NEWS
O2’s channel drive hastens
O2’s BIG march into comms deal- er territory kicked off in August with the launch of its Joined up Communications Channel Partner Programme, and early reports indi- cate that the campaign has already made significant inroads with the first three partners – Daisy, Total Ltd and Fidelity Group – drill- ing the O2 ‘joined up’ proposition deep into the reseller coal face. According to David Plumb,
Head of SME Sales at O2, a major attraction of the programme is that resellers can sell and bill mobile ser- vices under their own brand via one of the three initial partners. “Resellers can offer customers
a truly joined up solution – one bill, one contract and one number to call, making things simpler and driving business benefits,” com- mented Plumb. “When I talk to customers they tell me that they don’t want the hassle of having multiple suppliers for different communications. By consolidating their suppliers they can streamline their operations and save time and hassle,” he added. Helping customers get joined up will also deliver big benefits for the reseller business, highlight- ed Plumb. “Customers who take multiple services from us are hap- pier and less likely to leave,” he observed. “And, of course, mobile could represent a whole new rev- enue stream.” According to Plumb, the O2
‘joined up’ approach paves the way for resellers to become a trusted advisor to customers by not just selling mobile or just selling land- line, but through understanding the customers’ business challenges and delivering solutions that help them overcome these hurdles. “Offering ‘joined up’ enables us
all to have these broader and deeper conversations,” added Plumb. Total Ltd confirms that the early
signs are positive and progressive. Stuart Baikie, MD, noted: “Since the launch we’ve already signed up around ten partners and are in discussions with many more. “We’ve seen good early suc- cesses, quicker than we anticipated at the outset. To date all of the
David Plumb
“When I talk to customers they tell me that they don’t want the hassle of having multiple suppliers for different communications”
feedback has been good, both with the offering itself and the process we’re using.”
A big benefit cited by Total is open access to the full range of O2 mobile products and services, along with the ability to bill for these services, a full training programme, recognition as an O2 partner, plus back office and support systems designed for this channel. Not surprisingly, a large pro-
portion of the partners Total is working with are well established successful businesses. “With our help and com- mitment there are opportunities to promote mobile services into their customer bases,” comment- ed Baikie. “This will help them increase revenue from these cus- tomers and also strengthen their existing relationships.” The collaborative approach to channel partnerships extolled by O2 filters through to the reseller, observes Baikie. “We view the partner as our
customer,” he said. “Everything we do is aimed at making it easier for them to be successful.” Plumb Lines:
AskDavid@o2.com
NECi rolls out UCB solution
ACCORDING to figures cited by NECi, part of the NEC corpora- tion, only 54% of customer con- tacts will take place over the phone by 2011, meaning that contact centres are under growing pressure to provide a seamless multi-channel customer service. However, Andrew Cooper,
Sales Director at NECi, believes that traditional contact centre solutions have failed to properly integrate new workflows into tradi- tional processes. “Early piecemeal UC investments have largely been met with disappointment, leav- ing behind communication silos unable to cope with the multime- dia contact preferences of today’s customer,” he said. “This failure has seeded a UC fear factor among many organisa- tions, whereby the tangible value and affordability of today’s inte- grated solutions remain a secret to the majority of SMEs.”
NECi claims that its new
Unified Communications for Business (UCB) suite empowers contact centres by intelligently automating traditional processes. “UCB brings order to com- munications through intelligent process automation techniques. Providing less IT infrastructure, less complexity and less drain on
www.comms-dealer.com
Outsourcery unveils new product trio
THREE new hosted products from Outsourcery offer up to 30% com- missions in a target server market that is showing big growth. Outsourcery cites research indi- cating that the worldwide server market increased by 11% in the first half of 2010, suggesting that the number businesses using online back-up services is growing. An IDC survey supports
Andrew Cooper
“Contact centres must treat all email and web contacts in the same way as they would voice”
internal resources. It is tailored to eliminate the integration fear fac- tors,” commented Cooper. Intelligent integration is key to meet the ongoing shift in customer contact preferences, added Cooper. “Contact centres must treat all email and web contacts in the same way as they would voice,” he added. “It’s about integrated processes.”
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Nimans amplifi es big market for PA systems
NIMANS has ramped up the vol- ume to trumpet the margin poten- tial associated with sales of public address (PA) systems. The distributor believes that PA
systems represent a big opportunity for dealers, and to underline its intent to make further inroads into the PA market Nimans has broad- ened the remit of James Burns, its former Headset Business Manager, to include PA systems. Burns, who is now Head of
Category (headsets, public address, fax and radio), noted: “Many busi- nesses still have problems with communication. A major issue is how to contact someone when they
James Burns
are away from their desk. There’s great potential in these areas. “For dealers, PA systems are easy to sell, easy to expand and suited to a range of sites from warehouses and offices to hospitals, schools and car showrooms. “The ability to incorporate PA as an application through existing IP networks represents another sig- nificant step forward.”
Helping you grow your business 12 COMMS DEALER OCTOBER 2010
Outsourcery’s figures, noting that revenues rose to £7.1bn in Q2 2010, displaying the fastest quar- terly revenue growth since 2003. Outsourcery will host the new
services – Dedicated Windows Server 2008, Dedicated SharePoint Server and StoreSafe – and handle all billing on behalf of partners. Adam Cathcart, Head of Partner
Management at Outsourcery, com- mented: “There’s a real appetite for these products in the market. They provide our partners with an opportunity to earn generous com- mission rates and offer their cus- tomers solutions that can change the way they work.”
Micro-P links up with Retell for recording
RETELL has extended its reach into the data channel following a distribution deal with Micro-P. Steve Cobley, Retell’s Head
of Business Development, said: “Retell will be supplying multi- channel call recording systems as well as call management, single desk recording, announcements on hold, voice announcers, fax servers and business answering machines. “Many of these products are plug and play making it easy for resellers to broaden their portfolio.” According to Dale Priestley,
Micro-P’s Communications Busin- ess Manager, Retell’s multi-line call recording systems represent a sig- nificant margin opportunity based on sales and installations. He added: “The opportunity
for resellers is massive. With the training and marketing support available from Retell and Micro-P this is an easy and profitable sell.”
T: 0844 871 1122 E:
sales@maintel.co.uk W:
www.maintel.co.uk
www.comms-dealer.com
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