Total Voice Control
Openreach isn’t the only innovation to result from BT’s agreement with Ofcom to ensure greater ‘equivalence’. One of the other challenges Ofcom posed BT was to discover a way to give Communication Providers (CP) the freedom to set up their own UK call server and so for the first time ever take total control over their customers’ outbound and inbound calls. This is the task that’s in the hands of the Voice Line Access (VLA) Working Group, chaired by Justin Orde of Spitfire Communications — as Industry Consultant Tom Saville, the Group’s ‘buddy’, explained.
“It’s a unique challenge. The UK is the only country in the world that’s ever attempted to create a product of this kind. That means there are no published UK or international standards for what we need to achieve. So the Group had to start from scratch by defining requirements and then promoting development of the necessary standards, working in close collaboration with the NICC (Network Interoperability Consultative Committee) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)”.
Ofcom’s vision with the VLA concept was to inspire greater innovation in the UK voice market by making it easier for more companies to enter the market and launch exciting new product ideas.
There is still a long way to go and every little help and input from CPs is required. The Working Group will soon be holding a special open event at the BT Tower on the evening of Monday 6 November 2006.
Tom continued: “The VLA Working Group has been at work for four months — but until now the development of the VLA has really only attracted the interest of the UK’s larger CPs such as Cable & Wireless, THUS, NTL and Kingston Communications — senior representatives from all of whom are making major, positive contributions to the product development initiative and the debate. But what everyone involved really wants is the opportunity to present the concept of VLA to a much wider audience so we’d like to encourage everyone who’s interested in the future of voice to come along to the Tower and find out more.”
The idea of having ‘total control’ always holds a big appeal — and not just for communications companies. Tom concluded: “Business customers will be attracted by the VLA concept too when they realise that it means they can have complete control right down to every dialled digit. For a multi-sited SME that means they could — for example — create their very own short dialling codes for inter-site communications. While a CP investing in VLA would have the prospect for the first time of being able to devise their very own numbering system.”
If you’d like to attend the VLA Working Group’s BT Tower event, please contact Tom Saville at tom.saville@bt.com
You will also be able to read more about the potential and the advantages of Voice Line Access from 6 November onwards, following the launch of the Group’s VLA proposition document at the event itself.
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This is the latest in a series of articles taking a closer look at the task of each of the Consult21 Working Groups, plus an update on their progress.
For a diary of forthcoming Working Group meetings, please visit the Consult21 website regularly: www.btwholesale.com/consult21