Boxx Communications Ltd

Simplifying telecommunications for businesses large and small!

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Could you live without your smartphone…?

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Could you live without your smartphone...?

There are now well over 1 billion smartphones in use around the world and in the UK more than 50% of mobile owners use smartphones.  

We all remember when Apple introduced their ground-breaking first iPhone in 2007, but smartphones have been around longer (albeit in less advanced formats). Ericsson described its 1997 GS 88 “Penelope” concept as a “Smart Phone” before anyone understood what we now recognise the term to mean.

Blackberry, Samsung & HTC all offer challengers to the popular iPhone and with each new model that manufacturers develop, come a whole host of new features, functions and capability.

We humans are becoming ever more reliant on our hand-held devices….. Often it is not a traditional alarm clock we reach for in our half-woken state of morning, but our phone.  What do we do whilst we brush our teeth these days…?  We check our emails, twitter, Facebook!  Waiting in a queue for something…? We pull our phones out again to fill that 90 second void with some app checking/game playing activity, because standing still, not doing anything, is just NOT common behaviour anymore!

Smartphones are vital not only in our personal lives but for work too.  How long would you survive without being able to check your emails via 3G (or 4G for some) whilst out and about?  It has become normal to share ONLY our mobile contact telephone numbers with work colleagues, customers, etc so that we can be contacted anytime, at all times.

So for a device that we all place such high value on (as well as in monetary terms), why do we not treat them so….?

According to reports, 1 in 5 of us have dropped our phone down the toilet.  And so many more have suffered those heart-lurching moments when your phone manages to jump out of your hand and dive towards the floor.  Many of these drops miraculously cause no harm (bar a few more scratches, to add to the collection) but some result in cracked screens or worse. 

Whilst we cannot do that much to ease our ‘butter fingers’, there are things we can do to protect our phones in other ways:

  • Don’t carry your phone in your back pocket – You wouldn’t walk around with £500 hanging out of your back pocket but we seem to forget what our devices are actually worth!
  • Always use a PIN – Only 29% of us use this FREE yet potentially life-saving feature that ALL phones (not just the smart ones) offer.
  • Keep a note of your IMEI number – This unique 15-digit is usually printed under the phone battery, or can be accessed by keying *#06# into most phones. If a mobile phone is stolen, the IMEI number helps your mobile service provider block the phone.
  • Register your mobile (or other gadgets) at Immobilise – just in case in falls into the wrong hands.
  • Turn off WI-FI, Bluetooth & Data Roaming when you’re not using them.  And definitely when you are away on holiday!
  • Keep your operating system updated and/or consider anti-virus protection.  You do this for your PC after all, so why not your phone?

The UK are less mobile security aware than many other countries, but following these simple steps can help to change that and keep our most prized processions safe!

“Sorry, we can’t take your call right now”

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If you are a small business owner there are
going to be occasions when you cannot answer your phone, it’s inevitable.  How you deal with this though, can, make or
break your business.

How annoying is it when you call a business
yourself and the phone just rings out?

Equally frustrating is a bog-standard
answer phone message that leaves you wondering whether or not you have reached the
right person/company.

And worse still, have you ever made a call
(during standard opening hours) only to be greeted with an answerphone
message that states our opening hours are

These can all damage a
potential customer’s first impression of you and your business, but can easily
be avoided.

No
matter how small or large your business is, it is easy, yet not costly, to make
sure that you handle your incoming calls effectively, even when you cannot physically
answer them.

  • You may run a business where
    you are often out and about – we can provide you with a
    host of features including call forwarding – so your
    customers can always reach you!
  • If, for whatever reason, taking calls is sometimes difficult, we can set you up with some more advanced call handling options such as: inbound call recording or automated services
  • Or simply being able to place
    calls on hold will make you sound more professional and do wonders for
    your callers initial perception of you and the service/products you offer.

Whatever type or size of business you run,
there are many ways of making sure your inbound call services and telephone systems are allowing you to make the best of your telephone interactions with customers and….. that you never miss a call again!

Dial 999 in an Emergency…?

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Dial 999 in an Emergency...?

We’ve all had it drummed into us since childhood that the telephone number you call in an emergency is 999 – right?

Well whilst this is still correct, things have changed slightly, but not many people seem to know about it!

Think about this…… You are on holiday in France (which is so easy to get to these days). It’s late, it’s dark, you’re driving along a small country road and you’re lost! For whatever reason your Sat Nav isn’t helping you find where you need to be and your mobile phone has no signal!!  All this useless technology is distracting you from driving and when you look back up at the road, you have to swerve to avoid something and end up in a ditch. Don’t panic, you’re not badly hurt, but you are lost, you need help and you have no mobile signal!

So who do you call….? In the UK you would dial 999, but what about elsewhere? In Europe you want to dial 112.

112 is the European Emergency Services number – It’s been in operation for a few years, yet only a tiny proportion of the UK even know about it! And it’s not just for when you’re holidaying in Europe – you can use it for UK emergencies too and it’ll go through to the same operator that dialling 999 would reach.

Like 999, 112 is a recognised emergency number so you can call it from a mobile phone even if you don’t have any signal.  (It will automatically roam for another signal if your operator’s is not available) This is super handy for when you are ‘in the middle of no-where’ and those all important signal bars are showing EMPTY.

Also, the emergency services use a GPS tracking system and can locate where you are calling from within seconds. Perfect for when you don’t know the answer the that all important question ‘Where are you?’ 

And what about for non-emergency calls.  If you need to speak to the police because your car has been stolen, or to report a minor car accident, but don’t feel it’s necessary to dial 999, you can dial 101.  This will put you through to your local police station who will be happy to deal with your enquiry, without disturbing those working on the 999/112 emergency helpline.

A S.M.A.R.T New Year

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A S.M.A.R.T New Year

The first few days of every New Year are filled with ambition and high hopes for the year ahead. In our personal lives we vow to drink less, eat better & exercise more, to name but a few.

It is no different when it comes to business. We mentally draw a line on the previous year and look forward to the new ideas / projects / opportunities that are out there for the taking in the prosperous period of time ahead of us.

But hands up how many of us join a gym in January, then come March have only been a handful of times (if at all)??!!

When it comes to your business, you cannot afford for your enthusiasm to fade, nor those old bad habits to resurface. What you need to do is make sure that you are setting the right type of goals and objectives in the first place.

When setting any business (or even personal) targets, you need to make sure they are S.M.A.R.T.

Specific
Always include the WHO / WHAT / WHERE in your objective setting, so that the aims are clear.

Measurable
If you keep an eye on your PROGRESS, you’re more likely to stay on the right track.

Attainable
HOW are you going to achieve your goals?

Realistic
Don’t set the bar too high (or too low). Remember the aim is to ACHIEVE your targets, but they also need to be challenging.

Timely
WHEN do you want to achieve results by?

By remembering these simple steps, you (and your business) can become the super fit & healthy, smug gym bunnies that we all want to be!

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