Intelligent agents: an emerging technology for next generation telecommunications?

The telecommunications environment is changing its face towards an open market of information services where the vision is "information any time, at any place, in any form". Within this electronic market the aspects of service customization and instant service provision are of fundamental importance. In this context a new paradigm is gaining momentum referred to as "intelligent agents". This paper provides an overview of the emerging field of intelligent agents (IAs) by identifying their basic properties. Focusing on mobile agents, which could be considered as a specific class of intelligent agents, we identify the chances of agent technology in the context of telecommunications. We look at their potential impacts on open service architectures, intelligent communications and network management.