Boxx Communications Ltd

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Hints and Tips

Five areas of the UK gearing up for dialling code changes in October 2014

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Five areas of the UK gearing up for dialling code changes in October 2014

People in five parts of the UK will soon need to include the area code for the first time when they dial a local number from a landline.

Codes can currently be omitted from local landline calls, but this has meant Ofcom is unable to release new local numbers beginning with a zero or one.

The new move, which will take effect from October 1 this year, is designed to free up telephone numbers in areas where supplies are running low.

The change affects five dialling code areas:

– Aberdeen (01224): Includes Aberdeen & the area to the west, including towns such as Westhill.

– Bradford (01274): Includes Bradford & the surrounding areas such as Baildon, Bingley, Cleckheaton & Shipley.

– Brighton (01273): Includes Brighton & Hove, as well as places such as Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven & Southwick.

– Middlesbrough (01642): Includes Middlesbrough & surrounding places such as Stockton, Redcar, Stokesley & Yarm.

– Milton Keynes (01908): Includes Woburn Sands, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford & Wolverton.

Ofcom said the spiralling numbers of telecoms companies over the past ten years, while good for competition and cheaper bills, had also led to increased pressure on the supply of numbers in these five areas. This new move means it can allocate numbers starting with zero or one, without exchanges treating them as mobile or directory inquiries services and failing to connect them, or connecting them to the wrong number.

The move follows a similar successful change in Bournemouth in November 2012, where the process ran smoothly. Going into the change, Ofcom research showed that 81 per cent of local residents were aware of it, and 94 per cent said they were not concerned by it.

Now, as then, Ofcom will use telecoms companies, local media, local councils and business groups to ensure the local community is aware of the changes.

Will the code change doesn’t officially take place until October, local residents can start using it now to get into the habit before the switchover. From October, if a local number in one of these areas is dialled without an area code, the user will hear a free message asking them to redial.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “We can create more numbers without changing anybody’s existing phone number. This is important for us, as we know that number changes are costly and inconvenient for consumers and businesses.”

Asking landline callers to use the code locally is intended to safeguard the future supply of new landline numbers and avoid the need for more disruptive measures, such as changing existing phone numbers. The supply of new landline numbers also ensures that consumers and businesses continue to enjoy the widest choice of telecoms providers.

Top five Twitter success tips for small businesses

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Top five Twitter success tips for small businesses

Following on from our blog on top tips for getting started on Twitter, this posts looks at specifics that small businesses can and should do to boost their profile and sales.

Assuming that you took all the advice in the previous post linked to above, then you are now in possession of a well-optimised account with a profile picture and summary information, and are hopefully tweeting reasonably regularly.

That’s obviously a good start, but building on that so you can increase your reach and target people who could potentially become new customers is what Twitter is all about for small businesses. With this in mind, we offer five tips designed to do just that:

1. Seek out local business groups and networking organisations, as well as simply individuals, by using the Twitter search function and searching for towns and areas in the vicinity. Following these accounts will hopefully encourage them to do the same back to you, and you are immediately linked in to an informative and influential circle. As well as making you more visible locally, this may also give you hints and tips about networking events close to you as well, which will help boost your profile even further.

2. Look for hashtag events that cover your area.  Hashtags are words with a # before them during tweets, so that anyone can search on the #word and see all the tweets around it.  Increasingly, local businesses are gathering together networking and sharing contacts via hashtags, often for a specific hour each week. Using hashtags such as #fleethour and #northantshour local businesses introduce themselves and share information and news. Check with other businesses or try some sample hashtags to see if there is one of these near you. If not, consider starting one!

3. Find and assimilate relevant information for your area of business, and share key nuggets with your followers. These can either be retweets (RTs) of reports or articles that may be of interest, pithy quotes that sum up an issue or, possible best of all, a link to a well-optimised blog on your site explaining your thoughts on whatever the issue is. Whichever you choose, the aim is to be, as well as look, like an expert in your area to attract more followers and keep the interest of the ones that you have already amassed.

4. Promote your Twitter handle on your marketing material and encourage customers to contact you there – the real-time element can impress if you respond in a quick and timely manner. Only do this, though, if you monitor your account and any mentions or replies to you frequently, as not getting a response is bound to irritate.

5. Offer Twitter-only offers. Whether it’s a free gift with a purchase or a discount code for Twitter followers, offer them something tangible as a bonus for following you. It could mean the difference between them going with you or a competitor, so taking time to value who is looking at your tweets is never a waste of time.

Finally, just engage, listen and tweet in whatever proportions work for you and your availability. Twitter has no set rules, so follow our tips as much as they help but never be afraid to experiment.

Heartbleed – and what it means for small businesses and data

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Heartbleed - and what it means for small businesses and data

The Heartbleed bug is bad news for most companies, including small businesses, both because it potentially leaves
customer data open to hackers and because of the scale of the web traffic involved. Even though the weakness, which exploits
a flaw in popular open source encryption software.

Open SSL has been around since March 2012, its existence has only come to prominence in April this year. Worryingly, experts believe that up to two thirds of all websites have been compromised so how do you know if your business or data is at risk?

Open SSL runs on web servers and was designed to protect traffic that carried personal data between users and
supposedly secure sites such as banking and shopping carts. It’s used widely across the web, from huge companies such as Yahoo down to small e-commerce sites.

But it has now emerged in what has been dubbed the world’s ultimate web nightmare that these encryption keys
could be lifted from the sites themselves if the Heartbleed bug had compromised them. Worse, it can be done without leaving a trace.

“The main worry is for small e-commerce sites that do not know they have been affected,” says Keith
Cottenden, director at cybersecurity specialists CY4OR told the BBC.”Any business that takes customer details could be
vulnerable because this encryption is designed to protect personal data. Businesses need to apply mitigation now.”

Effective and robust data security is business-critical for companies of all sizes, but the cost is often disproportionately high for
smaller outfits.

While bad data handling can cost clients and trust both key to the success of small businesses many companies have inadequate systems in place, either because of a lack of resources and understanding, and rely on a head-in-the-sand approach when something like Heartbleed occurs. But the expert opinion in this case is that no company can
afford to ignore Heartbleed.

The bug has been around for two years, meaning that anything held in that time could potentially have been accessed if your website relied on Open SSL for secure communications with users, and there’s no way of knowing if this has happened. While the advice to users is to change passwords once sites have been fixed, the onus is on sites to update their security systems
first, otherwise the new password is also vulnerable.

Key steps to take to make sure any data such as credit card details or passwords that your site holds is secure includes updating Open SSL on each individual internet-facing computer you have, as well as revoking your SSL certificates and generating new ones.

If you have an IT department, they should be able to sort this for you if not and this sounds confusing, then it is likely that you need assistance from specialists for this and other data security needs.

Five ways to stop your website being a victim of cyber crime

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Five ways to stop your website being a victim of cyber crime

Cyber crime can be an annoying and time-consuming menace for small businesses. Computer crime is on the increase, but many small and medium-sized businesses lack the resources to deal with it effectively, and resort to burying their heads in the sand and hoping it will never happen to them.

MPs warned last year that low-level cyber crime, mostly financial, was becoming so prevalent and commonplace that it was falling into a ‘black hole’, with most never reported to police.

Cyber crime can take many forms, but is often related to financial or phishing scams, which aim to get financial details so fraudulent activity can take place, or paralysing networks with botnets or malware, which spreads viruses and stops websites working properly. Increasingly, attacks on computer networks are designed to steal data which can then be sold on.

Solutions are hard to come by, as the exact nature of the problem varies from case to case and as hacking techniques evolve. Unlike telephone fraud, which also remains a significant problem, but requires human-to-human contact, cyber crime can affect vast numbers of machines and website simultaneously.

There are no guarantees, but here are our top five tips to give yourself the best chance of avoiding a cyber attack:

1) Use trusted anti-virus software protect your PC from viruses, malware, trojans, worms and more, and get regular scans to detect any potential problems. Costs vary enormously, so check the detail of what’s included and if in doubt get a higher level.

2) Don’t click on any email or twitter links that look strange most web crime still circulates via email, so be alert to this and don’t click on or open anything you don’t recognise, or from an unknown sender.

3) Keep your software up-to-date – Hackers exploit software flaws, but makers often provide patches when these become evident, which you’ll need to update to make use of. Don’t ignore your computer’s attempts to upload new versions of programs.

4) Back-up your data that way, even if the worst does happen you have a working version to restore to. Ideally keep the back-up off site, or in a fire safe.

5) Register for Nominet’s new anti e-crime services – The internet domain-names registrar is launching Nominet Cyber Assist, aimed at SMEs, and is offering 1,000 businesses the chance to try it for free. Register your interest in the service, which aims to keep websites secure and operating.

Cyber crime will always be out there and it could still happen to you, but following the tips above will give you the best chance of avoiding it.

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World’s largest smartphone carriers announce new models

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World's largest smartphone carriers announce new models

New product lines from most of the world’s largest smartphone carriers are the major draw of the Mobile World Congress which has just taken place in Barcelona. Nokia, Samsung and Sony all had surprises up their sleeves, and technology enthusiasts salivating, as they outlined the direction they will be taking in the next 12 months.

But who launched what, and which were the best received? Read the details below to find out what should be on your wish list:

Samsung:

The South Korean technology giant unveiled a hotly-anticipated update on their flagship phone the Galaxy S5. The new model, which will launch in 150 countries on April 11, was largely received well, with features including a fingerprint scanner for PayPal payments online, better camera, faster connectivity and a brighter screen among the points that got a collective thumbs up. On the downside, those hoping for a phone that stood out from the pack with cutting edge technology were disappointed this was a solid update on the Galaxy S4, but nothing spectacular. The company also announced a new Fit sports band, plus a Gear smartwatch, both designed to integrate with the new model.

Nokia:

Some of the most unexpected news came from Nokia, who announced three new Google Android phones, the X, the X+ and the XL. The three new models from the manufacturer previously noted for its Windows phones will function as hybrids able to run Android apps, but not linked to Google’s Play store, and are billed as budget. Instead, they will get apps from the Android Open Source project.  Ahead of the expected deal which will see the Finnish giant sold to Microsoft, the phones will also have tie-ins with various Microsoft services including Skype and OneDrive.

Sony:

Sony announced updates to its Xperia smartphone and tablet range, the Xperia Z2 mobile and tablet. The Xperia Z1 was very popular, and initial reports suggest this is a better and stronger version, with the company itself claiming the updated smartphone has the world’s best mobile camera. Also featuring video which can capture in 4K resolution and noise-cancellation technology within the headphone jack, it launches next month (MARCH).

As for the best of the rest, debuted the G2 Mini, featuring a larger screen and bigger battery than previous models, and Chinese firm Huawei returning to the tablet market with two models, the MediaPad M1 and the MediaPad X1, billed as making 4G affordable.

Facebook for business: Our top 5 tips

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Facebook for business: Our top 5 tips

Businesses can easily make the mistake of dismissing Facebook as a social media channel devoted to keeping in touch with friends, when in fact it is a powerful tool for companies as well.

In the era of the smartphone, consumers expect brands they are interested in buying from to have a presence on Facebook, and may dismiss you simply if they can’t find you there. Crucially, these brand pages have become the hub of many businesses, acting as a one-stop shop where you can post offers, chat to customers and share news.

And with instant analytics combined with infinitely more reach, there’s no reason not to take the leap. So with that in mind, here is our indispensable guide to getting started on Facebook:

  1. Create your own dedicated page, using Facebook’s straightforward page creation tool. As part of this, you can request your own facebook.com web address such as facebook.com/companypage, which you can use on business cards and email footers to direct people interested in you to your page.

  2. Find your audience. This can be a tricky one while you can ask existing friends and family on Facebook to like your new page and share it with their contacts, the key is to find a new audience in your target demographic. Consider what your dream audience is like and what they would want weekly updates, or special offers, perhaps, and then try and spread awareness of your page among those you think can help you reach them. You can also email business contacts to let them know about your page.

  3. Once you have people following your page and quality is always more important than quantity here – the challenge and fear of what to post can arise. The key is to be brave don’t overthink what to write and don’t be afraid of trying things out. While some followers may prefer photos of new items, or chatty updates about progress or new stock lines, some may only respond to offers but unless you post frequently and try different things out you won’t know this.

  4. Learn from what your page tells you. Not only what types of posts get the best response, as detailed above, but what the statistics are telling you. Facebook’s own Page Insights  performs instant analytics on your page, measuring engagement and success, so do keep an eye on what works well there and then try to replicate it.

  5. Engage with your audience whether they respond to a post, like something, ask a question or even complain. If it’s a question or a compliment, reply back speedily and if you don’t have the answer to something admit it, and say you’ll find out as soon as you can.

The final piece of advice is to be yourself. As long as you’re civil and treat online conversations as politely as you would those in real life, being authentic is a massive bonus on Facebook. You can be chatty, silly, jokey or sarcastic whatever suits your brand and comes most naturally to you. After all, it is your page. So make the most of it.

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