Comms Dealer

The news that HP is planning to split is causing uncertainty in channels on which competitors can be expected to capitalise.

Giorgio Nebuloni, Research Manager for Data Centres at IDC EMEA said: "HP's stated goal is to have an increased focus, faster decision making process, and ultimately different long-term strategies and investment roadmaps for the two business blocks.

"Tellingly, HP (PC and printer) is depicted as a stable business with predictable returns and an organic growth pace, while Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will see 'targeted merger and acquisition activity'.

"In other words, the enterprise side, which is the one HP aligns most to IDC's 3rd Platform vision, is the one where IDC expects to see more radical changes and bets on in the future. Overall, and despite the trends over the past nine months, we believe the underlying assumption is that HP Inc. is poised to face headwinds in the longer term, while the enterprise part can be boosted by significant growth with the correct investments."

In channels there is more uncertainty: Chrystelle Labesque, Research Manager, Personal Computing, at IDC EMEA, added: "As happened in 2011, IDC expects competitors such as Lenovo and Dell to try and leverage this and to try to lure smaller resellers and distributors away with a 'unity' message.

"On the positive side, HP is in a much better organisational and financial shape these days and has a clearer story for the market. In the two-tier EMEA channel, which the company dominates, having two HPs could go either way. Each supplier might weigh less and be less dominant, or it could get more room to focus and grow.

"In the mid-term we maintain that the split could end up being costly particularly to the volume side of both houses - HP is clearly looking at the longer-term horizon, but a strong acceleration in the value-add segments or in brand new markets will be needed to prove the move worthwhile."

Tollring, the provider of telecoms data analytics and visualisation solutions, has struck a European distribution agreement with SIPHON Networks.

Tollring's icall suite (iCS) delivers integrated call management, as a hosted or on-premise solution, which allows customer-facing teams with SLAs/target commitments to monitor inbound and outbound calls on any device. 
 
iCS online integrates with the hosted BroadWorks communication system to deliver call analytics via reports, dashboards and wallboards via a web browser. The intuitive 'click and drill' application is said to be easy to deploy and enables businesses of any size to view call metrics critical to their business. 
 
Managers can frequently monitor caller tolerance, percentage calls answered, abandoned calls and unresolved missed calls to improve customer service and achieve goals.  Enhanced level reporting delivers 'real-time' analytics including call data at the end of every call, report scheduling, 'live' wallboards, calls queuing and user presence.
 
"The solution delivers critical business intelligence, accessible via a web browser and optimised for mobile devices. It will provide our Service Providers with a competitive differentiator and value add for their customers," said Steve Harris, Director, SIPHON Networks. 
 
Tony Martino, MD of Tollring, added: "SIPHON has a wealth of experience in the BroadSoft community across Europe and a proven track record with Hosted Telephony Service Providers. 

"Our partnership will help SIPHON to meet increasing market demand and add value to its already strong proposition."

The London leg of the nationwide Comms Charity Go-Karting challenge led by Chess in support of the Prince's Trust and Sparks culminated with Chess Chief Exec David Pollock being named Champion, beating Simon Tompkins of Jaguar Telecoms into second place while Chess Partner Services' Joe Green completed the podium.

Pollock said: "I'm slightly embarrassed about hosting and winning the event but my competitive personality got the better of me.

"It was great fun, loads of laughs and testosterone in full flow, everyone had fun. CSR is in the heart of our business and we believe that part of our success is to give something back to the community.

"There's a sense of enjoyment, pride and participations in helping those less fortunate than ourselves and this event was a great example of that."

Sponsors included TalkTalk Business, Chess, eBillz and Comms Dealer. The event raised a total of £6,600.

eBillz MD Arvind Meghani enthused: "We had such a fantastic time. The event was well planned, well run and the race was good fun. Most significantly, we have raised some money for some great charities."

Chess raised over £48,000 for charities in 2013 and is on track to beat that this year.

snom technology's Finance Director Guido Wohlers has been promoted to the role of CFO.
 
Wohlers has been working for the Berlin-based IP company for over 12 years and will use his experience to strengthen links with its worldwide network of distributors, resellers and end customers.
 
Wohlers joins the company's executive ranks including CEO Markus Schmitt-Fumian, who was named Chief Executive in June.
 
Schmitt-Fumian, CEO of snom Technology AG, said: "Guido Wohlers' appointment to this post guarantees the continuity needed to move ahead with our plans to extend the international footprint of the company and optimise our financial processes for success in the national and international markets."
 
John Bennett Managing Director of snom UK, added: "I have worked with Wohlers since 2008 and have great respect for his knowledge and understanding of the market and the product.

"He has a thorough understanding of snom's finances and growth planning and I am looking forward to the success I am sure he will bring to the company."

Daisy Wholesale has added telecoms data analytics to its Hosted Voice Exchange (HVX) solution following a link-up with Tollring.
 
The collaboration sees Tollring provide white labelled call reporting that integrates with the HVX cloud telephony platform, enabling customer-facing teams to monitor inbound and outbound calls on any mobile device. 
 
Through a series of reports, dashboards and wallboards which have been optimised for mobile devices, managers can monitor caller tolerance, percentage of calls answered, abandoned calls and unresolved missed calls. 
 
Graham Harris, Product Director for Cloud at Daisy Wholesale, said: "Strengthening our solution with detailed reporting capabilities means that our partners can go to market with a hosted voice product that not only provides high quality voice communication, but the tools for end users to analyse business-critical data in order to enhance performance.

"And because the application is accessible via mobile devices, it means that we can support the increasingly popular trend of flexible working in the SME market."
 
Tony Martino, MD of Tollring, added: "Not only is our company at an exciting stage of global development, our solutions portfolio has never been stronger. Product development lies at the heart of our organisation to deliver the latest technologically advanced data intelligence solutions."

Pictured: Tony Martino and Graham Harris

Chess has acquired IT systems provider Parachute IT adding £2.2 million to its turnover and 17 additional staff to the Group. Parachute IT will be known as Chess ICT and joins earlier acquisitions ebillz and Chess Partner Services at one of the company's satellite offices in Borehamwood, Hertforshire.

The acquisition bolsters Chess' ability to offer complete end-to-end solutions for businesses while extending its existing IT portfolio.

Chess Chief Executive David Pollock sees the acquisition as a key strategic move for the future direction of Chess: "Parachute IT has been a forward thinking centre of excellence in design, delivery and support of business IT and communication systems for over 20 years.

"It makes sense to strengthen our expansion into being a one-stop-shop by bringing the best out of Parachute IT's knowledge and experience in the IT industry."

Managing Director of Parachute IT Martin Bacon added: "When Chess approached us I saw a great opportunity with a company intensely focused on quality and spirit, strategically driven, financially powered and with a highly evolved approach to creating robust success with acquisitions.

It is clear that the Chess Group is not just holding its own as a significant player in the industry but is setting a new standard. I am confident that our people will continue to stride from strength to strength working under the Chess brand as Chess ICT."

Parachute IT joins ebillz, Integra ICT, Avenir Telecoms and The CRM business as companies acquired by Chess that will further extend the Chess group's portfolio of services and takes Chess' acquisition total to over 80 companies to date.

eBillz' Enterprise Solution has created a buzz ahead its official launch this November.

Billed as the pinnacle of its product portfolio eBillz says its Enterprise Solution is the most innovative contribution to the channel in its 18 years of operation.

The solution is designed to maximise the potential of established telecoms resellers and IT providers, meeting the needs of capacity demands previously not catered for in the industry.

Enterprise uses billing engine technology to scale up its processing power almost without limit. This boosts CDR rating resulting in speeds of up to 12 million records per hour, which eclipses the existing industry standard, claims the firm.

Enterprise also includes new features ranging from enhanced mobile billing to bureau billing.

Arvind Meghani, MD, commented: "The feedback for Enterprise has been outstanding. Larger resellers are already considering the upgrade for the business benefits ebillz Enterprise can offer.

"We believe that with its operational improvements, it will lead to considerable time and cost savings for resellers."

eBillz have recently invested over £400,000 on research and development to produce the enhanced platform. "The November launch will be a defining moment in the history of eBillz," added Meghani.

Networking specialist Neill Bird (pictured) has joined Genius Networks as pre-sales consultant following a three year sabbatical during which he visited 49 countries.

He boasts a 30-year stint working in the networking arena including 13 years operating on British Rail's national network, considered to be the UK's first WAN and a pioneer of fibre optics technology.

He also worked for Energis, InTechnology and Griffin and claims to have project managed the first installation of Cat 6 in the UK.

Bird, an Incorporated Engineer and Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, said: "Reseller customers are demanding more speed and less delay. The big issue with voice is managing latency, particularly across global networks. Businesses are expanding internationally and demanding guaranteed service levels. This is where Genius scores."
 
James Arnold Roberts, Genius Networks Director, added: "Neill's expertise and experience in networking is second to none. Our reseller partners will benefit from the advice he can provide on the best solutions to meet their customers' needs. He will be a great asset to Genius Networks."

The Network Selector has completed three acquisitions to provide channel partners with access to a range of voice, data and video solutions. 

The acquisitions include Talkativo, a supplier of IP, broadband and SIP solutions, Ocean Telecom, a fast expanding provider of mobile and fixed telephony, broadband and hosting solutions, and Planet Hippo, which provides hosting and domain registration services. 

This is the latest venture for entrepreneur Mike Harris (pictured) who has successfully built a number of multi-million pound companies including Total Network Solutions which was acquired by British Telecom in 2005. 

He is also joint founder of SiFi Networks, a provider of Fibre-to-the-Home networks and Chairman of VoiceComms Warehouse, a distributor of Internet security and network communications technology.    

For resellers not wanting to invest in billing platforms and provisioning the company is offering a range of hosted IP, fixed and mobile telecoms solutions which can be accessed through approved distributors such as VCW Voice. 

Larger resellers with the appropriate infrastructure will be able to access wholesale minutes and circuits regardless of network providers.

"We can enable resellers to compete on a level playing field with national mobile and fixed telecoms providers and provide customers with a wider range of 'best of breed' voice communications solutions," commented Harris. 

"The Phones4u experience was a wake-up call to the industry that we have responded to by putting the power back with resellers to take full ownership of their customers and prevent network providers from pulling the rug out from under their feet."

The Network Selector enables resellers to deliver significant savings to customers by automatically routing call traffic, both fixed and mobile, to the most cost effective provider based on geographical location, tariff and time of day. 

For mobile users, this works in the same way as roaming when abroad and routes calls to the strongest network signal based on the current location of the customer for a single, fixed monthly charge. 

The company also provides an auto switching service to guarantee 99.99% broadband availability in the event of a wider network failure to meet the essential business continuity planning requirements of organisations that rely on 'always on' internet access.

The acquisition of Talkativo provides resellers with an entry into the growing hosted voice market, enabling them to offer cloud-based telephony solutions while retaining margins of over 50%. 

This monthly cost does not require upfront capital expenditure and includes a comprehensive range of services including call recording and ACD along with all call charges.

"These solutions enable resellers to contract directly with end user customers, instead of acting as agents for the networks, and protect against the threats posed to their business operations by the changing strategies of network providers," added Harris. 

"Also, as technologies continue to converge, we will be in pole position to meet the growing demand for smartphones that carry both mobile and fixed numbers as well as enabling calls to be made using IP and Wi-Fi."

The Network Selector also offers a price and service comparison tool which enables resellers to analyse existing bills and recommend alternative solutions. 

This enables customers to see for themselves the savings they could achieve which are likely to be in the region of 20-30% annually, claimed the firm.

Pizza delivery company Domino's Pizza has renewed its partnership with national communications provider Kcom to help continue its growth online in the UK and Europe.

Before its partnership with Kcom began Domino's received and processed most of its orders over the phone. Three years on and with Kcom's wide area network (WAN) solution, Domino's now processes around 62% of its orders online with some stores receiving over 90% of their business online.

Colin Rees, CIO at Domino's, said: "We're a fast moving business and our single focus is the home delivery of pizza, freshly made to order with high quality ingredients. Being able to order online is a win for both our customers and us.

"Online is where people are and where they like to buy. Now that our customers have the whole menu in front of them, they can take their time ordering and the accuracy of the order is higher.

"Our main ICT challenge was dealing with how rapidly we were opening new stores and making sure the new stores were able to receive online orders. Now we're online we're seeing our customers ordering more than they used to and coming back more frequently, which is fuelling our growth."

In the last year Domino's has increased the number of UK and European stores from 805 to 858. This level of growth means the technology infrastructure required to get each store up and running needs to be deployed quickly and be flexible enough to cope with large demand so online customers can be served straight away.

Rob Wells, Head of Digital Customer Engagement at Kcom, added: "Since we began working with Domino's our partnership has developed as our understanding of how we can support their expanding business has increased.

"As an advanced multichannel retailer Domino's has achieved outstanding growth, and knows it can rely on us to deliver the best IT infrastructure. What this means is that the pressure shifts from the IT team over to the store teams who must keep up with demand for making and delivering great pizza."