Make your landline as mobile as you
BT Fusion may not be the future of fixed/mobile convergence, but it could be a catalyst, says Bob Tarzey
Last year Quocirca reported in CRN the results of a survey into the perceived benefits of converging fixed and mobile handsets (The Mobile Conundrum, 29 November 2004) .
Our research showed that employees with company-issued mobile phones regularly use them while sitting at their desk – a costly practice, since rates for mobile calls are higher than those for landlines.
Most senior IT managers we questioned agreed that getting rid of desk phones for these employees and making mobile phones the only device they use, whether inside or outside the office, would be beneficial, providing that the cheaper landline charges are preserved when the employee is actually in the office.
But few businesses were actually doing this at the end of last year, because the limited number of products available were costly to purchase and install.
The only real option was to select a mobile operator and extend its GSM network into the office through the installation of a pico-cell, which employees can then roam on to when close enough. Call costs are then reduced in line with landline charges. Such solutions are only practical for larger businesses.
However, last month saw the announcement of BT Fusion, an offering from BT based on its BT Mobile service, which it provides in partnership with Vodafone. BT Fusion is aimed at consumers, but, if adapted, might have the potential to benefit small businesses and to provide an opportunity for the resellers who serve that market. When it becomes fully available in September 2005, BT Fusion will be sold via the BT Local Business channel.
BT Fusion requires a broadband connection to which a wireless hub is attached. The broadband connection serves the same purpose as a pico-cell but is much cheaper and easier to install. The hub allows users to roam from the BT Mobile GSM network on to the BT’s landline network using a Bluetooth wireless connection when in range.
This all sounds great, but there are drawbacks. Firstly, most broadband connections do not have the bandwidth to handle more than a few voice calls, although as the bandwidth of both Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and cable broadband increases the number will increase. This may also account for the second drawback, imposed by BT: currently, BT Fusion is restricted to three handsets, limiting it to the small office/home office market. A third drawback is that you have to switch to BT Mobile if it is not already your mobile service provider.
What BT Fusion may end up doing is acting as a catalyst to get other vendors to come up with solutions that offer the same benefits but are more scalable. It cannot be too hard for the likes of Cisco to adapt IP PBXs to work with mobile handsets when in range.
Longer term, the integration of voice calls with wireless broadband is a real possibility, something that could supersede BT Fusion anyway. Another way, which requires no technology, is flexible billing from mobile operators, simply recognising the location of employees and charging them less when they are in or near their office.
A quirk of BT Fusion is that the charge for a whole call is billed at the tariff for the service on which it was initiated. For example, if someone wants to have a long conversation with a business contact on another continent they could initiate the call in the office, move to their car (switching to hands free operation) and make use of a long journey to complete their conversation all at a nice low rate from BT. Nice – but a loophole which may not last.
Quocirca’s original report, Optimising the Mobile Workforce, is available free at www.quocirca.com/tb_btfusion.pdf
Bob Tarzey is service director at Quocirca.
(01753) 855 794
www.quocirca.com
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