Tata Communications and British Telecom (BT) announced an agreement to offer customers on either of their existing video exchanges to establish conferences with customers on the other’s video exchange. The collaboration will provide each organization with open access to a much broader network of businesses, says the alliance.

The development means organizations can now plan to have a ubiquitous connectivity between Telepresence endpoints, regardless of their parent network. This means any Cisco TelePresence customer of BT’s Global Video Exchange or Tata Communications’ Global Meeting Exchange can invite clients of the other service provider to join them in multipoint Telepresence meetings. The meetings can be hosted on either the Tata Communications or the BT Telepresence Exchange. 

“Trials with current customers across both exchange networks have been strongly received”, says John Landau, SVP, Global Head of Voice, Video and Mobility, Tata Communications. “We are excited that two of the world’s leading Telepresence service providers have come together to open up this unprecedented collaboration opportunity for our existing and future customers. Cooperation was easy because BT Conferencing and Tata Communications share a common goal to provide our customers open video conferencing sessions with any other business around the world.”

Jeff Prestel, General Manager, BT Conferencing, Americas, says, “BT’s agreement with Tata Communications is strategic and paves the way for the video industry to expand and truly deliver a highway of video connectivity to end users. BT Global Video Exchange customers continue to increase their use of our exchanges and their number one request is to maximize the reach of their Telepresence endpoints. The agreement with Tata Communications will expand the reach of BT customers via Tata Communications’ public rooms for added convenience and global reach. BT also will be announcing a comprehensive suite of services, as part of the Global Video Exchange, including multiple manufacturers’ video platforms for expanded customer communication and interoperability.”