FA secures BT partnership for St. George's Park development

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:19:32 GMT

BT has become the Official Communications Services Partner of St. George's Park, the first of a select number of tiered blue-chip partners of The Football Association's new National Football Centre, under development in Burton upon Trent.

In an exclusive five year, multi-million pound agreement, coaches, players and business users of St. George's Park will all benefit from a state-of-the-art, bespoke, high-speed BT iNet voice and data network, plus BT Openzone Wi-Fi.

David Sheepshanks, Chairman of St. George's Park, said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome BT as a partner for the St. George's Park development and their association with us is a ringing endorsement of its importance and its growing national identity.

"The buildings are taking shape at a rapid rate and you can now get a real sense of what an inspirational and special place it will be. St. George's Park will be at the very centre of coach education and young player development and for The FA to be delivering its philosophy and agenda it needs the very best technology infrastructure and facilities. We look forward to working closely with BT."

Graham Sutherland, managing director, BT Business, said: "We are very proud to support St. George's Park and to help The FA develop the next generation of sporting greats. With the best communications technology at the heart of this project, English football can build a competitive advantage on the field."

Rob Ray, Group Director of Digital & Information Technology at The Football Association, said: "St. George's Park is designed to be cutting edge in every way and technology is a key component, making this partnership with BT all the more exciting. There is little doubt that they are best placed to deliver this expertise and we are delighted to be able to partner with them to enhance St. George's Park’s status as a centre of sporting excellence."

Close to one million visitors will use the St. George's Park network over the term. Sponsorship rights have also been agreed.

BT is the Official Communications Services Partner to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, title sponsor of the BT Paralympic World Cup, and also sponsors the charity Football Aid. Three of Britain’s national stadia - Wembley Stadium, the Millennium Stadium and Hampden Park - have BT-installed technology, and BT Vision's entertainment service provides live matches from the Barclays Premier League and live action from The FA Cup with Budweiser and the Football League. BT has more than 60 years experience in sports content delivery, and its media and broadcast services support The FA Cup, Wimbledon and Rugby Union, among 3,500 headline events, each year.

BT joins a growing list of commercial partners, headed by Lead Partner Umbro, as well as Hilton Worldwide. Construction of St George's Park is already well underway and the centre is on-track to open in the summer of 2012.

ENDS

About BT:
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, operating in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move, including business broadband, data cabling and leased line internet, as well as converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale. In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group's revenue was £20,076 million with profit before taxation of £1,717 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

BT and Heineken partner to offer Wi-Fi to London pubs

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:21:47 GMT

Drinkers at nearly 100 London pubs and bars are to get fast Wi-Fi, following a new BT and Heineken partnership with plans to extend the wireless internet service to a further 200 pubs across the UK by the end of 2012.

Through Wi-Fi, customers can access a special area of the internet, the Heineken Hub, for which the UK's newest newspaper, i, the quality daily and sister paper to The Independent, is supplying exclusive content.

Customers can get online quickly with any wireless PC, tablet or mobile phone at any of the Wi-Fi hotspots and will also receive exclusive, location-specific content including the best stories from news, views, features, business, culture and sports. It is the first time this content has been available online and it will be updated daily.

The pubs boost BT’s hotspot numbers to more than three million - the largest network in the UK. More than 200,000 sites have been added in the last three months.

Rick Lawrence, Marketing Manager at Heineken UK said: "The partnership with BT reinforces the brand's reputation as a leading player in the development of technology. The Wi-Fi initiative will provide excellent exposure for Heineken among its key target audience and build greater affinity between the brand and its consumers."

Chris Bruce, CEO, BT Openzone, said: "Using Wi-Fi to deliver free and exclusive content, Heineken is engaging and exciting pub goers and will undoubtedly increase business. It's an exciting time to be involved in hospitality marketing."

Wi-Fi access is completely free to over five million BT Broadband customers, plus users of iPads, iPhones, iTouch, Android, Samsung and Blackberry devices and smartphones through other BT partnership agreements.

In further developments to the UK’s largest Wi-Fi network, BT has also added Wi-Fi access at John Lennon Liverpool, Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield and Teesside regional airports.

BT Wi-Fi is also available at 13 Shepherd Neame hotels in Kent, Starbucks, major hotel chains including Thistle, Guoman and Ramada Jarvis, Welcome Break and Roadchef Costa motorway service areas, Network Rail stations, airports and thousands of homes and independent businesses.

BT also extended its relationship with Hilton in June to provide a fully managed suite of Wi-Fi internet services to more than 17,000 bedrooms, public areas and meeting and conference spaces in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

ENDS

About BT:
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, operating in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and phone products including business broadband and fibre broadband, as well as converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.
In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group’s revenue was £20,076 million with profit before taxation of £1,717 million.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt

BT Openzone to enhance Internet services across Hilton Worldwide's UK and Ireland hotels

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:18:09 GMT

BT Openzone has entered into a strategic agreement with Hilton Worldwide to provide a fully-managed suite of Wi-Fi and Internet services across hotels in the U.K. and Ireland. The new technology will provide a tenfold increase in bandwidth and an even more consistent, high-quality online experience for guests at nearly 100 Hilton Worldwide properties beginning in Autumn 2011.

This agreement provides guests with BT Openzone Wi-Fi access, high-speed broadband, conference and event services in more than 17,000 bedrooms, public areas and meeting and conference spaces, including 24-hour customer support. The new Wi-Fi service will be available free of charge to all Gold and Diamond Hilton HHonors members and over five million BT Total broadband customers. BT Openzone users and customers from iPass, AT&T and other BT Openzone roaming partners can also use the super-fast broadband when visiting the hotels.

"We are committed to providing our guests with access to the very latest technology, complementing our world class hospitality, and are delighted to collaborate with BT Openzone to deliver an outstanding service in the U.K. and Ireland," said Robert Webb, Chief Information Officer, Hilton Worldwide. "This deal builds on last year's agreement with AT&T in the United States and Canada as we look to partner with the very best technology providers around the world."

Chris Bruce, CEO, BT Openzone, said: "The growing number of travellers with mobile devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, means guests increasingly expect to be able to log on wherever they are and with a fast and reliable connection. BT currently has 2.8 million Wi-Fi hotspots across the U.K. and Ireland. By expanding our coverage at Hilton Worldwide's portfolio of hotels, we are demonstrating our commitment in providing leading edge technology services to partners in a very demanding service environment."

BT Openzone will use an 'above property', centralised cloud computing architecture, and will oversee network operations, guest Internet support, network engineering, software development and 24/7 network monitoring for Hilton Worldwide's business Wi-Fi and Internet services.

Hilton Worldwide's portfolio of six brands in the U.K. and Ireland includes Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Doubletree by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton.

About Hilton Worldwide
Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. For 92 years, Hilton Worldwide has been offering business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands are comprised of more than 3,750 hotels and 615,000 rooms in 84 countries and include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors.

About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services, operating in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to customers for use at home, at work and on the move; business broadband and business internet services and products and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group's revenue was £20,076 million with profit before taxation of £1,717 million.

BT hits the one million spot

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:58:06 GMT

BT has announced that it has reached its goal of building a million-strong Wi-Fi hotspot network. Now the largest network in the UK and Ireland, the hotspots are available in homes, independent businesses, high street chains and major city centres.

BT Wi-Fi users are also on track to spend more than a billion Wi-Fi minutes online this year (April09 - 31 Mar10), a peak attributed in part to the massive growth in UK iPhone traffic. In the last eight months, BT has signed UK deals to provide O2, Orange and Vodafone iPhone customers* with BT Openzone Wi-Fi access.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive officer, BT Retail, said: “Whether at home, at work, or when out and about, wireless access is central to keeping people and communities better connected. We’ve grown from 500,000 to one million hotspots within six months, and will continue to add more to meet demand from smart-phone, laptop, iPod and now e-reader users.”

The million-strong Wi-Fi estate comprises hotspots from the BT FON Wi-Fi Community, BT Openzone, plus BT Openzone hotspots via the BT Business Hub. Well-known brands offering access include Hilton, Thistle, Ramada Jarvis and Macdonald hotel chains, Caffe Nero and Starbucks coffee stores, Welcome Break and RoadChef Costa service stations, British Airways, Star Alliance, American Airlines and SkyTeam airport lounges plus other UK transport hubs.

Five million BT consumer and business broadband – plus BT Mobile Broadband - customers have inclusive Wi-Fi minutes in their contracts to surf, work or make cheaper VoIP calls. Casual users can buy access from as little as 1/2p per minute. BT Openzone customers can access a further 65,000 hotspots in the UK and overseas through international roaming partners. BT FON members have access to another 225,000 FON (hot) spots in the UK and worldwide.

The millionth hotspot is now live and BT will launch a competition on Thursday 11th February. Further information can be found via the BTOpenzone Twitter feed.

Notes to editors
* Plus O2 Mobile Broadband customers

The estate includes:
Circa 860,000 BT FON hotspots: These are public Wi-Fi hotspots broadcast by BT Home Hubs.
Circa 137,000 BT Business Hubs broadcasting a BT Openzone public Wi-Fi signal
Circa 3,800 BT Openzone hotspots in popular UK and Ireland locations including hotels, coffee shops, major city centres, airport lounges and terminals and marinas.

- Ends -

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended March 31, 2009, BT Group’s revenue was £21,390 million.

BT successfully demonstrates Xero at the BT Business Experience in London

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:55:10 GMT

BT Business has launched a new web-based accounting application, to replace the complex software blighting smaller firms, forcing their employees to work longer hours.

The launch of Xero, a new online tool designed for firms and their advisors, is supported by new research by BT Business which finds that almost 50 per cent of smaller business staff work extra hours to clear their current workloads, with 41 per cent admitting that they actually waste work time because of poor technology and systems.

Accessible from any internet or mobile connection, Xero is aimed at helping businesses access, update, review and control their finances in the downturn anywhere, from any device. The simple, software-as-a-service (SaaS) package will provide customers with 24/7 secure online access to bank transactions, invoices, reports, VAT returns and management reporting.

Chris Lindsay, general manager at BT Business applications, said: "Customer feedback is that traditional accounting packages are complicated to use, and can only be accessed while in the office. As a result, managers put book keeping off and spend too many late evenings or weekends in the office. Owner managers tend not to be finance experts, and dread having to file their accounts with these systems. The research shows that employees are working harder and longer during the downturn anyway, so we hope that Xero users will instantly be more productive and redress an often dire work/life balance."

Xero is available as a free 30 day BT Business trial. Features include a real time dashboard of a firm's transactions, online accrual to keep book-keeping up to date, daily bank reconciliation function, web-based accounting from anywhere with an internet connection, expense claim processing and reporting for financial advisors.

Andrew Sandiford, head of Business Advisory and Assurance at Target feels that Xero eliminates all the problems of not feeling 'part of the client's business' for his accountants: "With Xero, you can access a client's accounts at any time. More importantly, you know you are looking at the same 'version' of the accounts as the client because there is only one ledger. Xero is fantastic for us, as it means we can offer 'real-time' advice, basing our recommendations on the up-to-date financial data we can see."

Delivered as SaaS, Xero can also be implemented quickly without the upfront licence fees, maintenance or upgrade costs associated with on-premise software. Cloud computing applications like Xero reside online and are accessed by a simple web browser. Businesses only pay for the resources they use.

BT Business provides everything from handsets to applications to help smaller firms work, share and manage common operational processes including Ribbit for Salesforce which is designed to improve sales team productivity, eSignature and CRM systems salesforce.com, Netsuite and SugarCRM.

- ends -

About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the y

BT plans communication integration to reduce mobile costs for small businesses

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:27:34 GMT

BT has announced plans to integrate the BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) technology from Research In Motion (RIM) with BT Communications Complete (based on the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series platform).

The planned new offering will enable BlackBerry smartphone users to take advantage of Wi-Fi networks in the office for voice calls. The solution enables users to switch from Wi-Fi to cellular networks, even in mid-call, allowing small to medium-sized business to reduce mobile airtime costs and be more productive.

Business users will be able to enjoy all the out-of-the-office conveniences of their BlackBerry smartphone - access to contacts, calls, applications and email anywhere - when they are in the office, but without the usually higher mobile airtime costs.

With features like a single voicemail box, the development will also eliminate the time wasted listening to and answering messages on multiple voicemails - making users easier to contact and potentially giving them quicker response times to customers and colleagues' queries.

Users can choose to be contacted using just one number and, by incorporating BT's One Plan Plus into BT Communications Complete, firms can make intra-company calls (including mobile calls) without incurring call-forwarding charges.

"The solution will enable the delivery of unified communications tools for small to medium-sized businesses, which previously only benefited larger firms," said Bill Murphy, managing director, BT Business. "Technologies that better integrate key business processes, reduce costs and keep workers in touch with customers regardless of location, help firms to operate more effectively and to be in better shape for the upturn when it comes."

"Small and medium-sized businesses have the same concerns as all of us - driving down costs and delivering a better customer experience. Unified communications can support those two objectives. The new service will bring together the strengths of all three companies - Cisco, BT and RIM - to deliver a great offer for companies of all sizes," said Rick Moran, vice president of marketing, Cisco.

-ends-

In the year ended 31 March 2009, BT Group's revenue was £21,390 million.

BT offers free 20mb/s broadband boost

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:15:11 GMT

BT has announced that millions of homes and businesses are set to enjoy a free broadband boost as BT will more than double the headline speeds for its residential and business customers.

Given BT is the UK's largest retailer of broadband with 4.8 million customers, the move, which comes in advance of Lord Carter's Digital Britain Report, will lead to an increase in average broadband speeds.

Over 60,000 consumers already have the faster speeds through a BT trial and the upgrade to ADSL 2+ technology will be available to other homes in the summer. BT Retail broadband customers already enjoy speeds of up to 8Mb/s. The plans will see consumers and business in enabled areas receive faster speeds of up to 20Mb/s as part of their broadband service at no extra cost.

Based on BT's 21CN platform, the faster speeds will initially be available from 549 telephone exchanges, serving more than 40% of UK homes and businesses. BT plans to extend that coverage to 55% by March 2010 subject to customer demand.

As well as boosting download speeds, upload speeds will increase to up to 1Mb/s. The faster service will enable customers to surf, upload or download data in a fraction of the time, even when several users are on the same connection. This means less waiting around for complex web pages to download and graphics to upload. It is also good news for BT Business Broadband customers looking to use rich media or boost their websites.

BT research has shown that one of the major causes of slower broadband speeds lies in customers' home wiring. To address this, BT is also set to offer the BT Broadband Accelerator (BT I-Plate) that eliminates electrical interference from telephone-extension wiring, and can improve broadband speeds and reliability. BT will be giving away the devices free to consumers (subject to £2.50 P&P) and businesses that are likely to benefit. Crucially, this will mean more customers with marginal broadband speeds will exceed the 2Mb/s threshold required to benefit from the full range of new internet services, something Lord Carter's report is set to address.

Gavin Patterson, chief executive officer, BT Retail said "Unlike other providers, BT is upgrading customers to 20Mb/s for free. High-speed broadband provides a faster and more reliable service that will transform the way we live, work, learn and play. We believe the true value of broadband is in helping customers enjoy the exciting new services that it makes possible. In line with the Government's Digital Britain review, we will be making higher speeds more widely available."

In a separate move, BT Retail will begin the first trials of up to 40Mb/s super-fast fibre-based broadband in Whitchurch, South Wales and Muswell Hill, London this summer. Openreach is already delivering speeds of up to 100Mb/s to customers in the Ebbsfleet Valley in Kent, using fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) technology.

Notes to editors:
New or re-contracting BT Business Broadband and BT Total Broadband customers in an enabled exchange area will automatically be eligible for the ADSL2+ service at no additional cost. The new ADSL2+ service will be available to business users from the initial launch, and non-business customers from early summer. The BT Business Total Broadband tariff remains the same and includes BT Openzone Wi-Fi minutes.

About BT Business
BT Business understands the challenges that businesses face in the current climate, and supports cost control, improved productivity and winning business through product collections including business broadband & internet, domains & BT Tradespace members to share information and expertise. The most popular BT Tradespace communities include a group for people who run home-based businesses and a community where new or seasoned entrepreneurs can leave advice, ask questions and share top tips.

The site is a dynamic online community for sales and marketing and offers a comprehensive directory of SME products and services. It allows members to use the latest social media tools - podcasts, videos and blogs - to promote themselves and engage with customers, partners and suppliers.

Free and easy to join, BT Tradespace also offers a secure and safe online marketplace trading platform where consumers can buy goods.

Ivan Croxford, general manager, BT Tradespace, said: "These figures show that social networking is not just a passing consumer fad, businesses are embracing it too, because of the obvious benefits it holds for companies of all sizes.

"The internet opens up a global marketplace for SMEs, helping them to compete and prosper in times of mounting economic difficulty. BT Tradespace offers a fantastic platform to exploit the full potential of the web by encouraging an ongoing open and honest dialogue with customers, colleagues, suppliers and partners".

BT Tradespace research shows that three quarters of smaller companies see the web as a strategic business tool, and 45% make a quarter of their sales online. Social networking extends this playing field by offering SMEs the opportunity to compete with bigger firms, connect with niche audiences and target local markets.

Croxford explained: "The success of BT Tradespace reveals that companies are now realising that to prosper in the digital age, they must embrace the opportunities offered by the web and start using social networks to their full advantage".

BT Tradespace member Tabitha Potts, who was voted runner-up as 'Mum-Entrepreneur of 2009' at the Women's Business Mastermind Awards, believes the site has been an invaluable tool for trading and marketing her company. She said: "I have had 10,000 hits on my BT Tradespace page and some of these have clicked through to my main site generating sales.

"The site has a very nice clean interface and I regularly blog and upload videos. This has worked wonders for my search engine rankings so customers can find me much easier on the Internet."

Lyn and John Hill created a Tradespace page to support their online business HedgePig, commented: "After just one month using the service, our BT Tradespace site had received over 1,600 hits. This corresponded with our main website, seeing a substantial rise in visitors and sales, resulting in a monthly turnover increase of around 20 per cent. We now feel confident in taking our business to the next level and offering a wholesale business-to-business service."

Businesses can get free advice on how to build a successful online presence at the week-long BT Business Experience event being held from 29 June to 3 July 2009. The event taking place in central London is specifically created to show businesses how the very latest technology and business thinking can help them manage their costs, market their business more effectively and make them more competitive especially in the current environment.

Notes to editor:

BT Business and Sage Pay secure online riches

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:35:12 GMT

BT Business has launched a new service with Sage Pay to protect small businesses from online payment fraud. The new BT eShop service will include secure online payment processing tools from Sage Pay, the UK's largest independent Internet Payment Service Provider, to help businesses quickly set-up a secure online store and reduce the risk of fraud across all of their online transactions.

"More than two thirds of businesses admit payment fraud remains one of the most daunting elements of running an online business," said Simon Black, managing director, Sage Pay. "BT Business has more than one million relationships with small businesses in the UK. By bringing this expertise together with Sage Pay's knowledge of internet payment security we can now help companies take their businesses online more simply and cost effectively."

BT eShop is a comprehensive package to enable businesses to quickly start selling products and services from their own web site without the need for software installation or any technical knowledge. It includes functionality to manage all of the back office functions that a business needs to operate a successful ecommerce operation e.g. customer orders, warehouse management, multi-language support, shipping and payment methods with a full range of marketing tools.

"Having a strong online retail presence is forming a big part of many businesses' armoury for fighting the downturn," said Jerry Thompson, Director Business Products and Online, BT Business. "There is a real need for a service that simplifies ecommerce and removes the administrative complexities of online payment processing for small businesses in particular. The launch of BT eShop with Sage Pay does exactly this, helping companies securely pocket their online riches".

-ends-

Notes to editors
BT eShop is available from £25 a month (excluding VAT). For companies looking to expand into multiple markets and generate sales from integration into shopping auction web sites, email marketing campaign tools and search engine submission, BT eShop Elite is available for £45 a month with an extensive list of additional features. The BT eShop service is built on the award winning ecommerce platform from ePages. Prices based on a minimum contract period of 12 mths.

BT Tradespace and Libersy help SMEs sign up customers via social networking

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:50:51 GMT

BT Tradespace is introducing a new online booking and payment system, BT Book It Now, aiming to help small businesses capture business opportunities from social networking.

Based on the Libersy online booking software, Book It Now is available for free to all BT Tradespace members. It is the first e-commerce solution for companies in the service industry, such as hairdressers, restaurants, sports clubs and consultants, to integrate the PayPal payments system directly into an online bookings platform within a social network environment.

With 74 per cent of all service bookings made in the evenings, BT Book It Now aims to provide businesses with the tools needed to serve their online customers round the clock. Customers can log-on at their convenience and check for available times, book appointments and pay instantly using the system.

"Social commerce is clearly on the rise and we are always looking for ways in which we can help the BT Tradespace community make the most of this upward trend," said Ivan Croxford, general manager at BT Tradespace. "It's not only important to be able to display your services, it's also vital to interact with your customers. BT Book It Now is just one of many value added services that we aim to introduce for members to help them do just this and we're delighted to partner with Libersy on this particular one."

"BT Book IT Now offers a unique online system for UK consumers and businesses," said Karin Loeffen, founder and creator of Libersy. "Businesses can use the booking system to obtain more clients, use their time more efficiently and increase their revenues through BT Tradespace and PayPal. For small businesses it's often difficult to take time off, because they fear missing opportunities. Thanks to this system, that's now a thing of the past."

Book It Now is available from BT Tradespace in three packages, free, basic and advanced. The basic package gives customers the additional ability to support a range of services and accept full or partial payments for them.

With the advanced package, customers can select different staff and rooms and businesses can tailor information that they request from customers to their needs. They can also create a link to their booking system on their own web site and third party search portals as well as on their BT Tradespace profile with the "Book It Now" button.

About BTTradespace.com
BTTradespace.com is a 300,000-member online community, which enables businesses to sell products and services and connect effectively with other people – in order to build business and customer relationships. BT Tradespace provides social networking for businesses and free website set-up.

In the year ended 31 March 2009, BT Group's revenue was £21,390 million

PR Contact:
Dan Thomas
Senior Press Officer
BT News Room
PP A5P
BT Centre
81 Newgate

BT Business reports that digital stalking turns off UK business

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:54:46 GMT

BT Business released the results of new research that show that companies are in danger of driving away business and wasting time on unproductive communications because they are failing to understand customers' different digital personality types when they are dealing through email or other communications channels.

Nearly a third (30%) of the workers surveyed* feel harassed by the sheer number of messages people send them while many also admit that they themselves are never sure of the best way to contact people, implying that companies are missing out on the opportunity to unify their communications technology, and on the personal and business benefits that can bring.

At the same time, workers appear to be increasingly managing working relationships through social and business networks. One in 10 people surveyed have customers and clients as friends on personal social networking sites such as Facebook. This trend is particularly true for younger people, with almost one in six (15 per cent) of the 18 to 24s surveyed saying they use or would use these tools to manage customer relationships, compared to just two per cent of 45s or over. Similarly, six times as many 18 to 24 year olds use or would use microblogs such as Twitter to manage customer relationships compared to 45s or over.

These are some of the key findings of the BT Business research which sought to understand how people are using modern communications tools to build business relationships. The research involved input from one of the UK's leading psychologists Gladeana McMahon.

Gladeana explained: "It's important that people recognise the difference between communicating virtually and face-to-face. We often read others' body language to gauge what they are really saying, adapting our response to get a better result. In the virtual world we don't have the same clues to help us modify our behaviour so we must try to identify 'digital personality types' in other ways to ensure business success. Similar to people thinking before they speak, people need to think before they click to avoid inappropriate communications."

"It's great to see businesses taking up new technology to build profitable relationships but many are missing out on the opportunity to get rid of the clutter and unify their communications," said Bill Murphy, managing director at BT Business.

"Unified communications can empower employees to intelligently tune their communications to the preferences and behaviour patterns of different personalities by creating a sense of presence in a virtual world. With three quarters of the UK's small businesses now operating some form of flexible working, to maximise the benefits it's important for businesses to look at how they can help staff to be more productive, while at the same time saving money by eliminating wasteful messaging."

Notes to Editors:

All figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 3473 workers in organisations with less than 500 employees and employed for at least 3 months. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd and 8th December 2008. The survey was carried out online. The figures have not been weighted.

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

BT Business understands the challenges that small and medium sized businesses face in the current climate, and supports cost control, improved productivity and winning business through core product collections

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