Comms Dealer

Peterborough-based GreenCity Solutions has acquired Total Solutions enabling the combined entity to offer businesses a broader set of solutions including telecoms, managed print and software development along with stronger technical support.

Rob Baldacci, Group MD, said: "Hot on the heels of our £1.5m investment into Peterborough's connectivity infrastructure this coming together of two businesses opens the local business community up to far greater options when considering their IT and communication solutions as a whole."

Jon Hunt, Director of Operations, added: "Merging Total Solutions and GreenCity makes sense for us and our customers, creating a larger team of technical staff and on-site engineers that enables us to react quicker to customers' needs."

Hackers linked to the Russian military have exploited a previously undisclosed Windows security flaw, according to Microsoft, as President Putin looks to strip the software out of government offices and firms.

US senior intelligence officials have told NBC News the Russian leader is planning to replace all foreign software with domestic alternatives, and has already blocked LinkedIn which is being bought by Microsoft. 

The software maker said in an advisory on its website there had been a small number of attacks using 'spear phishing' emails from a hacking group known as Strontium, which is more widely known as 'Fancy Bear', or APT 28. Microsoft did not identify any victims.

Washington has accused Moscow of launching an unprecedented hacking campaign aimed at disrupting and discrediting the upcoming election.

G3 Comms has secured Diamond accreditation as part of Avaya's new channel programme called Avaya Edge.

Diamond accreditation is the highest level in the programme. G3 was also named a Partner in Customer Excellence and is currently the only Diamond partner in the UK with this designation.

Tony Parish (pictured), Chairman of G3 Comms, stated: "The Edge programme has been created to support performance and the ability for channels to differentiate in the evolving digital market.

"We found it easier to complete the necessary qualifications in this programme and we are now rewarded with sales in recurring services and software."

G3 Comms has a long-standing relationship with Avaya and has been the first company to deploy many of its solutions including Avaya Definity, Aura Contact Centre, G3R and the first UK converged management platform.

Zen Internet has partnered with UK cloud services provider VanillaIP to bring a new BroadSoft-based UC solution to its UK channel.

Zen Channel Partners MD Stephen Warburton said: "The market is moving beyond hosted PBX where you are essentially replicating PBX service from the cloud, to a solution that is more apps-based than device-based.

"The continual R&D VanillaIP demonstrated in adding its own services to the BroadSoft platform convinced us it has the innovation we need."

Zen Internet's wide customer profile, from SME to corporate mid-market and enterprise, meant that the chosen solution must address the whole market spectrum and have the scalability and automation to support Zen's largest customers.

"A key element in enabling this, and in combining Zen's connectivity and other services, was VanillaIP's Uboss portal," added Warburton.

"One of the challenges for us all is how do we package complex technology solutions in a way that our customers will understand. Uboss lets us do this".

Underlying the new partnership is Zen's connectivity with an Assured service which supports IP voice traffic only, along with a converged service which supports prioritised IP voice traffic and data.

Dave Dadds, CEO at VanillaIP, added: "Zen Internet is a long-established network services provider and a technology supplier trusted by its reseller channel and thousands of customers."

The new cloud UC offering will combine BroadSoft cloud PBX, apps and call centre with third party apps such as the Unity suite.

Uboss will unify these within a single portal, while also providing reporting and self-service for end users.

"The channel needs to move beyond a one bundle fits all approach," stated Warburton. "Customers are embracing cloud in all elements of their business. They are aware of the possibilities and we need to present them solutions that are more tightly aligned with their own requirements."

SpliceCom has unveiled its latest managed service offer, SpliceCom Select Cloud Voice for Smaller Businesses, a proposition that provides customers with 'choice without complexity', according to Stuart Bell Head of Sales for the UK & Ireland.

He said: "The delivery of SpliceCom Select Cloud Voice for Smaller Businesses has benefited from our experience with the original SpliceCom Select offer which targeted mid-to-large enterprise customers, and from discussions with our channel partners.

"They now have flexible pay-per-month cloud services that can be tailored to their business requirements.

"This flexibility also allows them to provide a cloud solution for customers whose broadband, Ethernet or leased line service may still be in-contract."

24 Seven Communications is set to broaden its service offering with a new software upgrade in partnership with HTC.

24 Seven's national roaming SIM card, Jump, will become compatible with HTC's premium device range, with plans to roll out the software to more of the manufacturer's products over the coming months.

David Samuel, MD and founder of 24 Seven, said: "This new compatibility deal and software advancement will take our national roaming offering to a wider business audience.

"Jump solves the longstanding issue of poor signal across the UK. Businesses across the country can now easily access the tools they need for enhanced success and communication."

Grieg Williams, President of HTC Europe, added: "Combining the technical specialisms of our premium range with the national roaming power of the Jump SIM is an exciting step."

Mitel's Q3 2016 results shows revenues of $279.8m and a
margin increase of 50 basis points year-over-year to 53%.

"In Q3 the Mitel team delivered a solid performance reporting GAAP EPS of $0.20 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.12," said Richard McBee, Mitel's Chief Executive Officer.

"With a clear migration path for customers, a series of new product offerings now in market, and a strong pipeline, we are well-positioned moving into what is typically our strongest quarter of the year."

Recurring cloud seats grew by 43,000 during the quarter, up from 31,000 seats added during Q2-2016, and now stand at 494,000 seats.

Sennheiser has extended its line of wired Culture Plus headsets with new Culture Plus Mobile variants which offer smart, dual connectivity via the headsets' 3.5mm jack and a detachable USB cable, enabling office workers to become more mobile and help businesses accelerate the adoption of Unified Communications.

"Allowing employees to use the same equipment both in the office and in other mobile working contexts is a step forward in driving the adoption of UC solutions," sasid Brian Brorsbol, Director of Product Management at Sennheiser Communications.

"With the dual connectivity offered by Culture Plus Mobile, we are facilitating this adoption process and enhancing the communication experience - whether the headset is connected to a PC or a mobile device."

Certified for Skype for Business and compatible with all major UC clients and softphone brands, the Culture Plus Mobile variants are suited for enterprises and offices that are adopting a new UC work culture.

Chess has consolidated its ICT division and instated a new management team. The move builds on its acquisition of IT solutions provider Lanway which has offices in Burnley that have been refurbished and reopened to house new-look Chess ICT. Other acquired IT service providers including Pinnacle, Parachute IT and PowerC IT join Lanway as part of the single structure.

Former Lanway MD Andrew Henderson leads Chess ICT's sales operation while Tamar Waite, who also came to Chess through the acquisition of Lanway, has been appointed Head of Technical Operations.

Councillor Mark Townsend, leader of the Burnley Council, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony alongside Chess CEO David Pollock.

"We are passionate about delivering technological advantage to our customers," said Pollock. "Together we have the talent and technology needed to deliver truly integrated solutions across enterprise, mobile and cloud environments."

Townsend added: "Chess ICT has exciting growth plans and we are keen to support them. Chess is joining a successful business community in Burnley, with the latest official figures showing our private sector job growth rate is double that of the north west and national average. We've also just been named the friendliest place in Britain!"

The restructure was led by newly appointed COO Steve Cox (pictured left) who joined Chess from the Technology Service Group where he was a main board Director. His first job was to assess the individual businesses and their systems prior to creating a consolidation strategy.

Under the new set up, a team of 50 Chess people based in Burnley, Borehamwood and Queenslie will service over 1,500 current customers with ICT solutions.

Cox said: "My vision was to build a single national IT service provider with a local presence built on the foundations of passionate people delivering quality service.

"My number one goal is to achieve our shared vision and strive to make Chess a great place to be a customer. To do that we have to get our structure, the interaction with our customers and our systems right."

Tollring has declared its intent to tackle telecom fraud head-on by joining the Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association (ITSPA), the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum (TUFF) and the Association of Fraud Examiners (AFE).

Fraud and Credit Management are the latest additions to Tollring's iCall Suite analytics platform, delivering an intelligent 'spot and block' capability in real-time on hosted voice and SIP trunking platforms.

The system protects against significant financial losses from fraud attempts and includes credit and spend limit management which prevents customer bill shock, reduce bad debt and decrease customer churn.

Tony Martino, MD of Tollring, said: "Telecoms fraud costs the industry billions of pounds each year, with the average fraud attack costing the end customer many thousands of pounds, enough sometimes to bankrupt organisations.

"It's a massive challenge in cloud telephony and these industry organisations are playing a major role in raising awareness.

"We are also helping our service provider partners and their resellers to take a more proactive role so that their end customers are equipped with the latest technologies and approaches to combat call fraud, to ensure company policies are enforced and to achieve agreed levels of service."

Service providers and resellers can mitigate fraud using iCall Suite's in-built proprietary rules engine which validates the authenticity of each call made.

The real-time Detect Dashboard monitors any fraud rule or credit limit breaches and based on a desired course of action, further calls can be barred or notifications activated.

Live notification alerts can be delivered to a mobile via text, email or on via the dashboard. Detailed call type, usage, black-list and incident reports deliver business-critical information to service providers and resellers for ongoing monitoring.