Comms Dealer

Panasonic is to introduce a new ‘smart hybrid' SMB system at launch events in September and October.

The KX-NS700 is the successor to the KX-NCP and KX-TDE100 and comes built-in with the functions of the KX-NS1000.

Roadshows take place on September 24th at Panasonic Solutions Centre in Bracknell, followed by October 2nd at a Birmingham hotel and October 14th in Dublin.

According to Nimans' Head of Category Sales Paul Burn the system is certain to get the thumbs up from the distributor's resellers.

"The KX-NS700 is a Smart Hybrid PBX suitable for small to medium sized offices," he said.

"It provides various solutions with its built-in functions. The KX-NS700 has sufficient capacity for both legacy and IP ports, and an activation key or expansion cabinet can be used to easily expand the system according to customer needs.

"The KX-NS700 is also designed to be used in call centre environments. Its built-in applications support the basic needs of supervisors, such as Queue Announcement, Live Status Monitor, Activity Report, Automatic Conversation Recording, and NAS (Network Attached Storage)."

Various activation keys are preinstalled or come with a 60-day free trial, added Burn.

"Up to two extensions can be assigned the same extension number. For example, calls to an extension in the office can be received simultaneously on a softphone on a smartphone. Calls can also be switched between paired phones with a simple operation.

"The installer can easily program everything related to functions such as PBX and VM by web based console, because the KX-NS700 comes with a built-in web server. Programming can also be performed from remote sites. Users can also use a web based console to configure terminals and the VM mailbox.

"The KX-NS700 has a built-in messaging system that provides voice mail to subscribers. The Unified Messaging system can also provide voice guidance to outside callers, either directing them to their desired destination or to the mailbox of a subscriber, where they can leave a voice message. All in all this is a very powerful package which will prove very popular with our Panasonic customer base."

Channel industry veteran Simon Howitt has launched a new UC venture, Lapdog for Business, alongside former Outscourcery colleague Adam Cathcart.

The business aims to provide resellers addressing SMEs with a range of technologies to get the best of UC services on a pound per unit, per month basis.
?The duo believe that while the proposition of full UC using cloud services packaged with an opex pricing model is a perfect fit for SMEs, very few are making the transition.

"We're offering resellers a sell for us or sell with us model, either as a white label package or under the Lapdog brand," said Howitt.

"This allows traditional resellers to sell the whole bundle and lean on Lapdog for the expertise and experience in the aspects they currently don't have.

"As the landscape continues to evolve, this will ensure resellers protect their base of customers from competitors and at the same time prove to be more valuable to them."

Lapdog is also aiming to work with affinity partners who already have relationships and trust with SMEs and can introduce new services which in turn will bring additional revenues from their relationship.

Cathcart commented: "These relationships are valuable, but introduction partners need the help and support we can provide as they will definitely be outside their comfort zone.

"They believe UC is too disruptive and too complex to piece together and therefore don't recommend some of the solutions."

Howitt, who was Sales Director at Outsourcery and before that Yes Telecom, says Lapdog will help channel partners maximise on the 'perfect storm', namely the growth in ownership of tablets and smartphones, the acceleration of 4G penetration and the rise in popularity of business grade software such as Microsoft Office 365 and Lync enterprise voice.

"All of these factors allow remote and mobile working to become a reality," added Howitt. "By aggregating the products and services Lapdog creates an 'office in a box' solution for end users.

"By having everything on a subscription model, including leasing packages for devices, Lapdog creates a way for SMEs to access all of this without the need for capital expenditure."

With analysts and vendors predicting that the Software Defined Data Centre (SDDC) is the next big step for the IT industry , Adapt has announced results from a survey that illustrates the UK cloud industry is still divided in its opinion of the software defined concept, its potential and benefits.

The results of the survey, which took place at Cloud Computing World Forum on 24th and 25th June 2014, show that although three out five respondents (61%) claim to be familiar with the concept of the SDDC, when it comes to explaining the benefits most are unclear. 13 per cent felt it was about performance, 20 per cent felt it provided centralised management and 17 per cent admitted they don't understand the benefits.

The statistics go on to show that two in five (43%) don't think a true SDDC is achievable in the next 12 months as a production ready environment, whilst a quarter believe it's already achievable.

The results also revealed a myriad of answers when respondents were asked to explain in more detail what SDDC might mean to their business. From flexibility and security through to efficiency and lower costs, it's clear a true explanation of the benefits has not yet been defined or understood by UK organisations.

So what is the SDDC? Put simply, it's a way of making the most economic use of data centre resources like storage, network and compute - controlling infrastructure consumption, process and operation down to component level without having to touch a single piece of hardware.

In the SDDC, business rules manage the automated deployment and redeployment of workflows and workloads across tiered platforms to deliver continuously optimised application performance. This means that an SDDC can (for example) rapidly respond to demand changes and bottlenecks without human intervention, 'promote' or demote workloads into different performance tiers based on their business criticality at a point in time (such as month end billing, new customer-facing initiatives, archive data) and even move these on and off premise, in and out of the cloud.

Kevin Linsell, Head of Service Development, Adapt, said: "The data centre industry is rapidly evolving. Building large scale data centres with high-volumes of hardware is very inefficient and complex for cloud service providers and enterprises. Through the use of software as opposed to hardware, a SDDC can offer businesses a fast, incredibly flexible way to not only virtualise their IT, but increase levels of flexibility, agility and control from the application layer down, removing barriers and enabling business transformation.

"As with all big evolutionary steps it can take a while to arrive at market acceptance. Our latest survey is evidence of the confusion in the industry - education is key to ensuring businesses reap the rewards that SDDC promises."

ShoreTel has unwrapped Mobility version 8 which integrates with the ShoreTel Communicator desktop call control suit, introducing a virtualised ShoreTel Mobility Router meaning that IT departments can mobile-enable the company workforce to encourage collaboration and productivity.

ShoreTel Mobility 8 eases video communication between iOS and Android smartphones and tablets using the ShoreTel Mobility Client, with single touch video calling from the keypad.

With ShoreTel Mobility 8, users can participate in multi-party video sessions from mobile devices to room-based video communication systems. ShoreTel Mobility 8 also supports video communication from the user's Windows desktop using ShoreTel Communicator.

"We're making mobile collaboration simple and ubiquitous," said Pej Roshan, vice president of product management at ShoreTel.

"End users want consistency of capabilities regardless of which device they use. Now teams can stay connected and collaborate using the ShoreTel Mobility Client as well as the ShoreTel Communicator desktop client, on any device, and from anywhere."

Rainbow Global Network Services has acquired the customer base of mobile company 3G Ltd for an undisclosed sum. 3G has been providing mobile hardware and mobile solutions to the business community since 1989. The company, based in Sussex, offers a range of mobile products including handsets and tablets, and provides voice and data packages across all the major network carriers.

Rainbow MD Dave Corgat commented: "The acquisition of the 3G Ltd customer base is part of our strategy to build the mobile side of our business, both organically and through acquisition.

"It is something we have been pushing for the past 18 months, partly via the integration of mobile with our other services, and partly by expanding our data service portfolio into the mobile market."

David King, MD of 3G, added: "We have been trading in this industry for over 25 years and as you can imagine have seen tremendous changes both in product and service. We have built a sound business and consider many of our customers to be friends.

"However, Rainbow offers such a wide choice of services which more and more need to be linked up to mobile and the whole mobility piece, and with its skill sets and the flexibility of its billing platform we believe our customers will be better served."

Nimans is reporting a 70% hike in Microsoft Lync end point sales as growth in Unified Comms technology continues to accelerate.

"The continued growth of MS Lync has triggered a huge rise in associated end points," said Nimans' Head of Category Sales, Paul Burn. "So far this year we've seen sales rocket by 70% as we help more and more customers obtain manufacturer accreditation through comprehensive day-to-day support.

"UC is being adopted by UK businesses at a significant rate which in turn accelerates demand for high quality optimised end points. Helping customers choose the most appropriate devices is one of the most crucial components of any deployment. That's why we launched an informative guide that combines specialist advice with a product overview, focusing on all the key areas."

The company says that even if resellers are not selling Lync software, there's still a great opportunity to supply end points such as headsets, telephony and audio and video conferencing.

Jabra is providing fully integrated call-control with the new Cisco Jabber 10.5 release for Windows.

The 'built-in' Jabra driver will allow for seamless installation without external drivers to complicate a mass-deployment, said the firm.

As a Preferred Solution Developer, Jabra works with Cisco to deliver Unified Communications.

Nigel Dunn, Managing Director, Jabra Business Solutions UK & Ireland, said: "With full compatibility to Cisco 10.5 Jabra shows that we remain dedicated to enhancing the user experience by continually developing audio devices that allow customers to appreciate full Cisco collaboration and increased productivity."

New Jabra EHS Cable for Cisco IP Phones
The new Jabra LINK 14201-41 EHS cable for use with Cisco Unified IP deskphones 8941 & 8945, enables connection and provides handsfree remote call control with Jabra PRO 920 & 925, Jabra PRO 9400 and Jabra MOTION Office wireless headsets, all from up to 150 metres away from the desk.

The Jabra LINK 14201-41 also has the added advantage of being software upgradable via Jabra PC Suite firmware updates to ensure it always offers the latest functionality at no extra cost.

As Cisco 8941 & 8945 deskphones are widely deployed, with an estimated 900,000 in use in the market today, the Jabra LINK 14201-41 EHS cable is an accessory for anyone using a Jabra wireless headset.

This connection cable is now available to order from all authorised Jabra partners.

Mitel's financial statement for Q2 ended June 30th showed the addition of 53,000 recurring cloud seats added in the quarter, up 98% year-over-year.

Strong cash generation enabled another voluntary prepayment of $25 million against credit facility.

"Mitel emerged from the second quarter with record reported quarterly revenue and global market momentum that enabled us to beat consensus and deliver consistently strong financial results through the first half of the year," said Richard McBee, Chief Executive Officer.

In the second quarter Mitel continued to see strong cloud growth, installing 128,000 new cloud seats during the quarter including the impressive 53,000 recurring cloud seats, taking Mitel's total installed cloud base to 754,000, up 75% year-over-year.

Total revenue increased 97% to $288.7 million from second quarter 2013, primarily as a result of the Aastra acquisition.

Gross margins were 52.6%, down from 55.0% in the prior year, reflecting the acquisition of Aastra, which was a lower gross margin business.

Net income was $0.8 million compared to net income of $2.7 million in the prior year, driven principally by the integration costs related to the acquisition of Aastra.

Adjusted EBITDA was $38.8 million compared to $21.4 million in the year ago period, due to a combination of EBITDA growth from the legacy Mitel business and EBITDA resulting from the acquisition of Aastra.

Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2014 was $22.2 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to $9.9 million, or $0.18 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2013. The number of non-GAAP weighted-average common shares outstanding was 103.7 million and 56.3 million, respectively.

Operating cash flow for the quarter ended June 2014 was $25.8 million compared to $25.3 million in the quarter ended June 2013.

Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2014 were $134.2 million.

Dutch telecommunication company KPN has bought a hosting specialist Argeweb which specialises in domain registration, web hosting, hosted exchange and online-storage services for the SME sector.

The acquisition is in line with KPN's strategy to grow towards cloud hosting, it says. Through this move, KPN will also collaborate with Argeweb's sister company Amsio which ensures KPN the access to the Microsoft Azure Pack.

In the Netherlands Argeweb provides hosted exchange and Argeweb cloud virtualisation platforms for the small and medium business market. It has over 50,000 customers and offers nearly 200,000 domain names while KPN serves 150,000 customers in the business segment with 250,000 cloud services and hopes to grow its share in the cloud market.

After the acquisition, Argeweb will become a part of the KPN Cloud team and will be led by Koen van Deudekom.

"Argeweb is one of the largest and most successful hosting companies in the Netherlands. Through this acquisition we will increase our market position and scale in this fast growing market," says John van Vianen, CEO KPN Business Market.

Although it beat Q4 estimates, Cisco shares fell 2% after it said that carrier sales were down 11%. It was also hit by weak demand in emerging markets, particularly Russia, down 30%. Cisco had planned a $1bn investment here, but confidence is falling.

EMEA grew 2% as it saw 'continued relative stabilisation across Europe', noted CEO John Chambers. In EMEA, enterprise business grew 8% and commercial grew 7%. Leading the way, the UK grew 6% and within the UK commercial was up 18% and enterprise was up 19%. Germany in this most recent quarter grew 16% and again within Germany it was similar: commercial was up 13% and enterprise was up 17%.

Chambers said: "In the UK and Germany we are seeing similar success in these marketplaces as we begin to move to selling architectures, then solutions, then business outcomes. This is the transformation we're working onto drive more broadly. Just to give you a sense of an emerging country's impact on EMEA as an example and its growth excluding Russia which declined 30%, EMEA would have grown 4% instead of 2%."

Enterprise business was up over 9%, with a similar strength in commercial up over 8%, while the public sector on a global basis was flat.

Challenges continue in the service provider market which declined 11%.

Within the service provider market the largest impact came from continued decline in video with orders down 13% and the ongoing decline in emerging markets where service providers are more of the business.

"Our service provider customers are dealing with transitions in their own business and have been aggressively consolidating with the transaction volumes of these consolidations over the last 12 months about as much as we have seen in the past four years combined."