Comms Dealer

Mitel has the answered the call for contact centres to provide more customer engagement options with the launch of its seventh-generation contact centre solution.

MiContact Center 7.0 includes mobile chat and self-service features as well as outbound capabilities designed to boost sales and drive lead generation.

"Finding easier ways for businesses to engage customers via their preferred media and devices is a top priority for contact centres, with a growing focus on mobile and self-service features," explained odd Simons, Director of Product Solutions, Mitel.

"MiContact Center not only delivers on this, but also integrates communication across all channels to deliver a single customer experience. For example, organisations can post contact options on their website along with estimated wait times, empowering customers to decide how they contact the business."

Swanson Health is among several companies already planning to expand its customer contact options with the latest version of MiContact Center. A natural health retailer offering high quality vitamins, supplements and natural health products online and via direct mail, Swanson Health manages a high volume of calls, emails and live chat sessions daily.

"At Swanson Health, we count on MiContact Center to track and analyse all our calls, emails and chats. We are looking forward to the new features in MiContact Center, which provides even more options for our customers to contact us, including mobile chat. Furthermore, it provides new features to help our business run more effectively," said Patti Westland, director of call centre for Swanson Health.

In addition to more contact options, MiContact Center now enables quicker and more immersive service by equipping agents with richer customer information collected from across all media channels. Support for mobile supervisors using real-time management applications can further streamline customer service.

The new release also includes MiContact Center Outbound portfolio, a feature-rich offering that introduces new preview and predictive dialing capabilities, as well as campaign and agent scripting capabilities. With MiContact Center Outbound, businesses can boost sales, drive lead generation, and keep agents busy with outbound interactions and campaigning capabilities while facilitating first-contact resolution and business process compliance through agent scripting functionality.

"Contact centres are about providing great customer service for inbound calls and also enabling engaging outbound calls that can really add to the bottom line. MiContact Center Outbound is designed to greatly improve the outbound experience with features that can improve agent productivity for more prompt, informed customer service," said Simons.

MiContact Center is one of three flagship product lines for Mitel, along with MiVoice and MiCollab.

GVA Connect, the data centre specialist division of property agents GVA, has reported that UK take-up of data centre space amounted to 830,000 square feet (gross retail area) in calendar year 2013.
 
"This represented an 18 per cent jump in data centre space take-up over the previous year," said GVA Connect director Charles Carden, adding that the company expected take-up to remain at this level during 2014.
 
Confirming London's position as a leading international data centre hub, Carden revealed that over three quarters of the 2013 data centre take-up was within the so-called London Synchronous Locations (locations which deliver round-trip latency of under three milliseconds). The second most popular location was Manchester with the remainder of take-up spread across the UK.
 
"Not only does this research indicate a healthy increase in data centre activity, the average power requirement - at over 500kw - demonstrates that the majority of these new projects are of a significant size," added Carden.
 
"We continue to see an increase in serious enquiries from US operators for space in both UK and right across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)," said Carden.

Unify has swooped on Channel stalwart Jon Pritchard to head up its global channel programme. As Unify's Executive VP of Worldwide Channels the former President of Comstor Worldwide will be responsible for all indirect channel activities, from SMB markets to large scale alliance relationships. According to Pritchard, Unify (formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications) has a 'tremendous opportunity' to grow its channel business.

"With a new brand, the OpenScape portfolio plus the new Project Ansible that will hit the market later this year, the time is now for Unify to take full advantage of the capabilities of its channel programme," enthused Pritchard. "I am excited at the opportunity to bring the indirect channel programme to the next level."

Dean Douglas, CEO of Unify, noted that growing revenue through complementary indirect channels is one of the vendor's top priorities.

"We need to further increase our focus on being channel-ready and providing value to our partners," he said. "Jon brings global channel expertise to Unify to help lead this charge and take advantage of opportunities in the market."

Pritchard brings over 25 years of channel expertise to Unify with a track record of driving solid growth globally. At Comstor, he was responsible for global operations of Westcon's Cisco dedicated business practice, including operational and strategic sales programmes, marketing and business development initiatives, business segmentation planning and organisational development.

Pritchard also held previous positions at Ingram Micro UK.

Not so long ago the line between dysle xia and an aversion to writing to an expected standard at school was vague, and Paul Taylor, Sales Director at Voiceflex, found himself in this grey area. However, he spells out the SIP opportunity with ease and reads the market with his eyes shut.

Taylor's school days were at a time when tests for dyslexia had not been invented. "My school reports included comments such as, 'Paul's a lively member who is well liked but needs to spend more time on written work'," he recalled. "However, being lively and likeable were assets that helped me relate to people and I eventually moved into sales at the age of 19. Two years later I joined The Birmingham General Telephone Company selling internal telephones and PBXs, learning the hard way by cold calling in the morning and attending appointments in the afternoons. Fast forward to today, and to have been involved in the creation of a company with no products, no channel and no customers, and to have helped build it from scratch is a major achievement."

Few would disagree. Between 2005 and 2011 Voiceflex doubled turnover each year, and in 2012 the company saw a 50 per cent hike in revenue with expectations of a 25 per cent rise in 2013. "We have grown from two staff in 2005 to a headcount of 20 with more plans to recruit this year," added Taylor. "Growth will continue as our addressable market is the 10 million ISDN installed circuits."

The big gun in his armoury is SIP and Voiceflex was an early proponent and adopter of this disruptive technology, selling its first commercial SIP trunk in December 2005 soon after the company was established. "In 2005 I was UK General Manager for Swyx," explained Taylor. "In April of that year Swyx SIP trunk-enabled its system and was therefore seeking a SIP service provider. I couldn't find one, and a chance conversation with the Managing Director of Frontier Systems, which provided first line support for Swyx in the UK at the time, led to it building a SIP server that worked. I joined Frontier Systems in September 2005 and we set up Voiceflex."

Taylor had previously worked for Ascom when ISDN2 and ISDN 30 were launched. This experience gave him a clear insight into the potential impact of SIP on the comms landscape. "It has taken a long time for data connectivity to catch up with SIP but we are there now and reaping the rewards," he stated. "Data connectivity is key to the implementation and development of SIP trunking and hosted telephony."

Not surprisingly, the biggest trend Taylor is tracking in the market is the rise of data. "If you own the data connection you own the customer," he stated. "Not so long ago most companies had three lines of communication to the outside world - ISDN, the postman and a data connection. Now, telephone phone calls are diminishing, the postman's bag is getting lighter due to ordering and invoicing online, and companies are getting faster speeds for less money and better SLAs. Today, if you are not connected you can't do business."

Taylor noted that there are three primary triggers that prompt organisations to consider SIP - moving office, replacing the telephony application or replacing the data connection. "We are still in a recession and companies are still holding onto their cash and sweating every asset possible," added Taylor. "But as we come out of recession these companies will look to invest in technology to either secure their market position or increase market share."

Resellers are well positioned to help these companies make their technology investments, and Voiceflex is focused 100 per cent on enabling its partners. "We need to get closer to our channel partners this year," added Taylor. "We will continue to develop products to assist in the prime objective of selling more SIP trunks and hosted telephony - some chargeable and some free of charge. And as SIP becomes mainstream we will continue to develop our platform and service offering to make the whole experience of engaging with Voiceflex easy."

Resellers are also attracted to Voiceflex' engineering pedigree. The company employs 15 staff in support, provision and engineering, but despite this watertight pool of expertise there remains a bugbear that persists to this day. It's an issue that Taylor aims to address. "Our biggest pain point is market education," he said. "Not all SIP service providers are the same. We have different platforms with different features and different fraud provision. The sales process used to be sell yourself, sell your company and sell the product. Now, sales people should be selling the SIP provider and the ISP which are integral to the sales process. When sold correctly, this approach can turn a 50/50 sale into the high nineties."•

Red Box Recorders has notched up 20-plus per cent annual growth over the past five years and counts itself as one of the most established and fastest growing voice and data recording companies in the business, according to CEO Lee Jones.

Comms historians can trace Red Box Recorders' roots back to 1988 when an organisation called Origin Data Realisation was launched as an outsourced software development business. The company was responsible for developing the frame-based recording engine that powered Racal Recorders' flagship voice recorder. Red Box Recorders itself was founded in 2000 by Iain Worthington to build and market Origin Data's already successful range of voice recorders and software, which had previously been sold under license by some of the leading voice recording vendors of the 1990s.

These days, Red Box employs more than 80 people worldwide and boasts an annual turnover of over £11 million. Headquartered in Nottingham the company has regional offices that include London, New York, Singapore and Dubai along with a worldwide reseller network of more than 300 partners. "Our primary partners cover all key technologies in the marketplace and our mission is to build on these successes while still looking after the partners that put the company onto the map," commented Jones.

Early last year the firm undertook a management buyout which was backed by a £14 million investment from ISIS Equity Partners with Cavendish Corporate Finance advising on the deal. "The MBO was designed to facilitate the continued development of the business, which has achieved annual growth of more than 20 per cent for the past five years," noted Jones. "This includes taking advantage of new business opportunities within overseas markets, in particular North America and Asia Pacific, and extending Red Box's global workforce by almost 50 per cent. There is no doubt that the business has come a long way and is now a highly credible choice in the market, and a valued partner for an increasing number of financial sector organisations that are able to benefit from our smart, scalable and forward thinking technology."

The banking and finance sectors are a key focus over the mid-term and contact centres in this sector will play an increasingly important role, believes Jones, as good agent training is vital to ensure the best possible service and to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction sought by financial firms. "We are continuing to develop new applications with more features to address all of these requirements," added Jones. "We will continue to work within the sectors that can most benefit from our solutions - organisations within the contact centre, financial services, healthcare, government and emergency services sectors."

A key component of Red Box' product kit bag is its Quantify Recording Suite, an intuitive voice and data recording software solution designed for companies and organisations of all sizes. It can be tailored to meet precise customer requirements and incorporates a range of functionality including quality management, PCI compliance, call management and billing, event reconstruction and audio analytics.

Compliance is a key driver as financial sector customers face more regulations meaning that robust record keeping and storage solutions are increasingly vital. "In the US the ability to address Dodd Frank requirements is a main focus, and companies are able to benefit from Red Box's functionality which includes a number of features such as event reconstruction and the ability to archive information safely and efficiently," stated Jones.

The advance in technologies for cloud and hosted environments are driving opportunities for hosted recording to be delivered as software as a service. "Our flexible architecture and smart approach to recording communications lends itself well for supporting multi-tenant capabilities, and enhanced reporting enables the pay-as-you-go model for managed services," added Jones. "Customer choice remains firmly at the heart of everything we do, whether opex, capex, on-premise or hosted, we deliver our solutions to fit their demand."

In a fast moving industry characterised by advances in technology , methods of communication will continue to evolve and become more accepted across markets. New tools for the interrogation of data and delivery of business benefits will be a key focus, observed Jones. "Red Box Recorders solutions solve often technical and complex business challenges in a simple and effective way," claims Jones. "This helps ensure that organisations within the contact centre, financial services, healthcare, government and emergency services sectors are not only fully compliant, but also become more competitive, productive and efficient.

"Our smart and scalable technology is backed by an established global infrastructure, and our software solution enables the capture, authentication, analysis and evaluation of multi-media communications from a wide range of data sources including fixed line and mobile calls, radio, screen, SMS and instant messaging." •

There remain millions of traditional TDM phones in the business world sitting on a two wire network infrastructure which, according to John Croce, can simply and cost effectively be upgraded to IP telephony without the need for brutal and expensive rip and replace policies.

Croce is CEO of Phybridge Networks, the Canadian based technology business whose PoLRE 8 port unmanaged and 24 and 48 port managed switches deliver Ethernet and Power over Ethernet over a single pair of wires. With these solutions, he argues, there is no need for customers to risk the cost, disruption and complexity associated with layering real-time voice on a distributed topology built for data delivery.

Croce says this methodology was forced on customers because there was no innovation like the Phybridge switches before. He is so confident the solutions will meet or exceed industry accepted voice quality levels for VoIP that if the Phybridge backbone installed by a certified Phybridge partner does not meet or exceed industry standard for voice quality, Phybridge will return 100 per cent of the cost of the PoLRE.

Phybridge was established seven years ago by business entrepreneur Croce and technology guru Oliver Emmanuel, who invented the technology. On a recent sales trip to the UK, Croce met Comms Dealer and explained the background to Phybridge and his plans to change the channel's thinking about the migration of their customers to IP voice platforms.

"Our go to market strategy is based on that quotation from Einstein: 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' and when you look at our technology and what our network switch does, it does address complex problems in a simple manner. This industry too often views things from a technology perspective without enough empathy and understanding as to what it takes the customer and the provider to get that technology in place and working reliably.

"When Oliver introduced his innovation around leveraging the existing two wire voice infrastructure and creating an Ethernet path with power to deploy IP phones, it was just logic to me and made perfect sense. If a business is looking to deploy IP Telephony Unified Communications in a cost effective manner which is non-disruptive, highly secure and quick and easy, it makes a lot of sense to leverage a proven voice infrastructure as opposed to layering voice on a data switch fabric designed for near time data delivery. We are all accustomed to waiting three to five seconds for a data file to open but if I am on a phone call with you and I don't understand you for three to five seconds that's not acceptable."

Croce maintains that while comms providers can get very excited about a hosted VoIP solution, they often fail to communicate with the customer about the LAN requirements needed to port that application. "Our solution is that missing link. We are the solution from the D-Mark to the desktop. Wherever a customer has a legacy phone today they can have an IP phone tomorrow with guaranteed quality of service, highly secure, and voice continuity meaning voice survives even if the data LAN fails.

"It has nothing to do with the technology because VoIP and IP Telephony technology is a very sound technology. But if you look at the legacy voice solutions whether they be a Mitel, an Aastra, or an Avaya/Nortel, all of those technologies were proven reliable and the one thing they all had in common was the topology of the network design being point-to-point from every phone with a dedicated physical two wire infrastructure going back to the call control. There was no other device sharing the bandwidth. You had the packets travelling in order, on time without contentions or loss. There was high reliability not because of the technology but because of the design of the network topology to support that real time application.

"So now fast forward it to no longer leveraging that proven point-to-point topology and layering voice on a switch fabric that in its initiation was designed for near time data delivery with every device sharing the bandwidth, and the inevitable result is a flaky experience with voice."

Croce says that since its foundation Phybridge has deployed over 200,000 end points across the SME and larger enterprise spectrum. The US is by far its biggest market where larger clients include universities like Georgia Tech, Arizona State and New Mexico State, federal and state government installations, plus hospitals and big hotel chains like the Starwood Group.

"We are working with a customer right now with 34,000 locations in the US. Could you imagine migrating 34,000 locations to a hosted telephony offering? The beauty with what we do is with every single one of those locations the voice infrastructure is exactly the same. Whether you have 20 users or 2000, whether you are in the UK, Canada or the US, that topology is exactly the same which allows for a repeatable, predictable, saleable process as you look to migrate customers to IP."

The Phybridge solutions have been certified to operate alongside the majority of premises and hosted based telephony vendors including Aastra, Avaya, Broadsoft, Mitel and NEC Having already secured a distribution partnership with Nimans, Croce and his Senior VP Viv Singh are now on the hunt for more UK reseller partners looking to offer customers a less disruptive IP migration path for customers.

Croce refers to one reseller partner who had a customer with 1400 users and a budget of 1.8 million dollars to spend on infrastructure changes. "Our partner introduced our technology, they tested it, they went ahead, it cost them 300,000 dollars versus 1.8 million dollars, the project was fast tracked by six months and the migration of 1400 users was completed in a single weekend. The customer allocated the savings to more UC applications and training of the users driving a better overall return on investment."

If that scale of opportunity is there for the taking in the UK, Phybridge might just be the answer to a lot of reseller's prayers.•

Early in his career when Mark Salvin was tasked with selling one phone a month, now the CEO of Swift Managed Services has a bigger job in hand, to scale the business up threefold in as many years.

Swift Managed Services is six months away from its third birthday and was born from an idea to build a managed services business that could support the channel in capturing revenues that are typically missed by resellers. The company is focused on offering white labelled professional services and specialist knowledge in the areas of IT support, the cloud, virtualisation and Microsoft services such as Lync. "During our short trading history we have acquired three businesses and consolidated them around the Swift brand," stated Salvin, who began his career selling mobiles for a Cellnet Service Provider in Sheffield. "This was when phones were so expensive most people leased them. My target was one sale per month," he added.

A stint at Vodafone service provider Martin Dawes was to follow. "This is where I learned about professional sales and was easily the best sales team I ever worked within," recalled Salvin. "I then went on to work for NTL where I learned how to manage people and business planning. I also learned how not to integrate acquisitions. I then moved onto Thus and started to branch out on my own incorporating Telecomplete, which later became Fused Group. This is where my real education in business began. However my biggest achievement was my first acquisition, a small VoIP company called mywebcalls. I had no idea what I was doing and it turned out to be a cracking deal."

Salvin's latest venture with Swift Managed Services began when he linked up with co-founders and co-owners Carl Davis and Omar Shafiq. "Although Swift as a brand is relatively new other elements of the business are well established," explained Salvin. "Corpex, now known as Swift Systems, has been trading for nine years and specialised in hosting and secure mail services. After integrating that business into the group we now use this entity to sell all of our hardware-based sales. Easy Connect, now known as Swift Connect, has been trading for over 10 years and provides Internet products including broadband, MPLS, leased lines, Wide Area Networks and voice services. Swift Computers has been trading for over 17 years and continues to provide IT support, consultancy services and training. Finally, Swift Managed Service provides all of our cloud, voice, hosting and project based services."

Not surprisingly, Salvin's wide experience over the past 20 years has given him a deep understanding of how to be successful in providing services to SME businesses and operating in the service provider market. "Many companies come and go, they get sold, they go under, but the personalities keep coming back which I find reassuring," he added. "Leading a business is a difficult role, more difficult than I imagined, but a company's strength is its people. Your team is everything. This is one of the most important things I have learned over my career."

Swift Managed Services' revenue has grown from zero to a forecasted £2.5 million and is set to grow further following a rebranding and a recent office move to larger premises. Current priorities in terms of products, channel strategy and business development include increasing the number of channel partners on its books. "After a soft launch of our services to a few friendly resellers over the last 18 months we are now ready to deliver these to a much wider audience," explained Salvin. "We are looking to recruit around a dozen quality channel partners in the next 12 months who see the opportunity in delivering a one-stop-shop solution to their customers, and have the scale in conjunction with Swift to deliver quality profitable projects."

Swift has also recruited two well know channel personalities in Justin Blaine (formally of NeoWave) and Jonathan Sheridan (formally of Gteq) to head up the sales and marketing effort, as well as a dedicated internal marketing executive to help better promote its products and support to partners.

Salvin believes that the key to the firm's future strategy is to concentrate on the move to cloud-based services. "With technologies being now widely deployed like Microsoft Lync we at Swift understand these products, what they offer and how to sell, design and support them," he stated. "We can educate resellers not to shy away from these technologies that need integrating and securing. Customers are going to need help getting the most from their IT investments so they can concentrate on running their businesses."

There is not only big interest in Microsoft Lync, noted Salvin, but also a big shift towards this technology in the enterprise space. "We are seeing companies becoming more savvy about their data, therefore secure cloud data storage, backup and recovery is growing at a phenomenal rate," he observed. "Companies also want advice on how to virtualise their infrastructure as they see cloud as a reliable, resilient and secure first line solution which is also cost-effective."

Another key growth trend for Swift Managed Services is IT support coming back to the UK from overseas. "As companies become totally dependent on their IT and telecoms they want to deal with someone local and knowledgeable," said Salvin. "Data backup continues to grow and is a good revenue generator if deployed properly. Microsoft Lync deployment is also growing as installation requires consultancy and expertise to get the best from the solution. These all play to our strengths and offer a good opportunity for Swift to add real value to our partners.

"What we are seeing is the need for real advice and service from customers. They want someone who's going to look after them and help them achieve their business objectives. The brand of the equipment or software is becoming less and less important but the ability to manage that equipment and make it do what the customers requires is becoming more important and valuable to the client. This is where the profit opportunity is for Swift and our partners."

With the green shoots of recovery starting to show, 2014 is going to be a big year, believes Salvin. "It's now time to focus on capturing as many of the opportunities that emerge as possible," he stated. "We see growth continuing and expect the business to treble in size over the next three years."•

She's known as America's First Lady of Emerging Technologies and also operates as the Chief Technologist - Innovation (HLS) for IT giant HP. Here, Dr Satwant Kaur provides insights into the driving forces behind M2M.

A confluence of established and emerging technologies have enabled the modern world to be completely connected as never before. These innovations include M2M communications, which is a strong technology that has evolved greatly from the early days when one-on-one connections between machines dominated. These were proprietary, closed loop and local in nature. Now, every M2M device is IP-enabled and can talk to other machines anywhere in the world. That's the beauty of it. And high level M2M communication is one of the big technologies that has helped to create our world of never ending connectedness.

M2M devices and their innate power to communicate are transforming our lives, and our business. M2M devices incorporate embedded network communications technology that monitors and controls via direct communication with back-end systems. Machine-to-machine technologies are enabling both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other systems, devices, data acquisition and response systems. This emerging trend will bring about an exciting transformation in our lives.

We are looking at a future where embedded connectivity will become a way of life. Indeed it's happening now. Emerging devices are proliferating through the areas of automotive, remote monitoring, health care, electronics, smart homes, smart grid, NFC and smart metering. Most products in these spaces will have the ability to offer M2M communication across the Internet. So we are looking at a future where embedded connectivity will be a day-to-day way of life.

We are moving quickly into a world where a billion devices will connect everything from utility meters to connected cars. These M2M devices are capable of transmitting, processing and receiving vital data over the air. This gives us an opportunity to monitor and track all assets and service data in real-time, ensuring that assets have the latest updated software, automatically repair defects, deliver new features and services, and reduce the number of service dispatches.

An embedded system is any system that has intelligence built in for computing and decision making. The human 'system' is an example of the most complex and all other embedded systems will aim to mirror human characteristics. An intelligent environment uses a team of embedded systems, each with a designated function. Embedded systems are inescapable, but essential components of human life as well as contemporary culture, creating intelligent environments for energy, health and transportation, as well as robots in intelligent environments.

The advance of M2M technology is also catalysed by high bandwidth wireless networks such as 4G and LTE which have given us untethered access to unlimited bandwidth. Moreover, improved battery life is also key to being always-on and connected. And the cloud enables different devices to talk to each other by enabling remote, always-on connectivity anywhere in the world. Another emerging technology at play and in the M2M mix is the miniaturisation of computing devices. No longer is technology just handheld, we now have computer services in glasses and clothing. This miniaturisation is a key enabler of the connected world.

Machine-to-machine communications is all about sensors. If you can't sense anything there is nothing to communicate between devices. Also critical is the ever-growing number of applications that allow us to be more creative and innovative in, for example, key vertical markets including self driving cars, connected homes, connected medical care, connected wallets, connected prosthetics, connected energy and connected transportation (to name a few).

To illustrate the potential of M2M and seamless connectedness I will look closely at the smart energy grid vertical, which is made more efficient in operation through connected sensors, smart appliances and demand management, all enabled by technology. In this M2M world appliances become more meaningful and have the ability to be managed remotely within an environment where all areas of the grid are connected, including generators and energy storage hot spots. Using sensor technology the energy supply can be equalised across the grid to meet demand, self healing via connected sensors that make energy use more efficient.

The smart grid can help us reach the goal of clean air and energy independence by using renewable power such as wind and solar energy. Although renewable energy is an infinite energy source derived from the environment, its supply is intermittent, its availability is less predictable and its generation is outside human control compared to traditional power plants. The integration of renewable energy into the smart grid, supported by innovative energy storage, is the key to smooth out the various determining factors and achieve greater reliability in delivery. In this way, smart grids enable large portions of our power to be generated from renewable energy sources.

The smart grid incorporates a variety of technologies that extend the existing power grid to include buildings, homes and alternative energy sources, making energy management more efficient and reliable while reducing the operating costs of generation, transmission and the delivery of energy to consumers. Smart grid makes the most of existing transmission lines and existing power plants through technology innovation.

The major flaws with traditional power grid distribution are centralised power generation and long-haul distribution to consumers. In smart grids, transmission will be in both directions rather than the traditional 'one to many' broadcast in a downward direction. Smart grid brings together smart sensing, communication and control in energy systems and can be used in many applications.

Turning to the automotive sector, connected transportation enables vehicles to share information on their speed, direction, distance from other vehicles, thereby improving road safety (blind spot detection) and traffic management. M2M connectivity could also bring about collision detection and prevention, with information being fed to drivers who are unwittingly on a collision course. Because of the road safety aspect there is a high level of motivation to develop this facet of M2M technology further.

In terms of the self-driving car, the ability for an automobile to take instant reactions based on information that is computerised is already realised. Google cars have been on the road for some time. I would say this is happening much faster than we can even imagine. Beyond the current technology, roadways will one day wirelessly power electric cars. That's happening now in a limited fashion. In small sectors, wireless technology can deliver power to these vehicles. Today there is a great barrier, but the value of these potential technologies will crush anything that stands in their way.•

ABOUT DR SATWANT KAUR
Dr Satwant Kaur is Chief Technologist - Innovation (HLS) at HP and is hailed as the First Lady of Emerging Technologies by media in Silicon Valley and the industry worldwide. She is also known as the author of Amazon bestselle r Transitioning Embedded Systems to Intelligent Environments.

Dr Satwant Kaur, First Lady of Emerging Technologies, expresses her own personal views and opinions in all communications including all electronic, broadcast and print media formats. For more information email Satwant.Kaur@gmail.com or visit www.satwantkaur.com

Software-based VoIP systems have gained a ringing endorsement from end users wanting a fresh and innovative approach to communications, according to Nick Galea, 3CX founder and CEO.

When Galea set out his start-up plan for 3CX he got it right first time. There has been no need for strategic revisions. From the outset he has led 3CX to remarkable growth and his clarity of vision makes lending an ear to his future predictions a matter of duty. "I thought long and hard about our strategy when founding the company and it is working out as planned," he said.

"The on-site PBX market will soon be 100 per cent software based, eliminating not only proprietary PBX but also appliance-based PBXs. Larger customers want their IT department to be able to manage the PBX and they want to leverage existing Windows infrastructure as well as their Hyper V or Vmware virtualisation infrastructure."

3CX's growth statistics reflect high demand for its products and ambition to innovate. The company is growing by 40 per cent each year and currently employs 70-plus staff worldwide. It also boasts 30,000 customers and more than 10,000 partners globally. "We are seeking to double our partner channel in the next two years and become one of the top three PBX vendors worldwide," Galea stated. "We have a clear and aggressive marketing strategy for this and we believe that the product architecture and channel strategy we have chosen will take us there."

3CX is a 100 per cent channel company, supporting partners with free training, free technical support and easy pricing and purchasing procedures. This, says Galea, helps resellers deploy 3CX more easily and more profitably, opening the door to partners in the IT channel who find onboarding the 3CX solution a straightforward process. "IT partners are much more confident in selling PBX solutions than they were a few years ago," commented Galea. "Then, an IT partner would sell just a few PBX deployments and they would be smaller. Now, we see our partners do more and more deployments as well as larger ones."

This increase in deployments of 3CX is in no small part attributable to Galea's efforts to make the solution easier to deploy and manage, meaning that selling 3CX is more profitable for resellers. "3CX Phone System version 12 is a major step forward in this area," he commented. "We are also launching 3CX Cloud Server, which is a solution that allows resellers to host 3CX virtually for customers."

3CX is rapidly climbing the ladder and has overtaken several larger players, and is ranked by MZA as one of the fastest growing PBX companies. The market analyst firm describes 3CX as a significant emerging player in the global market for PBX extensions and call control licenses. Figures indicate that, against the backdrop of a seven per cent year-on-year global market decline in Q3 last year, 3CX's volume of call control licenses grew by 52 per cent. The cost savings, ease of maintenance and the full functionality of the 3CX Phone System has wide appeal in the marketplace, according to MZA. And Galea says much of this growth is also due to the firm's ethos. "The culture we nurture at 3CX at a technology level is that of being an innovator," Galea stated.

"3CX innovates communications and we are a key player in many areas such as mobility, productivity and ease of deployment. The 3CX team are hand picked individuals who realise the importance of our resellers and the constant demand to innovate within the industry. The culture within 3CX is one that focuses on our partners and on their customers' needs, hence the focus we put on developing an easy to use, affordable, feature packed UC solution. In a nutshell, the 3CX team focuses on the customer, whether a partner or an end user, and makes sure that their needs are met."

He says that the PBX market has innovated far too slowly. "The PBX feature set is limited and has been stagnant for too long," added Galea. "Companies then failed to see the need to upgrade to newer more feature rich PBX solutions and this has stifled business for resellers and even hindered companies in being more productive while delivering better customer service. We, PBX vendors and our partner channels, need the telecoms industry to start innovating again and deliver more value to our customers."

Galea entered the telecoms software business in the early '90s with a similar can-do attitude, founding GFI which initially developed fax-on-demand and voicemail software. "The experience gained from software development and marketing, as well as interfacing with telecoms hardware was crucial for my current role," noted Galea. "Building GFI to a 250 person company before selling it in 2005 is my biggest career milestone to date. However, I am confident that 3CX will eclipse this achievement in the near future."

With his eyes fixed on the target market of 25 to 1,000 extensions, Galea's gaze also focuses on trends towards mobility and the future role of WebRTC. "End users want to be able to use their office extension from anywhere," he stated. "Companies need to provide this and they need it to be easy to do and reliable. This is where the software-based PBX plays its trump card and enables partners to get companies to replace their outdated PBX.

"In terms of WebRTC, it will play a big role in web conferencing as well as regular telephone calls. 3CX has commenced development in these areas and will be launching WebRTC support in the coming months, including a web conferencing add-on based on WebRTC. Clientless WebRTC is the different angle that is needed to make it more widespread. Innovations such as these are happening as we approach a phase of major consolidation in the market. Some major players will either go bankrupt, get acquired or exit the business. And this consolidation will see a major shift, with smaller players like ourselves moving rapidly up the food chain."•

As an independent distributor of computer hardware, AV kit and a provider of professional services, Square 1 Products is strategically placed to help resellers capitalise on convergence opportunities, according to Sales Director Gary Conner.

Square 1 Products specialises in the distribution of Cisco, HP, IBM and Smart Technologies and operates out of offices in Cheshire, Surrey and Bordeaux in France, so a next day delivery service across Europe is standard. According to Conner the company is known for its flexible approach and can-do attitude. "We are constantly looking at how we can work with our resellers to ensure that they are able to maximise their own customer relationships," he commented.

"Whether the challenge be technical or financial we are often able to find a solution that allows or partners to deliver even the most complex of requirements. We have expanded our product and service portfolios by adding complementary lines that allow our partners to offer complete solutions. This in turn ensures that they are able to win new business, enhance their customer loyalty and build their own status as a trusted adviser."

He noted that lucrative hardware and services contracts are often passed over due to a perceived lack of expertise or strength to capitalise on these opportunities. But resellers working on large client services installations are able to embrace opportunities to supply hardware by working closely with Square 1 Products and its key partners to leverage their expertise.

The Square 1 Products Technical Services arm operates exclusively through the channel and offers a broad range of technical and engineering services across IT infrastructure, networking, server and storage solutions plus AV. Square 1 Products' engineering delivery structure is organised into three main technology pillars - IP Communications and Security, Computing Services and Audio Visual Services. Another piece in the Professional Services picture is a line up of leasing packages.

The company was formed in 1991 by US-based Harry Shields and John Gallagher who wanted to distribute IT hardware in Europe. In 2001 Conner was part of a management buyout with Shields and Financial Director Patrick Wyly. Since then the distributor has expanded its range to include networking and AV products and services, and has grown to a headcount of 30 staff with revenues of over £23 million. Its customers range from small independents to large multi-national companies, and a large portion of its reseller-only customer base have been trading with the company for over 15 years.

"I have spent over 20 year in the IT distribution market which has seen many changes, one of the latest being the convergence of IT with AV and telecoms," said Conner. "The corporate AV market is expanding rapidly and we are seeing growth in all markets including training, video conferencing and digital signage. We have different ranges of products and solutions to suit all budgets in these sectors and capability to offer white label services that our resellers can supply as their own. We strongly believe that this collaborative approach with our resellers will provide the best opportunities for us all."

According to Conner Square 1 Products' core strategy is based around customer requirements, and he cites the firm's move into AV some years ago was a classic example of this approach.

"As markets converge we are now ideally placed to help fill the AV skill gaps that some of our IT partners have or provide the IT services that our AV partners require," he explained. "We are able to help our resellers leverage their customer relationships and supply a fully supported solution to requirements that they previously may have walked away from. We see this as the best way for Square 1 Products and our resellers to grow together. We are constantly looking at how we can help rather than finding a reason not to engage. We are happy to work closely with our partners to overcome technical, product or even financial obstacles."

As the market continues to evolve Conner predicts that resellers will need to form more alliances to help them supply complete solutions around their own specialities. "This market will continue to create new opportunities," he stated. "It is best to keep costs down when exploring new opportunities and the most effective way of achieving this is to form partnerships that are based firmly in trust from the outset of the relationship.

"This formula enables resellers to address new markets such as the corporate AV sector which is poised for significant growth with new opportunities around VC, collaborative technologies and digital signage. To stay ahead of the game we respond to market demands and add complementary products to our portfolio such as new a range of teleconferencing products that are in the pipeline."

Another big addition to the Square 1 Products kit bag are display solutions from Philips. According to Conner this distribution deal strengthens its position in the AV market and opens up new doors of opportunity. "Along with the traditional demand from the educational marketplace we are now seeing a growing demand for AV products driven by corporates," he stated. "Our experience in IT hardware and networking combined with our knowledge in the AV market enables us and our resellers to address a broad scope of customers."•