There was a great reception from SUFC for Highlander and the distinguished guests that joined us for the day.

Sadly, the game ended in a 4-0 defeat for The Blades ending this year's cup run. Below are some of the shots from the game.

Highlander have teamed up with Avaya, one of the largets global telephone solution providers in the UK, to offer up to 60% off a new phone system when you migrate from a Nortel BCM system.

Avaya's award winning IP Office solution is perfect for business of all sizes and with the release of Avaya's version 8.0, you can re0use your old Nortel handsets to reduce the cost of the new system, whilst ensuring you take advantage of all the enhanced features; like mobile twinning, CRM and Outlook integration and video "soft phones".

Highlander Telecoms Services can design the system to ensure that it fits the solution requirements exactly, meaning that no additional costs are incurred and a smooth transition takes place.

What if your existing Nortel phone system is working OK? Here are some sensible guidelines that can help you make that decision:

• You should upgrade if your current Nortel BCM phone system is more than three years old.
• You should upgrade if you haven’t updated your current Nortel phone system for several years and the software and/or hardware used on your current system is no longer supported.
• You should upgrade if you plan on operating your business for at least 5-10 years or longer.
• You should upgrade if your business is experiencing growth and/or your business will be relocating in the near future.
• You should upgrade if email and mobile communications are important to your business.
• You should upgrade if a significant portion of your sales and customer service takes place through your communications system.
• You should upgrade if your business relies on conference calls.
• You should upgrade if your business makes heavy use of fax communications.
• You should upgrade if you need call recording capabilities for compliance purposes or to improve employee training.
• You should upgrade if you operate more than one location.
• When the risks and the opportunity cost outweigh the savings gained by holding on to your current solution, it’s time to upgrade.

Not every company with an existing Nortel solution needs to upgrade. While you can unquestionably benefit from a new solution, the gains may not be enough to offset the savings of just holding on to what you have now. This may be the case if:

• You acquired your Nortel system less than three years ago.
• You plan on closing or merging your business soon.
• Communications is not important to your business, i.e., you don’t do any sales or customer service over the phone or via e-mail.
• You don’t do any advertising where you promote a phone number or website.
• You don’t use a mobile phone.
• You never do conference calls.
• You do not do any fax communications.

The checklists provided above are just guidelines. Ultimately, the decision to upgrade your communications is never simply a “yes” or “no” decision. Another way to decide is to look at some of the key capabilities of a new Avaya IP Office solution. These can be so important to a growing business that even if you are missing just one, it’s time to consider getting a new phone system.

Highlander are an I.T. and Telecoms services provider with a strong reputation for delivering the highest standards in support, project delivery and commercial guidance for our client base. With almost 20 years experience in developing systems for Small and Medium Sized Organisations, Highlander’s success has been in upholding its core principles in service deliver, which are:

• Care
• Dedication
• Professionalism
• Respect
• Trust

By instilling these principles into every employee, Highlander ensure customer service is at the forefront of its daily operations. From its technical staff, through to service delivery personnel through to Accounts, all employees share the responsibility of keeping clients happy and understand their daily “moments of truth” with each client can make a difference to how successful our organisation is.

For a more in-depth background on Highlander’s growth and success please Click Here

Who are you?

You are a company that believes I.T. and telecoms are critical components of your organisation and without them, you would struggle to operate effectively. You understand the importance of I.T. and the commercial gains that a solid infrastructure, dynamic systems and an empowered workforce can provide for your organisation.

You will be loyal to your suppliers that provide excellent customer service, whilst open-minded about approaching a new organisation where you feel you may be vulnerable.

You demand high levels of service and insist that the people supporting your infrastructure are not only the best technical people available in the industry, but are able to communicate in a way that makes sense to you.

You are responsible or share the responsibility for your organisation being successful and you want to engage with an I.T. provider that shares your vision for innovation, customer service and commercial success.

You want your I.T and telecoms to be better.

If this is you, please call 0114 2923800 or email business@highlanderuk.com

Highlander are supporting Sheffield's application for a University Technical College.

This is critically important in the development of future skills for Advanced Manufacturing and the Creative & Digital Industries Sectors.

We are urging all companies and individuals across the region to support this effort and fill in the consultation details at http://www.sheffieldutc.co.uk/

Further information can also be obtained in the .pdf below

/download/files/Sheffield_UTC_Academy_Trust.pdf

/download/files/State_of_Sheffield_Full_Report_2012.pdf

As sponsors of the Highlander Digital Industries Award, we had 3 entrants to choose from and we were delighted to announce 3Squared as the winners for this category.

Below is the official video for the event, attended by over 900 guests from businesses across the Sheffiled City Region.

Current Vacancies

Current active vacancies are listed below – if there are no current vacancies or you want to get ahead of the field and be on our ‘hit list´ should they arise then please email your CV and a covering letter to us at business@highlanderuk.com

For any other information relating to employment or recruitment at Highlander, please email on business@highlanderuk.com

Helpdesk Technician - Sept/Oct 2011 (this position has now been filled)

Role: 

The Helpdesk Technician will work as part of a team that offers Desktop support by telephone and remote access to all support customers. The role includes taking first and 2^nd line calls with the end users therefore excellent written and spoken communication skills are essential.

Key Responsibilities:

• To Interface by Telephone, e-mail and using remote control software with End Users
• Provide excellent service to end users and set expectations based on agreed processes.
• To manage all service requests to agreed resolution times.
• To ‘own’ end user issues through to resolution and recognise when to escalate.
• Keep Helpdesk software updated with all developments at all times.

Skills required:

• Have Knowledge of Microsoft Desktop Operating Systems (XP, Vista, Windows 7)
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office 2003 and above
• Have knowledge of Windows Server Environments and Active Directory including Windows 2003 / 2008 Server
• Knowledge of network technology including LAN’s & WAN’s, Firewalls & switches
• Ability to carry out network / PC software & Hardware diagnostics verbally and / or remotely
• Knowledge and experience of Helpdesk software
• Citrix knowledge an advantage
• Knowledge of Exchange  server an advantage
• 12 months experience in similar role

If you are interested in this position please send your CV to john.akings@highlanderuk.com

I.T. & Telecoms Account Manager **This position has now been filled**

This challenging role is open to people that have extensive experience in I.T. and Telecoms Account Management.

The role is open to individuals that are committed to working to Highlander's core principles:

• Care
• Dedication
• Professionalism
• Respect
• Trust

The core duties will include:

• Managing commercial clients' IT & Telecoms requirements
• Developing joint IT & Telecoms strategies
• Liaising with and demonstrating leading manufacturer technologies including Microsoft, EMC, NetApp, VMWare, HP, Citrix and Avaya products
• Providing consultancy lead services including project work and support services
• Developing and maintaining a strong client base

This role would suit someone with the drive and determination to succeed in this field but should also possess an honest approach to client management based on integrity.

Send cv and covering letter to Highlander's Commercial Director, Chris Muscroft

Directions to Highlander.

With the passing of Steve Jobs, Cloud Computing speculation, the continued uncertainty in the global economy, social networking ups and downs and, in the final quarter, a big buzz about ‘consumerisation’; it has been another surprising and fast changing year for the I.T. industry.

Technologies in the year have undergone some of the biggest changes that we, as a company with nearly twenty years’ experience, have seen.  A major contributor to this is the emergence of ‘cloud computing’.  Cloud is the use of resources accessed via the internet to deliver services on demand.  For the majority of SME’s this would mean replacing dedicated servers physically hosted within the companies offices, with a connection from PC systems to services hosted in ‘the cloud’.

Currently demand is low for this, and will continue to remain so in the short term until return on investment and reliability is improved, however it seems certain that Cloud Computing will only increase over the next decade.

‘Consumerisation’ and the ‘Prosumer’ are words that relate to how I.T. consumption has changed.  No longer do we go to work and use high value and high performance systems, whilst at home we put up with outdated and sluggish equipment. Our home technology now often outperforms, outnumbers and out costs more than its office equivalents these days! Employees purchase their own laptops, iPads, Blackberry’s and we simply configure them to a network… this comes with many pro’s and con’s but it is happening more and will continue to do so. Security for companies must be top of the agenda when this is the case.

As well as employees wanting to use their own faster and sleeker home equipment, they also now want to use their social networks in a work environment.   Frowned upon by most years ago but today MSN, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more are all commonplace in many organisations.  Again all have positives and negatives and all must be managed effectively.

What will 2012 bring for the industry as a whole? Indications at our business are that organisations are finally starting to spend on the infrastructure upgrades that they postponed when the first signs of recession hit.  Reliance on I.T. to give greater business efficiencies and power the management information and customer relationship systems that most modern companies rely upon should give the industry another steady, but far from outstanding, year.

For the full Sheffield Star Industrial Survey 2012 - click on the picture below.

The event is aimed at providing a network for local businesses to share ideas and ultimately, stimulate growth in the economy.

For further details of the event Click Here

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