BT Business has launched Office Anywhere, a combination of data services and mobile applications aimed squarely at SMEs with workers who spend a lot of time on the road. 

Office Anywhere offers real-time access to office information, and VoIP calls with free hour-long internet phone calls to UK landlines.

The service also features capped calls to UK mobiles and international landlines wherever users have access to a compatible wireless network.

Alex Bottomley, general manager of mobility at BT, told vnunet.com that the package is designed to ease the burden of mobile IT management for SMEs which are "in business to do business and not to manage IT".

Nearly 40 per cent of workers now spend more than a fifth of their day out of the office, making it difficult to ensure that important contacts and business opportunities are not missed.

Office Anywhere provides real-time access to email, calendar, contacts, documents and the internet to help users to work as effectively out of the office as they would at their desk.

Although the services will work on most Windows Mobile smartphones, Office Anywhere is designed for use with HTC's S620, which is currently free for a limited period with Office Anywhere contracts. 

Users have a choice of three bundles: Simple (10MB of data a month); Professional (30MB); and Unlimited.

These choices can be combined with a voice package with either 250 or 700 inclusive minutes totalling six different packages costing between £39.50 and £75.50 per month.

BT plans to expand the services to the consumer and enterprise markets in the future, but has no precise timetable as yet.