Skip to main content

Help us improve the Digital Marketplace - send your feedback

BT PLC

BT Smart Messaging (Sinch)

The Smart Messaging (Sinch) platform, is designed to help organisations fulfil their messaging requirements at scale. It is an enterprise grade communication platform that supports the delivery and execution of outbound and inbound SMS campaigns.

Features

  • Mass communication with end recipients via SMS
  • Communicate via a single SMS API (REST API)
  • ISO27001, Cyber Essentials & NHS DSPT certified
  • Both one and two way communication over SMS
  • Accessible reporting via a web based dashboard
  • Use your brand name as the Sender name for messages
  • Send via Shortcode, keyword or Virtual Mobile Number

Benefits

  • Direct, mass communication with a large audience
  • Integrate the capability with a variety of existing internal systems
  • Use cases include appointment reminder, notification messages and surveys
  • Direct UK routing for faster and more secure messaging
  • Flexible opt in and opt out support

Pricing

£0.04 a unit

  • Free trial available

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at ccsframeworks@bt.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

2 6 7 1 1 2 8 6 9 2 4 1 5 0 7

Contact

BT PLC Frameworks Team
Telephone: 0800 3288077
Email: ccsframeworks@bt.com

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
What software services is the service an extension to
Any service that is capable of messaging can extend and use the platform
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
SC's and regulations
System requirements
N/A

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Further detail can be found here: https://www.sinch.com/fr-fr/messaging-service-level-agreement-sla/
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
No
Support levels
Further details can be found here: https://www.sinch.com/fr-fr/messaging-service-level-agreement-sla/
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
We provide the developer docs, the API keys and dashboard access and any technical support required during onboarding and implementation.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
HTML
End-of-contract data extraction
Request to the appropriate account manager and dedicated DPO officer.
End-of-contract process
The service will continue to roll on a monthly basis at the end of the minimum term agreement unless re-contracted

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
No
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Description of service interface
All clients receive access to a client dashboard for access to their API tokens, billing information and statistics
Accessibility standards
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Accessibility testing
Jira Service Management Data Center Accessibility Conformance ReportName of Product/Version: Jira Service Management Data Center (Version 5.11.0, 5.12.0) Report Date: 29th September 2023
Product Description:
Jira Service Management Data Center is a self-hosted enterprise solution for managing IT services at scale. With JSM DC, you can deploy your instance across multiple nodes to increase performance and reliability. This helps ensure that your team has access to the tools they need to manage incidents, problems, changes, and service requests effectively.

Contact Information:

a11y@atlassian.com

Notes:

Atlassian Accessibility QA team performed an accessibility audit for the Jira Service Management DC website.

Evaluation Methods Used:
A Representative set of pages and modal dialogs were identified to perform the audit.

The pages were tested in the below environments:

· Windows 10 Pro/Chrome/JAWS 2023

· Windows 10 Pro/Firefox/NVDA 2023

· MAC OS 13.5.2/Safari/Voiceover

Accessibility testers performed the audit using:

· Automated Tools

o W3C Markup Validation Service

o Color Contrast Checker

o ANDI

· Code Inspection

· Screen Readers

· Keyboard-only interaction

The result reflects the accessibility of a representative set of pages and modal dialogs. Accessibility testers performed the test keeping WCAG 2.1 guidelines in mind.
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
This service is to send a receive messages using SMS. Future capabilities may include: RCS, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger among other social channels. Future capabilities may include a full AI chatbot and contact centre offering.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
HTML
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
The messages themselves have the ability to be branded and personalised as required, this is done though the payload of each message setting the to and from fields. A full list of message customisation can be found here: https://developers.sinch.com/docs/sms/api-reference/

Scaling

Independence of resources
The platform is built for scalability so heavy load by one client will not affect others. All accounts also have a max TPS (Transactions per second) to ensure only a certain amount can be sent per account.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
The reporting dashboard provides stats on messages sent, delivery rates, failure rates and latency
Reporting types
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra support
Organisation whose services are being resold
Sinch UK Ltd

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
Government security clearance
None

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
European Economic Area (EEA)
User control over data storage and processing locations
Yes
Datacentre security standards
Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
Another external penetration testing organisation
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
AES 256 bit encryption
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
Equipment disposal approach
A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
This can be provided at the end of a contract
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
Microsoft excel
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
Microsoft Excel

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection between networks
UN/Pass, unique URL's, 32 Char auth tokens, White listing IP, TLS and VPN
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection within supplier network
Data at rest encrypted with 265 bit AES

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
Target 99.99% availability (not guaranteed)
Approach to resilience
Multiple Geo-redundant data centres, rate limits on accounts, automatic AIT monitoring,
Outage reporting
This is done through e-mail alerts, you can sign up for the relevant alerts at status.sinch.com

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Describe how you restrict access in management interfaces and support channels
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
No audit information available
Access to supplier activity audit information
No audit information available
How long system logs are stored for
At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
3core2 (UKAS accredited)
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
April 2023, ongoing audit for 2024
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
N/A
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
No
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • TISAX
  • NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • Other
Other security governance standards
Cyber Essentials

TISAX
Information security policies and processes
Please reference Sinch Security standard document which can be made available by BT on request

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
Configurations, including security configurations, of hardware, software, services and networks should be established, documented, implemented, monitored and reviewed.

Changes to information processing facilities and information systems should be subject to change management procedures
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
Vulnerability Scan every 7 days.
• Apply security patches to all components of the application stack with
severity score higher than "low" or “optional” as determined by the
issuer of the patch within one month (30 days) after release, measure
percentage of compliance quarterly above 85% and 100% for critical.
• Pen test every 12 months black box manual, fix within 30 days and
report 30 days after that, all issues linked to Jira tickets
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Protection against malware implemented and supported by appropriate user awareness.

Networks, systems and applications should be monitored for anomalous behaviour and appropriate actions taken to evaluate potential information security incidents

The organisation should plan and prepare for managing information and security incidents by defining, establishing and communicating information security incident management processes, roles and
responsibilities
Incident management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Incident management approach
The organisation plans and prepares for managing information security incidents by defining, establishing and communicating information security incident management processes, roles and responsibilities

The organisation assesses information security events and decides if they are to be categorised as information security incidents.

Any information security incidents should be responded to in accordance with the documented procedures.

Any knowledge gained from information security incidents should be used to strengthen and improve future information security controls.

The organisation should establish and implement procedures for the identification, collection, acquisition and preservation of evidence related to information security events.

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Social Value

Social Value

Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

Fighting climate change

BT Group has been a leader on climate action for over 30 years. We have been tracking our carbon reductions since 1992 and become one of the first companies in the world to set a science-based target in 2008. Our networks and buildings are all powered by renewable electricity, and we are aiming to transition majority of our fleet to electric or zero-emission vehicles by 2030 (now over 2,400 in total). To date, our electric fleet has travelled more than 7.9 million miles, saving over 2,200 tonnes of CO2e, which helps us transition to a net zero economy much faster.

We are investing in full fibre broadband and 5G networks that will pave the way for lower-carbon ways of life and work. We believe to reach Net Zero renewable energy, low-emission vehicles and technology hardware are important, which the Crown Commercial Services also believe. Due to our solutions for Carbon reduction aligning, BT can consider setting a workshop with CCS to share ideas and objectives on how to achieve net zero.

We have pledged to become a net zero business by the end of March 2031, and we are targeting net zero for our supply chain and customer emissions by the end of March 2041.We have also set a target to help customers avoid 60 million tonnes of CO2e by the end of March 2030. We aim to contribute to a circular economy by reducing waste and enhancing opportunities to repair, refurbish and recycle. This year, our customers returned more than 1.8 million home hubs and set-top boxes to us and through our refurbishment operation, we reused 83% and recycled the rest. We also collected over 190,000 mobile devices through trade-in schemes, all of which were reused (97%) or recycled.

Covid-19 recovery

At BT we understand the important of showing support to others, especially those who are in vulnerable situations. To show our support, BT has launched the award-winning Care Companions initiative during Covid – matching BT volunteers with residents in care homes, providing a befriending service with weekly calls brightening someone’s day. From those humble beginnings there are now around 400 BT volunteers from 29 contact centres across the UK making weekly calls to around 15,000 care home residents. As well as befriending residents, tackling loneliness and isolation, BT volunteers have also continued to support the care homes with fundraising and gardening.

We also work closely with Home-Start. A local community network of trained volunteers and expert support, helping families with young children through challenging times. Our partnership helps people improve their digital skills, whilst opening fantastic fundraising and volunteering opportunities for our colleagues.

Our partnership aims to support Home-Start families with:
· Digital Confidence
· Data Connectivity
· Access to devices

Staff will use their volunteering hours to help support families with digital support. We will be teaching families basic digital skills such as using a laptop, tablet, or mobile phones. Also, we would use these hours to help families apply for schools, colleges, and jobs to put them in a position for a better future.

We also offer flexible working. Since Covid people have been through demanding situations, and now going through cost-of-living issues. Giving our employees the chance to work from home twice a week, allows them to save on expenditures traveling from and to the office including spending while within the office. We also understand how covid affected many people through losing loved ones. We hope flexibility allows employees to be more around their loved ones and support each other after going through such tough times.

Tackling economic inequality

At BT we are aware, in the UK there are skill shortages for many people who face multiple barriers into employment for several reasons out of their control. This is why we have supported more than 51,000 people with employability guidance and work life digital skills since 2014. Our aim is to boost social mobility and economic productivity by helping young people succeed in an increasingly digital world of work.

We are committed to being responsible, sustainable, and inclusive. It is fundamental to our purpose that we ‘connect for good’. BT is one of the largest employers of apprentices in the UK. In 2022, we ranked third place in the top 100 Apprenticeship employers in the UK and recruited more than 2,600 apprentices and graduates over the past four years. An addition to this, we hired 400 apprentices and graduates in 2023 in different cities across the UK such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol and more.
As well as employment schemes, BT have delivered over 185 workshops reaching over 4900 pupils aged between 11 and 19. Our employees share their work skills and experiences with this next generation of employees and drive aspirations to work in engineering, innovation, and technology industries.
Our 5-hour workshops:

• Give young people the opportunity to explore their individuality, skills and interests through group activities and challenges, supporting their careers education at school.
• Align with the Gatsby Benchmarks to support schools to deliver great careers education across the UK and Northern Ireland and work towards their quality education standards e.g. OFSTED Inspections
• Feature STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) activities that link curriculum-based learning to the skills employers are looking for in areas such as Software Design and Engineering, Fibre Network Build and Cybersecurity Planning and Solutions.

Equal opportunity

Everyone, regardless of background, experience, or their place in society, should be afforded opportunities to help them learn and grow. This is the foundation upon which a modern, progressive, and inclusive society functions. In achieving this, we all benefit. We benefit from talent, no matter from where it comes; being able to grow, mature and prosper. This is BT’s philosophy.

We have set out some 2030 ambitions relating to gender, ethnicity, and disability. By 2030, our workforce will be;
• 50% Gender (we want 50% of BT Group colleagues (excl. Openreach) to be women)
• 25% Ethnicity (we want 25% of BT Group colleagues (UK workforce, excl. Openreach) to be Black, Asian or from an ethnic minority background)
• 17% Disability (we want 17% of BT Group colleagues (UK workforce ex Openreach)

We have partnerships with different agencies which we work with to support equal opportunity. Such is Purple Goat, which is one of the UK’s only communications agencies run by disabled people. We partnered with them to deliver a series of videos highlighting the experiences of colleagues with a range of disabilities – including diabetes, autism, and visual and hearing impairments.
We have also built relationships with Code First Girls, Women Returners, Black Girls Tech Summit, and Girls Talk London. These initiatives help delegates develop their skills and network with peers, creating more opportunities for women to move into technology careers.
And as lead sponsor of the Avado FastFutures programme, we are helping upskill over 7,000 18–24-year-old learners from ethnically diverse backgrounds. We want to help them develop digital and data skills to unlock opportunities and launch their careers.

Wellbeing

At BT, we always put wellbeing and safety first. For us, there are no shortcuts in keeping everyone safe. We work on creating fulfilled, safe, happy, and healthy employees in a culture where everyone can thrive. BT’s supporting wellbeing in the workplace includes:

SilverCloud, which provides programmes designed to help improve and maintain wellbeing by addressing core underlying issues that can have a negative impact on how employees live their lives. We will ensure that all our staff within the contract are aware of this support option if needed. These include modules on stress, money worries, perinatal wellbeing, anxiety and more. Users would usually be recommended to complete one module of their choice within a week period.

We will measure the mental health in respect of the contract using a ‘YourSay’ survey, published annually, of:
· No. of individuals are aware of the support services.
· No. of individuals have participated in mental health awareness events.
· No. of managers who completed the mandatory training.
· Additionally, managers that qualified mental health first aiders.

BT also provide their Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP). EAP's provide a range of services, notably employee counselling, but also legal advice, practical financial information, and advice on dealing with debts. BT's EAP includes a comprehensive range of personal and group services to help our people deal with worrying or tricky situations. It is entirely free of charge for users.
The EAP is delivered by Optum - our Occupational Health & Wellbeing Centre of Expertise makes sure the services are delivered to the highest standards to meet our people's needs. You can contact the EAP, in confidence, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year so that help is available whenever it is needed. Assistance can be provided face-to-face basis or via telephone.

Pricing

Price
£0.04 a unit
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
The same as the full service however there are limited credits and message content is overwritten

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at ccsframeworks@bt.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.