Virtua Team Talk

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”.

Please give a warm welcome to Radio Frequency Engineer Ian Jenkins the newest addition to the Virtua team at the Swindon Head Office.

Ian has been appointed Head of RF Design and is currently being kept busy as the ‘design authority’ for the Cable & Wireless FMC Programme.

Ian graduated from Plymouth University in 2000 with a degree in Electronics and Engineering and then joined the Cheltenham based Telecoms company Alan Dick & Co where he worked for 10 years as a “cellular design antenna engineer”.  This enabled Ian to build up a wealth of experience, particularly in relation to GSM, UMTS and site design and build.

During his time with Alan Dick & Co he also had the opportunity to grow his expertise in such areas as indoor networks and RF design engineering. This led to projects for Vodafone and 02 where he came to be considered the ‘design authority’, a very laudable achievement!

Ian’s knowledge of the telecoms industry and his wide network of contacts soon made him aware of Virtua who were recommended by a number of his colleagues. So when Ian was ready to further develop his career it was to Virtua he turned and Virtua, recognising his talents, brought him on board. Fortuitously, Ian is already familiar with some of the Virtua projects, and some of the people involved, through his background in the industry which he feels is a big plus.

Ask Ian about what it’s like to be part of the Virtua team and he is very clear: “Virtua are a great bunch of people” he says “I like their dedication, efficiency, attention to detail and the opportunities they provide. I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

Ian lives in Bristol and has a passion for both music and sport. He is a self-taught guitarist and also plays classical piano. When he’s not making music Ian enjoys playing squash and yes, just like most of his Virtua colleagues, he is also another enthusiastic snowboarder!

Welcome to the team Ian!

Please give a warm welcome to Senior Systems Architect Rob Davies who has recently joined the Virtua team at the Swindon Head Office.

Rob has been assigned to the Operations team and is currently busy working on a number of initiatives, in particular assisting with RF design for the Cable & Wireless FMC Programme as well as some database process design.

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 Rob has been involved in almost every aspect of the business including design, architecture, testing, designing new products and developing GSM standards. He has also gained a lot of experience in signalling, core network systems (soft switching, IMS, HLR) and wireless access networks. His most recent work at Motorola involved him in product management of UMA and HLR/HSS databases.

This vast body of experience has given Rob a broad view of the telecoms industry which he now plans to use within Virtua by helping the management team to grow the business and develop their commercial business model.  Something he is really looking forward to.

Ask Rob about what it’s like to be part of the Virtua team and he is very clear: “Being part of the Virtua team is like being part of a family. In many companies it’s common for people to be thought of, and referred to, as ‘resources’. At Virtua everyone is a respected as an individual rather than considered as a resource and this makes a huge difference. It’s also great to be part of an organisation that is viewed as ‘the best’ in its field of expertise.”

Rob lives in Swindon with his family and keeps himself busy as a school governor at his son’s primary school. He also helps out at his son’s diving club and a local swimming club where his daughter swims five times each week.  Rob is also a keen skier and likes to get away twice a year for some quality skiing or snowboarding.

On a recent camping safari in Namibia you might have thought there was little chance of Rob finding any good skiing, but not so! The Namibians are very enterprising and have adapted standard snow boards (formica and lots of furniture wax) and consequently invented “sand boarding” on the vast Namibian sand dunes. “Although the sand boarding is great fun” says Rob “there are two downsides. Firstly there are no chair lifts to get you back to the top and secondly you might encounter a lion or two if you are not careful!”

Welcome to the team Rob!

Here at Virtua we are always delighted to get involved in exciting new initiatives and one of our current projects is deploying LPGSM systems using the recently released GSM1800 spectrum specific to FMC in-building systems.

We are deploying the technology, which is essentially a new primary phone system, for major businesses across the UK for use in their offices and retail stores. Using this technology our clients will be able to use mobile phones and smartphones to communicate with each other using their own internal network, rather than relying on the external public wireless mobile networks, which are serviced by other carriers. Not only do these deployments give customers fantastic network coverage within their premises but it also enables them to make mobile calls between employees at very low cost.

The radio spectrum used for this deployment is restricted in its power output so we need to ensure that the system is contained within and around their premises so that it does not interfere with existing wireless operators’ networks or other organisations in the vicinity. This however is a huge advantage rather than a restriction because of the system’s many benefits.

For this project we are working closely with a company called iBwave utilising their tools to accurately model our designs and plan our deployments of ‘in-building’ wireless networks. It is incredibly exciting technology that allows us to model entire premises, design the perfect system, plan contingencies and above all provide customers with the best possible cost effective solution. This is proving to be a great business relationship with both companies applying their particular expertise for the benefit of our clients.

Another exciting element is that this relatively new way of doing business may well lead to organisations changing their perceptions about how office space is allocated. Today most organisations allocate office space by putting groups of desks together that seat employees working within the same functional area -  each desk has its own fixed phone line. With our new technology installed this is no longer necessary. Employees can stay in constant contact with each other regardless of wherever in a large multi-floored building or office complex they happen to be. This means the new phone system is likely to remove a lot of restrictions associated with office planning and desk location and provide much greater operational flexibility.

We choose iBwave as our design and planning automated software tool because our GSM deployments need to be perfect. Our customers depend heavily on these systems to run their businesses and we wanted to do everything we could establish robust systems. Our team includes the best radio designers and we wanted them to have the best tools to efficiently do their job. Choosing iBwave is part of that commitment.