
Free calls and texts trialled in virtual world…
By Tim Ferguson
Published: 20 March 2008 10:30 GMT
BT is upping its presence in Second Life with a trial of its free 'Avatalk' phone and texting service.
The one month virtual world pilot will start on 26 March allowing users to make 10 free calls (of up to one hour each) and send 10 SMS messages to almost anywhere in the world.
Broadband from A to Z
Click on the links below to find out more...
A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies
Users will be able to use their avatars to access the service at red BT phone boxes at five locations or by picking up a heads-up display that can then be used beyond these locations.
BT built a private island in Second Life called Area 21 last September where it showed off demos of its virtual world technology including Avatalk.
Matt Brotherton, project manager at the Applied Technology Centre in BT's chief technology office, told silicon.com: "What we wanted to do after [Area 21] was launch elements of that as a trial service just to understand what the demand for virtual-to-real-world communications and also virtual-to-other-virtual-world communication is."
He added: "What we've been able to do is open it up completely so Second Life users can call and send SMS to anyone else in the world. For Second Life users it's quite compelling."
Avatalk uses BT's global IP platform, Web21C, to carry calls and transmit SMS messages to mobile networks around the world.
When asked about the benefits of Avatalk over other free VoIP services - such as Skype - Brotherton said: "It really comes down to the rich immersiveness of virtual worlds."
He added: "We're looking into how virtual world environments can provide real business benefits to our enterprise, corporate and SME customers from the perspective of providing collaborative environments internally but also as new channels to their customers."
He added as people are able to do more things within Second Life, the service allows them to make calls and send texts without leaving the virtual world.
Brotherton said other organisations who are interested in hosting an Avatalk hub should contact BT once the trial has begun.
Brotherton said the trial will help BT understand how people are using the service and how viable it might be as a product in the future.
He added: "Our test bed has been Second Life but we're very much interested in virtual worlds as a whole."
The five partners hosting Avatalk on their islands are Idearium, Italy Island Resort, Nuova Sicilia, Style Magazine and Venice Italy.
Youll be developing the infrastructure backbone for our mission-critical systems, currently delivering 24x7 hosted services to 8000+ customer ...
You will manage 5 senior engineers who are responsible for designing & implementing VoIP products & hosting services. Your team are fully in charge ...
My client provides voice & data networking services to remote global locations for their blue-chip customers using their satellite links. Senior ...
CIO Agenda 2008
The exclusive silicon.com CIO Agenda 2008 survey looks at the CIO's tech shopping list for the year, examines whether IT budgets are rising or falling and reveals what the pain points are for tech chiefs this year. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright ©1995-2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Top of page
Howard Greenfield Tech Futures: The talkification of the web A software switch gives browsers a voice...
Natasha Lomas 'Green' technology can't save us from ourselves So much for the rhetoric...