User:Afallier/sandbox

tyntec
Company type	Private
Industry	Telecomunications
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Michael Kowalzik (Cofounder, CEO), Thorsten Trapp (Cofounder, CTO), Ralph Eric Kunz (Cofounder, Board Member)
Number of employees	100+
Website	www.tyntec.com

tyntec is a global mobile messaging operator and cloud communications provider, with its main offices in Munich and Dortmund, Germany. Its core competency is to enable the easy integration of three key telco services: SMS, voice and mobile numbers. It uses partnerships with key operator partners to provide global coverage into over 600 networks worldwide, enabling mobile services to over 500 companies across a range of industries and sectors in Europe, Asia, US, India, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

History

tyntec was founded by entrepreneur Thorsten Trapp (CTO) and physicist Ralph Eric Kunz in 2002. Trapp had recognized the potential of SMS as an enterprise communication tool early on, however, he realized that as it stood SMS was not suited for enterprise use due to a lack of reliability, transparency and accountability. ^[1] Trapp’s solution was to try and obtain control and visibility of the complete path during SMS routing. He needed to ensure it would be possible to send SMS messages directly to and from recipients without having to go through the SMSCs of other mobile operators, which would automatically mean a loss of control. Having full control of the path of the SMS and being able to send them directly to users’ handsets would mean that it would be possible to offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) based on delivery guarantees and optimized routing on a global level. The founders’ vision was that SMS could become a vital tool for mission-critical communication. The breakthrough came when Trapp gained access to Manx Telecom on the Isle of Man. It was an unusual place to be, as GSM operations centers were strictly closed to third parties. There, he used his own proprietary equipment and software to connect to Manx’ systems and to connect what would messaging platform. On September 24, 2003, tyntec completed the installation its first complete own SS7 back-end with Manx Telecom thereby becoming the first non-mobile operator to offer messaging services via SS7, opening the door for the development of SMS as an enterprise tool.

The “Enterprise quality SMS” Trapp had envisaged, including Service Level Agreements (SLAs), was launched on October 31, 2005, making tyntec the first non-mobile operator to offer SMS with enterprise standards, such as a 15-second delivery guarantee and delivery receipts. The young company then underlined its growing position in the nascent SMS enterprise market by becoming the world’s first triple SS7 access SMS operator on December 15, 2005^[2].

Funding

In June 2008, tyntec received a non-disclosed investment sum from HarbourVest, an independent global alternative investment firm. In December 2010, tyntec received further investment from Iris Capital (www.iriscapital.com), a leading pan-European growth fund specializing in technology, media and telecommunications^[3].

Technology

tyntec has built and developed a scalable proprietary patent-protected technology infrastructure that is installed at the operator level, which gives it direct operator-level connectivity to the GSM network.

The signal routing and delivery platform, housed in the technical operations center in Dortmund, is the core of tyntec’s messaging platform. It is designed to be scalable and to handle high volumes of traffic without service degradation. It also provides several interfaces, which are available across all networks.

tyntec’s direct access into the global mobile network through its agreements with operators means that the company can directly reach the subscriber’s handset. This is particularly important in crisis situations when networks of often overloaded or go down. For example, tyntec sends SMS alerts for Global Warning System (GWS), an international mobile security alert company, to power its global alert system, Safeture.

Awards

In 2006, tyntec was shortlisted for the Mobile Messaging Awards. In 2010, tyntec was awarded the Red Herring (magazine) 100 Europe Award. In 2011 it was awarded the Red Herring (magazine) Global 100 Award for its tt.One solution. In the same year it also won the Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award^[4].