CENTRAL TELECOM SCOOPS FIRST INDUSTRY AWARDS OF THE YEAR
Burton-on-Trent-based Central Telecom is celebrating a double success at the first of this year's industry awards ceremonies.
More than 500 of the leading names in the telecommunications world turned out in force at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham for the Comms Channel Awards 2003. The Awards, which are organised by Comms Business Magazine and Imark Communications, are designed to recognise excellence in the channel and are one of the few awards aimed at the main dealer rather than the manufacturer.
Central Telecom, which is renowned for its expertise in the convergence market, scooped the title of Large Convergence Solution of the Year (under £100,000) in recognition of its innovative solution for IT outsource organisation Intrasource, which involved the implementation of a Mitel 3300 Communications platform on a Cisco 2950 LAN utilising Mitel's 6100 Multi-Media Contact Centre, plus a host of other applications.
It also won the Convergence Solution of the Year (solution over £100,000) for its unique Tele-Call beside the bedside hospital solution, which is at the forefront of government reforms of the NHS. The 'Patient Power' system, which operates on a Mitel 3300 platform, delivers multi-media communications to the bedside and can be used by both patients and healthcare professionals.
Entrants were required to submit a detailed case study that included before and after scenarios showing how its customers' needs were identified and met. They were also required to detail the implementation and project management of the solution and show a demonstrable return on investment. This was backed by testimonials from the company's customers.
The judging panel was made up of independent industry experts, including Alan Cobb Director General of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) UK, Mel Ziziros, Managing Director of MZA and Independent Analyst John Birbeck.
Central Telecom's Managing Director Andrew McDougall was delighted with the company's success:
"Everyone at Central Telecom was pleased and honoured to win both of the Convergence Solutions categories at the Comms Channel Awards. We believe that it reflects the hard work and efforts of the whole company and is confirmation of our standing as a leader in the converged solutions market place."
These latest accolades follow hot on the heels of a number of other major awards for Central Telecom. The company, which employs more than 180 staff at its Burton HQ and satellite offices in London, Manchester and Guildford, recently become only the second company in EMEA to be awarded Platinum business partner status by Avaya Inc, a leading global provider of communications networks and services.
It is the current Channel Network Company of the Year and has been voted Siemens' number one reseller in the UK and Network Finance's Dealer of the Year for the fifth consecutive year.
It can also count the titles of Avaya Platinum Partner, Mitel Platinum Partner, BT Premier Partner, Cisco Premier Partner; Korus Platinum Partner amongst its growing list of credits.
The company implements leading edge communications solutions across a diverse range of market sectors from finance and education, to retail, IT/telecoms and leisure and has more than 200,000 end users across the UK, ranging from SME's, to blue-chip and public sector organisations.
The company delivers total communications solutions - ranging from voice, converged voice, data and messaging network services, to a range of cabling and support services. It provides systems integration for customers looking to build links between contact technologies and enterprise data and supports customers with remote diagnostics, product installation, plus on-site repair and maintenance.
