BT Corporate Fusion

BT today announced BT Corporate Fusion, a ground breaking premise based fixed-mobile convergence service for large organisations.

The new service will enable organisations to take advantage of fixed-mobile convergence and their increasing deployment of IP Telephony and WiFi coverage to potentially deliver greater productivity, the possibility of reduced GSM call costs and to result in improved quality of service to their customers.

The first customer to trial the service in the UK is Leeds City Council (LCC), the second largest local authority in the UK. The Council, which has the largest in-house ICT provision of any local authority, is piloting BT Corporate Fusion across two of its premises, in order to assess its capability to improve productivity and improve communications.

LCC employees involved in the trial will use a dual-mode mobile phone that incorporates both regular GSM and additional WiFi connectivity. Within LCC’s premises, calls made from these mobile phones are connected via WiFi access points and are routed over existing fixed-line infrastructure. Deploying WiFi access points across LCC’s premises ensures optimal in-building coverage. At present it is estimated that over 50% of employees’ mobile phone calls are made within offices¹ (despite the fact that cheaper fixed-line phones are readily available). The use of BT Corporate Fusion will allow LCC employees to continue using a mobile device, whilst at the same time allowing the Council to migrate these calls onto WiFi and potentially bring the cost down.

Outside the office the device works like a regular mobile phone, enjoying ubiquitous coverage and the benefits of global roaming on GSM.