Telstra has announced its next generation of unified communications with a range of cloud collaboration solutions for its business, enterprise and government customers.

The new offering allows Telstra customers to operate Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) including integrated voice, video, presence and mobility applications for compatible desktop and mobile devices, representing a significant shift forward in communication capabilities.

Developed in partnership with Cisco, the service, known as Cloud Collaboration, will be delivered via Telstra’s cloud infrastructure, enabling customers to focus on core business priorities whilst benefiting from a services model managed by Telstra without the need for on-premise systems.

Telstra is extending its continued investment in cloud by adding popular applications from Cisco within the Telstra cloud infrastructure. All services will be hosted locally in Telstra’s Australian data centres and delivered to customers over the company’s NextG and Next IP networks, ensuring high level security and reliability.

The end to end, intelligent Telstra network with the ability to prioritise traffic, such as business critical voice data, means that Telstra’s cloud services are responsive to high bandwidth applications, enabling customers to extend Unified Communications capabilities to more places, particularly to regional or remote workers.

Telstra’s service will be available to customers on a monthly, “per worker” basis. Worker types are unique to Telstra and have been specifically designed to meet the different needs of employees, categorising them as ‘essential’, ‘office’, ‘information’ or ‘mobile’ workers, making deployments simple and easily scalable.

Telstra Enterprise and Government group managing director Paul Geason says the arrangement with strategic alliance partner Cisco, will deliver high-end, secure communication and collaboration services, allowing customers to focus on their core business.

“The Telstra Cloud Collaboration solution will allow organisations to bring combined voice, mobile and video collaboration to every user over the Telstra network. By taking unified communications to the cloud, we are removing the burden of capital expenditure and complicated deployments from customers. The cloud model takes organisations to an operating expenditure model, allowing simpler budgeting and greater flexibility in their IT services,” Paul says.

Cisco Australia and New Zealand vice president Richard Kitts says that customers are demanding an integrated collaboration experience that gives them the freedom to choose the way they want to work using the best tools.

“We are excited to announce that we’ve reached a significant milestone in the long-standing Cisco and Telstra alliance. With the announcement, Telstra is offering one of the largest number of cloud-based services to be delivered on a Cisco Unified Computing platform in the world. Cisco Unified Communications and TelePresence are the first of many new services we expect to bring to market with Telstra in the future,” Richard says.

Telstra is also the first Australian provider to offer customers the full range of Cisco Unified Communications services from its cloud, including TelePresence as a Service and full integration with Cisco Jabber Plus.

Jabber Plus enables mobile workers to combine access to all of their business communication tools, such as voice, email and instant messaging via a single log-in on their compatible smartphone or tablet wherever they may be. Unique to Telstra, the Jabber Plus service provides customers with a device or SIM-only plan that includes full application setup and technical support.

Telstra is the only Australian provider certified to provide customers with TelePresence as a Service, enabling access to high definition video conferencing without the need for significant installation costs and ongoing maintenance requirements. This frees the IT team to concentrate on core capabilities and reduces the risk of technology depreciation and obsolescence.

Telstra Cloud Collaboration will be available to customers in the coming months along with demonstrations at the Cisco Innovation Suite, located in the Telstra Experience Centre in Melbourne. The Cisco Innovation Suite experience is due to be replicated at Telstra’s Experience Centre in Sydney, with more suites planned for launch around Australia in the future.