Comms Dealer

Venus Business Communications collected the Business Broadband provider of the year award at ISPAs gala dinner. The company was also shortlisted for the Superfast Broadband category.

Venus CEO, Brian Iddon, said: "To win the award is a tremendous achievement and testament to our commitment to provide reliable, consistent and fast services to our customers.

"More than ever their businesses rely on connectivity to be successful and the consequences of interruptions or slow connections can be extremely damaging to productivity and the bottom line."

Oak Innovation's expansion into the mid-market will be supported by a new technical apprenticeship scheme developed with training provider New Horizons Computer Learning Centres and Highbury College, both based in Portsmouth.

The course is a Level 3 Advanced IT Apprenticeship Programme in IT Systems and Networking and will be accredited by City & Guilds.

Joint-CEO Phil Reynolds said: "This upskilling will help our team gain confidence and be better equipped to deal with the complex business and product scenarios that the mid-market entails."

First Line Support Technician, Daniel Sosnowski, is the first to be enrolled on the year-long scheme that will see him gain vendor certifications from CompTIA and Microsoft as part of his Level 3 award.

Sosnowski will be joined by another member of the team as part of the September intake, with plans to make the scheme available to others in the future.

Annie Turner, Human Resources Manager, added: "In terms of training, this signifies a new direction for Oak Innovation that will benefit our people individually and add significant strength to the service we provide."

Oak will also provide CompTIA Network+ training for the whole of the technical support team.

Mancini Legal has introduced collaboration technology to join up its UK and US-based employees. The cloud-based UC solution, provided by VIA, connects three UK offices (London, Horsham, and Cranleigh) with an office in New York City.

The firm was utilising an E5 licence for Office 365, which includes hosted email, desktop Office applications for PC and Mac, Skype for Business web conferencing and access to the OneDrive.

However, the company wanted to go one step further and install an all encompassing cloud-based solution that would provide the same functionality as E5, but also combined internal and external voice calls (Cloud PBX with PSTN calling), as well as additional features such as call routing and a management portal. Upon seeing the benefits first hand during a demonstration, Mancini Legal opted for VIA Voice.

Incorporating Skype for Business, VIA Voice has helped Mancini Legal's team of solicitors to stay continuously connected and reachable regardless of location, when they are on the road or working from court.

Alessandro Mancini, CEO at Mancini Legal, said: "We place a lot of emphasis on new technology to enhance operations and therefore we wanted a new cloud-based communications solution that would provide full PBX functionality, as well as additional value-added features to boost collaboration between our offices."

Alex Tebbs, Director at VIA, said: "We are currently upgrading many businesses that are wanting to reap the benefits of a fully functioning UC platform, while also looking to cut costs."

As the political world split asunder a triumvirate of companies forged a partnership at Westminster to help resellers fully understand and embrace the hosted telephony opportunity.

On referendum day, network provider Marston's Telecoms, hosted software specialist MyPhones and distributor SOS Communications joined forces to stage a partner day on the House of Commons terrace.

"The aim of the event was to bring our partners together on the most important day for decades to fully understand the enormous change happening in telecoms and outline the opportunity to vote ‘in' to hosted telephony," said Marston's Sales Director Rob Derbyshire.

Picture shows Rob Derbyshire, Marstons; Colin Hepher, MD SOS Communications and Phillipe Matos, Business Development at MyPhones. 

Utilize has acquired a 50% stake in fellow Microsoft partner C2 Software in a deal that gives Dundee-based C2 access to Utilize's managed IT solutions, infrastructure and cloud, telephony and communications services, as well as Sage consultancy. 

Utilize Operations Director, Guy Hocking, stated: "C2 is a specialist in CRM, SharePoint and web development. We feel that the knowledge and new skill sets acquired through technologies such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, SharePoint and Power BI provide a powerful combination that can transform a company."

Utilize MD Warren Davies commented: "This acquisition adds an impressive new arm to our growing portfolio of services and in-house skills, paving the way for us to deliver powerful new business solutions to our customers."

C2 MD Finlay Carmichael said: "This partnership deal will accelerate the growth of C2, allowing us to take a significant step towards realising our vision of being the leading Microsoft cloud partner for Dynamics CRM." 

Both C2 and Utilize believe that the increasing emphasis on cloud and mobile working will play a key role in the future of business computing, with a significant portion of Microsoft's investment budget allocated to these areas.

The volatility of market conditions post referendum  were demonstrated by the sales figures of Poole-based call management company Oak Innovation which reported a staggering fluctuation in fortunes following the vote.
 
Joint CEO James Emm said: "In the days leading up to the June 23rd ballot our sales were flat and continued that way for a few days afterwards. Then, remarkably, we recorded what I believe may have been, after 25 years in business, our best ever day of sales in terms of order volume. We were flooded.
 
"It seems there were a few days of shock which had a detrimental effect on market conditions. Then people must have thought we are just going to have to get on with this.

"We were initially disappointed by the result, but maybe things will not be as bad as people fear."

Slough is to become the UK's first Wireless Gigabit and Smart City with fibre-fed wireless connectivity and Smart City solutions delivered to Slough residents and businesses following an agreement between Slough Borough Council and Angie Networks, part of Angie Communications International.

"Slough is strategically placed as a leading business hub here in the UK," said Bob Snowden, CEO UK, Angie. "We are working with Slough and partners to bring the latest smart city technology to the area.

"Angie will finance the entire project, ensuring that Slough will have all the benefits and none of the financial or operational risks."

Angie has signed up Colt and Zayo to build fibre infrastructure deeper into all Slough neighbourhoods off their existing infrastructure. The connectivity for the last hundred feet and into homes and business will be done through wireless technology.

This ultra-densification of fibre and wireless in the entire city will result in fibre-fed wireless Gigabit services in and around homes and businesses.

Slough will be the first area in the UK to benefit from this kind of next-generation communications infrastructure.

Once installed, these 5G-primed fibre-fed networks will revolutionise the way people go about their business.

Neal Lachman, Group CEO of Angie Communications International, stated: "With the likes of Zayo and Colt and several others already or coming on board as partners, we plan to emulate the Slough models, principles and modus operandi worldwide."

Software-based UC solution firm 3CX has unwrapped its latest release, Version 15, which boasts more features, higher security, a modern look and easier integration with more applications.

With v15, ongoing maintenance has been reduced to almost nothing, claimed the company. Many aspects of running a PBX have been automated, avoiding the need to move to a public cloud service.

Companies can retain full control of their phone system - on premise or in the cloud. Security, backup and restore, update management and failover are automatically managed by 3CX.

3CX's inbuilt security has also been notched up, while the client and management console interface have been made more user friendly.

The company has also expanded its integration by supporting more applications out of the box and by adding a scriptable interface that makes it easy to integrate with any CRM, Contact Centre, Outbound call centre solution.

3CX v15 has been optimised to run on mini PCs with SSD drives and Windows license included.

Provider of driver behaviour and fleet management solutions GreenRoad Technologies is looking to partner with telecoms suppliers for its mobile offering.

The announcement follows the launch of GreenRoad Mobile, a mobile application that acts as a 'coach in the cab', warning drivers in real-time when they stray from a safe, smooth driving style.

GreenRoad Technologies believes that its mobile service will give telecoms resellers a value added proposition.

GreenRoad Mobile monitors 150 vehicle movements, detecting risky manoeuvres such as harsh braking, sudden acceleration, sharp cornering and swerving.

All drivers need to do is to download and run the GreenRoad app on their smartphone or tablet then place the mobile device in the cockpit of the vehicle.

As well as giving feedback in cab, GreenRoad analyses data and compiles easy to read reports on driving performance for fleet managers

Chris Horbowyj, GreenRoad's UK Director of Sales, said: "GreenRoad Mobile works on smartphones and tablets so it makes sense to offer it through telecoms resellers because it will be an added value proposition for them.

"By expanding their portfolios to include GreenRoad telecoms resellers will be able to give their customers the opportunity to join in this revolution in telematics, a portable driver behaviour solution that delivers long-term change."

BT and Daisy Group have agreed a new six year £70m cloud communications partnership, giving Daisy and its customers access to BT's Wholesale Hosted Centrex (WHC) platform.

The platform delivers UC services and cloud call recording, HD voice services, call analytics and web collaboration; and uses the Broadsoft plug-in which supports applications from the Microsoft 365 suite such as Skype for Business.

Daisy's services will be migrated to BT Wholesale's cloud platform over the next 18 months.

Gerry McQuade, CEO of BT Wholesale and Ventures, said: "Many businesses are now hosting their communication services using cloud technology to make them accessible to all, using any fixed or mobile device, at any time, wherever they might be.

"We believe the rapid pace of change will continue over the coming years, and we're looking forward to helping both Daisy and BT customers reap the benefits that change will bring."

Neil Muller, CEO of Daisy Group, added: "This collaboration with BT ensures that we are at the forefront of providing the latest in cloud solutions, increasing customers' levels of capability and confidence as they continue to manage the relentlessness of technological change.

"I am proud of Daisy's relationship with BT and this is an opportunity to enhance our capability."

The deal also allows Daisy Group to re-sell BT's platform services to Daisy Wholesale partners and through Daisy Retail direct.

Daisy Group currently has over 60,000 customers and 1,500 resellers in this segment.