Photos: Inside BT's world of innovation

This is URUPlus, BT's three-factor authentication system for logging into corporate networks from any Web-connected computer.

A remote secure token generates a one-time code for the user, who then uses it to clear the first stage of security. This was followed, in the example shown to ZDNet UK, by a verification call request to the server. The server then called the user's mobile phone, asking him to speak his phone number. Thus, pre-registered information (the handset's number) and biometric voice analysis constitute the second and third levels of security.

BT says authentication is a key component of its next-generation 21st Century Network (21CN), which some parts of BT expect to have rolled out nationwide by the end of 2009. 21CN will replace BT's legacy networks with a single IP-based infrastructure across the country.