Comms Dealer

Union Street Technologies is hosting a customer roadshow on 20th March at Vinopolis, London's wine tasting venue located in Bankside near London Bridge.

The Union Street team plans to provide guests with demonstrations on some of the latest features in the aBILLity billing platform, which recently won the 'Best Software Solution' category of the prestigious Comms National Awards for a third year in a row.

Content for the roadshows will include details on the latest developments of aBILLity including recent upgrades to its end user customer portal WebaBILLity Pro and enhancements to the sales order processing functionality with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

There will also be an introduction to aBILLity's 'Contract Management Module', providing a wide range of functionality for managing tariffs, hardware assets and numerous other elements of a telecoms contract.

Following the demonstrations, clients will be treated to a wine tasting experience and tour of Vinopolis before a networking drink with the Union Street team.

Union Street's Managing Director Tony Cook commented: "The purpose of our Roadshow is to demonstrate how the new functionality that's been added to aBILLity can be used to increase revenues, boost profitability and give our customers a competitive edge in the market.

"At the same time we're also looking forward to the opportunity to network with our customers and discuss ways in which we can help their businesses in a relaxed and friendly environment."

Azzurri Communications has appointed Antony Vigar to the role of Head of Business Development.

Vigar re-joins Azzurri from Vodafone, where he was sector head for the company's media and hi-tech vertical accounts for over two years.

Prior to Vodafone Vigar had spent over seven years at Azzurri, lastly as the head of specialist solutions where he played an instrumental role in securing a number of the company's larger telephony and contact centre accounts, including the AA, Saga and Hastings.

Vigar remit is to support growth in both the company's core enterprise communications customer base and its upcoming ICON cloud and managed services. He will report to Craig Wellman, Sales Director.

Wellman said: "The telephony and UCC marketplace is increasingly moving towards hosted and cloud solutions as the most convenient option for delivering communications services.

"We needed someone who understood the enterprise communications landscape implicitly to help us drive our growth in these key areas. Antony's experience in the service provider environment, combined with his contact centre and IP communications background at Azzurri marked him out as a prime candidate for the role."

Vigar said: "Returning to Azzurri was a very easy decision for me, especially the chance to resume working with my former colleagues."

McAfee is giving MSPs and other channels the chance to sell hardware as a service, and has widened its channel portfolio as it says 2014 is a key time for the momentum building up in the market.

It has clearly identified the hosted and cloud provision of security as a critical part of its future, and now owned by Intel, is preparing for a major European push in what it says is a fragmented industry.

The McAfee MSP programme will now include access to Next Generation Firewall, Enterprise Security Manager, Network Security Platform, and Advanced Threat Defense. Additionally, it is expanding the number of software products available via its MSP programme to include its portfolio of authentication solutions.

"We are making the pricing compelling for those net new opportunities, says EMEA Channel development director Cristiano Voschion. He is recruiting new partners in Europe and managing the transition for those traditional resellers. The move to managed services takes them between six and nine months to ramp-up, he warns. The small percentage of the channel not yet thinking about the move to managed services must mature, he says. He will use rebates to play an active role in the transition.

He says that 2014 is a key time of change, and McAfee is putting a lot of focus on this sector; "We want to be on top of the opportunity". With extensive rebranding under Intel and the loss of the McAfee name expected later this year, he wants to use the power of the giantl behind the business to carve a way through the large number of small competitors. He wants the channels to work on a total McAfee solution rather than trying to make so-called best of breed alternatives work together.

Working with distributors, McAfee appliances will now be available on a pay-as-you-go basis. It is expected to appeal particularly to resellers of Microsoft, VMware and Citrix systems with a promise of easy integration. And, he advises the channel, this managed services push is not a short term move, the company is in it for the long term with an advanced technical programme.

Olive Communications has won over 3,000 net-new Vodafone connections since the start of the year. These include wins with UK care provider MiHomecare, innovative healthcare firm Allergan, and business performance consultancy Examplas.

Major industry talent continues to be attracted to Olive, with Spencer Bradshaw, who previously headed up Vodafone's 'Better Ways of Working' program, joining as Olive's Head of Technology and Workplace Transformation. Hafeez Hameed also joins from O2/Telefonica UK where he was a Managing Partner, to become Strategic Acquisitions Director. Both Bradshaw and Hameed will report into Nick Beardsley, Olive's Director of Converged Solutions.

Olive has also moved headquarters, staying in the High Wycombe area, but now occupying a 7,000 square feet office, double the size of its previous location. Because of its continued growth, Olive is also looking to make significant additions to its account management, sales and customer service teams.

Martin Flick, CEO, Olive Communications, said: "Olive goes from strength to strength. We've had a stellar 2013 and have started 2014 in a similar vein.

"We're continuing to see demand from customers wanting flexible and commercially attractive managed mobility services, but also a real uptick in firms looking to us to help them go on the unified communications journey.

"We've got the right people, processes and products in place to deliver this - and its why we're expecting to grow again significantly this year."

SIP telephony specialist Yealink UK is to launch a dedicated sales and support function for ITSPs having recruited former Counterpath EMEA executive Peter Holland to lead its VoIP provider business.

The new Yealink ITSP Partner Programme will be officially unveiled at London's Connected Business Expo next month (Olympia, March 4th-5th 2014). It will offer enhanced support and preferential pricing packages to ITSPs operating in the UK's hosted voice space, including on-site and remote interoperability resources plus free product and technical training and, provision of own-branded manuals and literature.

Because Yealink handsets have a return rate of just 0.01 per cent, the company is also introducing an advanced product replacement service. This will mean that replacement equipment will be made available to the ITSP free of charge allowing the ITSP to immediately send replacement items.

Holland brings over 30 years telecoms experience to Yealink having joined the industry as an apprentice with BT in the early 80s. He has held UK and European channel, distribution and direct sales roles at Newbridge Networks, Alcatel, Huawei and Counterpath Corporation, where his responsibilities included leading business development in the service and hosted voice provider markets throughout EMEA.

Holland said: "It's an exciting time to be joining Yealink . Having worked hard to develop and support a reseller network across the UK and Ireland the time is now right to offer dedicated resources to ITSP and hosted voice service providers.

"Yealink fully appreciates that this is a sector which requires specific support expertise, dedicated resources and real margin generating opportunities. We know we need to provide a compelling proposition to ensure our kit is embraced within, and adds value to, ITSPs approved product portfolios. That is exactly what the Yealink ITSP Partner Programme has been designed to deliver."

The package offered under ITSP Partner Programme will include-plug and-play pre-programming of devices so that they automatically connect to a Yealink server which will identify MAC addresses and automatically redirect to the relevant ITSP's provisioning server.

NewVoiceMedia has been shortlisted in the final of the 2014 UK Cloud Awards in the 'Most Innovative Enterprise Cloud Solution' category, which recognises technology that enables scale change in the nation's largest businesses.

Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia, said: "We are delighted to be announced as a finalist. We pride ourselves on the hard work, dedication and innovation involved in developing our cloud contact centre solutions, as they are revolutionising the customer experience. We look forward to hearing what the judges have to say."

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at London's City Hall on 26 February 2014.

Distributor Tech Data has named Jean-Paul (JP) Durand to the new position of vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer. Durand will report to David Vetter, the company's senior vice president, general counsel, as well as the Audit Committee of the company's board of directors.

It follows the lengthy investigation and removal of staff over discrepancies in accounts which cost the company millions of dollars. In this new global role, Durand will lead Tech Data's worldwide ethics and compliance program, including the company's policies and procedures designed to prevent and detect fraudulent conduct, encourage ethical behaviour and a commitment to compliance with the law, and ensure adherence to Tech Data's Code of Conduct.

"Tech Data is committed to sound corporate governance and ethical business practices, and this appointment reflects our continued commitment to legally and ethically conducting business around the world," said Vetter.

Durand has served as Tech Data's vice president, assistant general counsel since May 2011 and has been with Tech Data since 2000. He is also a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional under the Compliance Certification Board standards.

The company also announced that Wayne Hanewicz has been promoted to vice president, assistant general counsel and be responsible for the US legal organisation and report to Vetter.

The company has also appointed a deputy ethics and compliance officer in both its Americas and European regions, reporting directly to Durand. These two new positions will be responsible for managing Tech Data's ethics and compliance program in their respective regions. A new position of trade practice counsel, Europe, will report to Norbert Sourek, the company's general counsel, Europe.

Linksys has expanded its business networking line-up with the first of its business grade wireless access points, designed for businesses to deploy a fast, secure and reliable wireless network or to upgrade an existing wireless infrastructure.

The new access points can be deployed as an access point or range extender. "Many businesses are facing a rapid increase of connected notebooks, smartphones and tablets and an increase in use of multimedia on their networks," said Steven Lin, director of product management for Linksys Business.

"The Linksys Business Wireless-N Access Points use the widely adopted 802.11n wireless technology to provide a wireless network and support features such as Power over Ethernet for flexible placement, plus Rogue AP Detection and 802.11X supplicant for enhanced security.

"Wi-Fi is far more crucial to businesses these days. Wireless internet allows employees to work anywhere, have fast and free access to the web on mobile devices and enables new experiences such as voice over IP and video conferencing.

"At the same time hotels, retail stores and restaurants use Wi-Fi for hospitality purposes and in production, and logistics facilities it is used to connect handheld devices for real-time inventory control."

Channel Telecom has staged a roundtable dinner for a dozen key partners and guests at the Gaucho Grill restaurant in the City of London.

The event allowed the Channel Telecom team to get partner feedback on the latest additions to the product portfolio now being added to Channel Telecom's range of voice and data solutions.

Hosted by Clifford Norton, Managing Director, and other members of the Channel Telecom account management team the evening included presentations from two guest speakers discussing how evolutions in technology have created continuous opportunities for the channel and the importance of connectivity in the world of cloud computing.

Matt Donaldson, Sales Director, stated: "It was great to enjoy an excellent meal in relaxed surroundings with some of our channel partners. We have made some significant additions to our service offering and the Gaucho dinner provided us with the ideal opportunity to get feedback from some of our larger partners. This is just the latest in our ongoing series of partner consultations."

ShoreTel has signed up Calyx as a Champion Partner, authorised to sell ShoreTel's on-premises Unified Communications portfolio incorporating business phone systems, contact centre and mobile UC applications.

Calyx has focused on developing its portfolio in recent months and this is the latest step as it builds its reputation as a provider of end-to-end ICT solutions to businesses across the UK.

Steve Clark, CEO at Calyx, said: "As remote working and homeworking become more prevalent, so the business case for effective Unified Communications solutions grows.

"The ShoreTel portfolio provides the cornerstone of our UC portfolio, enabling us to provide a true end-to-end solution to our customers."