Comms Dealer

Aspire Technology Solutions has increased turnover by almost 60% in the last 12 months to achieve record results for a seventh consecutive year.

Turnover climbed by 58% in 2013 from £3.8m to over £6m, and the firm is bullishly predicting growth of at least 30% for 2014.

Managing Director Nigel Begg said: "I am delighted that the company is continuing to grow at such a significant rate. Just as importantly, our client retention rate remains at over 98% and we have also attracted many new clients both in the UK and Europe.

"We remain intensely focused on outstanding technical delivery, service and support as well as helping our clients to make significant cost savings.

"In the last year we have helped clients save up to 30% on their IT budgets. Our innovative approach has also resulted in an increased demand for Converged Solutions.

"We have also seen an increased demand for fully managed services and now effectively provide an outsourced IT department for many businesses across the UK, from start-ups up to multi-nationals all applying the same best of breed technology to their businesses.

Aspire, which was only established in 2006, saw employee numbers rise by more than 25% during the period and expects technical and service recruitment to increase by a further 15% in the next 12 months to support continued planned growth.

Sales Director Michael Errington added: "We are a people business and much of our success can be attributed to the talented team at Aspire. In the last 12 months we have continued to attract the most experienced technologists from the region and beyond to work at Aspire. For us, it's not just about the technical products and services we supply, but more about the overall solution we deliver and the way in which we deliver it."

The company whose head office has been located in a landmark listed building on Shields Road since November 2011 also has offices in London.

Pictured: Aspire Technology Solutions Directors outside Heworth Hall head office (L-R Michael Errington, Chris Fraser and Nigel Begg).

The EU's obsession with cutting roaming charges is not going to help Europe's comms industry, says a note from researcher Strand Consult. It thinks the industry has not done enough to promote itself to politicians looking for a popular move to justify themselves.

In the event of a common European charge for mobiles, it says, the revenue loss from the average roaming customer will likely be marginal. "The bigger impact comes from the policy's unintended consequences, that of the creation of a new market for "mobile arbitrage", the sale and speculation of SIM cards and mobile services from low cost EU countries to high ones. It's no secret that the EU is hardly a physical single market, let alone a digital one."

Just looking at price differentials between cars gives an insight to the challenge of creating a single market, it says Car producing countries such as Germany, Sweden, Spain, and France encourage their sale with little tax on cars while Denmark marks up the price by 180%. The EU demanding a single price for cars would be welcomed by consumers but met with outrage by governments. Yet the cost of a car is a larger expense both in upfront and maintenance costs than telecommunications is for consumers.

The current EU proposal will probably not be adopted before EU elections in late May. The new commissioner that replaces Neelie Kroes (above) will likely not support the proposal either, or at least not in the current form. While Europe's operators might not necessarily be impacted if the proposed rules are not enacted, there is no indication that a new governmental regime will create an environment that encourages investment. Europe's operators will hold back on their investments in the uncertain political climate, it warns.

"If EU leaders cared so much about consumers, why don't they address the expenditures that drive the greater part of consumer income, such as housing, fuel, transportation, food, and clothing? Consumers even spend more on discretionary vacations than they do on telecommunications. EU prices, even with roaming fees, fall well below the 5% of gross domestic income per income threshold suggested by the ITU. The only explanation is that the telecom industry has not done a good enough job to explain to politicians and the public they tremendous value of telecommunications," it concludes.

SAP has appointed Rodolpho Cardenuto as the head of a new Global Partner Operations (GPO) who will drive Board-sponsored initiatives through SAP partners.

He will also develop sales through new and existing channels and build new routes to market through partner ecosystem. He will report to Co-CEO Bill McDermott.

Mark Ferrer, current head of SAP Ecosystem and Channels, will continue his role as chief operating officer of Customer Operations reporting to Robert Enslin, president of Global Customer Operations and member of the Executive Board of SAP AG.

Cardenuto's previously held a role of Presiednt of SAP Latin America and Caribbean. He has over 25 years of experience in IT industry and his prior experience includes work at Hewlett-Packard and other roles across the SMEs sector in Latin America.

"The formation of our new Global Partner Operations organisation is key to driving scale and adoption of the SAP Cloud powered by SAP HANA. Rodolpho will engage with a vibrant and open ecosystem of more than 11,500 companies worldwide to unlock the potential of every customer to become a best-run business. Rodolpho's appointment shows that our bedrock commitment to the spirit of partnership with the SAP ecosystem has never been stronger," says Bill McDermott, co-CEO and member of the Executive Board, SAP AG.

With Cardenuto's move to his new role, SAP also announced that Jennifer Morgan has been named president of SAP North America and Diego Dzodan has been named president of SAP Latin America & Caribbean. Both will report to Enslin, it says.

Nimans has strengthened its working relationship with Doro by becoming the official sole distributor of the AUB 200 and 300i business models.

Nimans' Purchasing Director, Andy Winfield, says the business phones are firm industry favourites, renowned for their reliability and robust no nonsense performance.

"This new agreement is another example of how there's plenty of life left in the traditional handset market despite a perception in some quarters that it's dramatically slowing down," he said.

"The new deal represents a significant step forward in a long standing and productive partnership between Nimans and Doro and our continued confidence in this area of the market."

A series of webinars hosted by Exertis Micro-P, Samsung and guest management systems specialist TigerTMS will educate resellers on how Samsung's OfficeServ Hospitality helps the hospitality industry run more efficiently, offering resellers an opportunity to check-in to this lucrative sector.

The initial webinars are scheduled for Friday 16th May and Monday 19th May and will detail how OfficeServ Hospitality can automatically handle end user reservations and telephone call management, providing efficiencies for the front-of-house teams.

There are facilities to allow guests to express check in if required and the application supports single or multiple languages to provide international travellers to use the product simply and efficiently.

In addition, telephone rates and tariffs can be configured easily to meet revenue income requirements and the product suite can encompass Point of Sale (POS) systems, internet metering systems, non-room bookings (e.g. Spa treatments) as well as reporting on guest history, room usage and a whole suite of reports required by the hospitality industry.

John Bird, Head of Systems and Support Services at Exertis Micro-P, said: "Hospitality products are perceived to be a 'black art' and these webinars are designed to update the channel as to the capabilities of the product and allow resellers to quote, with confidence, solutions for the Hospitality vertical market."

To register for a webinar please email comms.samsung@exertismicro-p.co.uk

Basingstoke-based Southern Communications has scooped the NEC Best EMEA Reseller Award for the second consecutive year at the 2014 NEC EMEA Partner conference held in Cape Town (23-26 April).

The conference was attended by NEC's major distributors and key business partners from 135 partner organisations across the region and top performing business partners were awarded in recognition of mutual commitment and business success.

Directors Andrew Robinson and Simon Campbell were at the conference to receive the award for Southern Communications, a NEC Premier Partner.

"Winning this award for the second consecutive year is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the continued focus, commitment and capability of Southern Communications," said Paul Bradford, CEO of Southern Communications.

"We have shown an exceptional growth over the past two years and recently celebrated the appointment of Mathew Kirk, previously a Director at TalkTalk, to the Board.

"It is a great honour and privilege to receive this award for the second consecutive year. This is fantastic recognition for all our staff who have worked conscientiously to deliver outstanding service to all of our customers. It is a great achievement for a company our size to beat organisations across 40 countries and scoop this prize."

Data blending and advanced analytics firm Alteryx has secured a European foothold having established a UK and key partners.

With the analytics power shift, the company expects a growing demand for its analytics software products.

"This is an exciting time in the analytics space and companies need to move quickly to realise the full benefits of this massive analytics power shift. 

"The shifting market dynamics and new requirements have created a spike in European demand, so with our analytics power shift event, Alteryx is officially launching our UK and European presence to address these needs," said Stuart Wilson, regional vice president, Alteryx UK.

Alteryx already has a strong presence in the UK via its key partners, with over 100 current customers that include clients across retail and grocery, property, banking, consumer goods, energy, media and marketing services, it says.

Telenor Group has reported Q1 revenues of NOK 26.5bn (€3.2bn), representing an organic revenue growth of 1.5%. EBITDA before other items was NOK 9.3bn (€1.12bn), the EBITDA margin was 35% and operating cash flow was NOK 5.6 bn (€670m).

"I am pleased to present a solid start to the year. We added 6 million new mobile subscribers in the first quarter of 2014, the company's best customer surge in two years. This growth was mainly driven by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The underlying mobile service revenue growth improved to 5% in the quarter,'' said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

"In Norway, our growth and efficiency initiatives continue to be a top priority. We see rising demand for larger data packages, which resulted in improved mobile revenue growth of more than 3 percent in the quarter. Competitive pressure and declining revenues from traditional fixed telephony require us to focus on streamlining our operations and investments. At the same time, Telenor is implementing a major technology shift with an annual investment of more than NOK 4 billion," said Baksaas.

"The migration of customers to our new 3G network in Thailand is on track, with some 60% transferred. The move from a concession to a licence regime is already contributing to significant regulatory cost savings. The slow-down in revenue growth is explained by reduced interconnect rates, lower voice prices and the recent weakness in the Thai economy," said Baksaas.

"Mobile data represents the next growth curve for Telenor. We are persistently working to increase the number of active internet subscribers across all our markets. Out of our total customer base of 172 million subscribers, some 20% are currently active internet users, representing a large growth potential. While Telenor recently secured new spectrum in India and Pakistan, our business in Bangladesh, significantly improved its 3G coverage during the first three months of the year. Our Indian operation reported an organic revenue growth of 44 percent in the quarter, gaining significant market share. We also launched a new internet strategy in India, focusing on affordable and service-based internet offers," said Baksaas.

"In conclusion, we had an encouraging start to the year. Our efficiency agenda is progressing, while we continue to work on bringing affordable internet to all and connecting the unconnected. However, we need to see continued improvement in all our markets, in particular a pick-up in revenues in Thailand and improved returns on the significant investments in Norway," said Baksaas.

A GP surgery in Dumfries is the third in Scotland to install an automated telephone appointment booking system developed by Voice Connect to help patient communication and reduce missed appointments which cost the health service millions of pounds each year.

The service, known as Patient Partner, enables patients to call the practice at any time, night or day, even when the surgery is closed, to check, book or cancel their appointments.

The system has been designed to be simple to use. Patients call the surgery's usual number and enter data such as their date of birth and/or telephone number for security purposes. The system is able to detect spaces in the doctors' and clinic diaries and the patient can then choose the appointment time which suits them best by pressing a button on their touch tone telephone. They can also use the system to cancel or re-arrange appointments 24/7.

"Patients may continue to book appointments via a receptionist," said Michele Postans, Practice Manager at Greyfriars. "However, by providing a round the clock service, we can offer greater flexibility for all our patients, including those who work unsociable hours. We also believe that it will free up valuable time for our receptionists to attend to patient care."

A study by psychologists at the University of Glasgow estimated that missed appointments (DNAs) at UK GP practices and hospitals cost the health service around £600 million a year.

They concluded that the most common day for missed appointments was Monday while other surveys have found that younger patients were most likely to fail to attend.

One of the ways that Patient Partner helps reduce DNAs is by sending automated text message appointment reminders.

Voice Connect MD Stefan Olsberg believes that the system is an important step towards improving access, and ultimately, patient care.

He said: "Getting through to their surgery is a priority for patients across the UK, and while online booking has helped to ease call congestion, many people still prefer to use an automated telephone system, which doesn't require passwords or usernames - all patients need is their date of birth."

Peach Telecom has been chosen by the Chichester Chamber of Commerce and Industry to be the primary telecommunications provider of all Chamber members.

As of 2nd June 2014, Peach will be the official partner of the Chamber, working with the business organisation to provide telecommunications equipment and services for all members.

Using the buying power of the membership network, Peach will be able to provide Chamber members with telephone systems, landline and call packages, mobile solutions, as well as broadband and fibre connectivity.

Peach CEO Darren Scott-Healey said: "We will be helping local businesses to grow by improving the efficiency of their telecommunications equipment.

"Peach will essentially regard all Chamber members as one company, allowing even the smallest of businesses to benefit from lower rates which would normally only be available to larger companies with high numbers of telecom users."

The service will be provided under the name Chamber Communications. Chamber Business Development Manager, Julie Harrison, commented: "We are pleased to partner with Peach because we will be able to offer our members yet another benefit.

"They will have their telecommunications needs sorted which will give them time to concentrate on what they do best - running their own business."