CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
BYTES...
POS
As buy now, pay later payment options
continue to surge in popularity, new
research finds that the majority of
customers (83%) would use point of
sale (POS) finance when purchasing
from SME retailers
3%
Professional salaries in the UK are
expected to increase by at least 3%
in 2020 – following two years of pay
freezes
PSA
Giacom has added a new integration
with Datto Autotask PSA
(Professional Service Automation).
The new integration within Giacom’s
provisioning and management portal,
Cloud Market, makes it easy for IT
professionals to create a more efficient
and accurate billing cycle process for
their customers.
WEARABLES
According to ICD, The global market
for wearables is on track to ship 305.2
million units in 2019, up 71.4% from
the 178.0 million units shipped in 2018.
From there, total volumes will grow to
489.1 million units in 2023, resulting in
a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 22.4%
ZEN TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH
THIS YEAR’S ZEN Partner event took a different
approach to the usual industry-focused presentations
with a healthy mix of entertainment, inspirational
speakers and industry updates. Host for the day was
stand-up comedian Gary Delaney who kept everyone
entertained with his witty one-liners and closed the
event out with a 20-minute stand up session.
Zen CTO, Justin Fielder gave a frank overview of
where the channel and wholesale market is headed
challenging Zen’s Partners to think differently in
order to excel in the market. Analysing the trends
highlighted by recent Ofcom research Justin looked
at the rise and fall of voice as the telecoms industry
experiences a notable shift in spending. He outlined
what this could mean for businesses and where Zen’s
focus now lies.
Fielder also produced compelling figures that posed
questions around the future of Ethernet. Looking
at the fall of leased lines and in leased line pricing,
Fielder concluded that Ultrafast is rapidly gaining
ground. He cited Zen’s own customer figures – while
the current customer base is 97% FTTC, the trend is
shifting with order intake of FTTP at 19% and steadily
increasing.
Centile announces new features on ISTRA
CENTILE TELECOM APPLICATIONS has unveiled new features on its ISTRA
solution to provide support for SMEs in their digital transformation.
All the features of Centile’s ISTRA platform are available on mobile
phones (Android and iOS), allowing users to better communicate and
manage their availability. Collaborative work in a mobile environment is
thereby made easier.
The latest improvements to MOBiiS include:
• The integration of a secure, collaborative enterprise messaging
system that allows end users to chat, share photos, videos, and files,
create public or private channels.
• New features for ongoing calls (on-the-fly recording, supervised
transfer mobile BLF, N-way conferences, etc.)
• login/logout in groups, corporate visual voice mail
• the right to disconnect, now a legal obligation, via the PRO ON-OFF
button
In addition to its videoconferencing offer which is based on Zoom (ISTRA
Collab Enterprise), and allowing up to 300 participants to be connected,
Centile has developed its own videoconferencing solution called ISTRA
Collab Business. Based on Web RTC technology, ISTRA Collab Business is
fully customisable and can accommodate up to five participants.
The new version of ISTRA is enhanced with analytics (real-time
performance monitoring, reporting, etc.) and call centre improvements
(visual supervision of queues and automatic call distribution via chat).
WIG BACKED BY BROOKFIELD
WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE
GROUP (WIG) has announced that
Brookfield Infrastructure and its
institutional partners (Brookfield)
have become its sole financial
sponsor following Brookfield’s
acquisition of the entire stake of 3i
Infrastructure plc (3i).
Scott Coates, CEO of Wireless
Infrastructure Group, said: “We are
delighted to welcome Brookfield
as our shareholder and for the
opportunity to partner with largescale
patient capital. Brookfield
is one of the world’s largest
infrastructure investors and its
focus on data infrastructure
and developing assets that can
transform communities, aligns
with our ambition to help improve
connectivity across the UK. After
a successful partnership with 3i,
this deal marks an opportunity
to shift gears for WIG. With the
backing of large-scale capital, WIG
is now ideally positioned to explore
more strategic infrastructure
combinations with mobile
operators.”
“WIG’s industry leading indoor
networks already serve buildings
with over 1.25 billion visitors a
year and this transaction brings
us alongside one of the world’s
largest real estate owners.”
14 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk