Comms Dealer

Pan-European telecoms provider Viatel is to integrate Cirpack solutions across its core network and enhance the company's services catalog tailored for enterprises, public organiSations and channel partners.

Cirpack technology will be deployed on the Viatel network in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands and will be extended to other countries in a second phase.

Businesses based in these countries will be able to connect to the Viatel network to access VoIP and other advanced voice services.

This contract is part of the investment made by Viatel to extend its voice portfolio, fibre infrastructure, cloud services and data centre solutions to customers throughout Europe.

Viatel has selected and deployed Softswitch platforms and routing application servers from Cirpack's broad range of VoIP and voice solutions. All have the latest SBC technology along with associated services to support multi country and multi-site configuration as standard.

JMC IT has won a three year contract to provide rural and agricultural business Farmcare with a fully-outsourced IT platform following its separation from the Co-operative Group last year.

The telephony and support solution spans 10 farms, two pack houses and a head office based in Manchester. The system will support Farmcare's 260 current employees and growth plans.

Amie Harris, Head of Business Change at Farmcare, said: "Migration of all data and applications away from the Co-operative Group's infrastructure was a big project for us and it was important that this was undertaken successfully.

"Furthermore, fully outsourcing our IT system, support and all user requirements means that we do not require an internal IT team at all, which means we can focus on the core operation of the business."

JMC's Business Development Director Mike Bentley added: "We look forward to further cementing our close relationship with Farmcare that will help them to continue to build on their success through its journey of transformation."

Mitel is leveraging its cloud technology to unite organisations with mobile silos and create a seamless comms experience in what the vendor calls a 'mobile-first world'. Mitel's strategy is to use mobile as the entry point and leverage the growing capabilities of cloud and 4G LTE mobile to enable easier collaboration on mobile devices as part of an all-encompassing comms platform.

Mitel President and CEO Rich McBee said: "For many of us, the first thing we do in the morning is check our mobile. Increasingly everyday business communications are initiated on a handheld device rather than a desk phone or PC."

Mitel outlined a trio of initiatives designed to bridge mobile, enterprise and cloud technologies.

As well as combining cloud communications with a 4G LTE portfolio to speed up access to real-time services, the vendor will deliver Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) capabilities to mobile carriers in Asia, Europe and North America, and launch a string of mobile enterprise cloud-based products and solutions.

Zeus Kerravala, ZK Research founder and principal analyst, said: "Mitel's promise to leverage the intersection across real-time, cloud and mobile technologies aligns with a user's desire to knit together mixed voice, video and collaboration environments so businesses can effectively communicate and compete."

Turning its mobile vision into strategy Mitel launched a mobile-first version of MiCollab that enables small, mid-size and large enterprises to deliver presence, company directory, and tap-to-connect features.

MiContact Center connects the mobile enterprise with the mobile consumer, enabling text, chat and speech applications. And improved analytics and integration capabilities integrates customer data with 'IoT triggers'.

Also, Mitel's Hospitality solutions link a guest's smartphone to the hotel's network, making it an extension of their room phone.

McBee added: "Users expect rich and contextual services across the devices of their choice so that business communications deliver a consumer-like experience and mobile communications move towards a business-like experience.

"The intersection of mobile and cloud communications is breaking down technical barriers and bringing us to the point where truly seamless collaboration and communications is finally achievable."

Entatech UK has sealed a new distribution agreement with VTech Business Phones.

VTech is a global supplier of electronic learning products, from infancy to preschool, and a manufacturer of cordless phones.

Entatech will be introducing the manufacturer's range of cordless and corded ErisTerminal SIP Phones and accessories to its product portfolio, boosting its networking telecommunications offering, as well as bolstering its currently product set for the corporate market.

ErisTerminal phones come with dual Ethernet ports and PoE support, and a three year warranty.

Dave Stevinson, Entatech' MD, commented: "The inclusion of VTech into our portfolio is a great opportunity for resellers to partner with a familiar brand."

Ingram Micro is moving strongly into fulfilment and e-commerce, buying Dutch DOCdata Nederland B.V. and DOCdata International B.V. (Docdata), the e-commerce fulfillment business of publically-traded, Netherlands-based, DOCDATA N.V. for approximately €160m.

Docdata will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro.

Docdata CEO Michiel Alting von Geusau will continue to lead the company, reporting directly to Ken Beyer, Ingram Micro executive vice president commerce and fulfillment solutions. In addition to customary regulatory and other closing conditions, the transaction requires approval of a majority of outstanding shares at a special meeting of DOCDATA N.V. shareholders, which is expected to take place toward the end of the 2015 fourth quarter.

Docdata provides order fulfilment, returns logistics and online payment services, providing critical commerce solutions to major retailers, brands and start-ups, currently working with between 125,000 and 250,000 orders on a daily basis, with major operations in Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The company is expected to contribute in excess of $150m in annual services revenue to Ingram Micro.

Ingram Micro CEO Alain Monié said: "Adding Docdata's broad-based suite of commerce solutions to our existing portfolio of global services will bring critical mass to our commerce and fulfillment solutions business in Europe."

Snom Technology has unveiled the D765 Desk phone, featuring a high-resolution color display and equipped with a XML browser.

The integrated Ethernet switch allows VLAN and IEEE 802.3 connectivity and provides for the secure connection of additional network components.

Thew IP phone supports up to 12 different SIP user accounts and is designed for the busy office environment, supporting multiple audio devices at the same time, and the built-in Bluetooth compatibility enables easy connection for wireless headsets.

This SIP-based VoIP phone also fits easily into modern telephony and unified communications solutions and includes future proofing features such as including IPv4/Pv6 dual stack support, and both Gigabit Ethernet and USB connectivity. Data transfer takes place via a built-in HTTP (S) server, the encryption of the communication uses TLS and SRTP SIPS

"Fraudulent activity on company telephone networks is costly and on the increase. These latest handsets are designed to meet the requirements of security conscious business professionals," commented Nadahl Shocair SEO Snom Technology AG.

Outsourcery has been awarded a place on Lot 10 of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Network Services agreement.

Outsourcery Hosting is one of 59 suppliers under this agreement.

The agreement adds to Outsourcery's growing public sector pipeline among central government departments, local authorities, NHS and government agencies all able to take advantage of the agreement to access non-PSN and PSN compliant services.

The agreement will have an initial term of two years with the option for CCS to extend for a further two years.

Outsourcery recently stepped up the development of its direct sales and marketing activity, particularly in the public sector, as part of the refocused strategy announced at Interim Results on 29 September 2015. The firm said it will focus on large partners only and on mid-market and enterprise customers while building its direct sales operation.

Simone Hume, Head of Public Sector at Outsourcery, commented: "We are pleased to have our services on the Network Services agreement - which, with a focus on SMEs, will help to break down the oligopoly of IT suppliers in the public sector and provide a new channel to allow public bodies to safely take advantage of new cloud-based communications technologies.

"With government organisations under constant financial constraints, but needing to deliver better services, the latest Unified Communications and collaboration technologies enable departments and personnel to share, collaborate and improve much needed front-line services, while remaining cost-effective."

Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) has appointed Annodata to provide a cloud-based managed print solution, enabling the council has shave £50,000 off of its annual print management costs.

Karen Russell, IT Project Leader at AVDC, said: "Cloud is a major part of our IT strategy and has a great deal to offer increasingly squeezed public bodies like us.

"The potential for cost savings is a key driver, but just as important are the flexibility and agility that the delivery model offers.

"In addition, having a third party manage our IT and infrastructure means that our internal IT staff can focus their efforts on our core business.

"But security is naturally a concern, particularly for the public sector, so when we came to looking at moving our print estate to the cloud, we wanted to make sure we were in safe hands."

Annodata CEO, Rod Barthet added: "We're seeing more and more organisations, both in the public and private sectors, adopting cloud solutions and reaping the benefits it delivers to their bottom lines, their employees and often their own customers."

US cloud communications giant 8x8, which has doubled its turnover in the UK since acquiring Herts-based Voicenet Solutions just under two years ago, is now on the hunt for ambitious resellers keen to offer cloud-based contact solutions to enterprise clients.

The company says it will help channel partners address disruptive cloud-based contact centre opportunities with the consultative approach championed by Kevin Scott-Cowell's UK team, especially in the health sector which it is targeting as a prime market.

Speaking exclusively to Comms Dealer at Call Centre Expo, Chief Marketing Officer Enzo Signore said his company has the portfolio and global power to energise resellers looking to upgrade customers from on premise solutions and claims 8x8 can get them ready for market with some products 'within days'.

"When I joined 8x8 10 months ago we were looking at the channel strategy, and most of the channel partners we had, particularly in the US, were from the traditional telecoms side.

"We did not have a strong presence with partners that had a system integration approach and it was counter intuitive. Most of the partners tended to support on-premises solutions because it was more profitable for them with installation, implementation, integration and so on.

"Now we're now looking for partners keen to widen their footprint and go for a different type of customer and get a faster time to revenue which the cloud enables."

Signore said system integrators like Insight, IntelliSys and Arrow are now setting up different divisions in their companies to go after cloud opportunities as 'net new' business.
"They have customers with on-prem solutions at the end of life or coming to the end of a maintenance contract ready to upgrade to the next thing, and cloud becomes a natural opportunity for them.

"These channels are bringing to us enterprise grade 1,000 to 10,000 seat opportunities that are exciting and shaping the market now."

Signore believes enterprise customers are looking for integrated solutions in the cloud in a search for simplicity.

"They want to simplify their life, simplify the network, and get rid of all the complexity forced on them by PBXs and ACDs in the past," he said.

"They want a company that can support them with telephony, with UC, with collaboration, and contact centre analytics all in one package. We can help resellers be that type of company.
Signore is convinced his company can get a reseller selling 8x8's cloud based contact centre solutions within days.

"For a partner, every hour on the phone is an hour's less of revenue. So in the US, we are trialling training slots that fit into an hour. We are doing 'lunch and learn' online education, and short videos to ensure that resellers are as efficiently trained as they can be.

"The less time they spend on training the more time they can spend talking to customers.
"For other customers, a few days in our Academy, such as we have established in the UK, works better. It all depends on the partner. We have a menu of options to get help get them up to pace."

The paradoxes businesses face in creating productive working environments has been revealed by Jabra in its new report, 'Productivity at the Office - Challenges 2015'.

Despite businesses investing in the tools for professional office-based staff to collaborate and concentrate, according to the study, staff continue to face up to 17 different distractions throughout the working day, attend unproductive meetings and struggle to use technology that was originally intended to improve productivity.

The report reveals that most workers question the productivity of collaborative workspaces that businesses have created to achieve efficiencies. Most are situated in open plan offices (34%) which is also thought of as the least productive environment (35% agree).

The report also reveals the failure of knowledge workers to organise effective collaboration time. Over half (51%) agree that meetings without direction or a clear agenda lead to wasted meeting time, 32% cite lack of decision-making, 31% cite lack of follow-up, 26% a lack of preparation and 25% the effect of latecomers.

In a conference call scenario, some of the most annoying issues are due to sound, whether not being able to hear people's voices, irrelevant background noise, connection issues, overall audio quality or not knowing if speakerphones are working as intended and that other participants can hear the speaker.

Frustratingly for knowledge workers, these issues are also the most frequent. This presents a paradox: the majority of knowledge workers want to attend meetings despite these issues because of the perceived productivity gain to the organisation, even though 36% claim meetings diminish their personal productivity.

Productivity of time spent at their desk is also crucial: workers spend most of their time at their desks, over 66% of the working week (over 6 times more than in meetings), so it is where the most significant productivity gains can be made or lost. However, knowledge workers deal with up to 17 distractions during work, many of which are caused by other people.

Most common are distracting noise levels (46%), interruptions from colleagues (43%), and number of emails (28%). People also value environmental factors that could be better controlled, such as temperature, air quality and lack of privacy. Re-thinking desk-space for time spent concentrating could eliminate a host of issues that negatively impact productivity at work.

Nigel Dunn, Managing Director, Jabra UK & Ireland, said: "Productivity is critical to business success and remaining competitive. Every allocated resource should be used to its best advantage and to the most benefit to the organisation, with processes and tools in place to make sure this happens.

"While many organisations have designed workspaces to facilitate better collaboration and have invested in technology to bring people together in meetings or on calls, this approach is not consistently delivering the intended benefits. Businesses need to re-evaluate their knowledge workers' needs to ensure productivity throughout the working day, if they are to meet commercial goals."

The report also highlights how limited productivity at work affects a company's ability to attract and retain staff, as distractions in the workplace significantly affect work-life balance.

Today, a significant proportion of knowledge workers are struggling to complete their tasks during the working day. 36% are completing tasks outside of working hours and the office, in order to make sure work is completed ahead of the next working day.

To facilitate meetings, technology such as smart boards, speakerphones, project management software or mind-mapping or brainstorming software is often used.

Yet, implementing these tools is often counterintuitive to productivity, for example time spent setting up conference calls. The time and investment wasted is significant: 25% of meetings are delayed due to technical and/or user issues and on average 2.7 minutes of every meeting is lost as a result.

Depending on the number of attendees at the meeting, the cost to the business can escalate. While 71% of meetings take place in one place, 29% are across multiple locations so collaborative technology is crucial. However, knowledge workers struggle to use it, causing significant frustrations that five in ten say are the most annoying.

Dunn added: "Businesses have to facilitate a balance of collaboration and concentration. To date they have made great strides in enabling workers to achieve more through collaboration and they must do this whilst ensuring employees don't lose time trying to use ineffective technology.

"Otherwise, organisations are wasting resources each time a worker fails to conduct a conference call or meeting. Whilst this remains a challenge, businesses also have to consider achieving productivity in employee's concentration time. An adaptable workspace depending on the individual, task or job role is the new way of working businesses must accommodate."