AT&T iPhone app targets small business with wireless PBX

AT&T Mobility is introducing an iPhone application and service aimed at small businesses that turns the iPhone into a mobile PBX. The service costs between $14 and $16 per month, depending on the number of users, while the application is a free download.
“Small businesses and their employees are on the go more than ever before, and it’s vital that their customers can reach them whenever and wherever they are,” said Ebrahim Keshavarz, AT&T VP of Small Business Product Management. “The Office@Hand app is the ideal tool to drive mobile productivity for small businesses, connect their workforce, and enhance their company’s image by taking their communications into the cloud.”
The app can be used with existing mobile and fixed-line phones, running services such as auto-receptionist, multiple department and employee extensions, voicemail, rules for call handling, faxing and on-hold music, among other features. Not all employees need to have wireless phones to use the service.
Monthly charges for all users appear on the business owner’s AT&T wireless bill or the bill of the authorized person initiating the Office@Hand account set-up. AT&T is offering a one-month free trial to its existing wireless users.
AT&T said it partnered with RingCentral Inc., which provides a cloud-based business phone systems platform. “AT&T Office@Hand combines the power of the AT&T mobile broadband network with the innovation of RingCentral’s cloud computing platform to give small businesses new communications tools,” said Vlad Shmunis, CEO of RingCentral. “With our technology, small businesses can easily set up, activate and manage a business phone system directly from select mobile devices, enabling them to be significantly more productive.”