INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: TIME FOR CLARITY Clifford Norton
WE’VE been doing a lot of award entries lately and while it’s not too difficult to prepare entries for industry events like the Comms National Awards, it’s very much harder for general business awards. The main problem is explaining what we do and why it’s innovative to non-technical judges. As a result we were runners-up in some regional business innovation awards recently
to a sewing machine shop. I’m sure it’s an excellent shop, but sewing machines (and shops) are hardly at the cutting edge of 21st century technology, whereas SIP, MPLS, Ethernet and hosted telephony are. As an industry this is the greatest challenge we face – explaining exactly what we do and its benefits to the general business person. Start explaining SIP trunks to friends in the pub and watch their eyes glaze over, but tell them about the smart 3D TV you bought that’s connected to the Internet and they want to know more. At the heart of the problem is that we all get too bound up in what we are doing, with the jargon and with the cleverness of it all to see the wood from the trees. We have to communicate the benefits of UC technology more simply and directly to business customers. We have to make them understand that there is a huge transition taking place in business communications that will revolutionise the way we all work. There may still be cultural reasons for going to a workplace in the future, but there will no longer be physical reasons. When you put the pieces together – presence, sophisticated mobile devices, ultra-fast Internet connectivity, live video streaming, 3D technology and so on – it’s not difficult to predict where business communications will be in 20 years time. But we have to get our messages across to make it a reality sooner rather than later.
Clifford Norton, Managing Director, Channel Telecom
tIPicall links with Nimans
NIMANS has teamed-up with SIP service provider tIPicall and a big feature of the relationship is their shared vision to educate resellers about the real benefits of SIP.
“Resellers need to understand what the client wants, put a solution together and deliver it,” commented Mark Curtis-Wood, Head of Network Services at Nimans. “It’s all about creating a holistic solution and tIPicall shares this ethos.
“Conversations often begin
with how SIP can cut ISDN costs by 25%. But it’s really about flexibility, disaster recov- ery and number portability.” Steve Harrington, Sales
Director at tIPicall, added: “We all realise that ultimately
Steve Harrington
it’s about getting things right for a reseller, making sure SIP works and is deployed correctly. There’s a right way of doing SIP and a wrong way. Training for deployment is crucial.”
Got a news story? email:
sgilroy@bpl-business.com
Doyle heads up EMEA
JABRA’S MD for UK&I Andrew Doyle has been promot- ed to Senior Director, Channel Management EMEA, in a move that signals Jabra’s sharp focus on the EMEA market. “As the market develops and our route to market becomes more IT channel focused a dedi- cated EMEA Channel Strategy will be critical to our success
in EMEA,” said Joel Hamon, Jabra President, EMEA. Doyle added: “My primary focus is to develop a consistent channel engagement model in all segments, leveraging partner relationships that exist locally, facilitated by the Jabra WIN Partner Programme, and devel- op new partner relationships in all EMEA sub regions.”
SHORT CALLS
Chess Wholesale has linked up with lead generation agency Fluent Communication to offer resellers co-funded lead generation campaigns. Resellers can apply for 50% funding on a lead generation campaign subject to the volume of business placed and commitments agreed.
Aastra has appointed Patrick Drage as Distribution Manager for its operations in UK&I. He boasts 12 years distribution experience including a ten year stint at ScanSource. Drage said: “I wanted a challenge in a vendor channel based position and then put my distribution experience to good use. This role gives me a chance to do that.”
Sennheiser has revamped its UK website with new graphics and improved signposting for easier navigation and access to information on its range of business solutions for channel resellers and customers. Jane Craven, Director of Telecom Sales, commented: “The website makes it easy for visitors to make an informed decision on the optimum headset for their organisation’s needs.”
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