CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
BYTES... Oak launches healthcare solution ContactAssist
workfl ow and patient experience.
Leveraging Oak Innovation’s
expertise in user interface design,
ContactAssist assists with caller
verifi cation and simplifi es patient
record access. The New Number
Capture capability helps to keep
contact information up to date
to combat DNAs, support mass
© Flamingo Images-stock.adobe.com
Commercial PC sales prop up weak consumer numbers
THE START OF Q3 2019 saw PC sales continue to
follow the pattern that has characterised the
past few quarters, with healthy demand from
commercial buyers offsetting weaker consumer
sales, according to the latest data published by
CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Volume sales of PCs through Western Europe’s
largest distributors were up by +8% year-onyear
in July 2019, driven by a +15% growth in the
commercial sector as businesses continued to
invest in new hardware in preparation for the end
of Windows 7 support early next year. Notebook
COUNTERPATH TARGETS SMB MARKET
COUNTERPATH HAS EXPANDED its Stretto
Collaboration solution with the launch of a
hosted service for the CounterPath global
network of channel partners. The hosted
service now includes virtual meeting room
and video conferencing services and is now
available to channel partners throughout
North America, Europe and other key markets.
While the CounterPath Stretto Collaboration
solution initially targeted large Enterprises with
a premises-based offering, the new, hosted
Software as a Solution (SaaS) offering provides
improved scalability to address the vastly
underserved SMB market.
sales were up by +11% and desktops by +25%.
Workstation volumes also grew: stationary
systems by +18% and mobile machines by +25%.
“It is expected that commercial demand will
remain strong throughout the second half of
2019 as migration to Windows 10 continues”, said
Marie-Christine Pygott, senior analyst at CONTEXT.
“While a range of promotional activities during the
upcoming back-to-school and Black Friday periods
are likely to lead to a temporary improvement in
the consumer growth trend, overall demand is
expected to remain soft.”
While nearly three-quarters, or 72.5%, of
businesses with 100 – 999 employees use
VoIP according to IDC, only 36% utilise UCC.
Key reasons for this discrepancy include high
operating costs and lack of integration with
existing systems.
Todd Carothers, EVP of Sales, Marketing, and
Product at CounterPath commented “We have
sold UCC via our direct sales team but wanted
to ratchet up our offering for the channel. We
took the time to listen to our channel partners
and their customers to develop a scalable
solution that offers a compelling UCC feature
set, completely managed in the cloud."
headsets from
notifi cation and Click-
To-Dial phone triage.
Oak Chief
Technology Offi cer,
David Reynolds, hails
ContactAssist as a
growth opportunity
for Oak and their
channel partners:
“With ContactAssist,
our focus is on
designing user-friendly
solutions that make
people’s jobs easier.
In the healthcare
sector, effi ciency and workfl ow
improvement is key to providing
better patient care. We have
drawn on years of experience
to deliver a product that works
across a range of healthcare
settings including GP and Dental
Practices.”
Todd Carothers, EVP of Sales,
Marketing, and Product at
CounterPath
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SMART CONTAINERS
Pangea has revealed that through a
triple-partnership with Loginno and
The One Solution, they’ll be providing
connectivity for the world’s fi rst
smart container fl eet. Loginno is a
technology provider set up with the
purpose of empowering shipping
companies around the world.
43%
CybSafe’s research shows that 43%
of SMEs have experienced a phishing
attempt through impersonation of staff
in the last 12 months.
PARTNERED
Enghouse Interactive has signed NT
Voice and Data Solutions as a member
of its EMEA partner programme. NT
Voice and Data Solutions will focus on
selling two of Enghouse Interactive’s
fl agship products, Communications
Center (CC) and the Quality
Management Suite (QMS).
WIFI
DMSL has teamed up with Smarter
WiFi to offer resellers a simple guest
WiFi package for smaller business
customers. It includes a Mini Smart
router, branded landing pages and
data capture for customers.
OAK INNOVATION HAS
launched ContactAssist,
an all-new platform
that supports digital
transformation by
integrating customer
relationship management
with telephony.
ContactAssist has been
designed to improve
customer experience
and make life easier for
frontline staff through
improved communications.
The fi rst release builds
on the company’s existing
healthcare sector knowledge
and customer base to target
primary healthcare providers.
ContactAssist for Healthcare
works with popular clinical
record systems like EMIS Web
and TPP SystmONE to improve
Branding_Strip_Aug19V2.indd 2 15/08/2019 16:57
10 | Comms Business Magazine | October 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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