Squeeze on travel budgets sees firms call for Rocom’s technology

WHEN Alexander Graham Bell inspired the adoption of the first telephone in 1876, little did he know that one day it would spark a UK industry worth £34.9bn.

Although the adverse economic conditions led to a reduction in discretionary telecommunications expenditure during the recession and an increasingly competitive market, the industry now appears to be growing again.

One company which is taking advantage of this growth is Leeds-based Rocom, which is seeing a surge in public sector contracts as the squeeze on travel budgets takes its toll.

The firm, which provides business communications, such as headsets and audio conferencing equipment, to businesses and public sector organisations, said that 70 per cent of its orders for unified communication systems, which connect technologies such as desk phones, smartphones and wireless laptops, have come from public sector bodies over the last six months.

Jane Craven, head of corporate sales at Rocom, said: “It’s the sector you think hasn’t got the budget to spend on technology but actually, because the cost savings are so huge, they are spending it now knowing that they will save millions in years to come.”

Rocom, which employs 80 staff, sells to about 16,000 clients including universities, councils, and hospitals as well as private companies and last week signed a £3m three-year deal to supply handsets, headsets and audio conferencing equipment to a major high street bank.

Headsets are the company’s best-selling product. It is the largest supplier of headsets from global manufacturer Plantronics outside North America.

While the call centre market is its traditional customer base, it is seeing growth in the number of back office staff using headsets, including credit control departments, finance departments and IT staff.

The technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

One headset can now interact with multiple technologies such as a laptop, desk phone and mobile phones in the car and they are designed to protect against acoustic shocks. Mrs Craven said: “It’s about unifying the whole infrastructure of what you do and where you are.”

She added: “Anybody who uses a telephone should be using a headset and preferably a wireless headset so they are not tied to their desk. It’s no longer a call centre product.”

Industries that are not usually associated with technology are using Rocom’s products. A cordless phone, launched six months ago, with a two-kilometre range has attracted the interest of a buying consortium within the farming community.

Rocom is also benefiting from companies cutting travel costs as firms become increasingly cost conscious.

Conferencing systems is a huge growth area for the company. It launched video conferencing earlier this year and audio conferencing sales are up 150 per cent year on year. “That’s mainly because people are trying to be efficient and spend less time actually travelling,” said Mrs Craven.

The momentum is also beginning to build for unified communications. Mrs Craven said: “A lot of it comes from high-end enterprise companies and it’s starting to filter down into the medium-sized companies.”

The company also refurbishes handsets, which is proving popular in the downturn. “It’s quite important to people in the current climate who may have an old telephone system that is out of date but don’t have the money to buy a new telephone system,” said Mrs Craven.

Rocom, which was founded 30 years ago, was sold to Manchester-based rival Nimans by AIM-listed AT Communications for £12.45m in 2009. The combined group, called Nycomm, achieved a turnover of £82.5m in 2010.

The two companies have now undergone a major restructuring and separated their operations so Rocom only sells direct to companies and public sector organisations, while Nimans distributes to resellers.

The process more than halved the number of staff Rocom employs and, at the beginning of this year, it moved its headquarters from Wetherby to Temple Point business park in Colton Leeds.

Mrs Craven said: “It is tough and it has been tough but here we have moved to Leeds earlier this year, which gives us a strong platform to go further forward.

“The economic state of play helps us in a way because companies now are finding ways to use technology to save money, cut costs and get greater productivity. Things like audio and video conferencing are a great way of doing that. Unified communications is almost the next step but it’s all about making people work smarter.”

The sales process is more complicated now as companies try to get better deals on their purchases. “Nobody is being frivolous with their budgets,” said Mrs Craven. “Two or three years ago you would have quoted a customer and they might have taken that and placed the order. Now they have to get at least three competitive quotes for anything sizable. But we work with companies on that.”

However, the company is now taking on new staff and Rocom’s sales this month are 25 per cent up on the same period last year. Mrs Craven added: “We might not see 25 per cent increase in sales every month but there’s only one direction Rocom is going, and that’s upwards.

“We’re expecting to see more growth in profitability than turnover this year because of the new products we’re bringing on board such as the video conferencing, our own brand of headsets, and handsets – the Radius range, and call management systems.”

Rocom has launched a new website to improve its online ordering facility.

It is also working with Leeds-based call recording specialist Liquid Voice to supply call management systems. “It’s becoming more relevant that people have to record their calls,” said Mrs Craven. “One of the latest things is that if you’re taking credit card information over the phone, you can’t store and record the three digit security code.

“We work with Liquid Voice who have got the facility to record the call but not store that data for the code. We’re seeing a lot of companies take an interest in that.”

Art of communication

Rocom is part of the Nycomm Group of companies. The group, which includes Nimans in Manchester, sells over 5,000 product lines to 6,000 customers and employs a total of 350 staff.

Nycomm, which has a turnover of £82.5m, was formed following Nimans’ acquisition of Rocom from AIM-listed AT Communications (ATC) for £12.45m in 2009.

Rocom, founded 30 years ago in 1981, was bought by ATC for £17.6m in 2006.

Earlier this year, it moved its office from Thorpe Arch in Wetherby to Temple Point business park in Leeds.

Rocom previously served the corporate, reseller and distribution markets but following Nimans’ acquisition it now focuses solely on corporate customers, including most Times 500 companies as well as public sector organisations.

Jane Craven, who initially worked for Rocom between 2004 and 2009, rejoined the company as head of corporate sales, six months ago.