BT says Cloud Phone meets the changing needs of today’s small businesses by replacing a traditional phone system and offering a range of features – including the ability to easily transfer calls to employees working out of the office – to help users manage their calls and their business. The entire system is hosted in the cloud, which means that customers can access it from anywhere there is a BT internet connection or wi-fi, and it removes the complexity of installing central processing hardware in the premises of small businesses.
Graham Sutherland, CEO, BT Business, said: “As businesses look to technology to help them increase their productivity, enhance flexibility, and control costs, we are seeing IP and cloud-based communications really take off. BT Cloud Phone joins our comprehensive IP voice portfolio, and demonstrates our commitment to meeting the full spectrum of communications needs of businesses in the UK”.
Available anywhere customers have a BT internet connection, the installation of BT Cloud Phone requires no technical knowledge; customers simply plug the IP phone handset into their internet connection. In addition to the range of BT IP phones on offer, customers can also use a softphone on their PC, or – after installing the BT Cloud Phone app – their iPhone or Android smartphone. The system is looked after, maintained, and run by BT Cloud Phone, backed up by a dedicated service team and an online portal which allows customers to manage the system from wherever they are.
Looking at the web site we see a number of user options and packages offering bundles of services including unlimited UK calls being included in the monthly cost per user. Prices range fro £13.00 to £26.00 per user plus a £100 fee to get the service running. There appears to be no need to have BT Broadband installed but a 'bandwidth check' will be carried out to make sure what you do have is suitable.
Comms Business Magazine sees this move by BT Business as being significant and totally endorsing the switch from CPE to cloud based telephony. Likewise we see that fact that you can integrate iOS and Android devices with the service as being a very attractive feature.