Soaring Communications

Posts Tagged ‘Andy Watts’

Mobile Telecoms specialists Virtua, in partnership with iBwave, are not only developing innovative communications solutions for their clients but they are also changing the way business is done.

Traditionally businesses tend to sit groups of people together based on their job roles and their need to be close to a fixed phone line. For most this is the standard way of working but it is not necessarily the most beneficial or productive way of running a business.

Virtua, chief executive, Andy Watts: “Today people tend to use their mobiles to conduct business and no longer need to be desk bound. Recognising this fact a number of forward thinking organisations are adopting a new type of telecoms facility called Fixed Mobile Convergence or FMC.“

The technology works by installing a small box on the wall of an office enabling staff to communicate more easily using dedicated mobile handsets at much cheaper call rates.

This way of working could revolutionise the way businesses communicate by freeing up staff so that they can work anywhere within an office complex without the need for a fixed location.

Virtua are currently using their knowledge of the technology to set up the complete FMC solution for their clients and utilising iBwave’s unique set of technical tools to plan and implement the systems.

Watts concludes: “The most important element of these projects is in the planning and deployment phases and by using iBwave’s tools, coupled with our own experience, our clients can be sure of receiving a cost effective, optimised and robust phone system that will enable them to work more productively and more efficiently”.

Virtua UK Ltd, a leader in the provision of Telecoms specialists, has selected Anite’s Nemo Handy tool for testing mobile networks.

Virtua is pioneering the deployment of in-building Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions for retail and commercial properties.  To ensure that no detail is overlooked, Virtua uses the very best technical tools available, one example being Nemo Handy, supplied by voice and data experts Anite.

Virtua, chief executive, Andy Watts:  “Nemo Handy has set the standard for handheld network measurement devices since 2005 and continues to do so today. It is the most widely deployed handheld measurement tool in the world. Its extensive measurement capabilities are incorporated into a small mobile terminal that is ideal for performing measurements both outdoors and in busy and crowded indoor spaces – perfect for Virtua’s needs.”

With state-of-the-art real-time and customisable data views, Nemo Handy displays all the relevant network parameters on the terminal screen, at the same time recording all the important network parameters. Network information that is collected can be transmitted for post-processing in Nemo Analyze for further analysis.

Commenting on this partnership, Andy Watts said: “The combination of features offered by Nemo provides everything the Virtua teams need to deliver exceptional performance to our clients.  Working closely with Anite is proving to be an exciting process as we develop products and services together. The most important elements of these FMC projects are the planning and deployment phases – Anite’s tools, coupled with our own experience provide our clients with a cost effective, optimised and robust phone system that will enable them to work more productively and more efficiently”.

Heikki Koivuaho, senior vice president of global sales and marketing at Anite Finland Ltd commented:  “Virtua is pushing the boundaries of FMC and telecoms technological development.  Their team is designing and implementing systems in challenging environments so it is vital they have the right tools for the job.  They are consistently pushing our equipment’s capabilities and we are excited about their growth and ideas for the future which in turn allow us to investigate new technologies ourselves.”

Virtua UK Ltd, a leading supplier of expertise to the telecoms industry, achieved additional sales amounting to 20% of turnover in first four months of 2010.

To meet the demands of this growth, Virtua has employed industry heavyweights –Rob Davies and Ian Jenkins as well as Kevin Tillotson in a business development role.

Virtua, chief executive, Andy Watts:  “These are exciting times for Virtua, we are seeing fantastic growth in all areas of the business.  In particular, since the new year, we have made changes to our marketing and sales strategy.  These have directly affected our new-business activity but we want to carry on expanding for the benefit of our team, clients and the industry as a whole.  To achieve this we are investing in some of the best people available, people with a passion and in-depth knowledge of the industry, the technology and our client’s needs.”

•    Rob Davies takes on the role of senior systems architect.  After five years working for Ferranti and then twenty years in Motorola as a systems engineer Rob has a wealth of experience within the Telecoms industry specialising in cellular development.

•    Ian Jenkins takes on the role of head of RF systems design.  After 10 years at Alan Dick & Co as a “cellular design antenna engineer” he focused on projects for Vodafone and 02 where he came to be considered the ‘design authority’.

•    Kevin Tillotson takes on the role of Business Development Director.  With 20 years experience across a variety of sectors, he has grown businesses both organically and through acquisition.

Watts continues: “Virtua is a fast moving company going through exciting changes and performing at the top level of the telecoms and mobile telecoms industries.  To move forward we need to work with the best.  Rob, Ian and Kevin have the right attitude and are already working closely with both long-term and new clients”.

Swindon based Virtua, one of the UK’s leading providers of resources and solutions to the mobile telecoms industry are repositioning their offering with a raft of new marketing initiatives to better reflect their growth plans and commitment to clients.

The campaign has been created and managed by Lechlade and Oxford based Soaring Worldwide, a communications and PR agency specialising in message creation and dissemination.

The new initiatives have been led by extensive customer, engineer and staff feedback conducted in December 2009.

Andy Watts, director, Virtua UK Ltd: “We work in an incredibly fast moving industry and it is vital that our business reflects the pace with which our clients and potential clients are moving forward.  Our business is growing dramatically and this refinement in our market positioning and message better reflects the business we are now winning.”

From 17th February onwards, Virtua’s new strap-line will be: People. Passion. Performance.

Virtua’s name will remain the same but communications and involvement with customers is set to increase with the introduction of newsletters to clients and engineers, a twitter campaign (@Virtuateamtalk) and regularly updated blog (www.virtuateamtalk.uk.com).  Additionally, Virtua will be conducting an ongoing PR campaign with the relevant media.

Virtua also intend to re-develop and improve their website over the course of the next few months.

Andy Watts: “Virtua is going through some exciting changes at the moment, driven by our customers.  This refinement is bringing our positioning more up to date with the evolution of our customers rather than a complete change of our positioning. We want to make sure our clients and staff embrace the new, whilst staying true to our core skills and services.”

“It’s not easy for a technology and people company like ours to get the right sort of support from a marketing agency. We wanted people who we could work with and who understood our business, whilst bringing the right creative edge.   Above all we wanted to do business with people.  Adam and his team are people we like to work with and have already demonstrated that they are great at what they do.”

Soaring Worldwide, managing director, Adam Baggs:  “It is so exciting to take an existing brand and really develop its potential.  The management team at Virtua are so enthusiastic and quite simply – great fun to work with.  The next few months will be full of exciting developments and we look forward to creating a long term relationship with Virtua.”