15
November
2016
|
08:48
Europe/London

BT launches new mobile collaboration service to businesses in the UK

Summary

BT today announced a new mobile service that brings together the power of its extensive 4G and fixed networks to deliver cloud-based collaboration services to organisations in the UK with more than 500 employees.

BT LAUNCHES NEW MOBILE COLLABORATION SERVICE TO BUSINESSES IN THE UK

BT One Cloud mobile combines the power of cloud and 4G

BT today announced a new mobile service that brings together the power of its extensive 4G and fixed networks to deliver cloud-based collaboration services to organisations in the UK with more than 500 employees.

The new service, BT One Cloud mobile, is a product of BT’s Cloud of Clouds portfolio strategy for large businesses. Its launch follows an announcement earlier this year that the company is bringing to market a range of new services to help businesses address the acceleration in digital transformation sweeping through their organisations.

According to The BT CIO report 2016: The digital CIO, cloud, data and mobility and collaboration are fuelling the most profound change within large organisations.

One Cloud mobile integrates each of these technologies to provide people on the move with instant, secure access to the same collaboration tools as their colleagues have in the office.It works seamlessly between mobile, desktop, laptop, tablet or desk phones. It helps people collaborate through voice, messaging, application sharing, presence and conferencing services, wherever they are and helps businesses reduce costs.

As a cloud-based service, One Cloud mobile can be scaled up or down according to demand and is available on a “pay-per-user-per-month” basis.It also offers organisations connectivity to BT Wi-fi, the largest wi-fi network in the UK with more than 5.5 million hotspots. This enables people working away from the office to send data over wi-fi rather than 4G, helping manage mobile data costs.The cost of calls can also be reduced by routing voice traffic over an organisation’s One Cloud network.

One Cloud mobile also introduces a simpler commercial model for businesses buying mobile collaboration services by offering access to applications along with connectivity under a single contract and one bill. This allows businesses to replace multiple suppliers with just one, making the service easier to manage.

Andrew Small, vice president of Unified Communications, Mobile and Contact Centre Portfolio at BT, says: “Our customers are asking us to help them transform their business, to change how they work and to achieve the digital possible.To do this, we continue to develop our portfolio strategy — the Cloud of Clouds — by investing in areas such as mobility and bringing to market the integrated cloud-based solutions our customers need, such as BT One Cloud mobile.

“One Cloud mobile is a great example of our strategy in action.It transforms the traditional approach to communications by converging several separate services into one and hosting it in the cloud. In doing so, it makes collaboration easy and more consistent.And with one contract and one bill, it means that whether an employee picks up a desk phone or their mobile, it’s all in the tariff.”

One Cloud mobile is an end-to-end service suitable for organisations which have already invested in voice and desktop equipment and can work over employees’ existing devices and legacy networks ensuring previous investments are not wasted.

Mobile devices on the new service are equipped with a BT One Cloud mobile SIM allowing them to connect to EE’s UK 4G network, BT Wi-fi or their organisation’s own corporate network.These in turn give access to BT’s extensive global infrastructure, which offers industrial strength resilience and security and is central to the company’s Cloud of Clouds strategy for communications for large and multinational businesses*.

One Cloud mobile offers many time-saving features which make it easier and more flexible to communicate. These include a single number for fixed or mobile devices and a single unified voicemail meaning there’s just one place to check for messages. Other features include the extension of office call management features to all phones and collaborative working to all devices.

One Cloud mobile addresses many of the key challenges highlighted by employees surveyed for BT’s recent “mobile multiplier” research.According to the research, employees reported that they often waste time trying to get hold people while working remotely, which delays decisions (54 per cent), and find it difficult to access documents and files (43 per cent).As a result, employees want technology upgrades for their smartphone including screen sharing (69 per cent), instant messaging (62 per cent) and video conferencing (48 per cent).

ENDS

*‘Cloud of Clouds’ is BT’s cloud services integration capability, giving customers a practical route into cloud computing that meets their needs for choice and flexibility, total security and someone who knows how to make it work together. More information here: www.bt.com/cloudofclouds

For further information

Enquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.btplc.com/News

About the BT CIO report 2016 – ‘The digital CIO’

The research from the BT CIO report 2016, ‘The digital CIO’ was undertaken in March 2016 by Vanson Bourne, an independent market research firm. It builds on the insights contained in the 2014 report ‘Creativity and the modern CIO.’ The research was conducted with 1030 senior IT decision makers working for multinational corporations across eleven countries, and additional insight from BT’s technology and advisory experts.

The countries covered by the 2016 research are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the UK and Ireland and the USA.

About the “mobile multiplier” research

The research involved an independent survey of 1,528 office workers in large organisations in France, Germany, Spain and the UK, conducted by Davies Hickman Partners Ltd in September 2016. It covered the full range of office workers in terms of ages as well as a variety of sectors. Separate interviews were conducted with 10 IT Decision Makers to give an alternative perspective. The results of previous research on Digital Dislocation in the workplace earlier in 2016, sponsored by BT and Cisco, complemented the analysis.