BT goes global with cloud-hosted service

BT launches hosted IPT underpinned by Cisco kit

BT Global Services will roll out its cloud-based IP telephony (IPT) solution to the US, mainland Europe and Asia over the next 18 months.

The system, developed in collaboration with network giant Cisco, will see deployment at two sites in the US and then be extended into other continents.

IPT allows firms to deliver converged voice, mobile and data services to all their desktop systems via a BT cloud.

For firms with tight IT budgets, the offering is a utility-based, per-user pricing model.

Farr said: "The offering is based around an operational cost model looking to reduce hefty, upfront capital expenditure, and pricing works out at around £10 per user per month."

BT Global Services head of Unified Communications and Collaboration Simon Farr said that BT had already deployed the service in BT datacentres throughout the UK.

In addition, the NHS's national broadband network N3 is already using the service, with N3 connecting more than 1.3 million UK health sector employees.

N3's rollout, dubbed N3 Hosted Voice Services, provides free on-network
calls and considerably cheaper mobile phone connections between medical sites.

Rotton Park Medical Centre practice head Dr Inderjit Marok explained how she had benefitted from the service: “It has enabled us to make considerable savings, which offset the cost of renting the required IP phones. So we have a ­new system at no extra cost, while we are saving around 20 per cent on our previous call bills."

BT said that the hosted service would include upgrades, maintenance and investment costs. Customers will also be able to host IP telephony with existing legacy and IP voice infrastructures, allowing them to maximise their existing telephony investments.

The service is delivered over BT’s multi-protocol label switched (MPLS)
network, using Cisco’s Unified Call Manger platform, which can use IP telephones or have a software client installed on customers desktop PC systems.

Network administrators can manage their comms estate through a BT-provided web portal, allowing user phone reconfiguration, and new phone set ups.

Farr said that the offering provided a comprehensive solution when combined with Cisco's Call Manager platform. He added: "We can also operate with legacy equipment, like TDM and IP PBXes, and migrate those systems onto our platform through a sensible phased process," added Farr.