BT To Market Truphone Mobile Recording Service To Help Firms Meet New Financial Market Regulations In The US

IRVING, Texas, Sept. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BT today announced that it is joining forces with global mobile operator Truphone to market a mobile recording service for mobile devices to support US firms' compliance with new financial markets regulations called for by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

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Under the "oral recordkeeping" requirement of the Act, all companies operating or doing business with an organization in the US for certain regulated trading activities have to record all communications from mobile devices that lead to a trade. This information must be stored for a year in a retrievable format that can be easily searched, and includes conversations and data interactions made on mobile devices such as mobile phones and smartphones. 

BT estimates that 50,000 to 70,000 mobile phone subscribers in the US could be covered by the Dodd-Frank Act and similar future regulations. The Truphone Mobile Recording service will be offered by Truphone along with BT's management services. The relationship will take advantage of BT's experiences in offering similar services in the UK.

The easy-to-use mobile recording service only requires a subscriber to install a Truphone SIM (subscriber identification module) card into an unlocked mobile phone. Recorded calls are then stored in a secure cloud based environment and can be quickly and easily searched and retrieved, supporting financial services firms to meet their compliance obligations.

Tom Regent, president, global banking & financial markets, BT, said: "As the Dodd-Frank Act and future regulations come into force, financial services institutions need technology partners who can act as a safe pair of hands to help them navigate successfully through the compliance maze and in a timely manner.  BT's knowledge and experience of helping financial institutions address their global compliance and regulation obligations, combined with the power of Truphone's solution, means we are ideally placed to help our customers." 

Rik Turner, senior analyst in Ovum's financial services technology practice, said:  "BT is already helping a number of the UK financial services firms impacted by the Financial Conduct Authority (previously known as the Financial Services Authority) recording requirements for mobile devices to comply with the regulations. It is now taking that experience to the US market, working with Truphone to provide a solution which satisfies the call recording regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act.  Solutions such as that offered by BT and Truphone are the easiest and most logical ways to record mobile devices."

Paul Liesching, Senior Vice President, Truphone Mobile Recording, said: "We have embarked on this unique relationship with BT because of their strength and presence in the global financial markets.  By working together to offer Truphone Mobile Recording to the US, we can continue to help firms meet industry regulations quickly and easily, as well as helping subscribers to be more productive.  Our proven Truphone Mobile Recording solution is already used by many of the biggest banks in the world."

The solution can support any Global Certification Forum (GCF) certified mobile handset or operating system and uses Truphone's unique integrated global network and technology to enable the recording of calls without delays or disruption.

The Truphone service is offered over a global footprint.  Truphone customers can enjoy the benefits of economical usage plans in seven countries outside of the US, where Truphone has a full network presence. It does this by storing multiple international numbers for the subscriber on the patented SIM - one for each country in which Truphone has a full network presence.  This means that employees using their devices between or in any of these countries receive the benefits of a local subscriber.  Further, Truphone mobile incoming and outgoing calls can be recorded from and to150 countries and incoming calls can be recorded from an additional 50 countries. 

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Notes to editor

The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires:

• The recording of fixed phones and turrets and the recording of voice and SMS for mobile phones for certain users in firms engaged in SWAPS-dealing and related activities. Information has to be stored for a year in a retrievable format that can be searched, and includes conversations and data interactions made on mobile devices such as mobile phones and smartphones.
• Relevant recorded conversations, voicemail, and text messages need to be supplied to the CFTC within 72 hours of the initial request.
• The first set of deadlines for compliance for certain users in SWAPS-dealing activities have already passed. The scope of the compliance obligation is being extended further in December 2013.

BT and Truphone working together:

• BT markets Truphone Mobile Recording and manages various aspects of the contract in-life including ordering, billing, collections and reporting. It also leads service reviews on the customer's behalf. BT's world class service management and customer service provides an end-to-end solution that can be scaled, according to the subscribers' needs.
• Truphone contracts with and supplies the services to the end customer.
• Truphone's recording platform operates seamlessly, and backed up by BT's expertise, it is business as normal for the customer.

Truphone Mobile Recording
Truphone Mobile Recording is purpose-built to help financial organizations meet regulatory requirements. Truphone Mobile Recording captures all voice and SMS traffic within the network. It is seamless and transparent, with no apps, no delays and no need for any new hardware.

Features
Truphone Mobile Recording features a Mobile Compliance Layer that makes the platform customizable to the needs of a business, capturing data to either secure Truphone-hosted data centers or an external facility of the customer's choice.

Other features:

• Seamless call and SMS capture
• State-of-the-art data encryption keeps recordings secure
• Web-based portal allows secure access from anywhere
• A wide range of handset types, including Android, iOS 6 and BlackBerry 10 devices

Benefits
Truphone provides mobile access from more than 200 countries and its unique network and technology enables local calls in within The Truphone Zone; which includes Australia, Hong Kong, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, UK and the US. This approach reduces or completely eliminates roaming charges and ensures a seamless, global experience.

Not only does Truphone Mobile Recording facilitate Dodd-Frank compliance recording for mobile phones, it automatically offers all the benefits of the Truphone network, including more reliable data connections and local calls within The Truphone Zone.

Other benefits:

• No training required – Recording takes place invisibly, with no apps or new phones required
• No functionality loss – Use your phone as normal, without losing features such as voicemail
• No call delays – Capture even global calls without delays, unlike app-based recording
• No roaming cost – Stop cost limiting your productivity in The Truphone Zone

About the BT call recording solution for the UK
BT has a proven track record of delivering solutions to help address regulatory rulings.  In 2011, it launched a mobile recording service in the UK to help financial organizations meet Financial Services Authority (FSA) call recording regulations (regulatory body now known as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)).  BT now has over 5,000 handsets using a UK cloud-based recording solution and is taking this experience to the US market to provide a solution that meets the call recording regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act. 

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 and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, 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

For further information about Truphone, visit http://www.truphone.com

SOURCE BT; Truphone