BT Conferencing’s Global Video Exchange

BT Conferencing Global Video Exchange

BT Conferencing is a leading global provider of audio, video and web collaboration services. BT Conferencing is the foremost player in the UK's conferencing services market and the leading supplier of video conferencing services worldwide. The 2008 acquisition of WireOne by BT Conferencing provided a strong video conferencing resource base and customer set in the USA that has quickly accelerated the company's role among Cisco TelePresence service providers.

The BT Conferencing Global Video Exchange is a new offering initially available only to customers of the Cisco TelePresence product line to enable inter-company telepresence sessions. Using an SBC-based approach to overcome security concerns and translate around IP addressing incongruities, the GVE can bring two independent Cisco TelePresence customers together. From a user perspective, endpoints are addressed using the E.164 format making session initiation as simple as dialing a telephone. This approach makes initiation of ad hoc point-to-point sessions quite easy and allows BT Conferencing to conveniently apply routing, security and calling control policies to the session requested.

Scheduling and Directory
Scheduled or multipoint calls hosted by the Global Video Exchange reserve capacity on the conference bridging infrastructure using the BT Scheduling Portal (Engage) which is accessible via web, telephone reservation or email reservation requests. This service is ideal for on-net calls. Despite the speed and convenience of these automated services, sessions that traverse other exchanges will initially require manual intervention by the operations team to schedule, setup and supervise.

BT Conferencing publishes a white pages directory so users in any supported room can connect to any other user in any other supported room. Although the BT Conferencing network is connected only to the Cisco Exchange today, it does plan to interconnect with other exchanges later in 2010.

Network
BT Conferencing does not offer network services except as provided by native MPLS connections from BT (BT Conferencing is a subsidiary of BT PLC), MASERGY and TWTelecom. By virtue of established relationships or contractual terms, some customers have relationships with other carriers which can connect to the BT Conferencing GVE. These services are often implemented so that those specific network services are under BT Conferencing VNOC supervision.

The GVE is physically redundant in Denver CO and London UK. These exchanges are capable of serving the inter-company need of any Cisco TelePresence site, anywhere in the world.