Comms Dealer

TelcoSwitch has added a new feature to its CallSwitch service, CRM+, which provides out-of-the-box integration with over 30 CRM platforms enabling customers to automatically capture all customer interactions.

Paul Gibbs, Sales Director at TelcoSwitch, said: "CRM+ takes CallSwitch to the next level, offering partners an opportunity to set themselves apart from the crowd.

"Every call, lead and opportunity is automatically updated with the full call record, recording and outcome. New tasks can be automatically set while notes are stored and sent to colleagues.

"All of which empowers businesses to become more efficient in delivering exceptional service through the ability to immediately identify customers and having notes instantly available. Businesses also benefit from more streamlined processes and optimised productivity."

IT decision makers are divided about the impact of disruptive technologies such as AI and automation - the so called 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' - on the labour market, according to new research from BT.

Contrary to many reports which speculate about widespread job losses, one third of organisations surveyed who plan to implement AI and automation within the next two years believe it will create more jobs within the workplace.

This reflects the view that AI will generate new opportunities for programmers, algorithm designers and software engineers and create new job categories such as AI trainers, ethicists and lawyers.

However, the same proportion predict that these technologies could result in job losses in their organisation, given concerns that innovations in robotics and intelligent computer systems may eventually replace jobs traditionally done by humans, particularly those of a manual, repetitive nature.

Against this uncertainty surrounding the impact of these technologies on the jobs market, the survey of 1,501 IT decision makers across UK organisations of all sizes revealed that AI and automation is already being implemented by over a third of all respondents.

For example, one in four organisations are using automation technologies like drones, robots or autonomous vehicles, with almost two thirds (63 per cent) describing AI or automation technologies as being 'very beneficial' to their organisations.

Around one in three IT decision makers are planning to invest in AI and automation over the next two years, suggesting that businesses and organisations across the country are gearing up to embrace these technologies in the near future.

Of these, 62 per cent believe that their organisations will be more effective as a result.

The UK public sector also appears to be benefitting from the early adoption of disruptive technologies.

95 per cent of organisations that operate within the UK public sector are already using at least one form of disruptive technology, compared with 85 per cent of businesses operating in the private sector.

Furthermore, almost half of organisations operating within the pubic sector have implemented big data analysis, while 42 per cent of those operating in the private sector are using this technology to date.

IT security concerns remain one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of AI and automation. 44 per cent of organisations operating within the public sector believe that greater automation will leave their organisation open to cyber-attacks, compared with 28 per cent of those operating in the private sector.

Within the private sector, larger organisations are the most concerned about the impact of AI, with 40 per cent identifying as it as the technology they consider to carry the most risk over the next two years.

Colm O'Neill, managing director of major corporates and public sector at BT, said: "This research gives us a fascinating insight into the early adoption of AI, automation and other disruptive technologies in the UK workplace. The findings illustrate the rapid pace of technological change amongst organisations of all types and sizes.

"And while some organisations clearly view disruptive technologies as a potential threat to the labour market, we believe the introduction of new automated technologies and business processes will play to the strengths of both people and machines."

A new 400Gbps single-carrier based technology solution to transmit vast streams of data over core fibre-optic networks has been developed by researchers at the BT Labs in Adastral Park, Ipswich.

BT's trial of the technology builds on its previously demonstrated 'superchannel' concept which achieved speeds of 5.6Tbps last year by combining 200Gbps wavelengths of light into a single optical fibre.

BT, together with industry partner Huawei, has now developed a technique which combines multiple 400Gbps wavelengths over a single fibre.

Using this new technique, BT's researchers are confident that speeds of more than 13Tbps can be achieved using the same amount of light spectrum as the previous record.

These speeds are the equivalent of downloading up to 500 HD films in a single second.

BT's latest Superchannel concept is based on the ultra-efficient use of light carried over optical fibre - called 'spectral efficiency'.

The trial demonstrated that it's possible to transmit multi-terabit speeds over the UK's core networks with stable, long-term, error free performance, and 6.25bits/s/Hz.

The technology was trialled on a live fibre-optic 'loop' between the BT Labs at Adastral Park, Ipswich and BT's Bishops Stortford Exchange over a distance of 250km.

BT is demonstrating the optical network technology at its Innovation Week 2017 event at Adastral Park which runs from 12-16 June.

Professor Tim Whitley, BT's MD of Research & Innovation, said: "This trial proves that we can release even more capacity from fibre optic infrastructures by further boosting the efficiency of light transmitted over a single strand of glass.

"It builds on our record-breaking speed achievements over the last couple of years, transmitting 3Tbps and then 5.6Tbps over a single optical fibre, and running the first 2Tbps Superchannel in our live network.

"Widespread adoption of HD and 4K streaming TV services is driving nearly 50 per cent annual growth in demand for bandwidth. We expect this trend to continue as new technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality become more common. So this research is essential to keep the UK ahead of any potential future network capacity crunch.

"Although there isn't a need for multi-terabit speeds in the core network just yet, we want to stay ahead of the game and ensure that the core network is ready to support the performance that our customers might demand in the future."

Managed Services Provider Annodata (a Kyocera Corporation company) has been awarded a position on the National Framework for the provision of office equipment to the Scottish public sector.

Annodata is just one of eight suppliers to be awarded a position on the framework.

In recent times the company has also achieved a place on the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) framework, Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) framework, as well as the NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) framework.

Rod Tonna-Barthet, CEO of Annodata, commented: "The public sector is an important area for Annodata and we understand the importance of supporting innovation, efficiency and cost-effectiveness as this sector comes under increasing pressure to contain expenditure and become more accountable for how it spends taxpayers' money.

"While some organisations have made great strides in reimagining their print estates, along with other aspects of their office equipment, many still have ample room for improvement.

"We have helped countless public sector organisations navigate a safe and secure path to cost reduction and efficiency and we are excited about growing our presence in Scotland even further. This position builds on our strong Scottish client base and means that we can bolster our support for public sector businesses in this region."

Nimans has collected Polycom's Distribution Partner of the Year award following a 20% uptick in sales driven primarily by sales of RealPresence Trio (the smart hub for group collaboration) and the VVX handsets.

Ian Brindle, Nimans' Head of Conferencing and Telephony Sales, stated: "Like-for-like sales from 2015 to 2016 rose significantly not just in terms of volume but percentage growth compared our rivals"

Pictured (l-r): Jeremy Keefe, Area Sales Vice President UK, Ireland and Southern Europe for Polycom with Ian Brindle.

Channel support for Samsung's IP PBX products will come direct from South Korea following the introduction of a new model by Samsung Networks that is expected to come into effect before the end of August once the transfer of information and staff training is completed.

Warren Hampton, General Manager of Networks for Samsung UK, stated: "There were too many steps in the old support model, so we've looked into ways of streamlining our service and came up with a new initiative that delivers support direct from our HQ team in Korea.

"We strongly believe this will give our UK distributors the control and autonomy needed to offer product support to our channel."

The business relationship between Samsung resellers and their distributors will not change.

Nimans moved quickly to reassure resellers and has boosted its Samsung support infrastructure in response to the news. 

Channel Sales Director Richard Carter commented: "Samsung is a successful brand in the UK & Ireland and has demonstrated consistent growth year on year. 

"In order to support the Samsung business Nimans has set up a dedicated Samsung Business Unit covering purchasing, technical support, sales and marketing.

"This overall structure which includes additional Nimans personnel replicates the existing Samsung go to market team in the UK."

John Bird, Head of UC Systems at distributor Exertis, commented: "It's business as usual, but UK distribution will escalate directly to the Korean HQ.

"Just under 2% of the Samsung support tickets we receive need escalating, and expect escalation resolution times to reduce significantly in the future.

"As part of this initiative, distribution will be responsible for all aspects of the vendor relationship between Samsung HQ and the channel.

"This strategy brings the UK into the same vendor, supplier and reseller relationship as other countries."

Distributor ProVu is offering free online training courses on how to sell and support VoIP hardware.

Four courses focus on the Gigaset, SARK, Snom and Yealink brands, and are designed for resellers to complete at their own pace.

ProVu's Product Development Director Paul Hayes said: "There's much more to supplying hardware than just the sale. Developing the ability to support deployments goes a long way in maintaining customer satisfaction."

Invosys has undergone a brand spruce-up following its acquisition of VoIP platform developer Telux HD. The new look reflects an enhanced product suite, new tech capabilities and broader customer offering which includes a hosted proposition.

Co-founder Peter Crooks said: "The company is different so we felt it was important to communicate these changes to our customers by updating our branding. The new graffiti-style branding set the tone and is a development of our existing logo."

Co-founder Rob Booth added: "Embracing change means taking risks, reinventing the status quo, having a vision and the courage to make it. We want to be bold and confident about how we challenge the channel to find a better way. The bold new branding perfectly reflects what we stand for."

Global server revenue declined 4.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017, while shipments fell 4.2%, according to analyst Gartner.

"The first quarter of 2017 showed declines on a global level with a slight variation in results by region," said Jeffrey Hewitt, an analyst at Gartner. "Asia/Pacific bucked the trend and posted growth while all other regions fell.

"Although purchases in the hyper-scale data centre segment have been increasing, the enterprise and SMB segments remain constrained as end users in these segments accommodate their increased application requirements through virtualisation and consider cloud alternatives."

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) continued to lead in the worldwide server market based on revenue. The company posted just over $3bn in revenue for a total share of 24.1% in the first quarter of 2017. Dell EMC maintained the number two position with 19% market share. Dell EMC was actually the only vendor in the top five to experience growth in the first quarter.

These two were followed by IBM, Cisco and Lenovo. In server shipments, Dell EMC secured the Number one position with 17.9% market. The company had a slight increase of 0.5% growth over the first quarter of 2016. Despite a decline of 16.7%, HPE secured the second spot with 16.8%. They were followed by Huawei, Lenovo and Inspur Electronics. Inspur experienced the highest growth in shipments - up 27.3%.

The wall of venture capital money being thrown at security means that users and channels will have to gamble on selecting a 'survivor' to work with, according to Ian Kilpatrick, EVP Cyber Security for Nuvias, who forecasts that a quarter of them will not be around in five years' time.

The scale of VC backing is so high that new firms are springing up and offering similar solutions, he says. And for the investors, it only takes one in ten of their investments to break through to scale for them to get a good return. The rest of the vendors will eventually be pushed out or absorbed, he believes.