Comms Dealer

Software solution specialist LucidCX has announced the provision of its advanced device support solution to Bullitt Group's new Cat B25 and B15 ruggedised devices.

LucidCX's Field Fix solution includes interactive three dimensional models, full free roam device simulators with search facilities and troubleshooter scenarios, with a Unified Agent Desktop allowing Customer Service Agents to send query resolutions to Cat phone end users as an HTML5 file.

David Hinc, Non-Executive Director at LucidCX commented: "Following the launch of the Cat B15 ruggedised water and dustproof Android SmartPhone at MWC Barcelona, Bullitt Group wanted a comprehensive, effective device support and repair avoidance solution that would be the core infrastructure for their Customer Support call centre as well as offering easy to access device resolutions via their website that encouraged self-help and self-learning.

"We are delighted to be working with the Bullitt Group in delivering our software in multiple languages to support their meteoric sales success around the globe."

ANS Group founder and Chairman Scott Fletcher has been lined up to motivate young business people at an entrepreneurs festival organised by the UK Government's Department of Trade and Investment.

Fletcher, who is 39, will address budding entrepreneurs from around the world about the most effective way to start a business. The event, which takes place in Manchester's Conference Centre between September 4th and 6th, is aimed at recent graduates who aim to be successful in business.

ANS Group now has a £50 million turnover and Manchester-born Fletcher has recently championed more young people to get involved in business. ANS currently employs 12 apprentices and plans to employ a further 32 in the next few months. This year will also see the official launch of the ANS Academy which will provide opportunities for young people in Manchester to begin a career in the IT industry.

"Being a panel member at the entrepreneur festival is a perfect opportunity to emphasise the importance of encouraging young, ambitious people to get into business. I aim to inspire people who think about excelling in this uncertain economic climate," said Fletcher.

The Festival is open to recent graduates or final year BA/BSc level, Masters or Research degree students at, universities in the UK and elsewhere in the world.
See www.entrepreneursfestival.ukti.gov.uk.

Annodata has appointed Antony Vigar as Southern Corporate Sales Director for ICT. Vigar joins Annodata from Vodafone where he spent two years as Sector Head of UK Strategic Accounts. Prior to this, Vigar spent seven years with Azzuri Communications in a number of increasingly senior roles including, Director of ICT and subsequently, Head of Specialist Solutions.

He is targeted with accelerating the growth of ICT business in the south and integrating the UC proposition into Annodata's existing core functions. Vigar commented: "The Annodata ICT portfolio is already market leading in terms of the suppliers, solutions and customers it unites. This, combined with the strategic placement of key industry aficionado's, place Annodata very strongly given the market appetite for the significant benefits Unified Communications platforms can deliver."

Alongside Vigar, Mark Valentine has joined Annodata as Commercial Manager, responsible for portfolio development and the management of strategic partnerships. The fast expanding business communications provider has also appointed Jon Norris as ICT solutions specialist.

Mike Mason, MD of Annodata's UC business, commented: "We've invested significantly in this team, which builds on the success of our current ICT and enterprise mobility business. We see the new team as a key component for our continued business growth as we extend our portfolio and capabilities into our existing and prospective clients."

JustGiving, the world's leading online fundraising platform, has boosted customer service levels through deployment of a cloud telephony solution from cloud contact centre vendor NewVoiceMedia.

The company is live on 'ContactWorld for Service' an easy-to-use, true cloud CRM solution which is providing a fast and personalised response and improved overall service and satisfaction levels.

JustGiving now has full visibility of its entire contact centre operation through in-depth reporting, which offers the business complete control over its customer experience. Moreover, it can access a full suite of tools including call recording, interactive voice response (IVR) and automatic call distribution.

As ContactWorld for Service is based in the cloud, the company can now be much more responsive and flexible to changes in demand, since all agents need is a phone, computer and internet connection, enabling them to work anywhere at any time.

Katy Stokes, IT Service Manager at JustGiving, commented: "We aim to give our users the best possible experience when giving online, so being able to recognise callers and deliver a personalised service is invaluable. Providing excellent customer support is so important to us, and with ContactWorld we are handling calls more efficiently and improving the satisfaction of our service users."

Jonathan Gale, CEO of NewVoiceMedia, added: "We're excited to have JustGiving on board and be helping them deliver customer service excellence to thousands of worthwhile charities and the fundraisers supporting them. It's great to hear how much value ContactWorld is bringing to the business - agents are more empowered and customers are benefitting from a first-class personalised experience, now and in the future".

UK food industry giant The Yearsley Group has deployed a Fibre Ethernet solution from Zen Internet to securely share information and applications between offices and remote workers.

The Fibre Ethernet solution has allowed Yearsley to embrace IP-based voice and video calls, together with remote training and resulted in vast improvements in performance and productivity for the company, particularly at remote sites that connect into the Data Centre.

Systems now connect to the network at over twice the original speed, and the improved connectivity has allowed for a greater degree of collaboration between teams. Yearsley's internal and remote employees now work together more efficiently, while the in-house IT Helpdesk and Programming and Development teams can now effectively manage the whole estate.

The new solution has also given Yearsley the confidence to invest in new online technologies, further enhancing its business capabilities and providing even greater cost savings. The combination of IP VPN and Microsoft Lync are helping Yearsley work more efficiently between sites and with customers and trading partners.

Node4, data centre and communications company, plans to expand its ‘data centre on the doorstep' strategy and according to the company's Business Development Director, Paul Bryce, customers want ease of access to their data centre site.

Despite the technological advancements in recent years customers believe that proximity to their data centre is still a priority.

He said: "One thing that is great about data centres and hosted IT is that technically a company's servers can be based anywhere and allow the customer to function as though the equipment was on their own premises. However, there has been a tendency in some parts of the industry to use these advantages as a smokescreen to divert attention away from the fact that local businesses still want to access their equipment locally.

"In most cases, they probably won't need to gain access to their data centre but the peace of mind that local data centres present can be really powerful. A network of data centres close to main centres of business is not just beneficial from a disaster recovery point of view, it also shows a commitment to responding to the demands of local businesses."

Nexus Telecommunications has built on its marketing strategy with the appointment of Ruth Panton as Marketing & Administration Manager.

She joined Nexus two years ago as PA to Rob Sims, COO. Previous roles include a position in Advertising at ITV and most recently as Account Manager at a PR firm. In the new role Panton will manage the recently formed Marketing team, as well continuing to oversee some of the HR and Office Management aspects of her previous role where required.

Panton stated: "My involvement in Nexus as PA has given me a huge insight into the management style and future vision for the company which I am positive will aid me in performing the new role.

"I am excited about the changes and developments that I have witnessed to date at Nexus and feel the opportunity has now arisen for me to increasingly put my marketing experience into practice as we work towards creating a new brand image for the company, from both an internal and external point of view."

COO Rob Sims added: "Ruth's contribution to the business has been fantastic. She has brought creativity, discipline and process to our Marketing activity and I am confident her drive and enthusiasm will take the business even further in the coming months."

Vodafone is to launch Vodafone Ultrafast 4G in London on 29th August with 12 more cities being activated before the end of the year, backed by £900m fixed and mobile network investment Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone UK said: "Speed is just the start, it's what businesses can do with it that counts. Businesses of every shape and size need to be able to get online when they want and how they want.

"Even the smallest business user has multiple devices that they want to use to access crucial information and with Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready they'll be able to share their allowance in the way they want.

"The launch of Vodafone Ultrafast 4G is an important step in our journey towards helping businesses change the way they work for the better."

Vodafone will launch Ultrafast 4G services in London on 29 August and all customers on Vodafone Red 4G-ready will be switched onto the new service when it goes live.

After London, launches in Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield will come before the end of the year. Vodafone will bring indoor 4G coverage to 98% of the UK population by 2015.

Gamma is once again breaking out the bangers for the second Gamma Ball Rally, a thousand plus mile journey between Gamma's Newbury and Budapest offices in cars that must cost no more than £500!

Gamma's channel partners will be convening early at Gamma's Newbury offices on Wednesday 11th September to start the challenge, with overnight stops planned in Bruges, Nuremberg and finally Budapest on the 13th September.

Along the route will be Top Gear style activities at iconic venues including Brands Hatch and the Nurbugring and the event will close in Budapest where there will be a gala dinner with a prize ceremony and a 'money can't buy' charity auction.

The Gamma Ball Rally is a charity event with all proceeds to be donated to two very worthy causes: Action Through Enterprise, a charity that raises money for starving children in Ghana; and East Cheshire Hospice who cared for one of Gamma's channel partners whilst she battled cancer. Participants must make a minimum £500 donation to enter the rally.

John Haw, Sales Director at Gamma, said "The last Gamma Ball Rally we ran was a huge success and this year we are building on the theme with more cars and more challenges. This is not a race but competitors should not be fooled - it's still a competition and points will be awarded along the way! We're pleased to have already raised £10,000 for the charities and hope to build on this total over the coming weeks and at the gala dinner."

The majority of UK IT leaders still do not have a handle on adopting the BYOD trend into their organisations.

According to a report published by AppSense, 67 per cent of IT leaders cite developing BYOD IT policy as a major challenge, despite a similar amount (69 per cent) of them already supplying two or more devices to employees.

"The defining factor of BYOD is freedom of user choice," said Nick Lowe, Vice President Sales and General Manager, EMEA. "With so many devices offering different kinds of user experience, BYOD instantly becomes a challenge of scale - more devices equals more operating systems, more security protocols, more application portals, more user profiles to manage consistently and more platforms to support.

"Improperly managed, BYOD can also mean more trouble for today's IT department. Since it relates very specifically to user experience, when those users don't enjoy the quality of service that they've come to expect, it can create a rift between the two parties. IT can commonly be seen as inflexible or stubborn, while users become perceived as unfairly demanding. IT departments are struggling to keep up the pace end users want them to keep - finding themselves compromised by a user base that fails to understand the effort required, and the potential issues raised, in achieving this goal.

"This report shows a potentially perilous gap between user expectations and IT's perceived remit. From a user perspective, the BYOD experience is hampered by IT not delivering on the promise of 'any device, anywhere'. Simplicity, not case-by-case decision making, needs to be at the heart of any good BYOD strategy. Anything else will frustrate not only the end user, but make the IT department's life more difficult."