Comms Dealer

Herts-based communications platform builder SpliceCom is claiming a march on its rivals because systems it sold as long ago as 2002 are 'Cloud Ready'.

"The fact that we planned for the future and got our product design absolutely right first time around means that all our existing on-premise voice systems in the field are cloud ready," said Robin Hayman, SpliceCom's Director of Marketing and Product Management.

"This offers our installed customer base investment protection and choice as they start to consider the migration of their voice solutions into the cloud to mirror their IT strategy."

Hayman claims SpliceCom's voice architecture allows existing on-premise customers to retain their current IP phones and system licences when migrating to SpliceCom cloud based systems.

And those wanting all the proven benefits of a cloud/on-premise hybrid solution, can retain their existing Call Servers to provide 100% on-site resilience should there be primary trunk issues, with local breakout for ISDN or SIP trunks.
 
"Customers wanting all the proven benefits of a cloud/on-premise hybrid solution can retain their existing Call Servers to provide 100% on-site resilience should there be primary trunk issues, with local breakout for ISDN or SIP trunk," continued Hayman.

"Just as the very first system we shipped back in 2002 is still in everyday use running the latest levels of software, so now, customers using our on-premise solutions have an easy way to migrate to cloud and hybrid solutions with minimal disruption and minimal cost."

ITSPA has announced the winners of its 8th annual awards, designed to celebrate innovation and best practice within the sector. The event took place at the Deck at the National Theatre and the awards were presented in nine categories as follows:

Best Consumer VoIP:  VoIPtalk (Telappliant)
Best Business ITSP (Small Enterprise): Soho66
Best Business ITSP (Medium Enterprise): SureVoIP
Best Business ITSP (Corporate): NFON
Best VoIP CPE: Polycom VVX 410 (Including 0365 Edition)
Best VoIP Infrastructure: Gamma SIP Trunking Service
Best VoIP Innovation: 8x8 Virtual Contact Centre 
ITSPA Members' Pick: Apple
ITSPA Champion: Dr Julian Huppert

Highly Commended:
Best Business ITSP (Small Enterprise): Foehn
Best Business ITSP (Medium Enterprise): Hello Telecom and VTSL
Best Business ITSP (Corporate): hSo
Best VoIP CPE: VTech VSP725A/VSP500A/VSP601A bundle and Yealink VP-T49G
Best VoIP Innovation: Gradwell Call Recording

Eli Katz, ITSPA Chairman, said: "Congratulations to all the winners and to those companies who were highly commended at this year's Awards. The success of this year's ceremony reflects another successful 12 months for ITSPA and our members."

Opengear has strengthened its distribution in the UK&I with a double deal, signing up MB Technology and Memory Bank.

Opengear is a provider of infrastructure management solutions and its link-up with MB Technology gives it access to a number of top ranking VARs.

The Manchester-based distributor offers services including deal registration programmes, product demonstrations, evaluation programmes and vendor support. 

Opengear's agreement with Memory Bank, a connected company to MB Technology, enables it to address the Irish market.

"MB Technology and Memory Bank both have a sound understanding of infrastructure management technologies and they know how to put these solutions together as well as the verticals they fit into," stated Derek Watkins, Vice President of Sales EMEA & India for Opengear.

Andy Kelly, Director for MB Technology, added: "Opengear is currently developing a channel package which includes reseller tools to get on-board, educate and nurture each business."

The EU's decision to block the acquisition of O2 by Hutchison under the EU Merger Regulation has been welcomed by industry bodies ITSPA and the Federation of Communication Services (FCS). Eli Katz, the Chair of ITSPA, stated: "If the deal had gone ahead it would have resulted in price rises, negatively impacting UK consumers.

"ITSPA feels that a competitive landscape in the UK telecom market is vital to provide the best outcomes for consumers and businesses. A reduction from four to three mobile network operators would have threatened this.

"The Commission was right to state that merger would have resulted in fewer MNOs willing to host virtual operators, consequently the damage to the MVNO market would have hindered innovation and competition, resulting in negative outcomes for UK consumers."

FCS CEO Chris Pateman also welcomed the news. "We are pleased to see the EU has taken such a strong line on this merger," he stated. "Hutchison's proposed 'remedies' amounted to little more than a licence to re-arrange the deck chairs. They fell well short of what is needed to genuinely encourage innovation on anybody's terms but the incumbent operators'. 

"The big issue goes far deeper than agreeing terms to merge two tentacles of what amounts to a four-armed monopoly. The mobile phone market in the UK - and indeed across the EU - needs some fundamental reform.

"To really drive innovation, encourage competition and deliver consumer value in mobile telephony requires the kind of wholesale competition we currently take for granted across the fixed line networks.  

"That's something no merger enquiry will ever deliver by itself. It requires EU-level vision and Government-level commitment to push for the rights of consumers against the vested interests of corporate providers.

"The EU has tinkered at the edges with its welcome roaming commitments and price caps. But it's competition, not bureaucracy, which will deliver sustainable consumer choice. And there's no real sign of any willingness to deliver that big-picture view."

John Colley, of Warwick Business School, is a Professor of Practice in the Strategy and International Business group and researches large takeovers. He is also a former MD of a FTSE 100 company.

Commenting on the news he said: "It comes as little surprise that the EU competition authorities have said enough is enough on the rapid concentration of the UK mobile telecoms sector.

"Following the merger of T-Mobile with Orange, subsequently purchased by BT, the industry was reduced to four players. The proposed merger of Three with O2 would have made it three players and the evidence from markets elsewhere shows that three players results in higher prices for consumers compared to four. In effect competition reduces and the consumer pays the price for that.

"It is clear that the merger would have substantially reduced costs in requiring less shops, marketing, administration, head offices and there would have been benefits in terms of reduced network operating costs. However, the reduced competition would have meant that Three/O2 would not have to pass those savings on to the consumer."

Openreach customer service engineer Alex Lacey came to the aid of an injured runner 24 miles into this year's London Marathon and carried him to the finish line.

Lacey overheard St John Ambulance volunteers tell the lame runner he wouldn't qualify for his medal if they gave him first aid and he didn't finish.

"I saw this man holding the barrier with his eyes rolled up and legs like jelly," said Lacey.

"I carried him to mile 26 where two other runners helped me lift the man over the finish line. He was then taken away for treatment by a St John Ambulance team.

"As we went down the Mall the crowds were going crazy and willing us to get there. That moment will stay with me for the rest of my life. It would be devastating to get to mile 24 and not complete the race. I couldn't see that happen."

Lacey was running in memory of his late father who died of cancer, raising £4k-plus for the Clic Sargent children's cancer charity. He hopes to identify the man he helped via social media.

Distributor ScanSource has posted its Q3 2016 results (ending March 31st), reporting a 5% year-over-year increase in net sales to $798.4m.

The figures include the acquisition of KBZ in September 2015.

Net sales in constant currency excluding acquisitions decreased 1% year-over-year.

"Although sales fell below our expected range primarily from a lower volume of big deals, we are pleased to deliver EPS growth of 20%," said Mike Baur, CEO, ScanSource.

"Our 10.6% gross margin reflects the value-added services we provide to our customers and vendors."

The distributor focuses on point-of-sale (POS), barcode, physical security, video, voice, data networking and emerging technologies with two segments, Worldwide Barcode & Security and Worldwide Communications & Services.

Operating income for the quarter ended March 31st, 2016 totalled $21.6m. Non-GAAP operating income of $25.3m increased 5% year-over-year from $24.2m.

Nimans has taken delivery of an enhanced range of handsets from Yealink as momentum continues to build around Skype for Business in the voice arena, says the firm.

The trio of IP phones are designed to improve collaboration and productivity for receptionists to business executives - with further models in the pipeline.

Nimans' Head of Conferencing and Telephony, Ian Brindle, says the Skype for Business certified T48G, T46G and T42G units boast the features that make for a seamless user experience.

The top of the range T48G for example is equipped with a seven inch touchscreen display and full Skype for Business interaction. Optima HD audio, high interoperability and management tools also feature.

Brindle said: "Offering a modern Skype for Business interface the T48G and T46G share the same user experience as the client's laptop version.

"Each also incorporates a wireless 'Better Together over Ethernet' (BToE) function to enable seamless switching between Skype for Business desktop-client and desk phones.

"Skype for Business continues to grow in the telephony sector and these latest Yealink devices offer resellers and their customers the ability to fully exploit the potential this UC experience can generate, to drive business performance to new levels of efficiency."

CityFibre has secured new service provider contracts signed on the Milton Keynes and Northampton metro networks, acquired as part of its KCOM asset acquisition in January 2016.

The contracts, with a combined initial value of £7m, are with DBfB, a Northampton-based provider of connectivity, comms and IT solutions, and Exa Networks, the Bradford-based provider of connectivity to education and business establishments.

CityFibre also signed contracts with Exa on the acquired footprints in Leeds and Bradford.

Under the six-year agreements, DBfB and Exa will commit to provide connectivity to 500 businesses and schools across Milton Keynes and Northampton.

Since closing the acquisition of KCOM Group's national network assets on 18th January 2016, CityFibre has sold 950 connections across five of the acquired metro networks and added £15.7m in initial contract value covering both the business and public sector market segments.

These latest contracts also take CityFibre past the milestone of 5,000 total customer connections sold since the company's inception.

CityFibre Chief Executive Greg Mesch stated: "In a little under four months we've added £15.7m in new contracted revenues covering 950 new committed connections in five cities, as well as capacity sales on the national long distance network.

"This latest deal delivers anchor customers in two market verticals, adding DBfB as our 47th service provider partner, and expanding our existing relationship with Exa Networks.

"The combined contract value of the new business added on the acquired assets to date, including the minimum revenue commitment from KCOM, now totals £40.7m."

Tunbridge Wells-based Adept Telecom has bolstered its UC capabilities with the acquisition of Comms Group, a provider of Avaya IP Office to SMEs, for £3.5m. The deal will be funded from Adept's revolving debt facility and is immediately earnings-accretive.

Adept CEO Ian Fishwick stated: "We are now in a position to provide a complete unified communications offering which can address the whole of the market, from small customers through to large enterprise clients."

Adept's UC proposition was first formed when it acquired Centrix in May 2015.

"The addition of Comms Group addresses a smaller scale of SME client, but will increase the effectiveness of bidding by Adept for unified solutions opportunities overall," added Fishwick.

Comms Group was established in June 2008 by Matt Tarry and Paul Simmons. The company employs 25 people at its Northampton offices and is accredited by Avaya, Cisco and Gamma.

Comms Group will retain its current presence and customer service operation in Northampton. And the vendors are to be retained in their current roles for a period of at least 12 months post-completion.

The last filed accounts of Comms Group for the year ended 31 March 2015 reported revenue, operating profit and profit before tax of £3.m, £0.5 million and £0.4m respectively.

Net and gross assets at that date were £1.2m and £1.8m respectively.

The trading performance of Comms Group for the year ended 31st March 2016 was ahead of the historic results with the unaudited management accounts showing revenue and operating profit of approximately £3.7m and £0.8m respectively.

Fishwick added: "Comms Group is an excellent fit because, like Adept, it is asset-­light, complements and builds upon our existing expertise and skills, particularly within the Avaya product set, and extends Adept's offering in the UC space through the addition of IT services."

Corporate finance advisory services were provided by Evolution Capital (UK).

Adept supplies comms services to 36 councils, seven out of 10 private hospitals in London, half of all London's business centres and 17,000 customers including national brand names.

IT support business Pisys.net has reached the £1m revenue milestone and marked the achievement with the launch of a national franchise with new operations in three locations across the UK.

The company was established in 2003 when Directors Steve Bain and John Merrick met at BNI Dylan, a Swansea-based networking meeting that forms part of the BNI South Wales franchise.

Merrick said: "Steve and I hit it off straight away, despite our businesses competing, and we soon formed our partnership.

"Since then we have grown to employ 17 staff, all based in Swansea, and we have franchises in Aberdeen, Inverness and Cardiff East.

"This is a superb move for us as we look to pass on all of our key knowledge from what works, and doesn't work, in the IT industry."

Merrick also noted that BNI South Wales has played an important role in the firm's success.

"BNI has been the backbone of our business from day one," he added. "Particularly in the early days because it was our only marketing platform.

"We built our reputation on the back of referrals received through the BNI network. It gave us a direct route to market which has paid dividends in the form our second and third generation referrals. Therefore we encourage our franchise owners to seek BNI membership."

Pictured (l-r) the Pisys.net board: John Merrick, Jo-Ann Miles and Steve Bain.