CCOOMMMMSS N NEEWWSS
BYTES...
PC DECLINE
The IT channel should be braced for
much weaker performance in the PC
market in 2020, with year-on-year sales
likely to turn negative in the second half
of the year, according to CONTEXT, the
IT market intelligence company
57%
of UK companies are confi dent their staff
are prepared for an artifi cial intelligence
(AI) enabled workspace according to
new research by Genesys
MENCAP
Leeds Mencap has had a boost to its
vital communications systems thanks
to a charitable in-kind donation
equivalent to £10,000 worth of services
and a Christmas donation from The
Technology Group
DRIVERNET
Matt Newing, Founder of Elite Group,
has announced he is increasing his
stake in tech fi rm DriverNet. The
business was was founded in 2017 by
Ant Chisnall after a seventeen-year
career working in logistics for small
fl eet operators and large multinational
hauliers
Xelion completes Teams integration
XELION HAS COMPLETED
integration with Teams,
Microsoft’s hub for team
collaboration in Offi ce 365.
Teams currently offers limited
telephony functionality.
Integration with Xelion provides
Team users with full access to
the PBX-type functionality of
the Xelion hosted telephony
platform.
Xelion offers a standardised
user interface app for desktop,
mobile and tablet so users can
use the solution anywhere,
anytime. The platform brings
together voice, instant
messaging, sms, and much
more, delivering a single
Organised Communications
service for customers on any
device. Open RESTful APIs allow
third-party apps such as Offi ce
365 and Teams to be easily
integrated seamlessly with the
service.
Not every Teams user needs
to have Xelion integration for the
whole organisation to benefi t,
as users without Xelion access
can transfer calls to those users
that do.
Commenting on Teams
integration, Dave Reynolds
(pictured), Xelion UK Managing
Director, stated, “Customers see
a huge benefi t to using Teams
within their organisations but
have been quick to understand
that it is no PBX replacement
on its own. Integrating Teams
into Xelion makes a lot of sense
and gives customers the best of
both worlds. A major focus for
the Xelion development team is
the continued integration into
Offi ce 365 and other Microsoft
applications such as Teams.
The integration of Xelion with
Teams delivers a total unifi ed
communications solution and we
anticipate high demand from the
market.”
WHP CREATES £100M
RESELLER WITH SITEC
PURCHASE
PRIVATE EQUITY BACKED
wireless telecommunications
services business WHP
Telecoms has completed
the acquisition of Sitec
Infrastructure Services to
create a £100m business.
Sitec is a delivery-focused
project management company
providing end-to-end solutions
for the UK’s mobile and fi xed
line network operators.
The transaction brings
together two companies
and creates a group with a
turnover in excess of £100m
and 500 employees working
across the full network
lifecycle. The acquisition will
also provide the platform for
WHP Telecoms to enter the
fast growing and dynamic
fi bre market.
This is the fi rst acquisition
WHP Telecoms has made since
completing a management
buyout backed by Equistone
Partners Europe in 2018 and
represents an important
step in the group’s strategic
growth plan.
Rob Potter, CEO of WHP said:
“Sitec is an excellent fi t for
WHP Telecoms, both in terms
of our culture and the skillset
that the team will bring to the
company. The acquisition is
consistent with our appetite
to lead consolidation in
the sector and continue to
strengthen our services and
breadth of offering.”
SPITFIRE LAUNCHES
FTTC ETHERNET
SPITFIRE NETWORK SERVICES
has announced the launch
of FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet)
Ethernet service with full
Quality of Service SLAs for VoIP
for only £75 a month. The new
FTTC Ethernet service offers
up to 20Mb of uncontended
download and upload, with the
download burstable up to 80Mb.
With unlimited data usage it
is intended to bridge the gap
between business broadband
and pure leased line Ethernet
circuits, which can be diffi cult to
cost-justify for SME customers.
Because the new FTTC
Ethernet service can
support both voice and data
connectivity, it can replace
two broadband circuits used
separately for voice and data,
making it an extremely price
competitive alternative for
customers.
Commenting on the launch,
Dominic Norton (pictured), Sales
Director for Spitfi re stated, “Our
new FTTC Ethernet offering
is a game-changer for the
market, making high-speed
Ethernet affordable for SMEs.
The SLAs with the service mean
customers can use it to for both
voice and data applications with
full confi dence. With the rapid
growth of both VoIP and cloud
based data services, customers
now have a critical need for
assured connectivity, which
is not available on standard
broadband products.”
6 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk