Comms Dealer

Easynet, an Interoute company, has integrated netEvidence's Highlight cloud-based monitoring and reporting service within its Matrix Management Portal (which provides 1,000-plus partners across the UK with a transparent view of network and application performance).

Mike Ayres, Managing Director of Channel Partners at Easynet, said: "Management tools like Highlight are vital in helping our partners to grow their businesses. With Highlight, partners can differentiate their offer in the market by delivering a unique level of visibility and transparency for their customers.

"The key benefit of Highlight is that we are using the same tool as our partners and their end customers - it's a single consistent view across everything.

"With this common view we can proactively identify and fix any problems. And when critical applications are reliant on any number of parties - including ourselves, partners, carriers and end customers - a single indisputable view of what is happening removes any unnecessary finger pointing."

Highlight's browser-based window offers full visibility into how, where and by whom critical business services and applications are being consumed. Highlight leverages the intelligence already available in networks, moulding enormous volumes of information into a clear, intuitive dashboard that can be understood by executives, managers and engineers alike.

Ayres added: "We needed Highlight to equip partners with full visibility of the applications that are driving the workspace including both internal and cloud-based services. The challenge is to deliver not just reliable services but to ensure critical applications are given the correct priority.

"We receive calls from partners relating to what they believe are network faults but are in fact poorly performing applications. We find that when partners and their customers start to look at Highlight's application views, they are often surprised at the applications being used such as Skype for non-work purposes."

Riverbed Technology, specialist in application performance infrastructure, has named Chris Elsmore as Vice President Channel Sales for EMEA.

He will be responsible for leading the Riverbed channel sales team and driving partner strategy, execution, and strategic sales programs in the region.

He will report to Kristian Thyregod, Senior Vice President, EMEA.

Elsmore joins Riverbed from Guidewire Software where he was Vice President Global Alliances & Business Development, responsible for partners worldwide and business development.

Prior to this, Elsmore held global and regional senior channel leadership roles with Panopticon Software, SAP Business Objects, and i2 technologies.

Kristian Thyregod, Senior Vice President, EMEA, at Riverbed said: "As the market evolves we have a huge opportunity to meet the challenges of the hybrid enterprise and deliver solutions for software-defined networks.

"With the vast majority of our revenue generated through our channel sales model, Chris' proven experience will be instrumental in driving our partners to embrace and sell our portfolio of solutions as part of the Riverbed Application Performance Platform."

Elsmore added: "Our partner ecosystem is key to our success so I look forward to strengthening and deepening the relationships we have with our channel community across the region, to drive maximum impact and significant growth."

Arrow Electronics has announced plans for a set of seminars on the Internet of Things (IoT) across Europe.

The IoT in Focus tour will encompass locations in Germany, France, UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland and cover connectivity and embedded applications, system integration, big data and the cloud.

Arrow has a broad range of expertise and a network of suppliers with IoT capabilities, enabling it to advise and assist organisations that want to capture value from the explosion of the IoT.

The IoT in Focus seminars will cover where the IoT is now and where it is going. With a predicted future of billions of connected things, the correct selection of platform, technology, communication and data management architectures are essential for a scalable and secure IoT implementation.

As with any new innovative emerging market, new standards, evolving designs and applications present challenges of implementation, but also offer significant opportunities for growth, increased operating efficiencies and the delivery of more value to end users, said the firm.

BroadSoft has unveiled Project Tempo, a new initiative based on BroadSoft's UC-One offering, and envisions new UC-One cloud services that will allow individuals and teams to reach new levels of productivity by integrating real-time communications and collaboration, cloud applications, and contextual intelligence, into a unified end-user experience, claims the firm.

The first step in the rollout of Project Tempo will be the release of a beta version UC-One Hub, in the first quarter of 2016. UC-One Hub is a cloud service that integrates real-time communications with cloud applications and offers contextual intelligence - allowing users to be more efficient and productive.

The beta will initially run on BroadSoft's UC-One Communicator using Google Chrome, and feature off-the-shelf cloud application integrations with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive, in addition to Concur, Redbooth, and Twitter.

Today, BroadSoft believes that workforce productivity in the enterprise is suffering because various tools and off-the-shelf applications used by teams and workers to communicate only address niche solutions, and are disjointed from workflow processes. This often creates scattered communications, ineffective meetings, and fragmented workflows decreasing productivity and decision-making.

"The fact that BroadSoft supports 26 of the top 30 global service providers demonstrates our success," said Michael Tessler, chief executive officer, BroadSoft. "We believe that Project Tempo is an innovative initiative that extends BroadSoft's position, creates new revenue sources for service providers and meets the communications and collaboration needs of the emerging millennial workforce majority."

Service providers will have the flexibility to deliver BroadSoft UC-One and Project Tempo services via the BroadWorks platform, or as a fully managed hosted service from BroadSoft's cloud infrastructure, BroadCloud.

Pelican Rouge Group has selected Unify and its accredited partner Viegli to transform its communications infrastructure in the UK with the OpenScape Business platform.

The OpenScape Business platform will bring a new level of mission-critical availability and reliability to the communication capability in Pelican Rouge Groups' UK distribution network - boosting the company's ability to deliver seamless customer service.

Pelican Rouge Group, a long established coffee company with its own brand active in 12 European countries, was having difficulties with an existing aging telephony only system.

In the UK, the existing system was nearing its end of life and could no longer be supported. With a large scale distribution network, that relies on effective external and internal communications, it is critical that Pelican Rouge has a truly resilient communications in place. In addition, the Pelican Rouge UK team wanted more control and visibility on analytics, particularly around team performance.

After consulting with implementation partner Viegli, Pelican Rouge Group opted to implement the Unify OpenScape Business platform. OpenScape Business, which was specifically developed for the fast-growing SMB market, will increase the stability of the company's communications network while leaving room for future innovation.

OpenScape Business is a pure software solution, providing a complete all-in-one UC offering for Pelican Rouge, including voice, conferencing services, web-collaboration including video, presence, mobility, social networking and multi-channel contact centre capabilities.

At the core of Pelican Rouge Group's new system is a 58 seat inbound contact centre that has already taken more than 100,000 inbound calls, reducing abandoned calls by over 64% and improving the customer service that Pelican Rouge provides. Other benefits such as mobile integration and the myPortal for Outlook have allowed staff to interact with each other in a new, and much more productive, manner.

Robert Nunn, Technical Director, Viegli said: "Pelican Rouge Group was faced with a common problem - telephony systems were no longer fit for purpose. We were happy to work with Pelican Rouge to find the right solution.

"The teams at Pelican Rouge and Viegli are working closely together to continually improve the service that Pelican Rouge provide to their clients and by providing a live helpdesk for them their staff can contact us at any time for advice and or assistance with the system."

Tony Smith, By Tony Smith, UK&I Channel Sales Director at Unify: "Whether we're helping provide a solid backbone or innovative, cutting edge communications solutions, it's always pleasing to see the great value our channel partner network brings in meeting the needs of customers with our industry leading technology."

With the initial implementation complete and a success, Pelican Rouge Group is looking to consolidate more of their depots onto OpenScape Business. This will provide the business with the ability to focus on maintaining high uptime and availability across its communications network.

BroadSoft has unveiled a new BroadCloud software release, available in November 2015, that will bring the full capabilities of UC-One and SIP Trunking services to BroadCloud, and also includes service assurance enhancements, new terminal device options from AudioCodes, Polycom, and Yealink, and a UC-One Hospitality solution.

This release will extend the market coverage of BroadCloud from a SMB hosted PBX solution to hosted UC solution capable of serving large enterprises, said the firm.

The new BroadCloud release is one of several announcements unveiled and demonstrated at BroadSoft Connections 2015. This event is BroadSoft's annual global users' conference, which took place on October 25th-28th in Phoenix, Arizona.

BroadSoft also announced Project Tempo - a new initiative based on BroadSoft's UC-One offering - that will 'power the future of work for the small to large enterprise', and reported that it surpassed 12 million cloud unified communications lines deployed globally.

Michael Tessler, chief executive officer, BroadSoft, said: "BroadCloud's new unified communications services represent the continued evolution of BroadCloud from a small business hosted PBX to hosted UC solution capable of serving the needs of small, medium and large enterprises."

BroadCloud provides service providers with a managed, end-to-end operating platform, which supports the full life-cycle of the business customer - from initial quote to service activation to support processes.

Against a backdrop of stagnant economies and relatively rigid labour markets, the European contact centre outsourcing market is pressing ahead, observe pundits at Frost & Sullivan.

Powerful consumer trends, along with the expansion of automated and non-voice channels, are adding momentum to technology-based customer engagement.

Over the next five years, service providers that differentiate and compete on multichannel capabilities and value add technology solutions will have an edge over providers that only compete on cost, location and labour arbitrage.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan finds that the market was worth $14.04 billion in 2014 and estimates this to reach $16.48 billion in 2019. Technology-based services will experience solid momentum, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 12 percent, compared to a CAGR of more than 2 percent for traditional, agent-based services.

"Europe too is adjusting to a rapidly changing, ever-more influential consumer," noted Frost & Sullivan Information & Communication Technologies Program Director Stephen Loynd. "And when it comes to working with Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) in an ever more connected world, enterprises are expecting agility, innovation, and best practice implementation - truly strategic partnerships, in other words."

The European market can be particularly complex. Although the market for outsourced services is counter-cyclical, benefitting from the cost-cutting of enterprises, in some cases in Europe it also has faced a lack of demand. Moreover, tech-savvy consumers are now using a variety of communication channels to express their opinions, and BPOs are aiming to offer improved multichannel solutions as a result.

Meanwhile, the outsourcing market continues to be characterised by mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In 2015, both large and small players, such as Atento, Arvato, Concentrix, Serco Global Services, Walter Services, and SNT Deutschland, were involved in M&As. BPOs would be wise to continue to push organizational change whenever necessary to promote greater focus and accountability, and improved organizational alignment when it comes to company mission, vision, strategy and execution.

Ravenswood-based charity InnerSense has received a grant from the Redwood Technologies Fund held with Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF), enabling it to run a series of Autumn Adventures workshops from October to December.

The sessions are designed to provide a multisensory theatrical experience for those who have severe, profound or multiple learning disabilities, and drive a range of positive outcomes for the participants which include improved communication skills, self-confidence and mental health.

InnerSense works with 100 disabled participants from across Berkshire on a weekly basis, and the Autumn Adventures workshops will see its studio transformed each week into a new theatrical environment filled with different props, instruments, costumes, characters and sets, designed to inspire the creative talents of the beneficiaries.

During each workshop, a team of skilled freelance professional artists take groups of up to ten participants into the studio at a time, where they are sensitively encouraged to participate and explore the world around them. These experiences lead to improved social awareness and relationships with staff and peers, as participants discover new creative ways for interaction and self-expression.

Victoria Holloway, Operations Manager at InnerSense, commented: "We are so grateful to receive a grant from the Redwood Technologies Fund. The grant will help us to run a term of our unique multisensory workshops, providing diverse creative opportunities for people with complex needs. In our workshops, people who rarely speak are inspired to sing, those who rarely move to dance, and those who are usually trapped in their own worlds break free. It is thanks to grants such as this, that we are able to continue this important work."

Claire Tyrrell, Director of Programmes at Berkshire Community Foundation, added: "At BCF, we are in a privileged position wherein we work with local charities and community groups addressing needs across Berkshire, as well as a number of extremely generous donors. As we look to facilitate our grant-making in the coming year, we hope for more and more opportunities to work with charities such as InnerSense."

Sean Taylor, Managing Director at Redwood Technologies, added: "Berkshire Community Foundation Fund and its Business Philanthropy Club enable an ever-increasing number of local organisations to engage with a wide range of excellent causes. The creative work carried out by the InnerSense team is inspiring and we're delighted to have been given the opportunity through our Fund to help support these workshops."

In recognition of its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), DTC International, the global telecom Reverse Logistics and After Market Services business, has been awarded the Gold CSR Rating by EcoVadis, placing it in the top 5% of companies evaluated.

EcoVadis' independent sustainability rating platform monitors and improves the environmental, ethical and social performance of companies worldwide. Respect for environmental policies and a strong focus on CSR and Corporate Governance is fundamental to DTC's global operations, said the firm.

"DTC's operations place CSR practices as a key deliverable within our value proposition to a global client base. Therefore I am delighted by this Gold Rating as we continue to make further strides in this increasingly important area for the telecoms industry," said a spokesperson.

European IT infrastructure services provider SCC has partnered with Agilitas to support its inventory handling in France.

Shaun Lynn, CEO of Agilitas, said: "Growing logistics costs, in terms of manpower, maintenance, storage and control of IT inventory, were detracting SCC France from its core business activities.

"While it was important for us to provide a solution that could be effectively implemented, with clear cost benefits, more crucial was our understanding of SCC France's business and ability to listen to their needs and adapt to changes in their business."

As a 24/7 operational business, implementing a solution swiftly with no impact to SCC's current service strategy was paramount. Agilitas had to deliver a two hour SLA in place for critical inventory across France.

A key component of the Agilitas solution was purchasing SCC's entire Server and Storage inventory supply. Incorporating SCC France's stock into Agilitas' own infrastructure, while still remaining operational, was the first step in removing the costs and resources for SCC France of managing their own inventory.

In addition to this, Agilitas also took responsibility for the planning, procurement and stocking of all associated spare parts for the SCC France, to support them in its on-going IT services business across France.

Alain Brunard - SCC SA, Director Production Maintenance, commented: "For many years Agilitas has been a trusted supplier of quality spare parts for SCC Services France. As a result of their excellent track record, SCC decided to significantly increase their business with Agilitas within the last 12 months by entrusting the care of supplying necessary spare parts to support the maintenance contracts across the SCC Services France install base for Server, Storage, and Networking.

"After an in depth analysis of inventory and SLA figures, SCC and Agilitas started a collaborative project, including Agilitas taking on SCC's existing stock and assuring at the same time the replenishment, availability, and delivery of these spare parts for the SCC account. After many months delivering the service, SCC can appreciate the efforts and rigour deployed by Agilitas in order to move closer to contractual objectives.

"We can equally appreciate the technical competence provided by Agilitas to support specific operations and form a few collaborations. The finalisation of a Services Pricebook should permit SCC to have the power to construct more competitive offerings and this in turn will be quicker for our Pre-Sales collaborators."