Comms Dealer

MeetingZone has extended the capabilities of Skype for Business with an audio conferencing service that enables users to dial-in to online meetings from anywhere.

Organisations will be able to invite an unlimited number of internal or external participants to join Skype for Business meetings via standard fixed-line and mobile phones.

MeetingZone will also offer users an enhanced live support and in-call assistance facility as part of the service.

"People love the convenience and extended conferencing features of Skype for Business such as virtual white-boarding and screen-sharing, but until now it hasn't been easy to let guests dial-in to meetings via telephone," said Andy Clark, general manager for Skype for Business at MeetingZone.

"Now they can. This makes it perfect, for example, where you need external suppliers to attend a project meeting on an organisation's "internal" Skype for Business network. What's more, even Skype for Business users who are "off net" can dial-in from any location using our range of international dial-in and toll free numbers."

The Audio Conferencing for Skype for Business service offers toll-free and local access numbers in almost every country.

This enables users abroad to dial-in at their convenience without incurring hefty international or roaming call charges.

Where Skype for Business currently permits a maximum of 250 participants in a meeting, MeetingZone's service will allow an unlimited number of people to dial in.

This will give organisations the ability to use it to conduct much larger meetings where necessary - for example, when the management of a large organisation wants to address its entire global workforce personally, rather than sending out a blanket email, or invite the world's press to discuss a major announcement.

The service also integrates seamlessly with Outlook's email and calendaring functions, allowing organisations to include all the audio-only participants on an invitation, along with Skype for Business users, and track all responses automatically in one place.

ICT service provider Fidelity Group is urging SME resellers to embrace new age comms opportunities or risk losing customers to fleet-footed technology companies that understand the benefits of SIM connected devices, true IP communications and the 'applification' of business processes.

The Henley-based business - named the eighth fastest growing technology business in the UK in 2015 - has put a call out to resellers to join its new industry club aimed at helping resellers understand how to quickly and simply bring new revenue streams into their business by embracing M2M, new business apps including Microsoft 365 and the grants available from the Government's Super Connected Cities initiative.

The Fidelity Club's Inaugural educational events will take place at the world famous Leander Rowing Club in Henley on July 22, 23 and 24.

"We're looking for ambitious resellers to join us that want to take their business to the next level," said MD Alan Shraga.

"Massive changes are happening now and part of the exciting event plan we have pulled together is to make resellers aware of these new revenue streams and the journey they should be taking their customers on.

"By 2016 every single customer of every single reseller will have approximately four to five connected devices per individual. That represents a massive growth opportunity which we want to help resellers profit from."

Click here to register for the Fidelity Club events at the Leander Club

VIRTUS Data Centres has secured 12 new customer wins in 2015 and the extension of three existing customer contracts into its new LONDON2 data centre in Hayes, forcing the firm to drive the build out of LONDON2's Phase 2 expansion ahead of schedule.

Development of LONDON2's Phase 2 has already begun and will initially deliver a further 3MW-plus of IT load. On completion of Phase 2, two thirds of the site will be complete and available for use.

VIRTUS new customer wins include companies specialising in cloud technology, secure hosting, professional services and education, as well as the finance industry and a mining company.

VIRTUS Data Centres MD Darren Watkins said: "Following demand for space in LONDON2 Phase1, VIRTUS has again partnered with Bouygues Energies and Services to build out the second phase of LONDON2.

"Given the success achieved by LONDON2 in the short amount of time it's been open for business, we're excited about what this means as we enter the second half of 2015."

Cheltenham-based Total has sealed a mobile airtime agreement with IT distributor Tech Data Mobile, the mobile division of Tech Data UK.

Tech Data Mobile's reseller partners now have access to a range of airtime packages delivered via Total, which launched its channel programme in 2010.

Total MD Lorrin White said: "I firmly believe that partnerships and collaboration are key to growth and success for all. As such, they continue to form a significant element of our strategic focus at Total.

"Technology is a fast moving industry, with comms and IT becoming more intrinsically linked every day. Experience, teamwork and reliability is therefore crucial and as a longstanding service provider with an award-winning channel proposition, this relationship reinforces our commitment to these principles."

Ultracomms has catalysed the next phase of its expansion plan with the appointment of Alan Quinlan (pictured) as Channel Sales Director tasked with driving the firm's new channel programme.

He joins from headset company Jabra where he was UK Sales Director.

Ultracomms has embarked on a partner recruitment campaign across the UK and Ireland for its cloud and on-site solutions, particularly focused on PCI DSS compliance.

"For the channel, there is the opportunity to engage with customers who may have previously deferred decisions around PCI DSS compliance, or used pause and resume solutions," said Quinlan.

"Ultracomms' technology provides an opportunity for channel partners to reduce their compliance costs and move to the lowest cost option around self-assessment."

Ultracomms CEO Justin Hamilton-Martin added: "Alan joins us at a pivotal point in our expansion period.

"For the past ten years the company has been steadily growing a loyal customer base and the in-house R&D team has been focused on developing solutions for the contact centre market.

"Now it's time to start working more closely with the channel community, to collectively grow the market opportunity."

Incom has linked up with Complete Network Services (CNS) in a collaboration that extends their geographical reach to five offices with a headcount of 100.

The firms have pooled their skills to better address demand for UC and contact centre solutions that incorporate multimedia, social media capabilities and workforce optimisation.

Incom Business Systems MD David Hughes said: "We are poised for significant and rapid growth and this milestone signals yet another exciting chapter in our history."

CNS MD Paul Ingham added: "This is the right time to maximise on the reputations of both organisations."

SMEs have just days left to plan major investments in machinery and equipment after today's Budget cut the Annual Investment Allowance from a current £500,000 to £200,000, warns BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, one of the biggest providers of lease and hire purchase finance in the UK.
 
BNP Paribas says that businesses need to place major orders for investments in capital equipment, such as computer hardware, in the next couple of weeks, as eligibility for the current Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) of £500,000 will depend on equipment being on site and ready for use by 31st December. 

Acting now will allow for lead times of several months on large and complex orders.
 
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions says that many small businesses had hoped that the Government would use today's Budget to keep the AIA at its current higher level indefinitely. 

It points out that the AIA has played a crucial role in encouraging businesses to make very significant capital investments.  Previous reductions in the limit for the Annual Investment Allowance have had a major impact on the amount of relief claimed. 
 
After the AIA was cut by 75% from £100,000 to £25,000 for the 2012/13 tax year, the value of relief claimed fell by 21% from £7.2bn to £5.7bn. 
 
Tristan Watkins, UK country manager for BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, said: "While the Chancellor has clearly listened to the warnings that the original plan of cutting the AIA to £25,000 was not wise, there will still be some disappointment that the new level has not been set higher." 
 
"Businesses will have to act fast if they want to take advantage of the current year's allowances.  Major investments like a complete IT hardware refit will have to be ordered now in order to be ready for use by the deadline at the end of December.
 
"In the longer term, the certainty of having £200,000 set as the permanent level will be welcome.  However, overall levels of business investment may not increase as fast as they could."
 
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions points out that businesses that want to take full advantage of the current tax benefits available for major capital investments and still keep cash flow healthy can choose leasing rather than outright purchase. 

They will be able to claim the Annual Investment Allowance for investments as long as the item is in use on their premises by the end of December, and will not need to have made all the payments by that date.

Vodafone Ireland is to establish a new European sales centre located in Carrickmines in Dublin. 

Vodafone will invest 60m euros in the centre which will result in the creation of 200 permanent jobs.

The European sales centre, Vodafone Red Edge, will provide specialist sales capability powered by technology to support business customers in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. 
 
The announcement was made at an in Vodafone Ireland's headquarters at Mountainview in Leopardstown. 

Ireland was chosen for the location of the centre primarily because of the access to a large pool of the country's skilled and talented graduate population. 

It is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.
  
Recruitment for the new jobs is already well underway and employees will gain access to internationally recognised business analytics and sales training which will provide career development opportunities across Vodafone operating companies.
 
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, said: "The creation of 200 new jobs by Vodafone, with this significant investment in a new European sales centre, is a vote of confidence in Ireland's economy. 

"The Government is working hard to rebuild a sustainable enterprise led economy, which is a prerequisite for full employment. 

"This sales centre also demonstrates how companies like Vodafone are progressing with innovative approaches to how they do business. The jobs-led recovery is founded on economic and political stability and we are determined to maintain this progress into the future."
 
Anne O'Leary, CEO Vodafone Ireland, added: "The selection by Vodafone of Ireland as a location for this European sales centre also demonstrates Ireland's standing in Europe in terms of availability of highly skilled people for these emerging and developing roles. 
 
"In addition, the centre will bring the latest in innovation including advanced sales tools and data analytics to determine customer needs and attitudes. We hope to offer much more in terms of answering all our customers' communications needs while developing the right solutions so that our business customers continue to perform at their best."

Networking and cloud services firm Masergy Communications has launched Virtual f(n), a virtualised network function platform.

Companies can now add routing and firewall capabilities via software, eliminating the need for specialised network appliances and on-site administration.

Masergy's software delivery model is akin to mobile app stores where consumers can download software to their smartphones, turning them into versatile devices to access the Internet, conduct video calls and monitor home security.
 
"Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) lets companies deploy network capabilities via software running on commodity hardware, but we've seen few commercial applications," said Nav Chander, Research Manager, Enterprise Telecom, at IDC market research firm. 
 
"Masergy is one of the first communications service providers, to our knowledge, that has made this available to enterprises in the US."

Virtual f(n) is part of Masergy's Managed Network f(n) family of fully managed network services. Virtual f(n) joins Premise f(n) and Cloud f(n) to enable customers to mix and match deployment models and create agile, distributed network architectures that adapt to their changing business needs.

Virtual f(n) works seamlessly with Premise f(n) and Cloud f(n) managed services.
 
"Virtual f(n) changes the way networks are architected by removing the management, cost and space requirements typically associated with physical network assets," said Tim Naramore, CTO, Masergy.

"Now, through a simple software download, our customers can add full-featured network services without equipment shipments and on-site administration. This is the realisation of our vision of the programmable enterprise."
 
Virtual f(n) ordered on-line through the company's Intelligent Service Control (ISC) portal.

Software-based Brocade routers and Fortinet firewalls are available immediately. Additional services, including session border controllers and WAN accelerators, will be released upon certification. 

Comms supplier Jola has introduced a Lite version of its Broadsoft-based cloud voice platform JolaPhone.

JolaPhone Lite offers a low-priced Broadsoft seat that the customer can build up with optional features including call plans, according to the needs of their business.

Andrew Dickinson, Jola's MD, said: "The all-in premium seat approach makes it easy for customers to budget, however we have found that it doesn't suit certain types of customers.

"JolaPhone Lite is a component-based approach offering a stripped down seat with calls, auto attendants, queues, call recording, soft clients and application integration as competitively-priced options.

"Very light users, very heavy users and customers with basic needs may find this approach more attractive. The basic seat price still includes voicemail, a SIP trunk and Disaster Recovery through JolaPhone Anywhere."

Jola offers all its products with either dealer or reseller options and many Jola Partners are resellers for some products and dealers for others.

Since Jola's automated connectivity online pricing tool was launched in March 2015, nearly 200 channel Partners have registered to use it and it has generated prices for over 600 separate postcodes.