Comms Dealer

Sound quality is the de facto consideration over video during a conference, according to 87% of respondents in a survey by Konftel.

"Sound is the basis of every meeting. The other elements can be worked around, but if you cannot clearly hear, then the meeting is over," stated Jeff May, Konftel's UK Sales Director.

"From our survey results only 2% value video as the most important enabler in remote meetings and 6% screen sharing."

The results of Konftel's survey come as the company launches a trio of new audio conferencing solutions with HD sound performance.

Venus is holding an event for new and existing partners at London's The Hippodrome Casino on 15th March.

The company is a fast-growing London fibre network, offering high speed connectivity solutions and one of the first providers to introduce 10 Gigabits circuits.

"In order for Venus' partner programme to grow and prosper we need to listen to our partners and understand what they need to help their business grow," said Brian Iddon, Director.

"The current market does not just focus on pricing but also the additional value add services. Venus has recently introduced white label marketing, product training and dedicated project management to our growing base of partners.

"This is just the beginning, we're a dynamic fast growing business and we want to help our partners grow in the same way."

Exertis has relocated its Basingstoke offices to new premises on the same Chineham Business Park estate.

The move from Elmwood to Ashwood consolidates the company's current 380 Basingstoke employees into one refurbished building which has the capacity to support the continued growth of the company.

The Ashwood location will house all Exertis commercial departments - sales, marketing, purchasing and the technical teams.

Paul Bryan Exertis UK&I MD, said: "The requirement to move to new premises is indicative of how the Exertis business has developed over the last few years across our four technology areas - IT, mobile, home and supplies.

"We now have a facility that meets our needs today and can cope with our strategy for continued growth."

Exertis also has offices in Altham, Harlow, Stoke-on-Trent, Elland and is building a National Distribution Centre in Altham (a new 650,000 sq.ft. logistics facility).

In addition, it owns Computers Unlimited which has UK offices in London.

Stoke-on-Trent and Darlington based technology firm Fifteen Digital is celebrating 10 years in business.

The company specialises in telecommunications and in November 2015 took home a National Business Award at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards in London.

In January Fifteen Digital were shortlisted for two regional awards, the Business Innovation Award at the Sentinel Business Awards, in Staffordshire, with the ceremony on 15th March and the Innovation Award at the Teesside heats of the North East Business Awards.

24 Seven Communications has teamed up with British smartphone brand KAZAM on a project aimed at ensuring taxi drivers stay connected to a mobile network more of the time.

24 Seven's roaming SIM Jump, which can switch between three of the UK's biggest mobile networks, will become natively compatible with two of KAZAM's models, offering taxi drivers better mobile coverage.

David Samuel, MD and Founder of 24 Seven, said: "Private hire has been a breakthrough industry for the Jump SIM. Taxi and private hire firms can see the benefits of better coverage by using a national roaming SIM.

"We pioneered the UK's first national roaming SIM and since launch it's helped numerous businesses to stay connected."

Andy Lee, Country Manager (UK & Ireland) of KAZAM said: "If taxi professionals lose connection it can be totally debilitating for their business. When they slip into a mobile black-spot, or if their network fails, that can make a real difference to profitability.

"Taxis need to stay connected (for voice and data) more of the time, from the point of view of accurate fares, ensuring reliable directions and not least from a safety point of view."

Jump was launched in early 2015 following a year in development. The SIM card will jump to the next available network, should the signal drop, thereby ensuring much better coverage than a single network SIM.

Oak Telecom has underlined its status as a forward-thinking UK software house with a name change to Oak Innovation.

"Everyone knows us simply as Oak, and that will continue," said joint CEO Phil Reynolds. "However, we feel that the new formal title is a more accurate description of what we actually do, and what we don't do is sell phone systems as the word 'telecom' implies.

"We design, develop and support our own solutions and we have won a string of awards for them. We specialise in call recording and reporting for all types of businesses and contact centres. We are increasingly providing solutions for mid-market opportunities. The new name reflects who we are now and where we are heading."

The change of name also coincides with Oak's acquisition of the Adaptive suite from New Media Software.

The Suite includes progressive and predictive diallers, SMS and email messaging. Oak has also taken on the NMS Adaptive team and their offices in Southampton to ensure a smooth transition for NMS resellers and their customers.

Reynolds believes that the addition of Adaptive will open up new opportunities for the channel.

"It's an exciting time for Oak. Adaptive is a great product suite with a proven track record that fits particularly well with our mid-market solutions, Evolve and Clarify.

"NMS have had experience working in the areas of the market that Oak is moving into, which is extremely valuable going forward.

"For the channel, all this means that at a time when the bottom end of the market is being gradually eroded by cheap hosted solutions, Oak is able to present resellers with tested solutions and strategies to help them aim at bigger targets."

NMS MD Phill McGowan will continue working alongside Oak as a consultant while the handover takes place and the new version 10 of Adaptive is rolled out.

Oak is currently organising an Adaptive roadshow for resellers this spring.

8x8 has been awarded Best Supplier of the Year at the inaugural Recruitment Directors Lunch Club (RDLC) awards staged at London's Hippodrome.

The company was chosen from 15 suppliers by the organisation's members.

RDLC is the sector's network and member's group for recruitment CEOs and directors.

The Club has a membership of over 60 recruitment businesses and is growing in the UK and internationally.

Gary Pryor, Enterprise Sales Director, 8x8 in the UK, said: "This award is a testament to 8x8's dedication to providing support to companies within the recruitment industry.

"We now work with a variety of recruiters of different sizes, demonstrating that we're able to provide a flexible and effective solution to all."

Nimans has witnessed strong sales of a smart hub for group collaboration from Polycom.

Ian Brindle, Nimans' Head of Conferencing Sales, says the RealPresence Trio 8800 has surpassed all sales expectations since its launch towards the end of last year.

He said: "It has become one of our most successful ever product launches with huge demand and interest created. A dynamic design is complemented by many advanced features as part of an exceptional audio experience thanks to enhanced Polycom HD Voice technology.

"In addition users can share concepts and images from PC or tablet in HD resolution with an optional accessory which can also be used to provide cost effective HD video calling with a USB camera to easily transform audio calls into a rich and engaging video experience."

ShoreTel has expanded its Innovation Network and renamed it TechConnect.

The revamped programme builds on the recent launch of the ShoreTel Connect solution for onsite, cloud and hybrid UC deployments, and the foundation of ShoreTel's Innovation Network which contains 1,500 developers and 110 technology partners.

ShoreTel TechConnect brings enhancements over the previous programme including a more efficient certification process, new remote test and preparation capabilities, no membership fee for technology partners self-validating with the third-party test firm, and additional marketing opportunities as well as advance notification and sponsorship priority for the ShoreTel Champion Partner Conference.

ShoreTel has also deepened its relationship with an independent third-party testing and services firm.

This relationship will increase test capacity, resulting in faster time to market, and provide new remote test preparation capabilities via the cloud.

"With the new ShoreTel TechConnect programme we are building a vibrant ecosystem of partners that will extend the value of the ShoreTel Connect solutions," said Mark Roberts, CMO of ShoreTel.

"We are seeking complementary solutions with a focus on vertical applications, and are focused on creating greater value for our customers through interoperability and integration with tools and
applications they use daily.

"With the new programme we have intensified our attention on go to market efforts with member partners and on providing additional training and marketing resources."

The TechConnect programme has three member tiers - Developer, Technology Partner and Technology Alliance Partner.

Distributor Steljes has become an exclusive distribution partner of Nureva, a Canadian provider of software and hardware solutions for education, and signed two UK resellers, Rapid Technologies and Smarter Interactive.

Rapid is a specialist in interactive technology and digital signage dedicated to classroom and meeting rooms and operating across schools, colleges, corporate and public sector organisations, while Smarter Interactive provides audio visual consultancy and services. Both Rapid and Smarter have been working with Steljes for more than yen years.

"We wanted to appoint the most competent resellers as quickly as possible to serve customers throughout the UK," said Martin Large, CEO, Steljes.