Happy relationships are what most people around the world are looking for. Research has shown that people who feel connected to their loved ones are able to handle stress better and lead healthier lives. A deeply caring, mutual and respectful relationship is what true love is all about, right? And true love is what most of us are looking for. But, is it that easy? Meeting people is becoming a difficult task today, as people lack time and are always in a hurry. But, this does not mean that people do not want to find partners and meet people. This is where a matchmaker helps - in the form of an online dating service or dating website.

Yes, the dating ground has shifted from the real world to the online world today. Statistics have proven that last year alone more than 18 million people met their dream mates online. Online dating services allow you to date from the comfort of your own home anonymously and at your own pace.

Needless, to say it is a lucrative venture to own a business that entails a dating service online. Once such a website is up, members will offer their own content which can be put up online. All that the Webmaster needs to do is to furnish them with a common place to interact. And if this meeting point is made interactive, fun and interesting, you have a loyal and faithful user..

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Business Situation
John F. Curtis and Todd Dockum of European Internet Services, Inc. had been studying the dating arena for over three years. They wished to start an online dating service, but not the run of the mill type, but someplace that would give users a rich and fulfilling dating experience. Love-By-Net.com is their contribution to the online dating scene.

John Curtis says that, "Using an on-line dating service that incorporates the latest digital and voice technology saves you time, allows more quality interaction during your dates, and takes the guesswork out of your conversations. Facial expressions, voice tone, and posture are important elements of our attraction to others. When left to our imaginations the expectations can be higher than most people could live up to in person. Face-to-face interaction, whether in person or over a computer screen or through your videophone, gives you the intimacy you need to build a better relationship foundation while maintaining your online autonomy."

They decided to outsource the software development of the website offshore as they were looking for a company with in-depth technical talent to execute their project. They did exactly this when they found Stylus on the Internet.

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Challenges in implementing online dating software
The first among the many questions that set the design plans rolling were, "What are people looking for in a dating site?" People are looking for an 'easy-to-use 'dating site that's fast, informative and allows for dynamic interaction. We were committed to developing such a website for our customers. The sole objective being to provide a comfortable, accessible and informative meeting point for people looking for love.

Our Client Engagement team studied the project requirements, a few reference models and met up with John and Todd at our office in Bangalore to draw up a comprehensive feature list for the website. Some of the requirements that we focused on were that the website be easily scalable - capable of accessing 500,000 profiles and handling traffic of 5000 members simultaneously. They expected registered members to spend about 10 hours per month on the site initially.

This online dating web site would allow members to put up (upload) picture profiles, record video profiles, voice profiles, use online chatting, video conferencing and mobile and traditional messaging services. Great emphasis was laid on the 'look and feel' of the website and its expected performance.

We employed our proven offshore software development model to develop the website. In addition, our promotion and Internet marketing team helped in optimizing the web site for major search engines.

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Most online dating web sites today offer analogous features. Our customers wished to build a dating web site that offered a deep and rich user experience. We used Flash technologies like the Flash Remoting Server to create a comfortable and interactive user experience on the site. Video recording, video chatting, text and audio chatting are some of the features that Love-by-net offers. The second phase will have SMS (short messaging services) and MMS (multimedia messaging services) features.

Advanced search features on the web site make for a reliable matching service that users find extremely valuable. It is so important to find the right person among the millions who might match a user's criteria for an ideal mate. The database that we used is technologically sound and ensures that this search experience is effective, easy to use and robust.

Online security was another crucial point of the deployment. Protecting a user's identity is important and the website makes sure that personal details are kept under lock and key unless and until the user decides to make this information public. Reliability of any online service involves protecting profile ethics. Through an independent security firm, Love-By-Net.com provides users with ID validation services too.

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Added emphasis on authentication of user profiles
Validate-my-id.com is an independent web site that helps a user validate her personal details through the website. Anyone who wishes to have the Validate-my-id seal while using Love-by-net or any other sister client site can register as a member and make a payment, provide documents to validate (driver's license and so on) and get their identity validated by an official validator on the site. The Validation Seal will appear next to the user profile a day after the details are submitted.