Comms Dealer

Machine to Machine (M2M)) service revenues will reach $20bn globally in 2015 as players across the M2M industry focus on simplifying the process of rolling out M2M for the end user, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report also noted that the monetisation opportunities offered by M2M differ significantly according to the industry to which it is being applied.

While telematics is positive, smart metering, despite high forecast numbers and regulatory drivers, is still struggling to find an avenue for revenue generation, reckons Juniper.

In all sectors service revenues will substantially exceed revenues from managing connectivity throughout the forecast period, says the report.
The study also notes that faster mobile broadband networks would impact on M2M use cases, noting that M2M service provision based on 4G LTE technology was beginning to find a market in CCTV, mobile POS (Point of Sale), digital signage and as a backup for fixed broadband services.

Meanwhile the report found that operators are increasingly deploying sophisticated cloud based APIs to address the increased complexities of the M2M industry.

However, it argued that M2M specialist players are the primary creators of the ecosystems behind M2M deployments.

"Operators continue to play a fundamental role in M2M,\" said report author Anthony Cox. "But there is still significant scope for new players focusing on either new technology approaches, or a particular angle of the M2M market.\"

Maintel's technical expertise has been recognised by vendor partner Avaya which handed over the Technical Excellence Award 2014 to the services company at its National Partner Conference.

Kevin Stevens, Group Operations Director, Maintel, said: "This is a fantastic accolade for Maintel and something we are so proud to have been awarded in front of our competitors and peers.

"Having such an award next to our name will naturally stand us in good stead when working with our customers, partners and prospects.

"This is the best possible for way for Maintel to have started 2014."

The award reflects Maintel's know-how around Avaya's core portfolio of video, data, unified comms, call centre and SME products.

Maintel also holds Avaya Platinum Business Partner status and is the only Avaya partner in the UK to hold all five Expert accreditations: Networking, SME, Contact Centre, Unified Communications and Unified Messaging. Just two companies in Europe have achieved this level of competence.

Elitetele.com has acquired London-based Modern Communications for an undisclosed sum, completing the company's ninth acquisition since 2008.

The acquisition is the first of 2014 and will add approximately 300 customers, over £3m of revenue and nine new staff members to the Elite Telecom Group.

Matt Newing, founder and CEO of Elitetele.com, said: "Modern Communications was a targeted acquisition for us as we continue to expand our presence in London. It is the third acquisition we have made in the capital in total and we see this as a key platform for future national and international growth."

Modern Communications was founded in 1998 and provides business telephony, fixed line services, connectivity, hosted IP and business continuity. 

Newing added: "With Modern Communications comes great new supplier and partner contracts, including longstanding relationships with global leaders in hybrid cloud solutions. This greatly enhances Elite's portfolio of virtual and next gen products, furthering our footprint within the UC sector and ensuring we continue to operate above the market."

Adrian Barnard, founder and MD of Modern Communications, said: "Elite shares the same vision and foundations on which Modern Communications was built and I am delighted for us to become part of the Elite business. 

"The company is dynamic and forward thinking.  This acquisition enables us to enhance the provisioning of unified communications services further afield."

Newing added: "Growth by acquisition is a key part of our strategy to double the size of the business by 2015."

SpliceCom's new PCS 552G IP Phone lowers the cost of entry for Gigabit networking, claims Robin Hayman, SpliceCom's Director of Product Management & Marketing.

Based on the manufacturer's existing PCS 552 handset the 'G' variant adds a two port1,000 Mbps switch to the existing 100/10 Mbps connections.

"As Gigabit Power over Ethernet switches become commodity products, we're getting ever increasing requests to supply large numbers of Gigabit phones from those who want to buy our systems, particularly in the education market," explained Hayman.

Mitel has completed its merger with Aastra Technologies, creating a business with $1.1bn of combined annual revenue and 60 million customers worldwide.

Mitel now has one of the largest global footprints in the industry and says it is driving consolidation in the US$18 billion business communications market. 

Claiming number one market share in Western Europe and a top five position globally Mitel is well positioned to capitalise on a global growth opportunity as the market begins a long-term migration to cloud-based services, according to Richard McBee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitel.

"With this merger the combined annual revenue of Mitel exceeds a billion dollars, which we believe creates the financial scale and operational leverage to drive shareholder value and profitable growth in an opportunity-rich consolidating market.

"We now have double the talent, tools and range of solutions to aggressively compete for a greater share of our market."

The company anticipates approximately $50m of run rate synergies within two and a half years, driven by supply chain optimisation, facilities consolidation and economies of scale.

With the merger completed, Mitel expects the combined cash flow will allow for ongoing debt repayment and is expected to provide Mitel liquidity and flexibility to pursue growth opportunities.

Advanced Computer Software Group has acquired Compass Computer Consultants, and education sector software provider, for £14.5m.

Compass, based in Cheshire, provides fully integrated record management and customer relationship (CRM) systems which are used by more than 80% of UK colleges and increasingly by the Learning and Skills Council.

Compass will be integrated into the Group's Business Solutions division, where it will complement existing education software solutions for local authorities, schools, academies and higher and further education providers.

Vin Murria, CEO, Advanced Computer Software Group, said: "This is an important acquisition for Advanced because it expands our presence within the education software sector across the UK and Ireland.

"Since the launch of its first college-based software solution, ProAchieve, in 1999, Compass has earned a reputation for providing a range of solutions to meet the challenges faced by further education providers."

Compass is the second education software company acquired by Advanced. The Group acquired management information system provider, Serco Learning in December 2012. Advanced now provides technology solutions to more than 2,000 educational institutions throughout the UK and across the world.

A surprising hike in outbound minute traffic helped to spur Voiceflex towards another year of remarkable growth, according to Sales Director Paul Taylor.

He noted that 2013 outbound revenues jumped 40% compared to the previous year, and he says this growth trend is evidence of a new wave of confidence in the market for SIP trunking.

"We knew traffic and trunks where up month-on-month, but not until we analysed the figures did we realise a sharp increase in outbound," said Taylor.

"Customers want to keep their telephone numbers when moving but don't want to fully commit to SIP, so we have routed the inbound traffic over Voiceflex and outbound via ISDN, meaning that SIP is primary for inbound and backup for outbound.

"I believe all SIP providers will see an increase in outbound traffic based on the Narrow Band Market Review."

Eclipse is fizzing with excitement following the launch of its biggest ever channel incentive.

The new Fastest 4 scheme offers resellers an opportunity to speed up and get ahead with the firm's fastest four connectivity products, and the winners will continue to accelerate by racing four of Palmer Sport's fastest cars at Bedford Autodrome.

To rev-up the interest Eclipse is also launching promotional pricing on all qualifying products for the duration of the incentive (Bonded DSL, FTTC, EFM and Fibre Ethernet services).

Under the points-based scheme partners can qualify for a place at the event in June by selling any mix of services, and as few as four Ethernet connections will qualify resellers for a place on the track.

Dan Priestman (pictured), Channel Sales Manager, enthused: "I can't wait to get my racing helmet on to race as many channel partners as possible. I'm expecting our partners to hit the ground running on this great incentive. End customers are crying out for these products and we're expecting sales to really ramp up this year."

The Eclipse Fastest 4 promotion runs from 3rd February 2014 to 30th April 2014 and is open to the entire reseller channel.

Exponential-e has swooped on tech-whizz Steven Harrison to take the company's technological development to the next level while also helping to realise a number of the firm's strategic goals as a cloud and network provider.

As well as supporting commercially important bids and aligning Exponential-e's technology initiatives with its business objectives, Harrison will also serve as a 'cloud evangelist'.

Harrison joins the firm after two years as a technical solutions architect with Huawei Enterprise for the West Europe region.

His latest role in a number of high-level network engineering and architecture roles spanning 20 years with carriers, and software and technology development and vendors in Europe, Barbados and Canada.

Harrison said: "As a natural born technologist I'm always excited to be on the cusp of new innovations. More businesses are realising that having a cloud isn't enough - you also need a robust and secure network to connect you to that cloud, and key to enabling the data security and privacy levels that enterprises need.

"I'm looking forward to being part of Exponential-e as it forges the creative and bespoke solutions for enterprises."

Lee Wade, Exponential-e's CEO, added: "Steven's wealth of experience from across a range of technologies and environments means that his leadership will deliver benefits to many of our teams, including sales and solutions, cloud, voice and networks.

"His passion for technology will inspire employees, customers and prospects alike, helping us to meet and grow our vision for 2014."

UC vendor Swyx has strengthened its leadership team behind its developing cloud business with the appointment of Mathias Reidel.

The incoming Director of Business Development will primarily be responsible for the growth of the company's global SaaS Division.

Reidel has worked in the IT industry since 1997 and during the last 13 years he has played a key leadership role at Microsoft as part of its sales and organisational development with a focus on areas such as unified communications and cloud computing.

Dr. Ralf Ebbinghaus, Chief Executive Officer of Swyx, said: "With Mathias not only have we gained a valuable member of our management team we also benefit from his broad experience of business and sales development.

"Our goal is not only to become the leading supplier of SaaS based UC solutions in Germany, but to also inspire the expansion of our cloud business internationally."