NewStep lands BT

Convergence software maker NewStep announced today that BT will roll out an enterprise fixed/mobile convergence service based on its CNS30 product. The BT Corporate Fusion service is currently in trials and is expected to be commercially available later this year.

BT is the largest customer announced to date by NewStep, which previously announced Embarq’s use of its product. BT will be offering a managed service that uses the CSN30 on premises for enterprise customers and includes features such as single number, unified messaging and one-button transfer of calls from a cell phone to a desk phone. Corporate users can seamlessly hand off calls from one phone to the other as appropriate, to move in and out of the office while maintaining a call.

“As enterprises let a higher percentage of their employee population get highly mobile, it is critical to move forward with a broad set of services,” said Clint Gosselin, chief marketing officer at NewStep. “BT has been a pioneer in fixed/mobile convergence. They were one of the first to trial a consumer solution, and now they are rolling out an enterprise solution.”

The CSN30 will support a corporate PBX, along with cellular and Wi-Fi networks and corporate directories, and extends the PBX features as well. “Besides the dual-mode features, it includes a lot of single-mode features such as single number, single mailbox and single button to move calls,” Gosselin said.

BTs approach validates NewStep’s philosophy of building a flexible service platform that can be deployed in multiple ways, he said. While Embarq is using NewSteps’s carrier grade system the CSN1000 for a network-based service, BT is using the smaller box in an on-premises deployment to meet corporate customer needs.

“BT certainly is a marquee client for us,” Gosselin said. “We believe this validates core tenets we held. Customers are going to deploy this in different ways, depending on their needs. It’s important to have a platform that is flexible enough to accommodate that.”

NewStep is seeing more revenue opportunities in the FMC space this year, particularly as U.S. cable companies add wireless to their service bundle.

“We are engaged in discussions and upcoming trials with several of large players in that space,” Gosselin said. “This creates the first service where, when you link services together, there is value you get above the pricing benefit. Cable companies are all looking at this to add to their bundles.”