NEWS
PLUMB LINES
We don’t target
our partners’ customers. They’re ring fenced
DAVID PLUMB, HEAD OF SME SALES, 02
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over four months since Comms Vision in Gleneagles. This was the first time O2 had attended and it’s fair to say that we had to learn! At the event I spoke about how we can create value for our customers, and our own businesses by helping our customers get joined up. Becoming a guide to help them understand how to improve their business, rather than a technologist trying to sell them extra boxes.
During these busy four months, my team and I have spoken to over 150 resellers to understand how we can give you the tools to create value in the future. So I want to use my first monthly blog to answer a couple of the key questions we’ve been asked – and to remind you how we’ll carry on listening and learning.
The most common question I get asked is, ‘If I partner with O2, who owns and manages the customer?’ The simple answer is you do. We don’t target our partners’ customers. They’re ring fenced. I head up all the SME sales channels at O2, so I know they’re aligned. In fact, I recently changed the pay plan for my direct sales managers. They’re now incentivised to drive business for O2, no matter which channel actually connects and manages the customer. This means my direct sales team will work with you to win and retain business.
If you read the mobile press, you’ll have seen that we recently passed a further 100k of our directly acquired business customers to our Centre of Excellence Partners to manage. This speaks volumes about our ongoing commitment to our partners. We appreciate that our partners do a better job than us in many areas.
I’ve also been asked about our plans for a wholesale solution for mobile. You already bill your customers for fixed and managed services, and understandably want to offer them mobile in the same way. This is something we’re looking at and will come back with our plans shortly.
I’m also working with Comms Dealer on some round table lunches. I’ll use these as an opportunity to discuss our ideas with you face-to-face. Your feedback over the last four months has taught us a lot, so keep sharing and we’ll keep listening.
askdavid@o2.com and I’ll cover it my next column, or visit my blog at www. comms-dealer.com where comments can be added. n
BT takes WWF green award
BT HAS become the first company to successfully cut 20% of its business flights as part of WWF’s One in Five Challenge, a programme that helps companies to reduce their reliance on flying in favour of lower carbon alternatives. It took BT just one year to
reduce the number of business flights from 85,130 to 65,510, a reduction of nearly 20,000 flights. By making these cuts, BT was also able to reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 1,700 tonnes in avoided flights. Lucy Bertenshaw, Campaign
Manager at WWF-UK, said: “BT has shown real leadership and proved that it is possible for a business to make significant cuts in their flights. “BT is setting a great example to other companies in demonstrating a pioneering approach to managing its travel by actively promoting the use of conferencing services to further reduce carbon emissions.” WWF’s One in Five Challenge aims to help companies cut their flights by one fifth over a period of up to five years. The programme, which is independently audited by JMP Consultants, was launched last year and so far has nine participating organisations, including Marks & Spencer, Skanska and Capgemini.
£600k raised
to aid youth
BRITAIN’S business brains have raised more than £600,000 by working in a turkey processing plant, milking cows and setting up a virtual world on Second Life. The Prince’s Trust Million
Makers challenge has seen employ- ees from nearly 60 companies com- peting to raise as much money as possible for the youth charity. The cash raised will help thou-
sands of young people into busi- ness on The Prince’s Trust Business Programme. Comms Dealer’s char- ity partner, The Prince’s Trust, is now looking for companies in the communications industry to take part in this year’s challenge.
More Prince’s Trust news on p48
The Comms National Awards yet? Visit cnawards.com
Have you entered
18 COMMS DEALER APRIL 2010
Unifi ed Communications Category
www.comms-dealer.com
sponsors the
EASTER arrived early at Nimans and Rocom when the firms held fun days to promote Jabra headset sales. Highlights included a giant rabbit, Easter bonnet parades, bouncing bunnys and Easter Egg calendar competitions. Staff competed against each other to win star prizes of skydiving trips for two and visits to a chocolate making workshop, based on their sales performance. Nimans’ and Rocom’s Jabra Headset Specialist, Malcolm Swords – who dressed-up in a rabbit suit – said: “Staff came out of their shell to make the events a cracking success!”
Lucy Bertenshaw
BT sustainability and climate change programme manager, Gabrielle Ginér, said: “We are delighted to be the first company to receive this award and be recognised for the proactive steps we are taking to reduce our business travel and minimise our impact on the environment. “In addition to promoting the use of conferencing services, we have been piloting a smart travel planner to help BT employees understand the carbon impact of business travel.” BT’s target is to reduce its group worldwide CO2 emissions by 80% (from 1997 levels by 2020).
www.comms-dealer.com
SIP trunking calls go on the record with Oaisys
CALL recording and contact center management solutions specialist, Oaisys, has introduced SIP trunk recording and speech analytics functionality for its Talkument voice documentation and Tracer interaction management solutions. Oaisys says this release includes capabilities to capture call data directly from the SIP trunk, includ- ing outside party number, start time and duration.
Coming soon, the next release will expand the call data capture capabilities to include details from the communications platform, such as extension participants, in addition to the SIP trunk data. “SIP trunk services have really gained traction, especially in larger enterprises, and can help deliver high quality, scalable and reliable business communications in a cost-effective manner,” said Brian Spencer, President of Oaisys. “The ability of Talkument and
Tracer to directly record SIP trunks enables us to better support enter- prise-class deployments, and allows our customers to enjoy the cost- savings of SIP paired with call recording solutions.”
sgilroy@bpl-business.com
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