AT&T Business Solutions Reached Out to SMBs in Q3

AT&T Business Solutions, the business unit within AT&T (News - Alert) selling services for business customers, completed the third quarter 2009 'highlighted," company officials say, by an "outreach to small and midsize businesses that included new offers and customer support programs."

The company pointed to their small business efforts, "driven by a series of announcements that emphasized the company's efforts to embed AT&T's 3G wireless technology into netbooks and laptops from device manufacturers."

AT&T also announced that in the first half of 2010 it will offer remote access support services built on Intel (News - Alert) vPro technology.

The business unit rolled out several support programs during the quarter, including the introduction of Tech Support 360 Desktop Helpdesk Minutes, an expansion of the popular Tech Support 360 service that is now available to midsize businesses with an average 15 to 50 employees.

The service is described by company officials as offering "remote online computer support, installation assistance and PC performance tune-up 24 hours a day, seven days a week via any high speed Internet connection."

The quarter also saw an expansion of AT&T Small Business InSite, an online portal for small business owners, with a series of free "how to" articles, podcasts, Webinars, and videos.

Other business unit highlights during the quarter included a $45 million Networx contract with the U.S. Department of State, an agreement with Barnes & Noble to provide complimentary in-store AT&T Wi-Fi service to any customer that visits a Barnes & Noble bookstore nationwide, the expansion of AT&T's Wi-Fi presence in Europe and China, bringing its global Wi-Fi footprint to 125,000 hotspots, and the expansion of its managed security services to India.

In July TMC's Jai C.S. reported that AT&T Business Solutions ended "an active second quarter that saw the introduction of a utility-based, storage-as-a-service offering; the industry's first small business bundle for wired and wireless service starting at under $100; and a telepresence solution offer with multi-point encryption features for greater security."