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In February, Zen was pleased to
announce the official launch of ZenADSL Home 2000.
This launch followed a highly successful trial in
conjunction with BT Wholesale. The three-month
trial proved very popular with many existing
customers, who took the opportunity to upgrade to
the latest addition in the ZenADSL Home range.
Also in February, Zen won the 'Best
Light Business Broadband' category at the ISPA
awards. The ISPA awards are unique, as they are
awarded to people and organisations in the industry
by their peers and reflect the broad nature of
the
service provider sector. The 'Best Light Business
Broadband' award is for the ISP that provides the
best broadband service for business under 1MB and
above 512K.
On the reasons for Zen's win, an ISPA
spokesperson said, "Zen's half-meg service meets
the requirements of a SOHO (Small Office, Home
Office) business. The minimum contract period of
only one month, with no penalty for cancellation,
gives customers flexibility in an often-turbulent
business world. The judges felt that the range of
features, and Zen's customer service and support,
meant that Zen 'stood out above the others'."
In April, Zen significantly revamped
the ZenPartner Programme, following continued
year-on-year success. The revamp enabled us to
continue to deliver excellent business
opportunities to partners and offer outstanding
support. Enhancements to the programme include a
training programme offering Zen accreditation, an
excellent range of sales tools, and a comprehensive
marketing support programme. The new programme
structure comprises four levels - Bronze, Silver,
Gold and Platinum. Each increase in level
represents an increased level of commitment and
turnover and is reflected in a substantial increase
in resources and support.
Also in April, Zen launched 'ZenADSL
Move' making it easier for customers to transfer
ADSL connections when they move house or business
premises. This new service helps reduce the hassle
of moving premises for loyal customers by waiving
the £40 activation fee normally required to
set up new ZenADSL accounts. In addition, Zen also
manages the whole transfer process on the
customer's behalf free of charge.
Zen's co-located hosting service -
Zen Co-location - was re-launched this year.
Previously known as 'ServerConnect', Zen
Co-location provides the very best in secure and
resilient co-located hosting with high performance
network connectivity and unrivalled customer
support. Zen also launched a new product micro site
to provide customers with a central source of
information to meet their server co-location
requirements. The new site is available at
www.zen.co.uk/zencolocation.
For revellers at this year's
Glastonbury festival, the search for true love was
speeded up thanks to a free ADSL connection
provided by Zen. The Guardian's 'Soulmates' dating
tent, located in the Greenpeace site, aimed to
match people with other festival-goers for the
duration of the event. Having a fast and secure Web
connection enabled Telecom Express, the dating
service provider, to improve the speed and
efficiency of the matching service provided to
festival-goers, and Greenpeace was able to feed
back the latest live information to its Web site
and other offices around the world. During the
festival, a team of Soulmates Rangers helped music
lovers to find their ideal partner by first asking
them to complete questionnaires. Using the answers
from these, and the results of a quick interview
with a dating expert, the Rangers searched the
site, looking for suitable matches. Matches and
members of the service were then able to stay in
touch either online or via SMS through Zen's ADSL
connection.
'ZenDirect' was re-launched in June
of this year. ZenDirect provides the very best in
business class connectivity alongside high
performance network connectivity and unrivalled
customer support. Zen has also launched a new
product micro site to provide customers with a
central source of information to meet their
business connectivity requirements. The new site is
available at www.zen.co.uk/zendirect.
 Zen
was praised by one of its partners, Siptel, for its
crucial support during the Hyde Park Live 8 concert
in June of this year. Siptel, provider of voice and
data solutions, selected Zen to provide the data
network services on site for the concert
organisers. Zen provided six broadband accounts and
one SDSL account in half the usual time, the SDSL
at a specially reduced one-month contract (instead
of the normal 12 months) and, more importantly,
provided the personal, 24x7 technical support that
was vital in the running of a time-sensitive
event.
Working together, Siptel and Zen set
up a virtual office environment for the main
concert organisers, Clear Channel, allowing them to
operate as if based in their usual office and
enabling them to offer their full range of
operational support to the event.
Also this year Zen Internet was
awarded "Best ISP of 2004" in the Review Centre
"Best in Class Awards": www.reviewcentre.com/reviews5154.html.
Review Centre ran the "Best in Class Awards" in
order to recognise and reward the products and
services that have provided outstanding value and
customer service to their clients. All the reviews
come directly from consumers who find the site on
the Internet, making the review content impartial
and independent and meaning that the award is based
on the opinions of consumers using the products and
services over a sustained period of time.
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A member of the
dedicated Mac Support
Team dealing with an
enquiry
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In August, we launched a dedicated Apple Mac
Support Team, aimed at offering specialised support
to users of Zen's Internet-based services on Apple
Macs. Keen to differentiate ourselves from many
ISPs who offer limited support for this operating
system, our Apple Support Team consists of a team
of first line technical support consultants who can
offer advice on the set up of Internet applications
and hardware, and resolve connectivity problems and
wireless set up on Apple Macs. The team is fully
equipped to advise customers on all current
versions of the OS and will receive ongoing
training to keep up-to-date with the latest
developments and new releases.
Zen recently worked with Introspect
IT Solutions Ltd, to provide the communications
links for the V Festival at  Weston
Park, Stafford. To replace last year's satellite
links, Zen provided the production company
organising the festival with a broadband
connection. Introspect IT were on hand to oversee
the project and implement a VPN (Virtual Private
Network) for the organisers.
The festival organisers, Roseclaim
Ltd, were provided with e-mail, and file access to
their office based network. Last year, the
production company ran its on-site communications
via a satellite link, which proved unworkable in a
festival environment. The ensuing communications
problems led them to look for an alternative
solution this year.
Since its re-launch on April 4th, the
programme has invested heavily in providing
improved support and additional benefits for its
members. Now included entirely free of charge are
the following training sessions - with more in
development:
- Induction
- ADSL essentials
- Products and services
- Technical
For more information on training,
please contact Gill Cummings (Training
co-ordinator) on 0845 058 9084 or Melissa Colton on
0845 058 9153. Alternatively, ask your Account
Manager for further information.
The all-new partner portal site (to
be found at www.zenpartner.com)
is currently following an exciting development
roadmap scheduled to take us right through to the
New Year. There's a secure ordering process, in
addition to a whole range of other resources and
useful material available for download. The public
area of the Web site contains an interactive
nationwide locator map that allows visitors to
search for and contact local registered
ZenPartners.
The Web site also contains a wealth
of resources through the Partner Portal that you
can access with a login that's provided during the
registration process. These resources provide
ongoing support for you, and they demonstrate our
commitment to the continuing development of the
ZenPartner programme.
It's worth ensuring that your profile
on the site is up to date and represents your
organisation and the services it provides most
effectively. Development of the search facility
begins next week, with the ultimate aim being to
create and actively promote a solutions provider
database that will produce sales leads for all our
partners.
Also on the site is a 'News' section
which gives you the chance to get your stories read
by prospective customers and other partners, which
could provide some valuable networking
opportunities. If you would like to see your own
stories featured, please send copy and associated
details to: theeditor@zenpartner.com
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Ultimately, we're here to help you.
Your Account Managers are available for sales and
marketing support and also for the escalation of
issues with other departments. They can provide you
with advice and support and help solve any problems
you may have. They can also help you with marketing
support through our Joint Marketing Funding scheme.
If you have any promotional ideas that you think
could prove a good return on investment, your
Account Manager will be more than happy to discuss
them and co-ordinate your application.
Also, if you think you have a
newsworthy story for the press, let us know! We can
assist with writing - and placement of the story.
This has been done alongside partners in the past
and has proved very successful in terms of coverage
achieved.
We want to help you to help
yourselves as much as we can. That's why we're
here. Stay in touch, and we'll make sure that you
get the most you can from the ZenPartner
Programme.
 In
his first ever marathon, Chris Robinson of Flexsys
ran a fantastic time of 3 hrs, 55 mins, 7 secs
finishing a very respectable 9,244th out of a total
of 35,105 who completed the run.
For lesser men, just finishing the
London Marathon would have been achievement enough.
Not for Chris, who also took part in this year's
Great Manchester 10K Run in May, achieving his best
time to date, 40 mins, 47 secs.
In total, Chris managed to raise a
fantastic £1,000 for charity, split evenly
between Manchester Kids and Cancer Research, which
was helped by a donation from Zen.
From all at Zen and the Partner
Programme team: Well done Chris!
 For
some companies, replacing the legacy systems for
several of the biggest names in the UK holiday
industry would prove a tricky proposition. Not so
for Silver ZenPartner, Astro Communications, who
recently picked up the Network Team of the Year
Award 2005 at the Techworld Network Awards, held in
London.
Key to winning the award was Astro's
work for Hemel Hempstead based Bourne Leisure,
owner of Butlins, Haven Holidays and Warner
Breaks.
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Astro picking up
their award
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In an industry where the Internet drives huge
volumes of sales, Bourne was aware its systems were
becoming antiquated and it was time to upgrade. By
bringing in Astro to build a new data centre and
upgrade existing LAN and WAN infrastructures,
Bourne could be confident they would get a network
that was up to the job.
The Astro solution enabled support
for 650 local users, 1,650 remote users, plus the
caravan park Internet bookings, backed by 42
ZenADSL connections.
The solution included a new resilient
fibre infrastructure serving eight distribution
rooms, new LAN switching equipment, as well as the
migration of the LAN core to the new computer
room.
Testament to Astro winning this award
was the ability of their engineers to install and
commission services at 35 sites across the UK in a
matter of only 8 days with no interruption to
service.
Astro were able to achieve all of
this with both new and old systems running
simultaneously over the migration period.
 Flexsys'
work in providing Internet access solutions is
based around Griffin - its own new product aimed at
the hospitality market. A large proportion of
customers are in the hotel industry and need
high-speed Internet access to be available
throughout their premises. Griffin, an inexpensive,
one-box solution that is ISP independent, takes the
broadband signal and distributes it around the
hotel, either hard-wired or wirelessly, and enables
guests, casual visitors, meeting rooms and
conference facilities to have seamless and secure
'plug and play' access. Previously, guests would
have had sockets in their rooms for dial-up access,
which was slow and expensive, and made it difficult
to download the large files that they often
wanted.
 Flexsys
provided Zen Internet with a Griffin unit to
evaluate. Its claims of security, robustness and
simplicity once installed were all verified by Zen
staff, who were unable to hack into it.
Partnering with Zen to assist in
implementations, Flexsys provides Griffin to hotels
using Zen's broadband services,  integrated
with Flexsys technical support. Griffin is
currently installed in three hotels locally,
including the Royal Toby in Rochdale, an early
adopter of the system, and in many more hotels
around the UK and overseas.
Full name: Stephen Dykes
Age: 31 - Not over the hill but a
good view from the top!
Position(s): Sitting down (mostly),
Partner Programme Account Manager & Team
Leader
Length of time with company: 8
months
Where are you from originally? Born
and brought up in leafy Cheshire - apart from a
brief stint as a southerner until my visa ran
out.
What were you doing before you joined
Zen? 7 years working in B2B telecoms sales
What are your 3 favourite Web sites
(clean ones please)? zenpartner.com (obviously),
eBay.co.uk, sniffpetrol.com
Which album /single do you have in
your stereo? Compilation at the moment but it's
usually some soft/70's rock collection - Led Zep,
The Who, Metallica, etc. May even be Rolf
Harris!
Which football team do you support?
The Champions of Europe - The Mighty Reds - Stevie
G's ancestral home - Liverpool FC
What is your favorite childhood TV
programme, and why? I'm tempted to say Dallas 'cos
it meant I could stay up later but for reputation
I'll say Gentle Ben 'cos it was shown the same
night as I got my football stickers and my
favourite tea.
If you could be any one else for a
day who would it be and why? Hugh Hefner - Training
for when I take on the position permanently.
What was your best Christmas present?
Lego. As a kid I loved it and when I got older,
someone found out and bought me a load for Xmas.
Now that's what Xmas is all about.
Do you have any bad habits? C'est
Moi?
What was your first computer? Amstrad
CPC464 with a green screen. 15 mins to load a game
before you had any idea if it was any good. Those
were the days.
Thanks Stephen, that concludes our
first inspirational interview with the ZenPartner
team members, next month:
Tim Maltman : Account Executive
Almost  the
whole of Brighton is now covered by wireless
Internet. Schools can access large amounts of data,
businesses get an alternative to high-speed leased
lines, and everyone receives free Wi-Fi in
cafés and pubs. The go-ahead community's
Metronet's (metropolitan Intranet) network is based
on Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
standards, which outperform Wi-Fi in both range and
bandwidth.
The Brighton Metronet emerged after
the Council realised there was real potential at
the centre of the hype surrounding free Wi-Fi. Two
years ago, it was decided that local enthusiasm for
the technology would make a community-wide service
viable and the biggest free Brighton based Wi-Fi
provider, Loose Connection (www.looseconnection.com)
- a Gold ZenPartner, got involved. Loose Connection
specialises in wireless networking and Internet
services, and provides ADSL packages to small
businesses and home consumers. As well as providing
ADSL services via Zen, Loose Connection has
pioneered the provision of free wireless 'hotspots'
in Brighton. The company was the first to provide
Wi-Fi Internet access on the resort's famous
beaches, and makes it available in many of its
cafés and bars.
Zen Internet is a fully accredited
registrar for the all-new .EU top level domains
that enthusiasts say could be as important as
'.com' domains and will give companies their first
truly Pan European identity. They predict over one
million .eu names sold in the first year of
operation for the new TLD.
Long before you're asked to vote on
UK progress towards membership of an alleged
European super state, you'll have the chance to
register an appropriate Euro-centric domain name -
yourcompany.eu - organised in Brussels by EURid. A
non-profit consortium, EURid will use software
that's already in place for registering domains in
Belgium, meaning that .eu registrations will
benefit from years of development and should be
almost entirely automated.
There will be three stages to the new
domain's launch, each lasting two months. The first
will begin shortly and will be known as Sunrise
Period One. During this time, trademark holders and
Public Bodies will be able to apply for domains in
which they have a prior rights interest.
There will be a so-called 'zero hour'
after each period, when all the registrars will
send domain orders to EURid, who will process them
on a first-come-first-served basis.
As part of any order placed with Zen,
the validation required will be checked by Zen
staff to ensure that all the necessary
documentation is present and correct. Zen will then
forward the documents on to the validation agent,
and customers will be able to check the progress of
their order on a WHOIS link on the EURid Web
site.
For further details on .EU domains,
please check: www.zen.co.uk
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