Comms Dealer

CityFibre has lodged an appeal with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal in relation to regulations set out by Ofcom in its 2016 Business Connectivity Market Review.

Mark Collins, Director of Strategy and Public Affairs at CityFibre, commented: "As a major investor in the UK telecom infrastructure market, working to transform digital connectivity across the country, we need to ensure that CityFibre and other fibre optic infrastructure builders can invest against the background of a fair and balanced regulatory regime.

"We believe Ofcom is implementing poor and inconsistent regulation, and we have a duty to robustly contest its decisions and policies in the normal course of business, especially where they conflict with stimulating long-term investment in the critical digital infrastructure which the UK so badly needs."

DMSL has reported a positive response to BT's recent announcement of plans to accelerate the roll-out of ultrafast services, with broadband sales reaching record heights in June.

BT's Openreach division has stated its ambition to deliver ultrafast broadband speeds to 12 million premises by 2020, using a mixture of G.fast and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.

The details of BT's ultrafast vision for the UK have spurred the channel into action and resulted in a significant uplift in activity, says John Carter, Managing Director of DMSL.

"There is no question that the SMB market is excited and interested in BT's ultrafast services and that's boosted the level of enquiries coming into us and our partners. We achieved record sales of BT broadband last month and we will now be looking to build on that momentum."

ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, has unveiled the latest update of Alcatel-Lucent OpenTouch Suite for SMB, featuring the OmniPCX Office RCE release 10.3 converged communication server that offers a simplified user experience, new voice communications capabilities on additional phones, said the firm.

The release also delivers business continuity via SIP Network evolutions, additional trunk standards compliance and enhanced security.

The OmniPCX Office RCE now integrates an embedded hospitality solution dedicated to hotel-specific needs. With the Native Front Desk feature, the communication system is fully integrated within the Hotel Application and can support up to 200 guest rooms.

ALE said this solution is also appropriate for use in clinics, retirement homes, student resident halls and other similar business environments.

Magnetic North has appointed Enda Kenneally as Vice President of Sales and Business Development.

Her past roles include UK MD of Mitel and most recently she was responsible for Avaya's global BT partnership, the vendor's second biggest global revenue stream.

David Cottingham, Senior Vice President, West Corporation, said: "This is an exciting time for Magnetic North. The market opportunity for our cloud-based platform is huge and the timing couldn't be better to welcome Enda to the team. She is a seasoned player and well respected individual with a track record of success. I have no doubt she will help to drive further success for the business.

True Telecom has collected a Silver Medal at the National Contact Centre Improvement Awards 2016 hosted by the Directors' Club.

On the judging day, entrants had an allotted time to give a 10-minute presentation of their contact centre improvement initiative and outcomes to a panel of three judges, plus a small audience of peers who acted as the fourth judge. After the 10-minute presentation, each entrant was asked a series of questions by the judging panel.

After the Judging Day, the judges' marks and the overall results were delivered via a live online Awards Ceremony webcast on July 5th.

Stuart Griffiths, CEO, said: "We are proud of the progress made by our Customer Service Team and the hard work and dedication our employees put into their roles."

Bury-based Pennine Telecom has been awarded Midmarket Unified Communications Expert specialisation under Avaya's Select partner support programme.

"Being named as a Midmarket Unified Communications Expert is strategically important to the business," commented Pennine's product director, Geoff King. "It will give potential clients added confidence in the quality and effectiveness of the solutions we can devise and implement in what is an increasingly important market.

"SMEs are increasingly aware of the power of collaboration and the need to embrace the latest technologies in order to secure a competitive edge. With this award Pennine is confirmed among a select band of go-to specialists in the field of unified communications."

Tech Data has launched a Focus on Education guide to support reseller business development over the peak summertime buying period.

The guide highlights upcoming technologies and areas of opportunity for resellers in the education sector, provides resellers with information on the tools and resources available from Tech Data and details specific value propositions for schools and colleges from key vendor partners.

With the build-up to the summer upgrade season in education now underway, and schools planning how to prioritise their spending, resellers need to look at propositions they can put forward, said Kirsty Guy, Public Sector Marketing Manager at Tech Data.

"Schools and colleges need to make sure they are well equipped to support pupils and achieve the best possible outcomes in the year ahead.

"A strong emphasis on the 'sTEM' subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths - is expected, so there is likely to be plenty of focus on computing equipment in general, and lots interest in advanced graphics, 3D printing and new technologies such as virtual reality.

"We are also likely to see upgrades to Windows 10 2-in-1s. Many schools will also be looking seriously at Chromebooks as an option and at affordable collaboration and video conferencing solutions, as well as large-format interactive displays.

"We are doing everything we can to help resellers maximise their business potential and drive sales growth during the peak period."

A sharp rise in the number of Chief Digital Officers (CDO) across Europe over the past 12 months signifies a ramping up of the digital transformation agenda, according to Claranet.

Vanson Bourne surveyed 900 end user IT leaders from mid-market businesses in the six markets in which Claranet operates - Germany, Benelux, France, Spain, Portugal, and the UK.

It found that 95 per cent of European businesses now have a digital strategy, and 15 per cent of these digital strategies are now led by a CDO, up from just 6 per cent in 2015.

This trend is particularly pronounced in France and Portugal where CDOs head up 22 per cent and 20 per cent of digital strategies.

These findings show how seriously European businesses are taking their digital transformations.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) are still most likely to drive digital strategies, at 34 per cent and 29 per cent. However, the rise of the CDO is indicative of wider trends across IT departments.

Commenting on the research, Andy Wilton, CIO of Claranet, said: "The fact that we are seeing a broad split in leadership between CTOs, CIOs and now the growth in CDOs, demonstrates the different approaches organisations are taking toward digital transformation.

"It is also indicative of a changing IT department where traditional roles are becoming more hybridised."

IT is progressing from a support function to a value-creating role of strategic significance. Harvey Nash and KPMG recently found that even where there is no CDO, the CIO's role is becoming ever more dynamic and strategic.

Traditionally, a CIO's priorities have been increasing operational efficiencies and delivering stable IT performance. These are becoming less important in the face of these changes.

Wilton added: "The IT department of 2016 is undergoing a period of accelerating change. Where IT used to play a supporting role to business strategy, it now has the opportunity to drive it.

"Businesses can lead change by empowering their IT departments - be that by appointing a Chief Digital Officer or by increasing the remit of the CIO to generate profit rather than to provide cost-savings."

Exertis has made two senior appointments to drive deeper into the office automation (OA) and document scan markets.

Alistair Coyne and Theresa Downes are the latest recruits to join the OA and document scan team within the Exertis print business.

Coyne takes responsibility for the overall OA and document scan strategy while Downes manages the Samsung strand of the OA business. Both were previously at Midwich.

Jamie Brothwell, Exertis' General Manager for Print, said: "The specialist OA team has grown rapidly since we entered the market three years ago."

Businesses need to prepare for the multichannel demands of next generation consumers or get left behind as 16 to 24-year-olds are snubbing the telephone for customer service queries, according to a survey by Magnetic North.

Just 7% of 16 to 24 year olds will call a business even in relation to a high value sales query, with research revealing that one in five prefer to buy from businesses that offer multiple channels of communication.

It's not just young people who are turning their backs on the telephone with only 12% of people 16-55 year olds preferring to call a business.

The research findings highlight the need for a new approach to customer service.

Magnetic North's guide, the new rules of the inbound contact centre, says the industry needs to rip up the old rules of customer service, or risk losing customers.

In a traditional call centre 'inbound' meant incoming calls, but now, inbound should mean both instant communication such as telephone calls or chat, and email or social media posts that don't necessarily require an instant reaction, although speed of response is still vital.

It also reveals and how to handle multiple channels including calls, emails, chat, social media.

Enda Kenneally, VP Sales & Business Development UK&I, Magnetic North, said: "As we see the rise of a more customer-centric type of business, the contact centre is increasingly expected to contribute to revenue generation. In order to build customer loyalty and stand out against the competition, businesses need to deliver exceptional personalised customer experiences.

"Responding to customer demands is a huge challenge for businesses and the old rules of 'answer it quickly and dispatch it quickly' are simply no longer sufficient. In order to achieve contact centre success, we need new technology, new skills and new strategies. So we're ripping up the old rulebook and writing a new one."