Comms Dealer

A five-year agreement between BT Wholesale and BroadSoft sees the telco giant adopt the BroadCloud platform as the foundation of its Hosted Communications Services (HCS) portfolio. The move enables BT Wholesale to offer comms providers a complete white label hosted IP Centrex service, underpinned by UC applications and PBX features.

"Hosted Communications Services is a key pillar in BT Wholesale's strategy and is at the heart of our plans to rapidly expand our indirect channel business," said Marc Timmermans, Director Portfolio Development, BT Wholesale.

"We see significant opportunities for growth in this market. CPs can offer their customers a complete communications service, whether it be hosted IP Centrex, SIP trunking, contact centres or inbound services, all run, managed and owned by BT."

BT Wholesale will become a preferred BroadSoft distributor to UK comms providers who can now extend their customers' core telephony services to include applications and features such as high-definition voice, conferencing, smart call handling, instant messaging, presence, cloud call recording, CRM integration and web collaboration tools such as white board sharing.

"Communications providers can offer their business customers a hosted IP Centrex solution which comes complete with telephone numbers, configured IP Phones, headsets, broadband, Internet access and Ethernet connectivity," added Timmermans.

BT Wholesale and BroadSoft will now jointly market and sell the Hosted IP Centrex service, with BroadSoft supporting a number of UK roadshows and events hosted by BT Wholesale throughout 2014.

BroadSoft CEO Michael Tessler added: "Enterprises throughout the UK are seeking these new communications services to enhance their employee productivity."

Timmermans also noted that BT Wholesale has begun enhancing its existing hosted IP Centrex service, which includes a significant investment in a seamlessly integrated ordering and administration portal which will be available later this year.

This will sit alongside its new Business Portal which will have a new look and feel.

"This portal will be fully branded with the communications provider's identity and will allow their business customers to manage and configure their own service online, in real-time," added Timmermans.

Virtual1 is bringing high-speed Internet access within the reach of cash strapped 'ordinary businesses' looking to upgrade.

The network operator has slashed its standard London prices by over 30% and is offering 1GB of Internet for the same cost as 100MBS just a few years ago.

"With much debate about Internet pricing from Government and providers, we felt it was time we offered high-speed access at an affordable price," said Managing Director Tom O'Hagan.

"Upgrading to the latest networking technology is essential for a faster Internet in the long run, but while the average speed is important in a company's buying decision, it is also influenced by affordability."

Virtual1 owns and operates one of the largest and newest fibre networks in London, offering 50,000 on-net postcodes from multiple on-net Points of Presence.

"It is important to provide entrepreneurial and fast-paced businesses that are ready to take advantage of the economic recovery with the right platform to do so," added O'Hagan.

"Not only are we offering greater bandwidth, with broader coverage and faster speeds, we are doing this at a price that is cost-effective so that many more companies can take advantage.

"Businesses are looking ahead and Virtual1 wants to help the positive signs of recovery gain more momentum."

Wholesale comms provider Entanet has received an initial investment boost to the tune of £6m from mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners to support the £14m management buyout. Entanet's founder Jason Tsai remains a significant shareholder. The investment will support Entanet's growth plans, according to Managing Director Elsa Chen.

"Mobeus is a highly respected mid-market equity investor and we see this investment as a major vote of confidence in the long-term prospects for Entanet's business," she said.

"It will strengthen our strategy of building a solid loyal partner channel that is capable of driving steady, stable and sustainable growth over the long-term.

"The investment will also support the continuing investment we are making in our network and in developing and delivering new services that enable our partners to offer more choice and value to the widest range of customers."

Ashley Broomberg, Partner at Mobeus, added: "Entanet has a great reputation and a sound and proven business model. We are delighted to provide our support for the company's growth plans and look forward to working with the management team to build on its firm foundations in the growing connectivity services sector."

As part of the transaction, Mobeus has introduced non-executive director Richard Atkins as investing Chairman to advise Entanet at a strategic level.

Atkins has significant telecoms experience and a strong track record in delivering growth in private equity backed businesses. Atkins was previously Non-Executive Director of Global Crossing UK, Morse and MessageLabs Group.

Entanet is an established provider of wholesale communications services in the UK, enabling more than 2,000 partners to offer a range of connectivity options to predominantly business customers, from copper and fibre broadband services to tailored IP Virtual Private Networks (IP VPNs) and standalone Ethernet circuit solutions. 

Gamma is preparing to welcome a fresh intake of comms graduates during its 2014 university themed roadshow. The company aims to create a record number of comms dons by delivering a first class lesson on the state of its product development and channel strategy.

The Universities UK tour kicks off in April with stop-offs at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, The University of Manchester, Keele University and Imperial College London.

Gamma's senior team including CEO Bob Falconer will be on hand to meet and greet delegates both before and after the morning seminars, which will update delegates on how channel partners are deploying Gamma's range of voice, mobile and data services. Richard Bligh, Marketing Director, commented: "Central to this year's presentations will be a focus on why now is the right time to move into IP services, especially now the cost of traditional CPS calls has significantly increased across the industry.

"We will also demonstrate how we are helping our channel partners maintain a competitive edge in the market and hold sessions on best business practices with independent speakers. Going out to see our partners is important to us. The questions are great and the feedback invaluable in helping shape the right products for our partners to take to market."

An enthusiastic proponent of Gamma's fresh approach to educating partners is Neil Rampe, Group Commercial and Marketing Director at Alternative Networks, who is anticipating a valuable outcome from the events. He commented: "Gamma has a fresh perspective on the market and current opportunities. It's useful to catch up on its latest product developments and enhancements. And crucially I get to meet a number of key contacts from all sides of the business including senior members, right up to Bob the CEO."•

The events are open to existing and prospective partners.
To find out more visit www.gamma.co.uk/uniroadshow

Red Box Recorders has unveiled its new corporate positioning and logo, which have been designed to better represent the company as it continues to significantly expand its global presence. The company strapline has evolved from 'simpler smarter voice' to 'The smart choice'.

It is the latest in a long line of developments for Red Box following the management buyout a year ago which include a head office relocation; the launch of its own hosted product; and a re-structure of its senior management. During this time of change the team increased turnover by 20%, was recognised as being one of the top three recording vendors by independent consultancy company CIL, continued to extend its strategic partnerships and won a number of high profile global contracts.

Karen Lillywhite, Head of Global Marketing at Red Box Recorders, said: "Our business has changed considerably in the past few years and we wanted an image and positioning which still made us stand out from the crowd and was relevant to an international market.

"We also wanted to reinforce our commitment to retaining our core values and being committed to a solution that is perfect for the both the reseller market and that is truly customer centric.

"This way it could support our growth and set a foundation for increased marketing and business development moving forward. We decided to build on our 'smart' positioning because we believe that it sums up our compliance focused solutions which are proven to be flexible, dependable and advanced."

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.