our game publishers. In Germany, a Samsung TV owner might purchase a new game directly from PlayJam using Boku. Regardless of device, market or game title, the reduced friction available through carrier billing offers a great experience for the consumer, and that’s a benefit to everyone.”

PlayJam-enabled devices offer customers access to the Boku® mobile payments platform in more than a dozen different markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Poland and others. The PlayJam platform SDK offers game developers an easy way to enhance and monetize their games across all Smart TV brands with features like mobile game controller application, pre-roll advertising, in-app payments, pre-paid card, save state, leaderboards, tournaments, social integration, gamer profile and more.

“Mobile payments has grown steadily in the past half decade, moving from online purchase of virtual goods into numerous different vertical markets,” said James Patmore, Managing Director EMEA for Boku. “Through our partnership with PlayJam, Boku is helping to further advance the mobile payments market, bringing the convenience and security of carrier billing directly to smart TVs in consumers’ homes around the world.”

RJ Media, the company behind the hugely successful PsychicSofa.com, is investing in a new multi-channel contact centre solution that will enable the business to be more flexible in its service delivery whilst increasing revenues through incremental billing.

RJ Media offers psychic and other live services via a number of channels and is always looking to improve the experience for customers; many of whom are long-term clients.

The new multi-channel contact centre solution from C3 will help RJ Media to add value across its full range of services through easy payment options, integrated agent management, greater web integration and improved E-wallet loyalty.

Fusion Contact supports PCI Compliant credit card billing modules for easy ‘tokenised’ payments and extended end-of-call billing. The system also incorporates C3’s Fusion Multi Channel IVR Toolkit, giving RJ Media the control to rapidly develop and deploy interactive voice response ( IVR ) services to meet changing market demands.

“We are all very excited to incorporate C3’s multi-channel contact centre into our current business model,” said Richard Sawyer, partner at RJ Media.

“ The advancements in C3’s software will allow us to progress with our goals and visions for the foreseeable future without any of the limitations we have previously experienced. The new software gives us the freedom and flexibility to develop existing services, bring new products to the marketplace and continue to leverage our competitive advantage throughout the RJ Media product spectrum.”

Shagufta Malik, General Manager RJ Media, added: “We operate in a very competitive market place and our customers put a premium on our agents’ expertise. The investment in Fusion Contact will enable us to differentiate our services, add value for our customers and simplify the related administration.”

RJ Media has worked with C3 for over a decade. Fusion Contact represents an update to the company’s existing C3 virtual contact centre solution that will provide the foundation for future growth through continued innovation.

For the first time ever, Eurovision Song Contest viewers across Europe voted using their Android smartphones, thanks to technology provided by TECTONIC® Interactive, a start-up based in London’s Tech City.

TECTONIC® Interactive were selected by digame mobile, the official voting provider for the Eurovision Song Contest, as their technology partner. Tectonic Interactive provided the high-capacity gateway for voting by Android devices across all participating European countries.

With the Official App of the Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision has ventured further than the realm of telephony and SMS voting, signifying a key move forward for the largest voting show in the world.

Tectonic Interactive was selected because their specialist technology handles the voting peak from TV viewers and app-users during the 15-minute vote window.
The Tectonic Platform connected the viewers’ Android app to digame’s pan-European voting system based in Cologne, Germany.

The technology was developed by two ex-BT employees who recognised that more and more viewers are interacting with TV shows using their smartphones and tablets and that TV Broadcasters needed a platform that is reliable, secure and highly scaled. Andy Shaw ( ex Business Development Director at BT Agilemedia ) and Wojciech Nowak ( ex Head of Technology at BT Agilemedia ) helped develop the UK’s largest phone voting platform whilst they were at BT and they have now turned their hand to do the same for IP-connected devices.

Alex Moulakakis, MD digame mobile GmbH said:
“We only work with strong partners who understand the demands of Europe’s largest interactive TV event. From companies across Europe, we turned to Tectonic Interactive because they have the technology, the expertise and the team we knew we could rely on – and they did a great job. We look forward to working again on future projects.”

Andy Shaw, Tectonic Interactive’s CEO said:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is Europe’s largest voting show and it was an honour to be picked by digame as a key technology provider for the voting by tablet and smartphone. When millions of people want to have their say, they just expect it to work – and it did. We are happy to be part of the team that delivered a great service. We are now looking forward to help making it bigger and better next year.”

Wojciech Nowak, Tectonic Interactive’s CTO said:
“You need highly optimised technology to handle this number of interactions in such a short period of time accurately and securely. Working with cutting-edge technology at this scale means that Tectonic Interactive do all the difficult back-end stuff, so that the app developers can focus on the user experience and being creative. For us, the difficult bit is more interesting and that is our specialism.”

Oxygen8, global provider of integrated mobile solutions, is expanding its product and operations departments with the appointment of a new Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product Development. The appointments have been made to support the business as it ramps up its integrated mobile solutions offering to help clients improve interactions with their customers using intelligent communications.

As part of a company-wide initiative to further strengthen its market position, Shay Hamilton joins Oxygen8 as Chief Technology Officer, bringing over 20 years of industry experience with him, working for Telefonica, O2 and LogicaCMG. Shay’s main focus will be to drive innovation and ensure the company is proactive in delivering a portfolio of solutions and products that allow Oxygen8 and its clients to enter new markets.

Maria Grant joins Oxygen8 as Head of Product Development. With more than 12 years of experience of product management in telecommunications, Maria has managed mobile, inbound and wholesale voice product portfolios at TeliaSonera International Carrier and later TalkTalk Business. Maria will drive Oxygen8’s product strategy to ensure the strategic goal of delivering innovative, reliable and cost effective communication, payment and billing solutions utilising voice, mobile and other media is realised.

Shane Leahy, CEO of the Oxygen8 Group commented: “Oxygen8 is delighted to welcome Shay and Maria, both will be a significant asset in helping to move us to the next stage of growth, complementing the considerable progress we have made with our Brainstorm brand. We are excited to be working together to seize new opportunities and to lay the foundations for the future growth of Oxygen8.”

Telescope, the market leader in audience participation, consumer engagement, and mobile technology for live television, today announces the launch of their UK business and appointment of Andrew Jackson as VP of Business Development. A seasoned media-industry executive with a rich history of tenure at companies such as BBC Worldwide, Endemol, and MIG ( now Velti ), Jackson will spearhead Telescope’s UK growth with the opening of the company’s London branch.

Building from recent successes with the delivery of cutting edge social campaigns for Channel 4 and Channel 5 over the past year, Telescope will now establish a permanent presence and offer their technology and full suite of engagement and social products to UK clients. Jackson will strengthen the company’s position across the European market by applying his extensive knowledge and experience working at the intersection of technology and television.

“Having experienced the immense impact of social interactivity around TV and growing importance to the broadcast ecosystem here in the US, we feel we are uniquely positioned to bring our capability and expertise to the UK market,” said Jason George, CEO of Telescope. “As advertiser interest and multi-screen activity grows, there will be an explosion of these type of engagements in the UK and we’re delighted to have Andrew on board to help broadcasters, production companies and brands maximize value from this exciting opportunity.”

The addition of Jackson comes at a key juncture for the company, as it looks to expand upon its role as the television industry’s interaction agency of choice, having already proven its participation expertise over the last decade with storied franchises such as “American Idol,” “The Voice,” and “The Biggest Loser.” With an industry leading multichannel technology platform and through partnerships with companies like Twitter and Facebook, Telescope now powers consumer engagement solutions and companion play along mechanics for world’s largest media brands and marquee sports programming partners NASCAR and the National Basketball Association, among others.

“I’m proud to join the all-star team at Telescope and ready to dive head-first into our collective goals for the U.K. market,” said Andrew Jackson, VP, Business Development of Telescope UK. “I look forward to arming our new partners with the most powerful audience-engagement technology in the industry, and enabling them to more deeply connect with their viewers and consumers.”

An industry veteran with over 12 years of experience within interactive television and audience engagement in the United Kingdom, Jackson hails most recently from the BBC, where he served as an independent consultant working in the Future Media division at ITACU. Prior to the BBC, he worked at MIG ( now Velti ) as Head of Client Services, spearheading the launch of mobile SMS services for ITV, Channel 5 and BBC, in addition to managing the first major text-to-donate campaign for Comic Relief while delivering mobile services for brands, media campaigns and mobile networks alike.

Before MIG, Jackson served as Head of Telephony at Endemol UK, where he oversaw interactive services for hit series “Deal or No Deal,” “Goldenballs,” and “Big Brother.” Andrew first cut his teeth within the television industry at BBC Worldwide, where he worked on TV shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Sport Personality of the Year and Fame Academy.