Comms Dealer

HQ move integrates new communications infrastructure enabling a mobile workforce and enhanced support for tens of thousands of young people this year

Youth charity The Prince's Trust is implementing a new communications as part of its new London HQ.

The Trust is working with Siemens Enterprise Communications to drive workforce efficiency and implement new ways of mobile working. This will help enhance the support the charity which has helped more than 700,000 young people over the last 35 years and continues to support over 100 people every day.

The Prince's Trust, a charity set up by HRH The Prince of Wales, helps disadvantaged 13-30-year-olds gain the skills and confidence they need to move into work or training. The Trust is increasing its support for young people at a time of high youth unemployment. The use of a unified communications (UC) platform provides the required flexibility, mobility and security to serve the young people that rely on The Trust's support.

The Siemens Enterprise Communications UC system, OpenScape Office LX, enables one number contact, user presence and enhanced voicemail capabilities - automatically connecting to the most appropriate device - no matter user location. The myPortal user interface, a feature of the OpenScape Office package, allows mobile employees to interact with the communications network through a graphic user interface, and integrate contacts.

Employees now have real-time access to data on the move and on any device - enabling The Trust to operate a truly mobile and constantly productive team. The platform allows users to access all employees' location and diary through a single PC, with callers given real-time information enabling them to leave more informative and actionable messages for staff.

The communications infrastructure completely replaces the existing telephone network and was implemented in four days by Siemens Enterprise Communications' accredited partner Active Voice and Data. The initial roll out will cater for the 300 strong team based at the London HQ with plans in place to implement the system to over 60 offices and 2000 Trust employees, volunteers, and partners.

Gordon Mead, Deputy Director of IT at The Prince's Trust, says: "The move to a new HQ with an entirely new communications infrastructure - from new handsets to new switches - highlights the invaluable support Siemens Enterprise Communications has continued to provide us with. With a 'train the trainer' programme in place, our mobile workforce is more productive than ever. The Trust has avoided any office downtime in the move and now has the infrastructure in place to drive growth and make substantial cost savings moving forwards."

Trevor Connell, Managing Director, Region West, Siemens Enterprise Communications, says: "This is a significant project with a renowned UK charity to deliver an extensive and forward thinking communications infrastructure. The deployment of OpenScape Office will provide The Prince's Trust with the flexibility and mobility its workforce requires, while significantly improving the efficiency of its communications infrastructure.

"An increasing number of The Trust's staff are now required to be mobile throughout the day. They need to remain visible to colleagues and be responsive to the young people they work with. Our UC technology will greatly enhance their ability to work collaboratively while providing a service that will motivate and support the one in five young people in the UK not in work, education or training."

Business communications provider Daisy Group has been awarded the highest level of channel reseller accreditation by Mitel.

Daisy is one of only a handful of organisations in the UK to achieve signaturePARTNER status, which recognises excellence in product delivery and burgeoning sales capability.

Daisy has invested heavily in training through the Mitel Engineering Accreditation Scheme (MEAS), which is designed to promote and recognise engineer product competency as part of the Mitel PARTNERprogram. Through MEAS, a Daisy engineer has recently qualified as the first Mitel Certified Specialist (MCS) in the UK.

Lee Hunwick, Head of Corporate Engineering at Daisy, commented: "Our relationship with Mitel is stronger than ever and we are delighted to become a signaturePARTNER.

"This is a huge achievement for Daisy and a testament to the commitment and dedication of our sales and engineering teams which have worked so hard to meet the tough criteria set out by Mitel for this award."

Graham Bevington, EVP International Markets at Mitel, said: "Simply saying you're good at something is one thing, but Daisy has gone the extra mile to actually prove they are good at what they do. Reaching signaturePARTNER status is no mean feat and it's great to see the team at Daisy affirm its knowledge and skillset with this award."

BT Retail is to split into two separate businesses, BT Consumer and BT Business. The move will take effect from September.

The split will enable the company to better serve its customers and focus even more on delivering its strategic priorities. These include 'Driving broadband-based consumer services' and 'Being the brand for business for UK SMEs'.

The CEO of BT Consumer will be John Petter, currently managing director of the Consumer unit within BT Retail. The CEO of BT Business will be Graham Sutherland, currently managing director of the Business unit within BT Retail.

Both currently report into Gavin Patterson and they will continue to do so when he takes over from Ian Livingston as BT Group Chief Executive in September. Both will join BT's Operating Committee on 1 September 2013.

BT Retail currently comprises four customer-facing units. These are BT Consumer, BT Business (which supplies SMEs), BT Enterprises (which consists of BT Conferencing, BT Payphones, BT Directories, BT Fleet, BT Wi-fi, BT Redcare, BT Expedite and Fresca, and BT Tikit) and BT Ireland.

BT Enterprises and BT Ireland will merge with BT Business to form the new BT Business division while BT Wi-fi and the consumer part of BT Ireland will transfer to BT Consumer.

Gavin Patterson BT Retail CEO, said today: "BT Retail has delivered well for many years now contributing strong profits to the group.

"It is time however for the business to be split in two given the intensely competitive nature of the consumer market and our strong ambitions in the business space. John and Graham are excellent leaders and I have every confidence they will take the fight to the competition and help BT to grow in the future."

John Petter, MD Consumer, said: "I am thrilled to be given this opportunity. BT is in a four way tussle with Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk for broadband customers and we are at the start of an exciting journey with BT Sport. There has never been a better time to be a consumer and we plan to up the ante in the coming years."

Graham Sutherland, MD Business, said: "Small and medium sized businesses are the life blood of the economy and they are central to our plans. BT Business has a rich set of services and the combination with BT Enterprises and BT Ireland, both fantastic businesses, will help us to grow. It is a pleasure to take on this role at such an exciting time."

Chess has staged its annual Summer Conference at the Manchester Printworks where its 230 strong team filled an entire screen.

The movie inspired conference saw Chess' Senior Management hit the stage to outline the businesses successes in 2013 and their strategy for the rest of the year.

Chess Chief Executive David Pollock said: "2013 has been an outstanding year for us so far. We've been re-listed as a Sunday Times Best Company, completed five major acquisitions and hired another 35 people taking our head count to over 220.

"The success we've achieved over the last few years has been down to our people and their commitment to our business, tirelessly going above and beyond for our customers.

"We challenge ourselves every day to be the best of the best and the conference outlined our ambitions for the rest of the year and how we're going to do it."

Chess also gave away three holidays as part of their Gimme5 competition. Andrew Slater, who works in the Sales Support team at Chess, won the grand prize of a £2,500 international holiday to a destination of his choice (pictured above with Chess CEO David Pollock).

UC platform developer 3CX has established a new office in Paris, France, as part of a bid to double its partner network via local marketing campaigns and training events.

It says it will use in France the same model which has turned out to be successful in other markets such as the UK, Italy or Germany. The company's new office will be expected to serve almost 500 current partners.

Apart from new website dedicated to French partners, 3CX's new localised product in French will include the administrator manual, user interface and French system prompts.

"France is a major IT and telecommunications market and as a European company we are in an ideal position to deliver the right solution to this market," said Nick Galea, CEO 3CX.

"France has historically been at the forefront of telecommunications and appreciates the advanced features our Unified Communications solution provides. Our new office significantly increases our presence in the French market as we are able to better support our partners and customers."

Recently, the company has also opened new offices in Poland, Russia and Japan.

NEC Corporation has taken the no. 1 position in the below 100 extension market segment as reported in MZA's latest Global PBX/IP PBX Market report over Q1 2013.

NEC's market share in the below 100 extension segment grew from 15% to the current 18%, while in the total extensions PBX/IP PBX market NEC took up second position worldwide.

"The recent MZA report highlights NEC's international success in enterprise telephony," said Graeme Snowden, Portfolio Director SMB at NEC Enterprise Solutions. "It is a clear recognition of the strength of NEC's portfolio of communications solutions and the ability to serve customers worldwide.

"We have been able to carve out this market position thanks to continuous innovation in our portfolio, as well as expanding our channels to market."

Computer Based Training is now available to resellers for NEC's small business solution the SL1100.

Resellers can achieve instant accreditation with an online course which can take a matter of just 3-4 hours even for a beginner, and all from the comfort of their own home or office. Other benefits include access to technical support from their distributors, downloadable reference materials and regular technical updates.

Simon Hughes, NEC UK Distribution Manager, said: "We wanted to take away all the obstacles for resellers wanting to on-board with NEC. It's affordable, convenient and quick and doesn't take a chunk from the working week."

The course involves flexible modules, multiple choice questions and an automated certification process. NEC plans for further CBT courses in the near future.

Hughes added: "The opportunities in the current PBX marketplace are huge. We're aiming to double SL1100 installs in the UK."

NEC has produced a video in support of its new training scheme:  Click here

Movers and shakers from some of London's most prestigious hotels attended a Smart Connections event hosted by sector specialist comms provider SBL at the Corinthia Hotel, London.

John Owen, SBL MD and co-owner, opened the seminar by introducing the partners, guest speakers and what the day aimed to achieve for those in attendance.

"The aim of Smart Connections was to inform and educate about technology trends and solutions that can aid hotels in increasing revenues and enhancing guest services," he said.

"Our focus was the upper echelons of the market as it is at these properties where service delivery is most critical. Our team of presenters and partners demonstrated how to deploy solutions properly whilst focusing on those aspects that would provide maximum benefit."
 
Hampshire-based SBL boasts an impressive portfolio of hotel customers and plans for next year's event are well under way.

Benoit Dilly, currently UK Country Manager will be leaving his post at the end of August to join another BNP Paribas Group entity, Arval UK, the vehicle leasing and fleet management company as Managing Director.

Benoit has served as UK Country Manager for BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions since 2009. During this period, the company has posted robust annual revenue and profit growth, in a tough and challenging economic climate.

He has also overseen the implementation of efficient systems and remodelling of organisational structures to better serve the needs of key business partners and clients. Benoit officially assumes his role at Arval UK on 1st September.

Replacing Benoit from 1st September will be Tristan Watkins who will be leaving his Paris-based role as Managing Director of Technology Solutions, an 'International Business Line' for BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions.

Tristan has held a number of senior roles within the BNP Paribas Group; in Corporate Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions, and for the last 10 years, in fleet and vendor leasing. The knowledge that he has built up during this time means that he has a strong understanding of the business, and the leasing market across Europe, making him well equipped to continue building a growth strategy for the UK entity.

A UK-wide locker network designed to offer an end-to-end delivery service for field engineers has significantly improved their operational performance, according to Bybox, provider the solution.

Thousands of lockers are located at sites ranging from petrol stations and supermarkets to sports grounds and fire stations. And Bybox claims that on average there is a locker within three miles of an engineer, meaning that waiting at home for spare parts to arrive or travelling to depots to pick them up is a thing of the past.

ByBox specialises in delivering items pre 8am and delivers 20 million items a year with 20,000 engineers using the platform daily.

The firm is well established in the telecoms sector and for many years has distributed parts that are required, often at short notice, around the clock and in remote locations to help engineers maintain networks 365 days-a-year.
  
"Once a delivery has been made into a locker, engineers receive a text or email alert advising them that their goods are ready for collection," stated a spokesperson.
 
Engineers can order parts up to 11pm for delivery the next morning. The first time pre 8am delivery success rate is 99.77% and 96% of deliveries are in lockers pre 6am.

"This increases scheduling flexibility and significantly reduces the number of inefficient same-day deliveries made by alternate, less efficient transport systems," added the spokesperson.

"It also reduces the number of repeat visits to sites as engineers receive all the parts needed to complete their day's jobs at one convenient location pre 8am."
 
ByBox also operates a network of Forward Stock Locations around the UK and Europe that are accessible 24 hours a day for engineers who require parts urgently outside of normal hours.
 
Urgently required parts can be dispatched 24 hours a day from the nearest Forward Stock Location (FSL), either direct to site or to the nearest locker or, alternatively, be held at the FSL for collection by an engineer.
 
ByBox' electronic lockers (iBoxes) can also be used as mini Forward Stock Locations. Fast moving and emergency parts can also be stored within a dedicated iBox door close to likely demand. All stock is visible over the web so field based staff can confirm if a required item is available before visiting the locker.
 
The iBoxes are accessed via card or code and are available with a variety of door sizes and columns that can handle anything from large parts to small accessories. The lock boxes, which are accessed by key, also have a large capacity, with the biggest doors having a 1.188 cubic m3 capacity.
 
In addition to the UK, ByBox has networks in the Republic of Ireland, France and the Benelux. Not only can it manage the distribution of items, but it can also look after the warehousing, inventory, returns, repair and provide engineering resource.

Through its subsidiary echo it can supply a bespoke range of tech and logistical support services consisting of outsourced low-level engineering through to high end technical repairs on demand on a range of electronic items. Additionally, its in house repair centre can manage the testing, repair and return of any faulty items such as GSM phones and cell fax equipment.
 
ByBox' offering is underpinned by its supply chain system Thinventory, which increases the visibility of new kit from OEMs and suppliers and provides complete visibility over the entire supply chain. The system has a full track and trace facility via the website providing total transparency across the supply chain 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it simple to locate any urgently-requested part and move it to where it is required. 
 
The level of visibility provided allows companies to run lean inventories as they know exactly where their stock is, and can move it to where it is needed. Savings associated can be considerable; some companies have leaned out their inventory so much by using the locker network that they have managed to reduce the size of their warehouses, cut running costs and freed up capital.
 
The Thinventory system also simplifies the returns process enabling engineers to use the locker network in reverse to return faulty, unused or decommissioned parts. Once an engineer has placed a part in a locker and attached a returns label, the tracking software automatically redirects it back to the manufacturer; leading to a reduction in new purchases. The system also accelerates the reverse logistics loop to comply with OEM Return Merchandise Authorisation processes and increase warranty claims.