Comms Dealer

Panasonic, the National Trust’s technology partner, has played a key part in supporting the National Trust’s video conferencing trial.

The six-month trial involved the conservation charity’s regional team in the North, who regularly travel between five different hubs, zig-zagging to meetings from Newcastle in the East to Manchester in the West.

Following their introduction into the project, Panasonic delivered large 4K 55\" TVs to a number of Trust regional office locations, linking them into a Video Conferencing service. The regional team were then able to set up a video conferencing facility linking the various locations very quickly and easily.

Darren Belton, who was involved in the trial said "Not only was the audio, size and quality of the screen superb but video conferencing saved me driving over 200 miles, dramatically reducing my impact on the environment.\"

Ryota Kurumai, product marketing manager at Panasonic said "We are delighted to be supporting Europe’s largest conservation charity with their video conferencing technology as part of our broader partnership. Our KX-VC1300 and KX-VC1600 high definition video conferencing platforms will help reduce day to day carbon emissions of National Trust staff and volunteers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.\"

The roll-out of 26 Panasonic screens and VC equipment at every one of the National Trust’s regional and central office hubs is one of the many practical steps being taken by the conservation charity to reduce its carbon emissions.

Teleware has appointed Vicky Ryder as Senior Channel Manager. She will take up responsibility for sourcing and driving more partnership opportunities and will be working primarily within the Microsoft product suite.

Ryder (pictured) has extensive experience in mobile and telecoms sales and has held senior roles Symantec, Outsourcery and Telefonica. Much of her ten years in commerce has been spent on partner activity.

Ryder commented: "I’ve been passionate about unified communications for my whole career. I’ve been watching TeleWare and their growth for some time and I’m excited to be joining them at this crucial stage. I am looking forward to bringing to bear my expertise in cloud services, SaaS and Microsoft partner experience to develop ever-stronger working relationships with TeleWare’s innovative partners.\"

Steve Haworth, CEO TeleWare added: "After her successful visit to the Microsoft World Partner Conference in July, it’s been great seeing how enthused Vicky has been over the opportunities that our work with Microsoft presents. We’re extremely confident that Vicky is the right person to take our work around Office 365 to the next level and develop the right strategic partnerships to offer value, not just to us, but also our partners and end users.\"

Dublin based mobile operator EchoStar Mobile Limited has appointed Dr. Peter Couch, a veteran with 15 years’ industry experience and a successful background in strategy and policy, as its new Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Europe. Peter will report to Jennifer A. Manner, senior vice president of regulatory affairs.

Couch will be responsible for EchoStar Mobile’s European Union (EU) regulation and policy initiatives and act as a key representative before the member states and the EU, as well as international organisations such as the International Telecommunications Union, the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) and the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT).

Previously, as Vice Chairman of Broadcast Networks Europe, Peter was instrumental in obtaining a successful outcome for the terrestrial broadcast operators at WRC15. In addition, for more than 10 years Peter successfully represented the British telecommunications company, Arqiva, from a policy and regulatory perspective, both in the United Kingdom and in Europe.

"Peter’s in-depth knowledge of regulation and policy in Europe, coupled with his vast experience in the telecommunications and aerospace industry makes him a tremendous asset for EchoStar Mobile.\" said Manner.

If you want a good broadband connection in London, go to The Shard.

The iconic 'vertical city’ has achieved Platinum accreditation, the highest rating awarded by international commercial connectivity accreditor, WiredScore for its broadband and telecoms infrastructure.

The Shard is currently home to a diverse range of companies – from investment technology business Leonteq Securities to global consulting firm Protiviti. All rely on the building’s exceptional connectivity to support their high operating speed. In 2016 The Shard signed three new occupiers that are significant contributors to the UK’s growing digital economy and also depend on the building’s superior technology infrastructure – the online retailer MATCHESFASHION.COM; digital marketing agency Jellyfish; and digital media and print publisher Dods.

Sam Lowe, Chief Technology Officer, MATCHESFASHION.COM, said: "London is one of the digital hubs of the world, but there is great variance in the connectivity available, and so it was one of our key criteria when selecting new facilities to support the growth of our business to select somewhere that had great digital infrastructure as well as great physical facilities.\"

According to a new study, ShoreTel has the lowest ‘total cost of operations’ across all sized deployments, both cloud and on-premises, for Unified Communications and Collaboration and IP Telephony.

The annual  Nemertes Research study analysed real-world cost data, including capital, implementation, and ongoing operational costs, from 300 companies. It is important for IT leaders to examine total cost of operations for cloud and on-premises communication environments, since unknown implementation and ongoing costs can often erase any cost benefit associated with lower initial acquisition costs.

The study evaluated three scenarios: companies with 100, 750, and 1,500 employees. In each scenario, ShoreTel has the greatest costs savings and lowest overall cost over a five-year period, when compared to the industry average and various providers for both on-premises and cloud. Providers included 8x8, Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Mitel, NEC and Vonage.

Robin Gareiss, president of Nemertes Research said: "Those who use ShoreTel devote fewer IT staff members to managing the solution and relationship than did those using competitors. It is primarily those ongoing operational costs that keep ShoreTel lower to operate than competitors. For cloud and hybrid, we found ShoreTel’s actual subscription costs are lower than competitors, so over a five-year period the savings add up – often significantly."

Mark Roberts, CMO at ShoreTel added: "ShoreTel is proud to be lowest in total cost of operations, reflecting what our customers have been experiencing all along – that ShoreTel delivers substantial savings along with fully-featured, reliable communication solutions that improve productivity and collaboration no matter whether they are onsite, in the cloud or a hybrid mix of the two".

To read the full Nemertes Research white paper, please go here. 

ScanSource has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Intelisys Communications, the technology services distributor of business telecommunications and cloud services.

With 2015 gross commissions of $120 million, Intelisys provides agents and value-added resellers (VARs) with an extensive portfolio of services, support and enablement tools to sell cloud and connectivity services. The acquisition accelerates Intelisys’ ability to extend this model to the ScanSource VAR community.

ScanSource VARs will gain access to Intelisys’ robust portfolio of carefully selected, highest-quality connectivity and cloud services offerings, as well as the tools and platforms that help partners build recurring revenue streams.

The all-cash transaction which should be concluded by the end of September, includes an initial purchase price of approximately $83.6 million, plus earn-out payments based on EBITDA earnings over the next four years.

Intelisys’ net revenues, which reflect gross commissions less payments to sub-agents, are estimated to total over $34 million with a 45% to 50% estimated EBITDA margin.

Rick Sheldon, Co-Founder of Intelisys commented: "This is an exciting time for the channel as VARs and telecom agents converge. Together, we believe ScanSource and Intelisys will become the ultimate channel company as we offer an unparalleled experience in the cloud and telecom space, including fully connected solutions for our partners.\"

Service providers focused on traditional fixed and mobile services for business customers are losing share as revenues decline according to a new report from telecoms analyst benchmark-it.

Report author Rob Pritchard (pictured) told Comms Dealer: "There is a clear trend that players that do not focus on the cloud, next-generation services and managed solutions are losing out.\"

The report also finds that the trend towards the Digital Enterprise has implications not just for portfolios, but also for culture, systems and organizations.

"Exponential growth at the likes of Amazon Web Services and WhatsApp serve to underline the new nature of the market – service providers need to work out what their strategy is in a market where the value chain has been inverted.  

The old-fashioned silo approach is no longer valid or viable.  Whilst issues over the future of Openreach are operationally important today, service providers need to look further ahead in terms of what they offer to their target enterprise customers in the future.\"

The 1,081-page report profiles and compares 62 representative providers of fixed and mobile enterprise telecoms and related IT services in the UK.

For more information, email  rob@benchmark-it.co.uk.

TeleWare has launched TeleWare Communication Manager (TCM), its new pay-as-you-go, cloud-based, in-house configured and controlled communication solution.

TCM is said to be a 'contact-centre lite’ solution, which allows companies to have complete view of all inbound and outbound activity, wherever staff are based. TCM is cloud based and telephone system agnostic, meaning staff can log into TCM from anywhere and are able to take calls immediately.

Central administrators will have visibility of all activities in real time, allowing them to allocate and re-allocate resources to ensure call demand is being met on-the-fly. Multiple dashboards can be configured in-house, allowing companies to tailor data views to suit their needs.

Teleware Product Manager Terry-Ann Cocker said: "Companies are increasingly understanding the need to have a complete overview and understanding of workflow – especially when staff are in a wide range of locations. What’s more, we’re seeing a large and growing market for contact-centre lite solutions with over 5,600 small—to-medium contact-centres employing less than 200 people to manage their communications and more coming online every day. We can offer them a package that meets all their needs and provides maximum accessibility due to being a cloud-based application.

"At the same time, some companies may not be willing or able to commit to a long contract or even have enough visibility of the future in order to make such a commitment. TCM has a minimum three-month contract period, thereafter a pay-as-you-go monthly contract meaning that even those companies that are just starting out can gain maximum value straight out of the box.\"

TeleWare CEO Steve Haworth said: "TCM is a flexible, simplistic and easy-to-use solution that not only gives a view of what’s happening now, but helps companies to improve their performance by analysing historic data. Any company can then get more insight into their business and employee behaviour to make sure they’re delivering the best customer experience possible.\"

Pinnaca, the global provider of managed videoconferencing, telepresence and visual collaboration services, has formed a strategic partnership with UK-based Ashton Bentley, a designer and manufacturer of integrated presentation and video conferencing systems.

Pinnaca says the partnership will help customers replace traditional, customized AV room systems with Ashton Bentley’s products, which compliment any room’s layout and design.  The modular, integrated systems are designed to standardize an enterprise’s collaboration environment and to increase the effectiveness of user communications, thus reducing the long-term cost of ownership.

"We are thrilled to have been selected by Pinnaca,\" said Tony Leedham, Ashton Bentley’s director of business development. "We believe Ashton Bentley’s unique solutions – allowing people to 'walk in and work’ -  fully complement Pinnaca’s global reputation for product excellence and extraordinary personal service.\"

Dan Tanel, CTO of Pinnaca said: "Ashton Bentley’s creative design significantly improves user adoption and reduces wasted meeting time, resulting in higher productivity.\"

Distributor Nimans and pay phone manufacturer Solitaire is urging resellers to plan ahead for the introduction of the new £1 coin, confirmed for March next year. which will have a significant impact on thousands of payphones across the UK.

All new Solitaire payphones supplied since January this year will accept the revised £1 coin but existing models already on-site will need updating. Solitaire’s Managing Director Jeff Wilkes (pictured) says the majority of people are 'oblivious’ and unprepared about the new arrival.

"From my own experience most people don’t know the new coin is coming which is a bit of a worry. We estimate that from around 500,000 Solitaire payphones sold in the UK around 50,000 are still in service,\" he explained. "The Royal Mint has now confirmed the new Bi Metallic 12 sided coin will be in circulation in March 2017 and the old pound will be discontinued in the autumn. So with less than 200 days to go the countdown is on.\"

Depending on the payphone model, on-site, remote download and 'back to manufacturer’ updates are available. As a guide everything made in the last 10 years is capable of being updated. For larger sites Nimans’ resellers can take advantage of a white label on-site service from Solitaire.

Nimans stocks the Solitaire 2000 plug-and-play device, ideal for domestic/ shared /rented accommodation/holiday cottage locations where arguments can arise over the telephone bill, the best-selling 6000 model with 'taxi' buttons, auditable cash records and coin refund whilst a 6000 High Security model benefits from a robust steel casing and armoured handset cord. Wi-Fi and IP versions are also available – whilst all current models are compatible with broadband lines.

"Demand for payphones remains strong in niche areas and the new £1 coin will have a big impact. Resellers need to be advising their customers now about how to adapt their existing machines,\" added Wilkes.