BT kicks off managed UC in the USA

BT is launching a service designed to help US and Canadian enterprises determine how unified communications and collaboration (UCC) can help them save money and be more productive. The new service is being launched first in North America and then in the UK and is intended to kick start sales of managed UCC service, even in tough times.

Many businesses are interested in UCC and increasingly believe it can help their businesses but are unsure what the cost or return on investment will be or even what all the possibilities are, said Scott Scharf, unified communications and collaboration program head for BT’s Technologies Office.

“Everyone has caught on to how to use UCC, but they are having a tough time aligning it to their specific business,” Scharf said. “We can go in and help them understand how each of these technologies can help their [research and development], their finance department, etc., and what the specific cost savings will be. Our challenge right now is that we have a lot of customers who have done pilots that are successful, but they are stuck in pilot mode because they haven’t been able to justify a solid business case that will move out of pilot into deployment.”

While information is out there to help companies see how UCC can help employees collaborate more easily and at lower cost, for example, there are also cultural changes and follow-up processes that companies need to implement “otherwise employees won’t change old habits, and they’ll go back to the old way of doing things that costs more money,” Scharf said.

The UCC planning and assessment service enables BT to look at a specific enterprise customer’s potential and how embedding communications into existing applications can make employees more productive. From there, a solid business case can be developed that can be funded even in a tight economy, Scharf said.

“We want to answer their questions and show them the immediate benefits of a managed service at minimum capital outlay,” Scharf said.

BT can also break through confusion about vendors and offer a solution that “isn’t rip-and-replace but leverages what they have and overlays additional capabilities,” Scharf said.

BT is targeting both its current customers and potential new customers, particularly multinationals looking to leverage UCC globally, Scharf said.