Comms Dealer

An app that enables users to control incoming calls via a smartphone has been launched by Invosys.

Called Agent Ready, the system enables remote users to log-in and out of hunt groups on their mobile device at the swipe of a button, something that would previously have required a phone call or access to a website.

The administrator has the ability to add and remove the agents they manage wherever they are, controlling when and where calls are delivered without the need to find a computer, said the firm.

"This is ideal for managing teams and monitoring performance while on the go, as well as for saving a considerable amount of time amending call routing to match rotas," said Invosys Sales Director Steve Glaister.

He also pointed out that users can personalise the app for added functionality, with the ability to preset a list of contact numbers which can be activated at the swipe of a button, set up time schedules for when they should be logged on to their relevant hunt group and use a configurable weekly diary to preset their availability.

Both the administrators and the standard agents also have access to a detailed reporting suite which monitors a range of statistics from calls answered to the times of the day that are receiving the highest volume of calls.

"We are excited about the launch of Agent Ready and we use it every day for our own sales and support functions," added Glaister.

The app is now available on iOS and Android devices and must be used in conjunction with a service created on Invosys' Number Manager portal.

Agent Ready is the company's first major product launch since its rebrand in April 2014.

Formerly In Call Solutions, Invosys has sharpened its focus on communications software and product innovation.

Entatech UK has launched its February Frontier promotion which, based on a futuristic space theme, offers resellers a number of deals and on selected days from 17 Entatech vendors including Microsoft, Kaspersky, Cooler Master and Fujitsu.

In addition to special deals, each customer who places an order for any participating vendor will be entered into a daily prize draw to win a YEZZ Billy 4 Windows Phone, YEZZ Andy 4E Android phone or a Zensorium Tinkè health and fitness gadget for the iPhone or Android.

In addition to daily prizes, Entatech is also offering resellers the chance to win £2,000 worth of Love2Shop vouchers, with a top prize of £1,000 and four chances to win £250.

Steven Parker, Entatech Marketing Manager, commented: "Our month-long promotions are always our most successful times of the year, providing brand and product awareness for our participating vendors, while also offering something great to our reseller database, with great deals and prizes up for grabs."

Unify is on target to achieve its transformation goals announced in June last year, according to CEO Dean Douglas.

Key areas includes innovation in software development, enhancements to its channel strategy and progress in its restructuring.

"Since outlining our transformation plans, Unify has taken tremendous steps towards our goal of delivering, with our partners, an innovative software and services oriented business that will measurably improve the productivity of our customers with New Way to Work software products, services and solutions," he said.

"We are already seeing the positive results of our transformation, as Unify achieved or surpassed internal forecasts in both of the last two quarters, and we continue to move forward to deliver software and services that enable our customers to address their business needs."

A key milestone in Unify's transformation was the launch of its next generation communication and collaboration platform, Circuit, in October 2014.

Circuit provides a single-pane-of-glass that brings together voice, video, screen sharing, messaging, and file sharing.

Unify has also launched its Dev.Labs.Athens, a diverse group of 350 Unify developers based in Athens, Greece, and focused exclusively on using their real-world experience and cross-cultural expertise to take collaboration technology to the next level.

A cornerstone of Unify's transformation is a shift to a more channel-focused business model, which drove the introduction of the new Unify Partner Program.

Officially launched on January 1st, the Unify Partner Program rewards partners for expertise and specialisation.

The third strategic initiative, to streamline the organisation, is also progressing on target. The company has come to an agreement with the German union and employee representatives regarding its transformation steps, terms and timeline for its Germany organisation.

This also allows Unify to continue the various transformation plans underway in other countries around the world.

"Some of the steps in our transformation have been difficult," added Douglas. "Continuing market changes mean we must be nimble and ready to respond at all times. We are now in a much stronger position to continue to deliver superior solutions and service to our customers."

Dimension Data is to hire an additional 300 data centre specialists over the next 18 months as part of a plan to quadruple its data centre business from $1bn to $4bn by 2018.

Dimension Data also intends to make data centre-focused acquisitions to build out skills and drive scale in major growth markets.

Steve Joubert, Group Executive of Dimension Data's Data Centre Business Unit, said: "Demand for our next generation data centre skills and services sees Dimension Data growing faster than the market, and we need great people to help us continue this growth."

Joubert points out that Dimension Data continues to make big investments in a number of new consulting, managed and cloud services. "This is why we want to hire the best people available in the market, to enable our clients with the best possible solutions and to drive our data centre business forward," he added.

Dimension Data will be recruiting across Singapore, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, West and East Africa, the UAE, UK, Germany and the US. The Group is also building out central teams to focus on ASEAN and Benelux, as well as France.

TalkTalk has posted record results for mobile, TV and fibre with the period between September to December adding 115,000 more homes to TalkTalk TV, 50,000 more mobile while 88,000 customers signed up for fibre.

The number of overall broadband customers increased by 15,000, while the number of customers choosing to leave TalkTalk fell to its lowest ever reported level, said the telco.

Tristia Harrison, Managing Director of Consumer, said: "Its great to see more of our customers make significant savings on their household bills by bundling more of their services together with TalkTalk.

"The response we've seen to our mobile offering makes us excited about the future of quad play, and our fast growing TV service demonstrates the huge demand from consumers for flexible, value for money packages."

Distributor TD Azlan is to offer Lakeside Software's big data analytics, providing the full SysTrack portfolio.

VARs will be able to offer SysTrack licences as part of their own value proposition, or take advantage of pre-packaged Desktop Assessment and Healthcheck services provided by Azlan and driven by Lakeside's analytics software.

With interest in virtual desktop infrastructure on the up, there is a major opportunity with Lakeside for enterprise VARs, believes Sarah Deller, Business Unit Director for Software at Azlan.

"SysTrack is a set of detailed analysis tools that can be used to visualise end user compute infrastructure in order to drive out costs, monitor and manage user experience, and troubleshoot issues," she said.

"It is also useful in pre-installation assessments of desktop transformation and migration projects; and supports all major industry platforms, including Microsoft, Citrix and VMware.

Trustmarque Solutions has been accepted as a supplier to G-Cloud 6, the UK government's public sector cloud procurement framework, which launches on February 2nd 2015.

Having expanded its capabilities following its merger with Trinity, Trustmarque has been selected to supply cloud solutions via G-Cloud's Digital Marketplace under all four lots of the framework.
 
Mark Garrity, Head of Public Sector for Trustmarque, said: "For over 27 years we've supported the public sector to adopt and use technologies that foster innovation, while ensuring the best value possible."

Through G-Cloud 6 Trustmarque will offer software and services under all four available lots: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Specialist Cloud Services.

This will include virtual desktop integration and data centre and hybrid cloud services. Also available will be CRM, ERP and data management tools such as Listpoint.

Eclipse has strengthened its Communicate offering to resellers with the launch of SIP Trunk for Partners.

The extension of Eclipse's proposition brings more choice to the channel and provides resellers with increased control over how they structure telephony and connectivity deals.

According to Eclipse this new addition to its portfolio will accelerate the success of business partners looking to maximise the potential of the expanding communications market even if they don't have a traditional voice background.

The products are aimed at resellers looking to start their customers on the road to a fully scalable IP-based service. Eclipse will take care of the provisioning and service support while resellers pass on cost savings and continuity benefits compared to traditional PSTN/ISDN lines.

Pete Tomlinson, Director of Sales, Marketing & Product at Eclipse, said: "Expanding the Eclipse experience for our partners is key to our growth strategy. We're now a single service provider offering one point of contact for all our Connect, Cloud and Communicate services."

Henry West, Head of Channel Sales, added: "SIP Trunks is an integral part of what IT system integrators and VARs should be offering to maximise their commercial potential.

"There's a huge opportunity for resellers to increase their margins and take full advantage of this vibrant market."

Bolton-based IT solutions company Imerja has secured its place on the G-Cloud framework for the third time in succession.

Cloud 6 is the latest version of the framework which allows public sector organisations to source and hire approved cloud IT suppliers through the government's Digital Marketplace.

Each company must go through a selection process to ensure that only trusted providers are selected for the framework.

Ian Jackson, MD, said: "G-Cloud and the Digital Marketplace have helped change the way that IT services are procured by the public sector, encouraging direct engagement with SMEs like Imerja.

"Our strong in-house capabilities underpinned by high levels of accreditation and 24x7 operations already enable us to deliver critical services to government, healthcare and blue light services.

"Our focus on achieving accreditation to OFFICIAL and the introduction of HMG Cyber Essentials will ensure Imerja is able to continue to provide robust and accredited services into the public sector."

Masergy Communications' UCaaS Intelligent SIP Trunking services have been certified as compatible with the Microsoft Lync 2013 platform.

As a qualified Lync support partner, Masergy has demonstrated specific expertise in SIP trunking to become independently tested and certified for seamless interoperability with the Microsoft Lync platform.

"Companies who deploy Microsoft Lync make a significant investment and should not settle for anything less than a first rate certified SIP trunking service provider," said Dean Manzoori, VP of Product Management - UCaaS, Masergy.

"We're proud that our SIP services have been independently certified to ensure a superior customer service experience, interoperability, and support for Lync deployments."

According to Infonetics Research's SIP Trunking Services Report, the SIP trunking market is expected to top $8bn by 2018. "There is no denying the world is moving to IP, and SIP has become the de facto solution of choice for businesses. In North America, slightly more than 20% of the installed business trunks use SIP trunking," noted Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research.