Comms Dealer

Westcon Group has been awarded the EMEA Top Distributor of the Year award by Extreme Networks for outstanding revenue growth and recruitment of new partners across EMEA.

The award was presented at the Extreme Partners' Conference in the stunning five star, Corinthia Hotel in Lisbon.

"We are honoured to award Westcon with the 'EMEA Top Distributor for FY'14' award," said Roland Richter, Extreme Networks EMEA VP Sales.

"Throughout the year, Westcon continuously demonstrated a strong dedication to partnership, commitment to growth, and a deep understanding of our business across multiple geographies."

David Grant, Senior Vice President, Westcon Convergence, added: "This award demonstrates our commitment and focus to Extreme - how we work together strategically and deliver support through value added programmes to simplify business for our partners and deliver success."

Nimans has teamed up with testing cable termination and installation company IDEAL Networks and the distributor is to host an introductory open day on November 19th at its Manchester HQ.

Visitors will be able to speak directly to IDEAL and Nimans infrastructure specialists about the importance of testing cable termination and installation - and understanding the different methods available.

They will be able to demo the latest test equipment, including the LanTEK II LAN cable certifiers, SignalTEK CT Data Cable transmission testers and VDV II Data Voice and Video verifiers......testing parameters for Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A installations.

A prize draw, free gifts with selected purchases and special offers and discounts will all be available. In addition resellers can also learn about a range of finance options available from Nimans' leasing team.

Wakefield-based telecoms company NGC Networks has been appointed the UK's first partner for the distribution of a new mobile app called BLAP.

The BLAP mobile conference call App has recently been launched by developers VENNCOMM with NGC Networks acting as its Yorkshire distributor.

VENNCOMM also has a strategic global partnership with Salesforce.com

The new mobile App enables users to create instant or scheduled conference calls to any number of contacts in their smartphone. Call participants can be anywhere in the world and at the designated time their phones will all ring for the call.

No PIN is required, so calling a group is simple with no time wasted waiting for people to join the call. Call quality isn't compromised either as the App creates a genuinely mobile conference call - it doesn't use VOIP.

BLAP is free to download and users connect to calls using their contract bundled minutes on a local geographic phone number ensuring call costs are kept to a minimum - even for international group calls.

NGC Networks director Nikki Guest said: "BLAP is so easy to use and takes the headache out of the usual method of conference calling where everyone has to dial in, enter a pin number and then wait for all the participants to join in.

"The new App is particularly beneficial to people who take part in telephone conference calls on a regular basis."

The telecommunications sector must engage better with customers according to a new report from the Institute of Customer Service.

The study found that more customers experience a problem with their telecoms provider than any other, while customer satisfaction in the telecoms sector continues to decline at a faster rate than the UK average.

The UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) reveals the average score for the Telecoms sector now stands at 72.2, down 1.1 points since January 2014 compared to the all-sector average fall of 0.8 over the same period. The sector is now 4.1 points lower than the all-sector average of 76.3.

More people experience a problem with their telecoms provider (23 per cent) than with any of the 12 other sectors surveyed in the UKCSI. 80% of customers who experience a problem report it to organisations, considerably higher than the UK average across all sectors (72.7%).

There is a significant range of scores of customer satisfaction scores in this sector. The top rated telecommunications organisation, Tesco Mobile, received a score of 85.8 (out of 100), an increase of more than three points since July 2013, and was placed fourth in the overall index of all UK companies.

Giff Gaff was the only other Telecomms organisation which scored higher than the UK all sector average for customer satisfaction. Six organisations registered a drop in satisfaction of more than one point.

It is clear from the results of UKCSI that customers want a balance of cost and good service with 65 per cent of respondents favouring this option. More customers would be happy paying more for the highest levels of service - 20 per cent favoured this option while only 15 per cent of respondents were prepared to compromise service to pay less.

Unsurprisingly, the most common method for reporting a problem is the telephone with 78 per cent of customers using this channel. There is also an increasing number of customers using social media to contact organisations about a problem; since January 2014 this has increased from 3.5 per cent to 5.1 per cent of customers. 45% of customers who made a complaint said they had to escalate it and 9% of those did so using social media.

Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service commented: "The results of the latest UKCSI demonstrate the close link between customer service and business performance; organisations with higher customer satisfaction also benefit from stronger ratings for trust, reputation, recommendation and likelihood to remain a customer.

"Organisations that deliver poor levels of customer service put these at risk, underlining the importance of customer service as a driver of business performance."

Former Alcatel-Lucent distribution manager Howard Freeman is to run Espion's London Value Added Distribution (VAD) division with a remit to replicate the firm's Scottish and northern England success in the south east.

With more than 20 years sales experience in the technology channel Freeman has worked at senior business development level at Alcatel-Lucent and IBM.

Howard said: "We see enormous opportunities in the emerging area of fabric-based infrastructure (FBI), which is the vertical integration of hardware and software infrastructure with automation on top.

"I am confident that our portfolio will enable us to take on this segment with gusto."

Steve Rathborne has been appointed Field Sales Director for UK SME, BT Business.

His strategy is to take a multi-channel approach that leverages both the internal channels as well as Local Business and Business Partner Sales.

"I will be creating and delivering a strategy to maximise the market opportunity in the SME Business of which Partners and Resellers are key," he said.

Rathborne's responsibility also covers the Field Sales teams for BT's Redcare and Payphones businesses which sell specialised services to a range of customers across Government and business sectors, as well as the ICT services team.

Unify claims to have combined 'art and science' to revolutionise collaboration with the launch of Circuit, previously known as Project Ansible.

First debuted in June 2013 and designed in collaboration with frog, Circuit enables teams to engage in 'rich and meaningful conversations' across virtually any communications channel or device, according to Unify.

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

The solution leverages WebRTC standards, providing video and voice from a browser, PC, tablet or phone, while using bandwidth resources efficiently.

Dean Douglas (pictured), CEO at Unify, said: "We thought about people first as we set out to study the problems of work today. How do we help people feel good about their work experience? When do they feel most connected, valued and productive?

"We created an experience that mimics the brain, and naturally transforms the collaborative process, and teamwork. Simply put, we've enabled a new way to work that is about putting people first.

"With our focus on making work more enjoyable we know it leads to more productivity, which makes people happier and then enables them to create greater value for our customer - the enterprise."

Stowe Boyd, Research Lead at GigaOm, noted: "Circuit's user experience is based on an understanding of how today's teams want to connect, communicate and work together on a daily basis."

By Elvire Gosnold, Director, Blabbermouth Marketing: An increasing number of B2B clients are beginning to embrace online marketing and are coming around to the idea that social media and video etc are not solely for end user B2C target audiences.

There are several reasons for this. The obvious one being that society as a whole is more confident in engaging with the web and has used social media in personal lives for some time now. Websites are becoming easier for staff to update themselves and so web management is now a less daunting task for office staff.

More interestingly the overall priorities of a business are shifting. Companies in the channel are feeling more confident in their ability to increase their market share but understand that this may now have to be achieved through different means.

While customer relationships are still high on the agenda for business development, and while brand strengthening should always remain a priority, we are beginning to see other creative ideas being embraced. Thought leadership is a more innovative path to improving brand value and we have witnessed more and more telecoms companies approaching us for support.

It is not just a case of having your brand recognised, it is about your brand being meaningful. Thought leadership raises brand awareness in an extremely positive manner and adopting online marketing to achieve this means that positioning yourself as a knowledge base can be realised on a smaller budget.

With the fast pace of technology, B2B clients are looking increasingly to their providers to support them and guide them through the requirements of their business now and in the future.

If a company is successfully positioned as a thought leader in its field of expertise, confidence in its products and services will be excellent and therefore its market share will increase in a sustainable manner.

By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity  and Partner Sales at O2 Telefónica UK: There has been much talk this year about connected homes. Since new devices and appliances like the smart-fridge were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in the US in January, there have been a flurry of acquisitions by various big market players - Apple acquiring Nest, Samsung acquiring SmartThings to name just two.

Clearly, the market makers and manufacturers see huge potential, but are consumers on board yet? There is a lot of work to do to bring this to market in a compelling and joined up way.

In a recent survey by Gekko 27 per cent of those asked were not interested in any connected device, with the biggest reasons stated as cost (45 per cent) and because they are not considered important to life (44 per cent).

But, as market makers, we shouldn't view this insight as negative, but as an indication of the immaturity of the market and the size of the job we need to do to educate, inform and bring to life the benefits on offer to make it both relevant and attractive to people.

It is the responsibility of those of us involved in connectivity, devices and platforms to bring to market products and solutions that are easy to use and provide clear human benefit.

Apps and platforms, devices and networks need to integrate seamlessly with little or no user intervention. Connectivity must be constant and bandwidth big enough to handle Big Data. We must keep our customer at the heart of our innovations to bring to market solutions that work and add value to their lives.

O2 is currently working with over 250 global partners to support and help grow the connected homes market worldwide. To find out more please contact anton.lesaux@telefonica.com 

Comms entrepreneur Mike Harris has successfully built a number of multi-million pound companies including Total Network Solutions, now he's about to do it again with the launch of The Network Selector.

Harris is a serial comms channel entrepreneur who has built a number of multi-million pound companies including Total Network Solutions which was acquired by British Telecom in 2005. He is joint founder of SiFi Networks, a provider of fibre-to-the-home networks, and Chairman of Oswestry-based VoiceComms Warehouse, a distributor of Internet security and network technology. Harris is also Chairman of Welsh Premier League Champions The New Saints FC and he provided the funding for the team's Park Hall stadium which opened in Oswestry in 2007.

Last month Harris launched The Network Selector, a channel only organisation that addresses a number of reseller needs based on their size, capability and level of investment. This is provided through four channels called Talkativo, VCW Voice, Ocean Telecom and Planet Hippo. "Instead of simply acting as a sales agent for telcos where customers are at risk from policy changes, The Network Selector ensures that resellers are at the heart of the business and retain full contractual rights with customers," said Harris. "As well as offering competitive pricing, we enable resellers to solve the geographical reach issues that occur when tied to single network providers."

His career in comms began after leaving school at 16 when he joined BT in 1979. "I worked in local telephone exchanges before moving into data centres and became one of the country's first specialist voice and data engineers," said Harris. "With a background in exchange construction, telephone route planning, data centre layout, point-to-point links and Ethernet connectivity, I had a unique level of experience. I set up Total Network Solutions in 1988 and have not looked back since."

The Network Selector provides a full suite of pre and post sales technical support and a range of administration services including billing, credit checking and debt collection. "This enables resellers to concentrate on building their businesses while demonstrating they have the infrastructure to service even the largest corporate customer," noted Harris. "I also see the wider telecoms market developing along similar lines to the mobile market with bundles incorporating devices, applications and connectivity for a standard monthly charge."

Harris' objective is to become a significant player in the converged communications space and anyone looking back across his career achievements would not disagree with the likelihood of his ambition become reality. He won the Ernst & Young Technology and Communication Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2001 and Total Network Solutions was named as one of the Financial Times' fastest growing companies on three separate occasions.

His on-pitch achievements are just as impressive. "As Chairman, I helped take Llansantfried FC, based in a village of 900 people, from being a mid-table team to Welsh Premier League champions for a record eight times," he added. "Along the way I saved Oswestry Town FC from bankruptcy in 2003 by merging the two teams. The New Saints FC, also known as Total Network Solutions FC until 2005, have dominated the Welsh Premier League and regularly appeared in the Champions League and Europa League group stages. I am particularly proud of the team representing Wales and helping raise the profile of our national league throughout the UK and Europe."

Harris' commitment to the local community in terms of creating employment in the Oswestry region for young people is also a source of pride. "I am proud of the fact that many of the people that started as trainees in my various businesses have gone on to become highly paid and respected employees, both sales and technical, within my own organisation as well as some of the world's leading technology companies," he added. "Some are also now running their own businesses."

Harris has not only influenced the look of Welsh football and the careers of local people, he has helped to shape the way that voice and data networks have evolved. "My current mission is to ensure that resellers remain in control of their customers rather than being sidelined by network providers as commissioned agents," he stated. "Putting resellers at the heart of the customer relationship will protect their businesses from being undermined by any changes in policies by network providers. But it is not just a one-way street. The Network Selector is also set up to help network providers by being easy to deal with, helping to reduce their support costs to the reseller community."