BT launches cloud voice service for businesses

BT Business has expanded its communications offering for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the launch of a cloud-based, business-grade IP voice service, BT Cloud Voice.

The operator said its new service would deliver all the traditional office phone system call features and quality, delivered via a BT Business internet connection, to provide a more flexible and future-proofed offering.

The system includes features such as intelligent call handling, conferencing, recording, desktop-sharing, softphones and smartphone integration.

The service will have three licence options: Basic, the entry-level functional service; Connect, for office-based firms with more demands than simply calling; and Collaborate, for firms with mobile or home workers that want to be able to use features such as audio-conferencing.

Users will receive an IP phone and a BT call plan designed to be shared among multiple users, with minutes to be purchased at the company level. All calls made using the system will run over BT Business’ network, said BT.

Buyers will be able to manage their service through an online portal, allowing companies to tailor and manage their own requirements, and perform a number of self-service functions, including licence management, adding and removing users, and setting call preferences without the need for BT to dispatch engineers.

BT said that, because the services are hosted, this should bring further savings for users by eliminating the need for elaborate maintenance contracts.

Graham Sutherland, BT Business CEO, said that 60% of SMEs in the UK were already using cloud-based applications to some degree, so the introduction of a cloud-based telephony offering could be seen as a natural step for a lot of the firm’s customers.

“BT Cloud Voice is a highly reliable and flexible business communications system and future-proofed solution for SMEs,” he said. “There are no initial hardware costs or engineer visits, and calling plans can be easily shared across the business.

“Our customers expect great value and high-quality products and BT Cloud Voice delivers on both counts,” said Sutherland.

In August, BT Business launched a range of plans aimed at SMEs including free 4G access and unlimited Wi-Fi.

Its latest product launch comes hot on the heels of a number of new communications offerings pitched at the smaller end of the market, and a government drive to encourage small businesses to apply for grants to upgrade their broadband.

Last week TalkTalk Business launched an SME-focused business broadband package that it claimed could save users close to £1,000 when compared to some equivalent BT services.

Virgin Media Business also unveiled a service for small businesses, saying that UK businesses were at risk of losing out to international competition if they scrimped on their communications budget, and courted entrepreneurs by running a fleet of free taxis around major cities and floating its CEO, Peter Kelly, down the Thames in a black cab.

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Civil service chief endorses 'government as platform' digital strategy

The head of the civil service, Jeremy Heywood, has endorsed the government digital strategy, hailing the move to “government as a platform” as a key part of Whitehall reform.

Writing in a blog post, Heywood said the pace of digital change in the civil service is accelerating.

“Things are changing in the civil service. The changes might be hard to see from outside – you won’t have heard about them on the news – but they are happening,” he said.

“Technology and the internet in particular, are the driving forces. Many in the world of business understood this and adapted to it years ago. The civil service lagged behind. Now we are changing that.”

Heywood discussed a number of elements of the government digital strategy, such as the Gov.UK web publishing platform and work to digitise 25 high-volume government transactions.

He revealed that HP CEO Meg Whitman and her team met with some of Whitehall’s digital leaders and permanent secretaries last week. HP remains the biggest IT supplier to the UK government by revenue, earning about £1.7bn per year – but moves to end big outsourcing deals and bring in smaller and more agile suppliers have threatened HP's dominance.  

“The discussion indicated just how significant this agenda is and also – in my view – the good progress we have already made,” said Heywood.

Heywood said the move to “government as a platform” was intended to change Whitehall from “a series of disjointed silos” to “a more unified, efficient service” – echoing closely the words of government digital chief Mike Bracken. In a recent interview with Computer Weekly, Bracken described the move from silos to platforms as a “generational” switch: “That is going to be the bulk of the activity technically in the next parliament,” he said.

Heywood acknowledged the role of the Government Digital Service (GDS), which Bracken leads, and said the digital principles GDS has established need to be applied to policy making, and not just to technology.

“I believe that, thanks to the excellent work of the Government Digital Service and the increasing digital capability within each individual department, the British civil service is already at the cutting edge of applying digital technology to public service delivery. But we now need to take this to the next level, and apply the same principles and techniques in policy design,” he said.

“A huge amount of work has been done already, but we have just scratched the surface of what’s possible. New services will emerge – bespoke, personalised services government couldn’t normally justify spending money on, especially in a tight budgetary environment or services no-one else has even thought of before.”

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