Comms Dealer

BT Business Partner Sales has launched an enhanced version of its Energiser Incentive Scheme for 2015/16, with a new structure introduced based on partner feedback.

Under the new scheme partners are able to set their own new business targets, enabling greater financial rewards to be paid out. The higher the threshold target set by partners, the greater the possible reward with the potential to earn up to 4% of the value of eligible new business sales in addition to the standard commission.

General Manager Martin Clarke said: "Last year we ran the successful Energiser incentive Scheme for a second year. There have been some great results again and we are looking forward to paying some big rewards at the end of May 2015. Due to its continued success, we are delighted to confirm the launch of the BPS Energiser Incentive for 2015/16."

NEC and Nimans have embarked on a toll fraud awareness campaign following the introduction of anti-hacking technology by the vendor.

Incidents of toll fraud are rising 15% each year at an average of £10,000 per victim. Global phone fraud costs are said to be £25bn per year with the UK the third most targeted country.

Tom Maxwell, Head of Dealer Sales at Nimans, said: "Statistics show that an estimated 84% of UK businesses are not safe from hacking.

"Regardless of whether it's an analogue, digital or IP-based system, fraudsters can gain access to a phone system in seconds.

"By the time a company discovers fraudulent calls have been made it's often too late. An average cost to a UK victim is around £10,000 and this may be undetected until the phone bill arrives."

Communicate Better CEO Wayne Cartwright completed the Virgin London Marathon (26th April) in a commendable 4 hours, 17 minutes, raising over £6,300 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

2014 was a particularly tough year for Cartwright and his co-Director brother Steve, who lost their father after several long battles with cancer.

"After the passing of my dad I wanted to do my bit and raise some money for all the people who helped him and my family through the last few months of his life," said Cartwright.

"I'm thrilled to have achieved the time that I did and it feels like a huge accomplishment. I am also proud of the amount of money raised for Macmillan. It's one challenge ticked off my bucket list and my dad was with me every step of the way!"

Aeromark Optimatics has secured a deal with Las Iguanas to provide service management including call handling, asset database, QR tagging, cost reporting and full update of sub-contract information.

The South American restaurant group has over 40 branches in the UK and its growing success created the need for an efficient Workforce Management System to enhance operations.

Aeromark has a track record working with large food groups most notably YO! Sushi and Greggs.

Optimatics will give Las Iguanas full visibility and ensure all assets including fridges, freezers, cookers and air conditioning units are kept up to date and maintained effectively.

The system will enable restaurant managers to report broken down equipment quickly by logging into a web portal and scanning the assets QR code.

The job will then notify a sub-contractor that service is required.

Once the subcontractor has completed the job, a request will automatically be created in advance for when maintenance is due and stored within the database providing management with complete visibility on all planned maintenance and total cost control.

"All service history will be stored and included in a monthly report saving management time and administration," said a spokesperson from Aeromark Optimatics.

Serial acquirer Elitetele.com has secured £20m in funding from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to build on its acquisitions to date including Modern Communications and Qualitel Voice & Data which were snapped up during the last 12 months.

Elitetele.com reported revenues of £31m for the year ending July 2014, an increase of 31% on the previous year driven by the successful integration of its previous 11 acquisitions and investment in emerging mobile and cloud technologies.

The funding provided by the bank's Manchester Mid-Markets and Strategic Finance teams will aid Elitetele.com's ongoing search for businesses to complement its growth in the telco, IT, PBX and connectivity sectors.

Matt Newing, CEO at Elitetele.com, said: "We see organic acquisitions as a key part of our growth strategy and the best route to attract new customers and establish ourselves as the unified communications provider of choice.

"As technology continues to evolve faster than ever, our customers require increasingly complex solutions. It is our goal to acquire the expertise to meet these needs in the next 12 months and the funding from the Lloyds Bank team will enable us to take a huge step forward to ensure we're at the cutting edge of data, hosting and connectivity."

ShoreTel has been positioned by Gartner 'Leaders' quadrant of the 'Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications for Midsize Enterprises, North America'.

This is the first Magic Quadrant focused on UC for the mid-size enterprise in North America, with Gartner evaluating 10 UC solution providers targeted to mid-size businesses (defined as companies with between 100-999 employees).

The evaluation criteria included market understanding, marketing strategy, sales strategy and vertical industry strategy; along with product/service, sales execution and pricing, and customer experience.

Mark Roberts, CMO of ShoreTel, said: "We've always been laser-focused on the mid-size enterprise market. We feel this is the group leading the innovation in UC and the most likely adopters of hybrid solutions.

"We continue to innovate while we execute on our product roadmap, and with the upcoming launch of ShoreTel Connect we will deliver a new platform that will further enhance our market position."

The mobilisation of apps and content is gathering pace with total app activations up 160% over the past year, according to Good Technology's 11th quarterly Mobility Index Report.

More companies are enabling their workforces with enhanced collaboration tools and corporate content across an increasing range of mobile devices, says the firm.

Insurance emerges as an early adopter of custom apps with over a third of all apps activated focused on mobilising custom business processes. Over 1,600 Good-secured apps have been built on the Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform.

"As organisations continue their secure mobility journeys our customers are realising that they can transform their businesses with custom apps," said Christy Wyatt, chairman and CEO at Good Technology.

"The Good Dynamics Platform enables forward-thinking industries and companies with new business processes to drive new revenue, productivity and access into new markets through mobile."

An Education E-guide produced by Tech Data and Microsoft explains the different ways Microsoft is working to help students and teachers get the best from technology and online protection.

Information on special offers and how Tech Data can support partners in winning business in the education is also provided.

There is a Touch Device Finder, a section that compares Windows devices to iPads and Chromebooks, and a visual tour of Tech Data's renowned Virtual Classroom environment and Demand Generation Portal tools.

Kirsty Prigmore, Public Sector Marketing Manager at Tech Data, said: "Education remains a key area of focus for Tech Data and we see new opportunities emerging for resellers all the time.

"Microsoft is a key player in education and the guide is a simple way to get up to speed on Microsoft's activity and offerings in the sector and how Tech Data can help you to make the most of the opportunities."

It will also help resellers prepare for the heightened activity that comes during the summer months in the education sector, she noted.

Prigmore added: "Schools are already starting to plan their upgrade activity for the summer and it's important to make contact early on in the build-up so that everyone can plan ahead. Tech Data will be ready to help you maximise the potential."

Azlan has won a Brandon Hall Group Silver award for excellence in the Best Sales Training Program for Extended Enterprise category, and a Bronze award in the category of Best Advance in Learning Management Technology for External Training.

The awards commend Azlan's TD Academy online training platform for HP partners, which provides interactive e-learning modules, sales enablement tools and bite-sized training modules to help resellers accelerate their HP business and improve sales capability.

The training modules emphasise how partners can understand customers' needs and sell effectively, rather than focusing on products. Every reseller is provided with a tailored training plan and delegates achieve recognised sales qualifications on completion.

Stephen Cant, Director of Azlan's HP Enterprise Group, said: "This independent recognition is a testament of the investment, effort and commitment that we have made to providing our HP reseller customers with the knowledge, support and resources they need to develop and grow their business."

Network provider TFM Networks has introduced a new product designed to help businesses protect themselves from threats triggered by their own network users.

Called Cloud Filtering, the new network security tool (based on an OpenDNS Umbrella platform) uses big data analytics and machine learning to intelligently predict and protect against both known and unknown threats, blocking them before they can strike the network.

According to a recent Ponemon Institute study, approximately 15% per cent of attacks that penetrate corporate networks or enterprise systems damage or destroy physical equipment such as servers, storage devices, routers and other IT devices.

Using Cloud Filtering, businesses can apply up to 60 category filters to customisable blacklists or whitelists, enabling them to manage which users can access specific pages on the business network, helping prevent phishing, botnet and malware attacks from malicious websites.

The visitor's IP or Username is matched against this list and the appropriate filtering policy is applied before the Internet traffic is passed through to the network.

This reduces the network overhead and latency involved in the filtering, giving customers a faster browsing experience, said the firm.

Alison Irvine, Group Sales and Marketing Director, explained: "Network security and efficiency is business critical, but achieving it does not have to be costly or time-consuming.

"Cloud Filtering prevents attacks from getting into the network, providing protection against liability for illegal downloads, preserving bandwidth for business use and requiring no additional infrastructure or overheads. This means companies can focus on their core business knowing that their network is working harder to keep them safe and secure."

Cloud Filtering is hosted and maintained in the cloud with a 100% uptime guarantee, requiring no hardware installation for the customer.

Available in two versions for Internet and MPLS networks, the technology also offers real-time, exportable reporting and is transparent for end-users to promote compliance with corporate network policies.