BT and Orange team up on telepresence

Telepresence users on BT and Orange Business Services's respective networks can now talk to each other, the companies said on Thursday.

According to BT and Orange, their agreement will "help telepresence users reach more partners, suppliers, customers and business prospects at public and private end points across their networks".

However, the customers that want to talk to each other will have to do so using Cisco Telepresence equipment. It is not clear whether BT and Orange have overcome any kind of technical limitation in letting their customers communicate with one another using the same system, or whether the agreement was a purely commercial move.

"This agreement is the latest addition to the expansion of the video industry's connectivity capabilities and is an important step forward," BT Conferencing chief Rich Lowe said in a statement. "It demonstrates our commitment to increasing the network of accessible telepresence locations for our customers and increasing the return on their investments."

Those wishing to use the inter-company service will need to contact their provider to get the necessary conferencing information, which they will then share with others who want to join the telepresence session.

BT and Orange have a directory listing registered organisations and locations that are available for inter-provider connectivity.

Orange and Telefonica announced a similar telepresence interoperability agreement in June.