Leading UK business communications specialists Central Telecom have been awarded the Vertical Market solution at the European IT Excellence Awards in Frankfurt.

Central, which employs more than 250 staff at its headquarters in Burton-on-Trent and regional offices in Guildford and the City of London demonstrated their unique ability to create vertical market solutions, which address their customer requirements. Their dedicated Public Sector Team has extensive experience coupled with a track record of understanding and identifying the key issues affecting the Public Sector.

The winning solution underpinned Sunderland City Council's vision to produce an exemplar community that truly reflects how ICT and emergent technologies can make a difference for the citizen, for business and for the way in which government, both local and national can be more efficient and effective in its service delivery. The solution allowed the council to retain its original investment by designing the solution that would deliver Avaya SIP services, giving them a cost saving of £500,000 and providing the largest roll out of SIP in EMEA.

John Chapman IT Europa's Editorial Director said; "The judges were particularly impressed by Central Telecom's solution for Sunderland City Council. The sheer scale of the deployment, the 'zero loss' failover design and the re-use of existing equipment where possible combined to make a winning solution. The clinching section of the entry was the detailed description of savings, return on investment and productivity improvements. Despite stiff opposition from across Europe, Central Telecom's solution was a clear winner in its category."

The European IT Excellence Awards are the first pan-European awards which recognise the crucial role that Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Solution Providers play in the delivery of real world solutions, and attracted entries from more than 30 countries. Entries were submitted by ISVs and resellers describing the solution provided and each had to be supported by an endorsement by the client. 49 companies from 16 countries made the finals. The winners were selected by an independent panel of consultants and editors.

Central's Managing Director, Andrew McDougall commented "'We are pleased to have received recognition in the European IT Excellence Awards for our Vertical Market expertise in the Public Sector. This award not only cements our reputation as a market leader in the UK but also shows that we can be recognised for our success across Europe."

In congratulating the winners at the prestigious ceremony at the Hotel Intercontinental in Frankfurt, Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa said: "the overall quality of entries was extremely high and demonstrated the depth of talent in the channel community across Europe. I congratulate all the winners and wish them and all the finalists every success in the year ahead".