BT And Dolby Shake Up Enterprise Communications With Conference Calls That Sound Like In-Person Meetings

IRVING, Texas, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BT and Dolby Laboratories today announced the latest updates to BT^® MeetMe with Dolby^® Voice™, an audio conferencing service enhanced by the Dolby application that makes conference calls sound and feel like in-person meetings.

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice combines Dolby's nearly 50 years of expertise in core signal processing and human psychoacoustic perception with BT's world-class communications capabilities to improve the way people communicate at work, enhance business productivity and reduce the cost of conferencing.

The companies announced two updates today:

• The new Dolby Voice Conference Phone, an innovative device that will dramatically improve meetings, providing great sound quality and capabilities that bridge the gap between in-room and remote participants so that all meeting participants can contribute equally (the phone will be available later this year); and
• The BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice mobile app, which will provide access to the service remotely (customer trials of the mobile app begin in April).

Andrew Border, vice president, Dolby Communications Division, said: "The Dolby Voice Conference Phone gives workers a full picture of what is happening on a conference call. Everyone knows who is speaking and understands what is being said."

BT is announcing the availability of the BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice mobile app for both the iPhone^® and Android™ platforms. The app provides workers with a superior conference call experience from a mobile device and a simple, cost-effective way for businesses to support workers who connect to calls remotely. The app makes meetings easy to start and join: conference participants simply tap in from the mobile app. There's no need for participants to find the phone number or have to compromise on ease of access when dialling-in from a mobile phone.

Howard Dickel, CEO, BT Conferencing, said: "The BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice mobile app strengthens our audio conferencing proposition and reinforces the key advantages our product offers in the marketplace.  BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice offers what we believe to be the best mobile experience and makes it more cost-effective for organizations to support mobile workers."

"Later in the year, we will be launching the BT MeetMe Dolby Voice Conference Phone, which will complete our line up, providing our customers with what we are confident is the best audio conferencing experience at anytime, anywhere."

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice makes conference call participants feel as if they are in the same room, enabling them to focus on the content of the conversation, without the limitations of standard conference call technology. Decisions are made, innovation increases and distributed teams collaborate more effectively.

According to industry analysts, this service has the potential to transform the marketplace for business conferencing:

• "BT and Dolby are addressing the pent-up demand for a better, more efficient and cost-effective way for workers to collaborate and achieve results faster."--Andy Nilssen, Senior Analyst and Partner, Wainhouse Research
• "It's really incredible and I think quite frankly it's going to change the way our industry works."--Jim Burton, Founder and CEO, CT Link
• "We have experienced spectacular quality using BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice. We wish all our conference calls could have such a high-quality productive experience."--Roopam Jain, Industry Director, Frost & Sullivan

To explore the gap between in-person meetings and conference calls, Dolby conducted a series of experiments to compare how well workers performed specially designed and highly interactive tasks when working together in person as opposed to performing the same tasks using only a conference call. The research showed in-person meetings to be the most effective. A comparison of conference call solutions showed that workers who used the high-quality Dolby Voice spatial-audio system were almost 60 percent more efficient than workers who used a conventional conferencing system.

In a recent Dolby Lab Notes blog post, Dr Mike Hollier, CTO of Dolby's Communications Division and an expert in auditory science and engineering, notes that conventional conference calls are exhausting because they require people to apply most of their conscious intelligence to analysing and deciphering audio information rather than the content of a meeting.

Dr Mike Hollier said: "BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice improves the way people communicate by harnessing the collective IQ of all workers on a conference call—and can help make businesses smarter, too."

Several companies have selected the BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice service based on its ability to improve productivity, enhance collaboration and improve operations. Early results indicate that customers can make substantial savings off their total conferencing bill when using BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice. Dolby Voice lowers network transport and connectivity costs, allowing meeting participants to gain access over any IP network rather than using more expensive dial-in numbers. Dolby Voice eliminates the need for companies to choose between quality, convenience and cost.

All news releases can be accessed at our web sites: http://www.globalservices.bt.com/us/en/news and http://www.btplc.com/news

About BT

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group's reported revenue was £18,103m with reported profit before taxation of £2,315m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. 

For more information, visit www.btplc.com.

About Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) creates audio, video, and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in mobile devices, at the cinema, at home, and at work. For nearly 50 years, sight and sound experiences have become more vibrant, clear, and meaningful in Dolby.

For more information, please visit www.dolby.com.

Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Dolby Voice is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE BT