Comms Dealer

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, EMEA Conferencing Services Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $1.9 billion in 2014 and estimates this to reach $2.6 billion by 2019.

The study covers audio, hosted Web, hosted video and managed video conferencing services. The communications service providers that have a sizable presence across these segments in EMEA are Arkadin, BT Conferencing, Deutsche Telekom, InterCall, Interoute, Orange Business, PGi and Telefonica.

"Hosted/cloud video conferencing services that enable interoperability across endpoints appeal to a broader user base in EMEA owing to the rise in complexity and number of devices on networks," said Frost & Sullivan Digital Transformation Practice Research Director Adrian Drozd.

"Feature-rich solutions that support mobility and the bring-your-own-device trend are also popular among customers in these regions."

Conferencing services are central to the collaboration strategy of any enterprise and there is a growing preference among users for integrated solutions, instead of standalone products, to support communication architecture and services.

In response, vendors in EMEA are increasingly looking to package complementary collaboration services such as webcasts, team workspaces with other unified communication applications like telephony, voice mail, instant messaging and presence.

Among the various market segments, audio conferencing services are experiencing low growth due to price compression and user migration to bundled packages. The gradual transition to IP-based conferencing, owing to the proliferation of IP PBX, is also dampening the need for audio conferencing services in EMEA.

"As the lines between video-centric and content-centric web conferencing solutions that include video continue to blur, the revenues of both segments will take a hit," noted Frost & Sullivan Digital Transformation Practice Senior Director Ashwin Iyer.

"Higher sales volumes of IP-based audio conferencing solutions as well as hosted and managed video conferencing services will, nevertheless, promote revenue growth in the market."

Market penetration is the highest in the United Kingdom, France, Benelux and the Nordic countries due to increasing business-to-business and business-to-customer collaboration.

Over the forecast period, Northern Europe is likely to see more demand for hosted video conferencing services, while Southern Europe experiences greater interest in managed video conferencing services.

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the Government's advisory group on broadband, has called for a continued focus on reducing costs to allow superfast connectivity to be made available to all business premises as quickly as possible.

In a new report BSG found that while median downstream demand for small business premises will rise from 5Mbit/s in 2015 to 8.1Mbit/s in 2025 demand for the 95th percentile will rise from 12.9 Mbit/s to 41.1 Mbit/s.

In reflecting the diversity of small businesses, the report found that their bandwidth needs (downstream and upstream) are as varied as their composition.

Unsurprisingly, the number of employees and industrial sector are important factors in driving demand with the report ranging from one person food manufacturers - requiring just 6 Mbit/s downstream in 2025 - to a 49 person software business which will require 193 Mbit/s by 2025.

Matthew Evans, CEO of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, commented: "Although standard broadband is adequate for most firms, some firms are already constrained.

"All small businesses will need access to superfast speeds in the next five years, and large numbers will soon need the ultrafast speeds that the Government committed to delivering in the recent Productivity Plan."

The BSG has called on Government to work with industry to ensure that all small business premise have superfast connectivity, continue to drive down costs of network deployment to facilitate the further deployment of ultrafast networks, and gather evidence on the productivity gains that companies who have used the SME Voucher Connection Scheme.

Panasonic has introduced the KX-HDV230 SIP desk phone, designed to bring increased versatility and usability to the small business world.

Easy installation, low-cost maintenance and long-lasting robust design mean the KX-HDV230 has a low Total Cost of Ownership, said the firm.

Panasonic Marketing Manager for Communication Solutions, Carlos Osuna, said: "We know that for today's businesses, high quality communication and reliability is only part of what they need. The solutions we offer must also bring long-term cost savings as part of the deal.

"That's why we've made sure that our KX-HDV230 more than delivers on all fronts. We think this makes it an attractive proposition for carriers."

The KX-HDV230's enhanced features include six-line connection, gigabit ethernet, Power over Ethernet and 24 flexible function keys with self-labelling. It also offers an optional expansion module to increase the number of flexible keys to 224.

The KX-HDV230 includes a combination of HD SONIC features such as full duplex, acoustic full duplex, acoustic echo cancellation, and packet loss concealment, to maximise voice quality and wideband communication performance.

The KX-HDV230 will be joined in the coming months by two more models.

The latest release of 3CX Phone System for Windows gives resellers the ability to provide both a hosted and on-premise PBX on the same platform.

According to the firm Version 14 of its communications solution will be a 'welcome addition' for partners looking to expand their offering to include virtual PBX services.

3CX's rewritten smartphone clients for iOS and Android boast advanced PUSH technology and an integrated SIP tunnel. Smartphone users can now use their office extension anywhere with the same ease of use as a normal cellphone call.

Using to PUSH, 3CX can wake up the phone in the case of an inbound call and fast registration and response allows the user to answer calls easily.

Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX said: "Now with integrated PUSH in our softphone clients, which gives 3CX PUSH messages priority over others, 3CX Phone System is offering true mobility with the office system at the user's fingertips wherever they are."

Also, users will now be offered an additional deployment option, allowing 3CX partners to offer 3CX as a hosted PBX. 3CX Phone System v14 can be installed as a Virtual PBX server for up to 25 instances on a single Windows Server, easing ongoing management and lowering per instance deployment cost, said the vendor.

The addition comes at a time when vendors are seeing an increasing demand for cloud-based business solutions. It is predicted that by 2018 the hosted PBX/UC sector will have driven over $18bn in revenue. "With 3CX Phone System Hosted PBX, 3CX partners will also be able to offer 3CX as a hosted solution along with the on-premise version," added Galea..

On an administrative level, 3CX adds improved management features such as scheduled backup and restore, more alerts and a streamlined interface.

3CX also integrates virtually out of the box fault tolerance.

With the PRO edition it is now easy to maintain a virtual 'copy' of 3CX Phone System as a hot standby and failover in the unlikely event of a server failure.

Furthermore, administrators can enjoy a range of additional new features including scheduled reports by email, voicemail and recordings quota management, and new SIP trunk providers to choose from including Broadvoice, AMcom, Deutsche Telekom and Time Warner Cable to name just a few.

The company's integrated video conferencing solution, 3CX WebMeeting, has also undergone improvements, namely better video delivery due to improved WebRTC support.

Vapour Media has launched a new cloud-based bundle called All in One, a per-person, per-month managed solution encompassing cloud voice, data storage, LAN and WAN connectivity.

Vapour Director Tim Mercer has urged resellers to help drive technological change in the small business community. He said: "Cutting edge technology and big budgets no longer go hand-in-hand. Likewise, having an in-house IT expert is not a pre-requisite for efficient and affordable business communications.

"However, the UK's small businesses are still not getting the solutions and services they deserve. The advent of cloud means businesses, no matter how big or how small, have the flexibility to scale their communication needs in tandem with their business aspirations.

"While the cloud is growing at such a pace and consumer demand for instant access, instant answers and a robust service, businesses can no longer sit on their hands and ride out the familiarity of old technology. The channel and its network of resellers, with their reputations for service delivery at a local level, need to evangelise and educate about the benefits of cloud.

"We decided to take the headache out of an unnecessarily complex end-to-end solution and give channel partners, and their customers, a solution they would both understand and be able to instantly derive the business benefits."

All in One is fully installed and tested by Vapour engineers and managed 24 hours a day from the company's Network Operation Centre. Dedicated private access with class (CoS) and quality of service (QoS) comes as standard.

Established in 2013, Vapour supports IT and telco resellers by providing them with a point of access to its own private network, a choice of network providers and the ability to deploy cloud-based services, working with and educating the channel to adopt new technologies.

Hats off to eircom for scooping Xirrus' MSP Partner Of The Year Award for 2015.

Xirrus' CEO Shane Buckley presented the award during a ceremony at eircom's HQ in Dublin.

Since becoming a Xirrus MSP Partner last year, eircom has deployed Xirrus' technology in hundreds of customer sites.

"We have been impressed by the way in which the company deploys our technology and delivers innovative Wi-Fi solutions in a way that visibly benefits end users," said Buckley. "We are also delighted with eircom's ability to exceed customer demand for efficiency, cost effectiveness and investment protection."

Bill Archer, MD for eircom Business Solutions, added: "We have a strong and solid partnership with Xirrus, which allows us to deliver innovative Wi-Fi solutions to our customers. We are honoured to be recognised by one of our key partners, and we look forward to working together for many more years."

Sennheiser CEOs Daniel and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser offered a glimpse of the audio firm's next product at an exclusive event at London's Central Hall Westminster.

Themed 'Reshaping Excellence', the celebration of sound and innovation marked Sennheiser's 70th anniversary year and featured a concert performed to an audience of 1,200 guests by the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie orchestra and Grammy award winning artist Imogen Heap.
 
At London's Central Hall Westminster, Sennheiser's guests had the opportunity to experience the company's products and received a private viewing of solutions and technologies never before shown to the public.

"Sennheiser has had seven decades at the cutting edge of audio. With 'Reshaping Excellence' we are announcing a new phase of even higher ambition," said CEO Daniel Sennheiser.
 
The evening's highlight was marked by the first glimpse of Sennheiser's next 'big thing', unveiled by the CEOs at the end of the concert.

"This exciting event allowed us to share the first details of a new product that embodies a new benchmark in excellence in the high-end audio world," claimed CEO Dr. Andreas Sennheiser.
 
Although not fully revealed, it was announced by the Sennheiser CEOs that the new product will cover a frequency range that exceeds the limits of human perception.

An 'absolutely perfect sound reproduction' is assured by 2.4 micrometer, platinum-sputtered diaphragms.

The product uses high grade Carrara marble, the same kind once used by Michelangelo to create his sculptures.

The product's unveiling will continue on a dedicated website which will be launched shortly to announce additional facts about the milestone product. "There is much more to come and we are looking forward to revealing more information over the coming weeks," said Daniel Sennheiser.

News of Computacenter's HI results prompted a slight rise in share price with 'one-off gains' catalysing a jump in interim pre-tax profit. For the six months ended 30th June adjusted pre-tax profit rose 13.7% from the same period last year to £29.1m, lifted by the £42.2m sale of its RDC recycling business in February.

Revenue slipped to £1.44bn from £1.46bn on the back of a weak euro, said the firm.

Chief Executive Mike Norris commented: "Despite the significant headwinds created by a weak euro the operating performance of the group remains in line with the board's original expectations for 2015.

"However, the group has benefited from a number of one-off gains that will not be repeated in either the second half of the year or during 2016."

Computacenter's Chairman Greg Lock added: "Our business in the UK has benefited from the start of a number of significant managed services contracts won in 2014.

"In Germany we have seen good growth in the opportunities for managed services, and in France we have seen improvements in our operations as a result of our group-wide model being implemented there.

"Proceeds from the disposal of our recycling unit RDC, together with our healthy operational cashflow, allowed us to return approximately £98m to our shareholders only 18 months after our previous return of £75m.

"Our past performance counts for little if we do not keep winning the confidence and business of our customers."

A range of ErisTerminal SIP business phones introduced to the UK market by VTech Communications follows a successful launch in the USA and a Product of the Year award win for the SIP Deskset (VSP725), a SIP solution with an embedded DECT module and PoE support, dual Ethernet ports and HD audio.

The VSP725A and VSP735A's DECT RF modules enable the registration of the VSP601A and VSP500A cordless headset. The range also includes the VSP600A SIP DECT base and handset with capacity for five additional handsets; and the entry level model VSP715A.

UC provider Abzorb has rolled out a white label PBX maintenance service that promises recurring revenue streams for partners.
 
Abzorb's proposition includes full on site support nationwide via its exclusive partnership with Telecoms Resource.

Abzorb's Head of Data Services, Darren Smith, said: "It is important within the channel to offer products and services that complement each other as well as add real value. Teaming up with Telecoms Resource makes absolute sense." 

Don Moore, Director of Telecoms Resource, added: "Our relationship with Abzorb enables the channel to deal with some of the most challenging multi-vendor estates across the UK and Ireland."