BT

Verizon Unveils Vendor-Agnostic Managed Mobility

Verizon would love to be the sole provider of mobile communications services for every customer around the world. But, realizing that won’t ever happen it is going for the next best thing- managing mobile communications for customers regardless of the mobile carrier(s) they are using.

The concept is not ground-breaking in and of itself. Other technology service providers such as BT and IBM, as well as competing mobile carriers like AT&T already have similar offerings to help customers manage mobility throughout the enterprise and around the world.

Verizon is bringing a little something extra by including mobile security tools from Sybase and mobile expense management tools from Quickcomm Software Solutions. The resulting suite of services consists of five modules which can be mixed and matched to suit customer needs: inventory and expense management; logistics; mobile device management; mobile security and application management.

As the number one mobile service carrier in the United States, Verizon has a decent foundation to build on. We’ll see if the Verizon name combined with a different mix of tools is a recipe for success.

BT Expands OneVoice VPN with Unified Communications

BT is expanding their OneVoice voice-oriented VPN service and incorporating unified communications capabilities. OneVoice already allows customers to realize cost savings and make calls around the world, but the new and improved service will include SIP connectivity and bring unified communications features such as presence to the OneVoice service.

Presence will allow users to see whether or not their intended recipient is available to receive a call or not. That insight can help them to communicate more efficiently and enable them to determine the best method of communicating given the urgency (or lack thereof) of the message being delivered.

BT Extends UC Functionality with Finder

BT, a leading global IT consultancy and service provider and a key partner for Microsoft Unified Communications, has developed an innovative new tool that extends the functionality of Microsoft Office Communications Server.

BT’s Finder utility allows users of Microsoft Unified Communications to determine how and when communications get to them. Finder can be configured to filter communications based on specified criteria and reroute them to other users or groups while a user is away on business or out on vacation. Urgent or critical communications can be automatically converted from email text to speech and forwarded to voicemail or to a mobile phone in order to communicate with users without immediate access to email. 

Finder accelerates delivery of critical information to the right person at the right time. It allows users to focus on business issues while the system handles presence, preference and device attributes in the background. In addition, Finder is another illustration of the impact of software-powered voice and the potential that exists when communications can be managed in a way that improves efficiency and enhances productivity.

Wire One Communications Releases One Call

Wire One, an established vendor in the video-conferencing arena, just announced the release of One Call. One Call takes Unified Communications and leverages it for support to create a Unified Help Desk. One Call is a unique set of video, audio, and web conferencing services which provide customers with a single point of contact and a highly-skilled technical staff for managing all conferencing issues, support needs, and vendor relationships. And, on a related note, it was announced this week that Wire One is being acquired by global IT services and consulting provider BT.

BT Undertakes Massive Global Network Overhaul

One of the downsides to being a dominant provider of telecommunications around the world is that it also makes you the owner of legacy telecommunications hardware and networking equipment around the world. Even dominant global providers have to upgrade though. BT has begun a project dubbed 21CN (21st Century Network) estimated at $21 billion and projected to be completed in 2009. The focus of the rollout is to upgrade customers from legacy telecommunications networks to a new, all-IP communications network. Alcatel-Lucent is a key supplier, as is Cisco, Fujitsu, and Huawei Technologies. You can learn more in this article from Computerworld.com.