The new service will give small business customers a range of benefits to increase their productivity and performance, including: high speed access to business applications in Wi-Fi mode at up to five times faster than GPRS, free access to all your fixed and mobile voice messages stored in one place, and call rates as cheap as 5p for 60 minutes from the office and out and about.
Two cutting edge dual-mode Wi-Fi mobile handsets are available from BT immediately, the Nokia 6136 and the Motorola A910. Samsung’s P200 will be added to the range next month.
When combined with BT Business One Plan, BT’s triple-play package for mobile, fixed and broadband, prices start from just £15 a month including the handset, allowing businesses to squeeze extra value from their existing BT broadband line.
In the office, or at BT Openzone hotspots, for up to 60 minutes customers pay 5p for UK fixed line calls, less than the cost of a text; 15p for calls to BT mobiles, and 25p for calls to other UK mobiles. On the move all calls to both fixed and mobile numbers are capped at 25p for up to 60 minutes.
Steve Andrews, managing director of Mobility and Convergence, said: “This is a great day for small businesses. Customers tell us they need communications services that are better, simpler and faster to help them succeed wherever they are working.
“BT Fusion brings together in one service, high speed access to critical business information, free access to all your messages stored in one place and a great value calls package – wherever you are, all on one high quality handset.”
BT’s estate of around 2,000 Openzone hotspots at premium business locations, such as airports, railway stations and hotels, as well as an increasing number of leisure sites, mean that it is in a unique position to offer customers even more places where they can get higher quality, ultra high-speed access and fixed line rates for all their BT Fusion calls.
Additionally, BT’s plans to build a first phase of 12 Wireless Cities by the end of March next year means that most of the UK’s major city centres will soon offer comprehensive, high quality, Wi-Fi coverage with Openzone access.
Andrews said: “We were the first to market in the world with BT Fusion, we’ve already offered UK businesses the first triple-play tailored for their needs and now we are the first to offer them fixed-mobile handsets using Wi-Fi, at home, in the office and out and about with BT Openzone. And we will continue to build on our extensive and growing Wi-Fi network.”
The new service also includes a free 20Mb GPRS data allowance so that businesses can use their mobiles for more than just phone calls without worry. Customers can use their handsets to access their e-mails, business applications and the mobile internet, in the office and at BT Openzone hotspots at faster speeds than GPRS.
Also available free is Call Minder Multi, BT’s smart messaging service, which combines the customer’s mobile and landline voicemail, giving them only one mailbox to call to pick up all their messages.