Comms Dealer

Darren Bailey has joined network provider TFM Networks as Channel Sales Director, responsible for establishing a strong channel sales model, while supporting the sales team and strategic sales planning as part of the wider, complete solution offered by TFM Networks, said the firm.

Alison Irvine, Group Sales and Marketing Director at TFM Networks, said: "Darren's proven sales background, together with his business acumen, means that he brings significant value to our team as we enter our third decade in business.

"Key to our success over the last 20 years has been our dedicated staff, and a real care for our customers, no matter their demands, timescales or existing resources. We look forward to working with Darren to bring this high level of service to more companies in more industries over the months and years ahead."

Bailey added: "As data demands increase across all locations with the proliferation of devices, it's great to be joining a business that has a real hunger to meet these demands and the market-leading knowhow to make it a reality."

Previously, Bailey held senior managerial roles including Senior Sales Manager EMEA at Blackmagic Design, and European Sales Manager at Exterity.

South West Communications Group has sealed a multi-million pound deal to supply a new voice and connectivity solution to The Bradfords Group's expanding business.

The Group, which is made up of five operating companies - Bradfords Building Supplies, Snows Timber, Crendon Timber Engineering, Aspect Roofing, and YPS Plumbing & Heating Supplies - has 46 sites across the country.

Headquartered in Yeovil, Somerset, Bradfords employs more than 1,000 people and has an annual turnover in excess of £150 million.

swcomms was invited to tender for the project which included a requirement for a multi-site VoIP telephone system, a new wide area network and local area networks at every site, including Wi-Fi connectivity.

The project is in its implementation stage and is due to be fully rolled out later this year. swcomms will then support the entire solution on a managed service basis to enable Bradfords' IT team to focus on deploying new solutions and services.

Sarah Flowers, swcomms sales director, said: "Bradfords was looking for a resilient hosted solution that would serve the voice needs of all their sites and their mobile members of staff. The sites needed to be linked via a wide area network, primed for voice and data use, while each site would benefit from new cabling and an upgraded local area network. The Group wanted the entire solution to be outsourced and managed for them leaving their IT team free to deal with more profitable tasks. We are excited at the prospect of deploying this multi-faceted project and beginning this journey with Bradfords."

swcomms will install a ShoreTel UC solution to meet the voice requirement while services deployed from TalkTalk, Gamma and Cisco Meraki will link Bradfords' sites and will improve their connectivity.

Audio and communications technology specialist Jabra has launched the new Jabra SPEAK 810, the latest device in its SPEAK series.

The Jabra SPEAK 810 is designed to eliminate common pain points, for effective collaboration: technology challenges such as set-up issues, connectivity to platforms and poor sound quality, which all prevent effective meeting productivity.

"Bringing a plug-and-play, easy to use speakerphone experience with superior audio into large meeting and conference rooms for the first time, the Jabra SPEAK 810 complements the personal experience delivered by the smaller, portable SPEAK 410 and 510 products," said Nigel Dunn, Managing Director, Jabra UK & Ireland.

"With multiple connectivity options, the Jabra SPEAK 810 works with all types of smart devices and integrates seamlessly with all communication platforms - eliminating the need for dial-pad solutions and challenging the traditional hardware approach to conference calling."

He said the device was designed in response to today's knowledge worker environment and simplifies and enhances meeting time, addressing the challenges of effective collaboration and adoption of technology. It can turn any location into a productive conference room: enhanced with Bluetooth, an integrated USB cable to connect it to a PC or 3.5mm jack for your tablet or smartphone, meetings are ready to start in seconds.

Additional ease of use is delivered by integration with all communication platforms, removing the need for an IP end-point and also comes with a USB charge-out port for charging tablets or mobile devices during calls.

Today, a third of conference calls are delayed due to set-up issues with connections, 15% of meeting time is spent on 'getting started' and one of the most common frustrations is poor sound quality.

The Jabra SPEAK 810 is an intelligent audio device utilising Jabra's heritage in office audio solutions, as well as ear-related diagnostics and hearing healthcare technology. It facilitates conference calls in meeting rooms of up to 100 m2 with up to 15 people in one room, delivering crystal clear sound, without any unwanted background noise.

The plug-and-play speakerphone features powerful loudspeakers and ZoomTalkTM, an intelligent directional microphone that focuses on sound from human voices.

ZoomTalk is central to achieving productivity and flexibility as it makes meetings as clear as possible, filtering human voice from all of the ambient room noise, wherever the call is taking place.

The SPEAK 810 also maximises business investment in Unified Communications (UC). As more organisations invest in UC as a way to enable collaboration and support the increasing trend for mobility, devices such as the SPEAK 810 enable businesses to maximise and fast-track that investment. This is true whether they are starting their UC journey or have an established infrastructure.

Dunn added: "Businesses are becoming more focused on creating working environments and cultures that better enable them to compete. As a result, office environments are changing and becoming more dynamic, demanding and technology-enabled. New ways of working are adding flexibility to working spaces, practices and hours. Yet productivity must also remain a priority for business success and for this reason so should enabling effective collaboration and concentration."

Chess Partner Services has earned a 98% satisfaction score from its ebillz customers following the recent NGN regulatory changes.

The ebillz team managed system updates, data transfer, invoice design and training on behalf of its 260 strong reseller base.

Arvind Meghani, ebillz MD, said: "The actions we took to help our clients during these significant changes in NGN regulations reflects our team's commitment to deliver continual improvements to streamline customer processes and scale up business profits.

"ebillz gives its customers the technology to get the most out of their billing - and the fact they reward us with a 98% customer satisfaction score is a proud endorsement of our vision".

Success in the booming managed services market is as much about effective management as it is about cost-cutting innovative services, according to Nadia Karatsoreos, Community Manager at MAXfocus.

Addressing delegates at the Managed Services and Hosting Summit in London on September 17th she said: "Some MSPs can deliver serviced management, some believe it is a matter of service provision, but it is actually more about leadership and culture, people and processes."

The UK managed services market is expected to reach a value of £128bn during the course of the next three years, pointed out Karatsoreos, and while managed services are forecast to save customers 50-60% in some IT costs, service itself is hard to measure, she believes.

"Delivering good service is not necessarily about meeting customer expectations," said Karatsoreos.

"Everything starts from culture. This leads to more engaged employees, service quality and a better customer experience. If you don't have the right culture, your business strategy doesn't matter.

"MSPs must control customer expectations, identify their gaps and act, think about performance, and build a culture that empowers employees. This is a service excellence model."

Timico plans to loosen Broadsoft's grip on the market following the launch of its own hosted VoIP solution, Synergy, which the company says is a viable alternative to its more established rival.

Synergy was revealed to Timico partners during a launch event at the Goodwood Motor Circuit where 27 attendees also had first sight of the Synergy Solution Builder available on the PartnerEye portal, a function that enables partners to build and configure their own solution.

The system's functionality also includes one number to seamlessly connect fixed or mobile devices in any location; a geo resilient international platform that is built on Timico's enterprise grade network with geographically redundant platforms; Synergy also supports the latest WebRTC standards to deliver UC with just a web browser.

To help partners take the solution to market Timico provides technical and product training on how to sell and manage hosted VoIP, and has developed incentive schemes with rewards and cashback for signing up users to the cloud-based platform.

"It was a fun-filled day of fantastic food, fast cars and of course, deep insights into the Synergy solution, how it works and a demo of the Synergy Solution builder available on the PartnerEye portal," said Darren Hilton, Director of Partner Services.

"There was an overwhelming response from partners signing up to sell Synergy."

Pictured: Darren Hilton reveals Synergy to delegates

Last month's roll out of ShoreTel Connect (a common platform for on-site, cloud and hybrid deployments) has been followed up by the launch of a revamped partner programme.

The vendor says its Champion Partner Programme has been streamlined and is designed to dovetail with its new Connect platform, encompassing both cloud and onsite sales.

The scheme has moved to a points-based reward system with one annual target. It merges the cloud and onsite partner tracks and consolidates 11 tiers into four.

To help partners sell cloud-based solutions the vendor has established a Cloud Implementation Academy that offers free modular training courses, and those who gain certification above minimum requirements qualify for extra points that count towards their tier targets.

David Petts, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, commented: "Partners choose what to sell based on customer needs and are rewarded regardless of where they put their resources. The programme enhancements complement the ShoreTel Connect platform by rewarding partners no matter which deployment model the customer selects."

In other changes to the programme, partner names can appear on ShoreTel Connect CLOUD bills; the approval process for Opportunity Registration has been streamlined with the reward increased by 50%; MDF resources have been extended to cloud; and cloud commission options have been simplified.

IT Europa is to stage the European IT & Software Excellence Awards 2016 on 14th April at the Lancaster Hotel in London.

Now in their eighth year, the Awards have been designed to recognise and reward excellence in European software development and IT and Telecoms solutions provision.

The awards will bring together leading ISVs, Solution Providers and Systems Integrators from across Europe to demonstrate their ability to provide industry-leading IT solutions for their customers.
 
The awards are split into three sections. The first set of awards is for Systems Integrators and Solution VARs and acknowledges their skill and endeavour in delivering world class IT solutions for their customers.

The second set of awards, exclusively for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and software developers, highlights the applications that they have developed and delivered for their customers.

The final set of awards, for suppliers, highlights those vendors, distributors and service providers who best support their channel partners to deliver excellence.
 
2016 Award Categories:
 
ISV Categories 2016
 
Information & Document Management Solution of the Year
Big Data, IoT or Analytics Solution of the Year
Connected/Mobility Application Solution of the Year
Vertical Market Solution of the Year
Government/Utilities Solution of the Year
SaaS Solution of the Year
Software innovation Solution of the Year
 
Solution Provider Categories 2016
 
SME Solution of the Year
Enterprise Solution of the Year
Datacentre Solution of the Year
Vertical Solution of the Year
Public Sector and Utilities Solution of the Year
Managed Service Solution of the Year
Connected/Mobility Solution of the Year
Storage/Information Management Solution of the Year
Big Data, IoT or Analytics Solution of the Year
Security Solution of the Year
Customer Experience/Management Solution of the Year
 
Supplier Categories 2016
 
Channel Programme of the Year
Connected Technologies Vendor of the Year
Finance/Support Services Provider of the Year
Security Vendor of the Year
Distributor of the Year
Service Provider of the Year
Software Vendor of the Year
Technology Provider of the Year
 
"With the complexity of technology continuing to increase and new cloud-based and hybrid delivery models emerging, the role played by ISVs, solution providers and integrators in delivering real solutions to end-customers is becoming increasingly important," says Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa.

"The European IT & Software Excellence Awards are the only pan-European awards to recognise excellence in the creation and delivery of real solutions and are intended to encourage the development of partnerships between vendors and solution providers across the IT and Telecoms industries."
 

Channel Telecom is to launch both online and face to face sales training for partners during October.

In conjunction with BT Wholesale and Broadsoft, Channel Telecom has created this programme to help kick-start and accelerate sales of hosted UC (VoIP).

This two part initiative is intended to provide Channel Telecom partners' sales teams with the knowledge and know-how to increase sales of hosted VoIP.

The first part is an online course, designed by BT and Broadsoft, focusing primarily on how to qualify and close UC opportunities.

When participants have undertaken the eight online modules they will be assessed through on a multiple choice test. Partners who pass will be invited to part two, a face to face training event.

On October 20th, Channel Telecom will be hosting the first of these face to face 'boot camp' workshops at the BT Centre, London.

Tim Nelson, Head of IP Voice, said: "At Channel Telecom we have always endeavoured to provide our partners with the tools to thrive. Given the increasing demand for hosted solutions, training events like this are essential in keeping on top of a growing market."

This is the latest in a series of training events and workshops hosted by Channel Telecom this year. Recently Channel launched the second instalment of their nationwide MPLS workshops in Telford, with plans to host further workshops and hosted training events in Manchester and again in London.

Clifford Norton, Managing Director of Channel Telecom, commented: "We run these workshops so that our partners can continue to grow and succeed. Providing partners with product specific knowledge and information, means that they are more comfortable in selling and supporting the growing number of services we are able to offer."

A get-together of Plantronics partners, SIs and carriers at Goodwood Motor Circuit put them all on track for useful exchanges of information including product updates and delegate feedback on what the market really wants. Attendees also got to race fast cars around the circuit.

Paul Dunne, Head of Channel Sales UK&I, Plantronics, said: "We thanked our partners for their loyalty and hard work, and talked about our new Voyager Focus UC and BackBeat Sense headphones. We also heard about what they're seeing in the market, where customer experience is more important than ever, and companies are realising the need to make their agents, representatives and customer service teams more efficient and effective."