Comms Dealer

Birmingham-based Intercity Technology has secured a place on the G-Cloud framework.

Andrew Jackson, CEO, said: "Our inclusion on the framework is a fantastic opportunity to develop our relationship with public sector organisations, including government, healthcare and blue light services. The fact that we are one of only 3.5% of suppliers that have passed on all four classes of the G-Cloud really shows the strength of the solutions that we can offer."

Solitaire MD Jeff Wilkes has issued a wake up call to resellers ahead of the introduction next March of the new £1 coin, which, he warned, will have a significant impact on thousands of installed payphones.

All new Solitaire Payphones supplied since January this year will accept the new coin but others need to be updated.

"The new Bi Metallic 12 sided coin will be in circulation in March 2017 and the old pound coin will be discontinued in the autumn," said Wilkes. "With less than 200 days to go the countdown is on.

"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."

Nimans is the exclusive UK supplier of Solitaire products and is also urging resellers to plan ahead for the new Royal Mint design.

"Payphones 10 years old or less are capable of being updated," said Phil Collins, Head of Purchasing at Nimans.

"Depending on the payphone model, on-site, remote download and back to manufacturer updates are available. For larger sites Nimans' resellers can take advantage of a white label on-site service from Solitaire."

Two of Vodafone's biggest UK partners have combined following the acquisition of Evolve by Onecom which will take over Evolve's operations in London, Cambridge and Shoeburyness, along with Cardiff-based The Word which is owned by Evolve and will become Onecom's first office in Wales. The deal is expected to bring new earnings of £7m in the first year. 

Evolve boasts an annual turnover of £20m and is Vodafone UK's third largest partner. Onecom currently generates £60m a year and is the mobile operator's biggest UK partner.

Vodafone has no equity interest in either company.

The acquisition will bring further investment in Onecom's total communications drive which sees mobile, fixed line, data and IT services offered to businesses as one integrated package.

The deal also adds circa 100 staff to Onecom's existing 350-strong workforce and 65,000 UK Vodafone business connections to its portfolio of accounts, taking the company's total number to over 300,000.

A post-acquisition priority is to invest in the Welsh operation and launch a recruitment drive to double the region's headcount. A number of new positions at Onecom's offices throughout the UK will also be created.

Darren Ridge (pictured), Onecom CEO, said: "Evolve's customer-focused approach and expertise in UC reflects Onecom's own strategy and values. Evolve will continue to blossom and grow under the Onecom brand."

Nick Birtwistle, Director of Partnerships and Alliances at Vodafone UK, noted: "Onecom and Evolve have been a part of the Vodafone Partner Programme since its inception and have led the field. This move will see them grow even stronger."

The acquisition follows Onecom's £1m investment in a new distribution centre in Hampshire.

The Networking division at Nimans is in expansion mode under the leadership of Solutions Sales Manager Judith Addison who is hoping to establish the distributor as a 'major networking player' offering thousands of product lines.

"We are working on delivering a complete 'office in a box' communications proposition which encapsulates everything we do, from network connectivity right through to end points such as headsets and telephones," she said

Cloud-based hybrid technologies are exerting an ever greater influence in the market according to Nimans. "For years people have been saying the PBX will die but it's just evolving," stated Paul Burn, Head of Category Sales. "Hybrid platforms tend to cover all bases and its influence is growing."

Six Degrees Group (6DG) has raised over £17,000 for WeSeeHope at its fourth annual pub quiz. WeSeeHope provides support for children in southern and eastern Africa who have been orphaned or isolated by extreme poverty.

Organised as part of its CSR programme called Six Degrees of Hope, the quiz brings together teams from 6DG's suppliers, partners and employees.

Jonny Shanmuganathan, Director of UC and Data at 6DG and WeSeeHope Ambassador, said: "The event has become an annual highlight, and this year was a great success thanks to the largest turnout we have ever had."

Congrats to Phil Coley, Director of Yorkshire-based Duocall, who scooped a brace of prizes for best score and the longest drive at Union Street's first golf day staged at Moor Park golf club in Rickmansworth.

Ben Turner, Customer Service Manager for Premier Choice Telecom, won nearest the pin.

Vincent Disneur, Head of Sales and Marketing for Union Street, enthused: "I'd like to say a big thank you to all our channel partners for joining us and for making this such an enjoyable event."

Unify has appointed Luiz Domingos as Head of Product House for Software and Platforms. Domingos assumes responsibility for the entire Unify product portfolio as well as Atos' social collaboration technology blueKiwi.

Jon Pritchard, CEO, said: "When the time came to appoint a new Head of Product House, Luiz was the obvious choice given his successful role as Head of Development of Circuit, our first pure cloud offering, and his leadership in developing the OpenScape portfolio."

Domingos has spent more than 20 years managing product development teams in enterprise VoIP, UC, collaboration and contact centre platforms.

Domingos added: "We are already building a roadmap that meets the biggest issues facing companies big and small including cloud, BYOD, SaaS and the requirement to have all information available at any time."

Chris Wallace has moved from Gradwell to Swyx where he will operate as a Channel Account Manager, building on his already considerable 14 years experience in the IT and telecoms sector across technical and sales roles.

Wallace also worked at IT maintenance and support company Trisoft and IT distribution firm Bechtle.

TeleWare's newly appointed Senior Channel Manager for Mobile has already set about building strong commercial partnerships and driving incremental revenues.

Darren Rawlinson brings 17-plus years industry experience and has held senior and consultancy roles at Ingram Micro Mobility and Compare52. He has particular expertise working with mobile virtual network enablers (NVNE) and played a key part in the launch of MVNO IQ Mobile.

Rawlinson said" "Enthuse and educate is my belief and the way I like to work. It's important to me that the industry is constantly pushing forward and developing. TeleWare has been in the forefront of this."

TeleWare CEO Steve Haworth added: "Quality partnerships have a key role to play in growing and maintaining a successful business, they allow us to share insight, risk and development. We're in a growth phase and I believe Darren will play a key role further developing our partnership programme."

Andrew Set has joined Inclarity as Operations Director bringing 16 years telecoms experience to the firm.

Previous appointments include operational, commercial and leadership roles at Luminet, Redstone and Centrica Telecommunications.

"My key driver is to ensure maximum customer satisfaction and build a trusted relationship with our clients," said Set.