BT has partnered with a U.S.
company, RingCentral,
to offer an Internet-based phone system in the U.K. that's easy for small and
medium-size businesses to configure and maintain.
RingCentral's software is designed to let small businesses set up their own
phone system with a professional feel without needing to make significant investments
in hardware. The software works with mobile, landline and VOIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol) calls.
Businesses can configure a virtual PBX (Private Branch Exchange) through a
Web-based interface, and perform tasks such as assigning voice lines, configuring
voice mail and interactive menu options.
Customers can either use a real telephone to answer or make calls or their
PC through RingCentral's "Desktop Call Controller." That interface
lets users see call logs and launch calls with a single click by a contact's
name, among other functions.
Voice mail messages can also be delivered to a user's email, and then played
through a PC's speakers. Another feature is fax software that can send faxes
from Microsoft's Office applications or from a mobile phone.
In the U.K., businesses using RingCentral have their choice of two prefixes
for their main phone numbers, which then can be routed to up to 50 extensions.
One option is "0800," which is a free number for callers but paid
for by the recipient, or the "0844" prefix, which is paid for by the
caller.
Fees charged to use numbers with those prefixes are how BT makes money from
its arrangement with RingCentral, said Ake Nylen, BT's general manager for broadband,
VOIP and software-as-a-service propositions in the U.K. BT also gets a share
of the subscription revenue.
BT already offers professional services for "0800" numbers, but RingCentral's
software allow small businesses to do their own configurations online, Nylen
said.
While RingCentral offers a VOIP service called DigitalLine for outgoing calls
in the U.S., there are no plans to offer that service in the U.K., Nylen said.
Pricing starts at £15 (US$30), excluding VAT, per month. Calls are charged
per minute, rounded up or down to the nearest 30-second increments, the companies
said. A full
table of charges is available on BT's Web site.
