How are your customers using broadband to power their business? The surge in new must-have applications like VoIP and video transfers means many are likely to want faster upstream speeds as well as high quality and reliability. And with our introduction of Annex M on 2 August 2010 that’s exactly what you can give them.

Annex M is the latest addition to our next generation broadband Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) copper service. Expand your portfolio with it and immediately you’re in a better position to tailor – and differentiate – your broadband services by matching them more precisely to the needs of individual businesses. That’s because through Annex M your customers can choose to boost their upstream line rate by trading off a small element of their downstream rate.

It’s an option that will be particularly attractive to small and midsize companies that want to advance to the cost-cutter efficiencies of IP voice and IP video conferencing and transfer big data files faster. And dependability is built in to protect all those business-critical applications. Annex M comes complete with a Service Level Guarantee (SLG). It means you – and your customers – can be sure of an upstream IP throughput of 85% of the line’s synchronisation speed* every working day: 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding UK Public and Bank Holidays).

Annex M is just one of a number of broadband developments to help you deliver an ever better customer experience and grow your sales in the mixed economy marketplace.

Next in the pipeline for August and September 2010 are a Service Level Guarantee for our copper WBC Elevated Best Effort service, a brand new 7-hour repair option and more choices for your customers – including customer wiring and equipment modules – when you need to book an SFI (Special Faults Investigation) visit from a broadband engineer. Saturday, early morning and early evening appointments will be on offer in addition to the current Monday-to-Friday AM and PM slots.

* This is a rate adaptive service and, using Dynamic Line Management, each line automatically settles or ‘synchronises’ offering end users the highest stable rate their line can support.

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Read more about Annex M at our Product Roadmaps page here.

Check out your growth potential with Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) here.

Find out why a no-fly strategy makes VoIP a hot buy for UK SMEs – and how our new IP Voice Services could lead them to you. It’s in this issue here.

Your account management team will be pleased to tell you more.

Look out for news of our other broadband product developments and service improvements as they go live. We’ll report in The Loop.

1. IPv6 addressing and WBC: it’s all systems go
2. New exchange list pinpoints fresh 21CN sales scope
3. 21CN broadband: 1 million users already – and 61% coverage planned by Winter 2010

Did your customers’ businesses seize up when snowdrifts hit the UK earlier this year? If they didn’t, they were in a tiny minority.

According to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)*, 93% of companies suffered some disruption due to staff, goods, customers and suppliers being stuck in the wrong place. Yet the CMI also found that less than 50% have an adequate recovery plan to get them out of trouble when disaster strikes.

One answer could be as close as BT Wholesale’s new IP Voice Services (IPVS) – as BT Wholesale customer and IPVS triallist Swains plc have already recognised. They supply tailored fixed line voice services to SME, corporate and public sector customers and have a reputation for creating real solutions to customers’ problems, as well as using the technologies they sell in their own operations. And IPVS’s clear potential for business continuity has emerged from their own experience.

This fully managed VoIP service offers two options. Firstly, there are SIP trunks which Swains can use to connect a customer’s existing PBX to the telephone network via IP. Secondly, there’s hosted IP which uses IP Centrex technology to deliver VoIP services to businesses without the need for a PBX. For their own use, Swains have combined the two to create the ideal protection should anything go wrong with their own systems. This was put to the test when their ISDN lines went down at the local exchange. By simply programming their PBX, Swains were able to switch over to their SIP trunks at the touch of a button.

Swains have also harnessed the hosted IP Centrex option to manage their development team’s everyday communication needs. Using IP phones in the office and at home has given the team access to geographical numbers and the ability to transfer calls, all from the handset itself. So next time something happens to stop people getting to work, there’s no need to stop business.

* Source: “Disruption & Resilience: the 2010 Business Continuity Management Survey (March 2010)”: CMI report available to download free here.

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Find out how IPVS is giving Swains and other BT Wholesale customers the edge in the VoIP market. Head to our IPVS 3D Knowledge Hub to read our case studies and see a video clip.

Read how a no-fly strategy makes VoIP a hot buy for UK SMEs. It’s in this issue here.

Offering VoIP handsets could give you even greater sales potential. Check out the wide choice of equipment we offer for easy online ordering 24/7 at our eCatalogue: www.btecatalogue.com

Or contact your account management team.

1. SMEs fly with VoIP, not planes
2. Media coverage gets broadband users talking – and demanding – I-Plates
3. Own-brand greeting on offer as Wholesale Call Minder services are now launched on WLR3

In the battle against slamming, fresh reinforcements are going into action to help you win.

In April 2010 we introduced a first anti-slamming measure in line with Ofcom’s requirements* by adding a new mandatory field on our Wholesale Calls order forms where you need to add your RID (Retailer Identity) code each time you sign up a new customer.

And in June 2010 we started work to help you extend that vital armour to the lines of your existing customers.

BT Wholesale’s Philip Hayden explains how it works: “It’s a process we call ‘RID backfill’ and it’s very much a teamwork exercise. We create a spreadsheet for each Wholesale Calls customer with all the CLIs (Caller Line Identifications) we have listed for their end-users. All they need to do is check through the CLIs and confirm them as theirs or not, as appropriate. We then add their RID to the ones they tell us are correct. Total accuracy is paramount. So this has to be a step-by-step process for us and our customers that could take 18 months to complete. And customers can be reassured that we’ll contact them about a month before we plan to send them their spreadsheet to make sure the timing fits with their other commitments.”

The advantages of RIDs are clear for everyone involved: your customers, your company’s reputation and our industry’s reputation. In cases where you believe your customers are suffering the unpleasant experience of being approached and mis-sold services by other operators, the RID can provide independent, verifiable evidence of who’s involved. Similarly, you can use the RID audit trail in your defence if you’re wrongly accused of malpractice: for example, if you suddenly win new customers as a result of a successful marketing campaign.

* Read more about slamming and the benefits of RID markers at the Ofcom website or at our Roadmaps pages on our Inspire website here.

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Find out more about expanding your portfolio – and growing your revenues – with our Wholesale Calls services here.

Or contact your account management team for details.

1. “Protect your calls service revenues”: latest initiatives
2. Apps for 21CN Ethernet? Find out what’s in store
3. Next generation broadband: footprint doubles and prices reduce

Leaner budgets demand keener prices. Which is why businesses of all sizes are looking into the potency of 21^st Century Network (21CN) Ethernet as their connectivity cost-cutter.

Now more additions to our BT Wholesale Ethernet node network mean you can get even closer to your customers to deliver that solution, wherever in the UK they are.

Our Ethernet network was already the UK’s largest and densest in January 2010. Since then we’ve added another 60 new nodes to give a total of 820, giving you greater reach. That includes five in June alone, at the Henbury and Chard exchanges in the South West, Banbridge in Northern Ireland, Carterton in the South East and Ashgrove in Scotland.

The expansion is continuing too. In the past few weeks, we’ve also announced the names of a further 112 nodes that we plan to put into action by Spring 2011.

And as new nodes open up, so do new sales opportunities. As we report elsewhere in The Loop this month, market demand for VoIP services is growing. There’s also increasing interest in what cloud computing and SaaS (software as a service) can deliver. BT Wholesale Ethernet brings you the ability to seize this potential by meeting your customers’ evolving voice, data and IP application needs in one. This cheaper, faster and more versatile single platform means they can afford to buy into next generation technology right now to simplify their communications and reduce their overheads.

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Like to know more about growing your business and revenues with BT Wholesale Ethernet? Read more here.

Check out the new fully managed VoIP service solution we’ve just launched: IP Voice Services. It’s all at our 3D Knowledge Hub here. Or contact your account management team.

1. Apps for 21CN Ethernet? Find out what’s in store
2. 30% cut adds to cost advantages of BT Wholesale Ethernet
3. BT Wholesale Ethernet takes UK availability top spot

Their new safeguard against the risks of card fraud and identity theft is BT SafePay. Developed by BT Agilemedia – our specialist interactive communications and payments division – this automated interactive voice response (IVR) system enables donors and customers to provide their credit or debit card details to an organisation but without having to hand them to a human agent.

And ‘high security’ has been top of the priority list in the product’s design – as the Payment Card Industry has already recognised. BT SafePay has been independently externally audited and has been awarded a ‘Level 1’ compliance certificate: the highest standard set by the PCI Security Standards Council*. This means that it offers the most rigorous protection for card account data as well as full compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – and at a time when this topic is high on the agenda for all businesses that accept card payments.

Expand your portfolio with BT SafePay and what kind of customers could you attract with a proposition that cuts costs, admin time and call centre queues as well as boosting peace of mind? Your Local Authority customers – as one example – could use it to collect parking charges and fines 24/7. Insurance companies might invite their customers to renew policies this way. Societies and magazines can streamline and speed up membership and subscription renewals.

For charities it provides a fast and cost-effective fund-raising channel. In this scenario the IVR platform at the heart of the BT SafePay’s solution has already been extensively tried and tested – and on a major scale. In conjunction with the BT Buynet card payment solution, it has supported some of the biggest charity campaigns of recent years, including The BBC Children in Need and the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal for Haiti.

In addition since March 2010, BT Agilemedia have partnered with the UK’s Charity Technology Trust (CTT) to address the wider charity market – as CTT’s Development Director, James Redhead, explains: “Telephone donations are a very important method of collecting donations for charities. Every missed call or human error is very costly and there is always the risk of card fraud when card details are being given over the telephone. BT SafePay significantly reduces the costs of collecting telephone donations and ensures the supporter’s card information is secure.”

* Read more about the card payment industry’s international PCI DSS standards and compliance here.

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To find out more about generating fresh revenues with BT SafePay, please call Rebecca Fraser or Manisha Morjaria on 0800 731 3050.

1. eCatalogue adds new VoIP products and Fortinet security solutions: boost sales as you help SMEs save
2. Assistive products plus free consultancy: help businesses meet Equality Act changes
3. Offer speeds up to 40Mbit/s: fibre services introduced

Our latest enhancement gives you the ability to deliver more than double the throughput at peak periods – and at no extra cost to you – so that your customers gain an even better level of service at the times when they want it most.

We’ve increased the minimum peak-time throughput level from 2 to 4Mbit/s for the copper-based WBC Standard option and from 3 to 8Mbit/s for your business customers’ Elevated option. And from Monday 7 June 2010, we’ll be covering these new improved benchmarks with Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets. It’s a move that we believe makes us the only UK supplier to offer throughput SLA targets on all next generation broadband services.

In parallel with this, we’ve also just announced the names of a further 157 exchanges that we plan to WBC-enable by Spring 2011. They join the 148 that we reported in The Loop last month. New on the exchange list – to give a few examples – are Ross-on-Wye and Leek in the West Midlands, Porthcawl and Buckley in Wales, Bridge of Weir in Scotland, Hayling Island in the South East and North Edgware and Winchmore Hill in London.

Our copper-based WBC services, offering downstream speeds of up to 24Mbit/s**, are already available to 55% of UK homes and businesses. We intend to reach 75% by Spring next year, subject to demand, to put 20 million potential customers within your scope. Coverage in many major towns and cities is already nearing completion, with examples including 100% of BT lines in Oxford, more than 90% in London, Manchester and Brighton/Hove and more than 80% in Plymouth, Leeds, Northampton, Bournemouth and Southampton.

* Source: www.ids.ac.uk/go/news/ten-predictions-for-2010

** The maximum speed a WBC line can support subject to the distance from the exchange and other external factors such as interference on the line.

GET MORE>

Check out the latest list and map of exchanges that we plan to WBC-enable between now and Spring 2011.

Read about Wholesale Broadband Connect here.  

Or see its fully managed version – Wholesale Broadband Managed Connect – here.  

Or talk to your account management team.

1. IPv6 addressing and WBC: it’s all systems go
2. New exchange list pinpoints fresh 21CN sales scope
3. 21CN broadband: 1 million users already – and 61% coverage planned by Winter 2010

That’s the prospect – and the challenge – for resellers as the roll-out of BT Wholesale’s Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) fibre service continues.

Capable of delivering downstream speeds of up to 40Mbit/s and upstream rates of up to 10Mbit/s*, this is the latest addition to our portfolio as we energise – and re-energise – our broadband range for a marketplace that’s no longer ‘one size fits all’.

This was one of the key topics under discussion at the Next Generation Access Seminar at the BT Tower last month. Hosted by the Federation of Communication Services for their members, in association with Openreach, the event alerted resellers to the importance of starting to forge plans without delay if they want to gain the most from the potential of a fibre world. They were also invited to share their views on the services they and their customers want and how they’re delivered, in a panel discussion led by Colin Annette, BT Wholesale’s Director with special responsibility for the reseller community.

Colin also gave a presentation on the theme of ‘The future is here with bigger profit boosting broadband’. It showed how BT Wholesale is primed to help resellers of all sizes to get ahead – and stay ahead – with the help of a wide choice of next generation broadband and Ethernet services, designed to help you deliver the applications that customers want including multi-channel VoIP, cloud computing, video conferencing and High Definition TV.

*The maximum speed a WBC/WBMC fibre to the cabinet line can support is subject to the distance from the cabinet and other external factors such as interference on the line.

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See your own future in fibre by reviewing Colin Annette’s presentation at the Federation of Communication Services’ website here.

Find out more about BT Wholesale’s WBC and WBMC fibre services.

Or experience their speed and performance for yourself by booking a demo at our London Showcase. Contact your account management team for details.

1. Next generation broadband: core nodes go live early to expand footprint – and market
2. IPv6 addressing and WBC: it’s all systems go
3. Next Generation broadband in rural communities: get involved early, gain more

Voted the Most Innovative VoIP Product by ITSPA (Internet Telephony Providers Association) in December 2009, IP Exchange is a platform originally created for UK VoIP Providers who have their own soft switch but who need a high-quality, carrier-grade and cost-effective VoIP or TDM gateway to deliver calls to fixed line, mobile and next generation network numbers as ‘native VoIP’.

But since the end of last year the scope – and the geographical reach – of IP Exchange has broadened. It’s now available anywhere in the world to support IP-to-IP and IP-to-TDM call interoperability. There’s a range of access options to choose from too: via the worldwide web, IPLC or MPLS connectivity. This expansion follows successful trials with one of our mobile services customers carrying live voice and IP traffic between countries.

Work with the same customer has also led to the introduction of a new interoperability service that can carry IP-based mobile signalling traffic as an extension to our C7-based predecessor ‘Roam Connect’ product. BT Wholesale’s Head of Product Management (IP Interoperability) Lee Hollis explains the thinking behind it.

“We already had global TDM mobile signalling capability with our customers to support their signalling requirements” Lee says. “But we recognised that TDM alone didn’t really have sufficient bandwidth capacity to carry their projected traffic or give scope for growth in the future. We have quickly developed a new service that does both. It’s GSM signalling over IP – or ‘Sigtrans’ for short. It’s enabled by our new global capability investment and is another example of BT Wholesale’s commitment and investment into the global interoperability market.”

John O’Connor, a BT Global Services’ Wholesale Voice Product Manager on the BT Wholesale project team, adds: “IP signalling is also a fundamental building block for next generation interoperability” says John. “That’s because it can accommodate voice, text messaging, GRX, video, presence and location based services as well as GSM traffic. So this development marks an important step forward for us and for our customers.”
 
Those customers can include companies that are currently in the voice market but thinking of offering video and IP-based applications, hosted IP telephony and SIP trunking services both in the UK and abroad.

Lee concludes: “IP Exchange already supports SIP interconnects accessed via MPLS, the internet and direct connection, whatever your geographical location. Shortly we plan to enhance our end-to-end IP routing capability and partner fabric and expand our current SIP(I) interoperability capability while continuing to offer a full IP originated, A-Z international termination service. And everything comes with the simplicity and cost advantages of a single IP interconnect relationship.”

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Find out how global IP Exchange could help you expand your portfolio – and your horizons – here. Or speak to your account management team.
 
Got questions about GSM signalling over IP? Contact John O’Connor at john.m.oconnor@bt.com

1. 21CN voice and data help InTechnology to offer “huge network savings”
2. Monthly alerts help customers track progress in 5-star holiday incentive
3. Opportunity to win a Luxury holiday for IP Exchange and Wholesale Calls customers

Your answer could be as close as your inbox, with the help of a series of e-shots that BT Wholesale’s eCatalogue team has been sending out.

Marketing Manager Sian Francis explains: “We found some of our customers were unaware that BT Wholesale has an online equipment store where you can get a wide choice of products from many manufacturers all in one place. And at wholesale prices that give real scope for their margins. So we’re trying out this fresh way to alert them and keep them well briefed. The idea is that the e-shots bring you news not only of the latest additions to the eCatalogue range and products that are selling well but also exactly how those products can solve your end-customers’ specific needs. We’ve taken a close look at the requirements of consumers, home-workers and small to medium size businesses and made selections from our range accordingly.”

Looking beyond the equipment that’s attached to a broadband line, the eCatalogue range also offers you IP phones, business switches, headsets and firewalls. We’ve also recently expanded it with a wide selection of Assistive Products. This includes everything from big button phones and Braille keyboards to specialised software and ergonomically designed chairs: exactly what your customers want to meet the needs of employees and students with disabilities.

And buying online from us also gives you the prospect of simple ordering 24/7, the convenience of being able to check stock levels while browsing, payment by card and delivery options to fit every budget.

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Like to receive our e-shots or find out more? Contact Sian Francis at sian.francis@bt.com

Go to the eCatalogue now to check out what’s on offer: http://www.btecatalogue.com/

To register to use the eCatalogue, please go to http://www.btecatalogue.com/ and click ‘Sign-Up Now’ in the left-hand menu. Or contact your account management team.

1. eCatalogue adds new VoIP products and Fortinet security solutions: boost sales as you help SMEs save
2. eCatalogue best buys and new products add up to fresh sales prospects in 2009
3. New eCatalogue’s ‘total solutions’ can help cut costs

Last month your potential market was 55% of the UK’s homes and businesses. But the move is on to boost that number to 61%.

It’s the next expansion phase for Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) – our next generation broadband service – as we work to add a further 148 exchanges to the network by Winter 2010.

We also announced on 22 March 2010 that the milestone figure of one million WBC users had been reached. And the continuing roll-out of the copper-based product will expand your scope for sales and revenue generation, even if you’re targeting specific communities or towns very much as a niche or localised provider.

Running over BT’s 21st Century Network, WBC and its fully managed variant Wholesale Broadband Managed Connect (WBMC) offer downstream speeds of up to 24Mbit/s*, plus the flexibility, cost-efficiency and easy scalability characteristic of all 21CN solutions. All these factors make them an essential portfolio addition if you want to satisfy the population’s passion for rich content services.

BT Wholesale’s Director of Broadband and Content Services Sian Baldwin comments: “We are delighted that WBC is ensuring our customers are at the heart of the broadband revolution occurring in the UK today and that our investment is helping them to meet their customers’ growing demand for high-speed access to a range of online services, including television, gaming and multiple VoIP services.”

Our 21CN broadband network will keep expanding. By Spring 2011 we intend to roll out copper services to exchanges that serve around 20 million customers.

And with WBC as the springboard for fibre services too, we will continue to make fibre broadband services available in parallel with Openreach’s roll-out. This aims to reach four million UK homes and businesses within the same timescale.

*The maximum speed a WBC/WBMC line can support subject to the distance from the exchange – or in the case of FTTC, the cabinet – and other external factors such as interference on the line.

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In early March 2010 we published the new list and UK map of exchanges that we plan to enable with WBC and WBMC services by Winter 2010. Check them out here.

Read more about Wholesale Broadband Connect here. Or see its fully managed version – Wholesale Broadband Managed Connect – here.

Find out how close customer collaboration helped us take WBC’s fibre variant right through from first idea to market launch. It’s in this issue here.

Or talk to your account management team.

1. New exchange list pinpoints fresh 21CN sales scope
2. Get the inside track on what’s new in broadband: 13 July, London
3. Next generation broadband: core nodes go live early to expand footprint – and market