UK-based FMC provider OnRelay today announced that they have secured a "customer trial agreement" with BT Global Services, a leading provider of PBX systems, network and managed services with a presence in 170 countries. According to Allan Scott, head of marketing for BT Global Services' FMC product portfolio, this isn't yet a distribution agreement, but they are already running a significant pilot of the OnRelay gear in Austria. If this does develop into a distribution agreement, that will represent a major boost for OnRelay.OnRelay's product is called the Mobile Business Exchange (MBX), and it is sold in two configurations:
* Managed MBX: Installed in conjunction with an existing TDM or IP PBX
* Unified MBX: Integrated with an open source sipXecs telephony server so it can function as an IP PBX on its own.
The agreement with BT Global Services involves only the Managed MBX, which interfaces with Avaya, Cisco, Nortel, and Siemens PBX systems among others; BT Global Services handles Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel so it looks like a pretty good match. The product operates over cellular services only (i.e. it is not a Wi-Fi/cellular system), and it is akin to third-party adjuncts like the BlackBerry MVS and the CounterPath Enterprise Mobility Gateway (resold by Nortel as the MC-3100 and by NEC Unified as the MC-530).
The MBX Server attaches to the PBX via a SIP signaling interface, and a mobile client installs in the handset. There are versions of the mobile client for Symbian S/60 and Windows Mobile devices. BlackBerry support is planned for late-2009. CounterPath supports Symbian S/60, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry devices, while MVS is essentially BlackBerry specific.
Like its competitors, the OnRelay MBX provides single number reach, single voicemail, directory access, and enterprise number control. What it lacks is a presence capability that is federated with either a PBX or UC Platform presence server (e.g. Microsoft OCS or IBM Sametime); OCS integration is planned for later this year. They do have some unique features related to their international focus. While they do not provide PBX or UC-based presence status to the mobile, they do provide location, time of last call, and current on/off hook status for other system users. Using the cellular carrier's ID, the mobile devices can report the country in which they are located, a useful feature in Europe where international roaming is far more prevalent than it is here.
It's always big news when any start-up scores an agreement with a major player like BT Global Services, but the outcome is not all that clear. BT sells Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel PBX systems, all of which have their own extension-to-cellular and mobile UC solutions (Nortel's through CounterPath). Those solutions are better integrated with the PBX systems and can offer directory access, presence (except Avaya), visual voicemail, and the full suite of mobile UC features. According to Mr. Scott, BT Global Services is rounding out their FMC product portfolio, and they like the fact that OnRelay is PBX agnostic so it can work with any of the PBX platforms they handle. They're also considering offering the capability on a hosted basis. We'll have to see if OnRelay's international focus and PBX agnostic approach wins out over their short-term feature deficit.
