Network Communications News (NCN) June 2017 | Page 21

TELECOM FOCUS
BT boosts cloud collaboration
with integrated Cisco Spark
Andrew Small, vice president, unified communications and collaboration, customer relationship
management and mobility at Global Services, BT, heralds the launch of BT One Collaborate Spark.
T
he intuitive cloud-
based ser vice
will reduce cost,
increase productivity
of enterprise wide
collaboration and enable teams
to work together more intuitively
and productively regardless of
location and device used.
The new service brings
together the collaboration tools
offered by Cisco Spark with the
voice services of the BT One Cloud
Cisco platform.
Cisco Spark is a hosted
collaboration application, providing
team messaging, online meetings,
voice and video calling and
interactive drawing. The service
uses end-to-end encryption for
added security and is provided
on a subscription basis with
customers paying per-user-per-
month. This allows services to be
added on demand.
It is accessed via an App on
desktop and mobile devices. On
iOS, the service is available as a
native application, meaning that
calls are automatically routed
via Spark rather than the public
network. It can also be used
on specialist desktop and room
based collaboration devices.
The combination of Cisco
Spark with the BT One Cloud
Cisco platform’s voice services
helps customers reduce costs
by automatically routing calls
via the One Cloud network,
avoiding or reducing international
call charges — to the delight of
their finance teams. It also gives
users a more seamless unified
communications experience.
BT also offers the option of
using Cisco Spark Board, a new
business collaboration device
fully integrated into the One Cloud
Collaborate Spark service. Spark
Board is available at launch as a
55in presentation screen that also
acts as a digital whiteboard and
video conferencing tool.
Spark Board per forms a
number of functions that enrich
users’ collaboration experience.
It automatically detects Spark-
enabled devices, enabling users to
seamlessly switch between mobile
and room based collaboration. A
70in version of the device will be
available later in the year.
Our research shows that
improving collaboration across
the business is one of the key
factors in determining the success
of digital transformation. BT One
Collaborate Spark helps our
customers create productive
digital environments for their
employees while reducing the
cost of international calls. It
gives their employees the ability
to collaborate more simply and
intuitively regardless of where they
are or what devices they’re using.
Rowan Trollope, senior vice
president and general manager,
IoT and applications at Cisco,
says: ‘Cisco and BT have enjoyed
a successful relationship for over
25 years bringing together our
expertise to offer innovation to
cloud-based collaboration tools.
‘We’re delighted that BT
customers will now be able to
message, meet, and call anyone,
anywhere, anytime, through this
intuitive, complete collaboration
Spark service.’
The service is being launched
initially in the UK and US with a
global roll-out to follow.
For further information visit:
www.globalservices.bt.com
June 2017 | 21