Verizon, BT Extend Telepresence Partnership

BT and Verizon Enterprise Solutions are extending the range of their telepresence offerings to enable virtual face-to-face collaboration in more locations around the world, all in an effort to meet business’ growing demand for video communications.

Under the new deal, Verizon and BT customers can now communicate via Cisco TelePresence. Telepresence supports a wide range of business-to-business applications and vertical industries ranging from joint product development to supply-chain management to customer meetings.

"This initiative between BT and Verizon opens up new opportunities for enterprises to collaborate across their premium video platforms and will help multinational customers make the most of their Cisco TelePresence System investments," said Sandra O’Boyle, service director, business network and IT services, Current Analysis.

Verizon and BT telepresence customers will experience the same interface and service quality they currently do, with similar scheduling, support, security and encryption. In addition, customers will have access to a directory to determine which organizations are registered and are available for intercarrier telepresence meetings, and where the sites are located. Customers will continue to rely on their respective service providers as a single point of contact for telepresence support, assistance and billing, the companies said.