• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
boxx logo

Boxx Communications Ltd

Simplifying telecommunications for businesses large and small!

  • Home
  • About
  • Our Solutions
    • VOICE >>
      • Hosted VoIP
      • Onsite PBX / SIP
      • Mobiles
      • Conferencing
      • Call Management >>
        • Call Analytics
        • Call Recording
        • Inbound
        • Message on Hold
    • CONNECTIVITY >>
      • Business Broadband
      • Leased Lines
      • Wi-Fi Hardware
      • Gigabit Internet >>
        • Milton Keynes
    • CLOUD & IT >>
      • Networking
      • Unified Comms
      • Cloud Backup
      • Microsoft Teams
    • SERVICES >>
      • Engineering
      • Project Management
      • Web Listings
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
      • Interact Medical
      • Mercer and Hole
      • LBT Flooring
    • Downloads
  • Contact
  • Customer Support

Hints and Tips

Digital detoxing revolution births the dumb phone

3rd May 2017 by admin

Digital detoxing revolution births the dumb phoneHas technology got so smart and all-consuming that the only natural step is to ditch it and revert back to simpler, less-connected times?

Digital detoxes and tech free time are becoming increasingly popular as more people awake to the fact that always being online and constantly connected is more of a stress than a boon.

It’s a subject that is back under the microscope following news that the hottest new gadget on the block this summer won’t be the latest smartphone, but it’s older, dumber cousin – the Nokia 3310.

A relic from the days when mobiles were all about texting and long battery life, the 3310 has no WiFi, GPS connectivity (gasp!) or ability to add apps – yet it’s still one of the most anticipated releases this year.

The digital detox trend is one that handset manufacturers have started to pick up on, with an increasing number of phones on the market that make a virtue of how few features they have. These ‘dumb’ phones are often targeting the older generations, but are finding new fans among the young, too, as they cotton on to the fact that always being available online makes it hard to truly relax.

The 3310 and other, similar, handsets offer a return to a less complex time – when anyone with your contact details could get hold of you, but you didn’t feel compelled to answer even if it was an email from your boss at the weekend as there was no expectation that you’d have seen it.

The pressure of posting, commenting or liking posts on social media is eradicated through the absence of WiFi and GPS connectivity, leaving more time to live in the moment and enjoy the company of those around you instead of being glued to a screen. The new 3310, unlike the original, does feature a camera so you won’t have to worry about missing out on memorable snaps which can be uploaded at a more convenient time.

Being ‘offline’ for hours at a time will certainly be very stressful for some, maybe even unbearable, so while full-on digital detoxing is not for everyone, there are some steps that we can all take to minimise technologies impact on our overall health and well-being.

-If detoxing isn’t for you, perhaps consider moderating your use, especially before bedtime, to give your brain a chance to recharge like your phone but in a separate room to minimise the temptation to surf the web into the small hours.

-Having a gadget free day when work permits can also be very freeing – even just reducing the number of push notifications so you don’t feel compelled to answer everything the second it comes in makes a big difference too.

-Many platforms now come with do not disturb hours as well – so even if you can’t give up on tech completely, you can make sure that you’re the one in control.

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Hints and Tips, Mobiles, Office News, Services

Broadband down? Here are the first four things you should check

19th April 2017 by admin

Broadband down? Here are the first four things you should checkWe’ve all heard the joke about ‘turn it off and on again’ to try and fix devices or services that aren’t working as they should, but do you know what steps you should actually take if you seem to have a broadband outage?

There are several things that can cause issues with your broadband, so run through the checklist below to see if any of these are at the root of the problem before getting in touch with your provider:

1 – Check out your router, specifically the lights and what colour they are. The key ones to check are the DSL/broadband light and the one corresponding to the Internet – if these are red or off, your connection is down. If they are green, you have a good connection to the Internet.

It’s normal for the Internet light to flash, but the DSL/broadband light should be solid. Even if this is all in order, don’t rule out an issue with the connection to your devices.

2 – Ensure all wires are inserted correctly into the telephone socket, microfilter and router and that as well as being plugged in, everything is turned on.

3 – Turn off the router, and leave it for at least 20 minutes before rebooting to give it a chance to reset.

4 – Try the connection through the test socket to see if that is working. This can be done by unscrewing the two screws on the faceplate, revealing a direct connection to the line coming into your house.

This will help you rule out whether the problem is inside or outside of your home or business network.

And finally – If you have completed all of these steps and your connection is still down, please get in touch as our tech team will be happy to assist further.

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Connectivity, Hints and Tips

Internet Connection Types: A Guide for your Business

22nd February 2017 by admin

Internet Connection Types: A Guide for your BusinessA high-speed internet connection is a necessity for both homes and businesses alike, but as technology has evolved the variants in solutions has become mind-boggling.

Have ever struggled to tell the various types apart….?

Or have you been confused about what the differences are….?

Then read on, because this guide is for you!

1) ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is one of the most common broadband services in the UK and most homes have an ADSL connection. It uses the copper lines of the BT phone network, but unlike dial-up it allows you to make phone calls at the same time as using the internet. Asymmetric refers to the fact that it has substantially greater download speeds than upload.

Our Business Broadband service offers speeds of: download 24 Mbps / upload 8 Mbps

2) FTTC – Fibre to the Cabinet runs along fibre optic cables to the street cabinets and then over the existing copper wires to home and business premises. This replacement of a large portion of copper cables with the more modern fibre optic cables gives a substantial speed boost.

FTTC is now available to over 26m premises in the UK, and Openreach’s nationwide rollout is helping the government’s target of reaching 95% of UK premises by the end of 2017.

Check here to see if it is available in your area!

Our Business Fibre Broadband offers speeds of: download up to 76 Mbps & upload up to 19 Mbps

3) EoFTTC – Ethernet over Fibre To The Cabinet is the next generation of FTTC where users have their own dedicated line (known as uncontended) from the cabinet so there is no sharing with neighbouring homes & businesses. This means they will have constant bandwidth and won’t see service degradation even at peak times.

4) GEA – Generic Ethernet Access is similar to FTTC in that it uses copper wires from the cabinet to the premises, but unlike FTTC it runs over Ethernet from the cabinet to the exchange. Offers the benefits of an Ethernet connection with lower costs.

5) EFM – Ethernet in the First Mile uses multiple copper wires where fibre is not available, and refers to the network connection between a home or premises and the first street pole, cabinet or office owned by the broadband provider.

6) FTTP – Fibre To The Premises as it’s name suggests, FTTP bypasses all copper to deliver broadband direct from the local exchange to your door, running on specially laid fibre cables and providing increased speeds

7) Ethernet Fibre uses fibre to connect directly to the telephone exchange, so does not connect via a street cabinet.

8) Leased Line is the term used to describe a dedicated ‘pipe’ running between your premises and the local exchange to provide any of the above services.

Our Direct Internet Access solution covers all of the services mentioned above. It is a bespoke offering that takes into account individual needs and requirements as well as the available infrastructure. The key benefits include symmetric download/upload speeds, uncontended bandwidth and the fact that multiple users can be online at the same time.

To talk to us about what would work best for your business, contact our experts, who will be happy to talk you through the options we offer.

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Cloud & IT, Connectivity, Hints and Tips, Services

Who to call in a powercut

26th January 2017 by admin

Who to call in a powercutWe’ve all been there – that moment when the lights flicker and go off, and don’t immediately come back on.

Power cuts can happen for a variety of reasons, some more serious than others, and last from a matter of seconds to hours – but when you suddenly find yourself without electricity, what do you do next….?

Aside from the obvious;

Switching off appliances that shouldn’t be left unattended – ready for when the power comes back on

Leaving a light on so you know when the power outage has been resolved

….many people don’t know they should contact their electricity network operator.

They often mistakenly call the electricity supplier they pay their bills to!

So that’s why the electricity network operators have introduced 105 – to give you an easy-to-remember number to call that will put you through to the local people who can help.

In England, Scotland and Wales, there are six Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) that operate in different geographical regions and multiple Independent Distribution Network Operators (IDNOs) that operate across regions.

DNOs and IDNOs are each responsible for ensuring that homes and businesses have electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

They manage and maintain the underground cables, overhead wires and substations that bring electricity into homes and businesses. They are the people you should contact if you experience a power outage – no matter who you pay your bill to.

Hopefully they can give you any idea what the problem is and how long it might take to get fixed. If it’s stormy, that may well be the cause of any problems, but falling trees and things crashing into power lines are among the many things that can cause an outage.

So remember, wherever you live in England, Scotland or Wales, 105 will put you through to the electricity network operator in your area!

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Hints and Tips, Services

Five tips to help boost your WiFi speed

10th January 2017 by admin

Five tips to help boost your WiFi speedUnresponsive or stuttering WiFi is one of the most frustrating problems of the modern age, but there are several things you can do for little or no cost to try and improve your speed.

1) Work out where the problem actually is…..

There are many reasons that WiFi networks slow down and become sluggish, so checking your WiFi signal strength will give you an accurate idea of what’s causing yours.

The easiest way to do this is to put a laptop close to your router and then run a free speed test. If it doesn’t improve, there may be issues with your internet connection itself, in which case you will need to get in touch with your provider so they can find a solution.

2) Check your router position…..

Fact: It really does matter where you put your router!

WiFi signals radiate outwards in all directions, so placing your router as centrally as possible between all the devices needing a connection gives you the best chance of fast and stable speed.

Your router should also lie flat, rather than on its side, and if it has antennas, these should be pointing upwards and parallel to each other.

3) Practice good internet security…..

Ensure that no-one nearby can ‘piggyback’ your signal and use your connection without permission, as this will naturally slow it down.

For shared connections, especially at work, change the router password regularly so that anyone who has left the company, for example, is removed from the network.

4) Reduce interference…..

Local interference can also be an issue, as until recently WiFi only operated on the same frequency as many frequently used items such as Bluetooth headsets, cordless phones, and even microwaves.

Now there are two WiFi bands, which means you can change up, although you may need your provider’s help to do this.

5) Install a booster…..

A WiFi booster such as a signal repeater is quick and straightforward to install and can help double the distance your WiFi signal travels in many situations.

Our tech team is always on-hand to answer any questions our customers have. In fact, resolving problems is what they do best! So if you need help, don’t be afraid to give us a shout!

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Cloud & IT, Connectivity, Hints and Tips, Services

Why using Trustpilot will benefit your business

23rd November 2016 by admin

Why using Trustpilot will benefit your businessAnyone who’s ever started any kind of business will tell you they are the best at what they do.

Better than the competition on price, on quality, on…

Well, everything!

So how do consumers work out who is actually head and shoulders above the rest…?

Recommendations are the key – and the more the better. Which is why businesses of all shapes and sizes are turning to review sites to allow their customers to (hopefully) recommend a great and competitively-priced job well done to others looking for something similar.

Trustpilot is the big name among review sites, and one that came to our attention after initial online research to identify potential suppliers.

We were – and still are – very impressed with the service they provide, which aims to build trust and transparency between consumers and businesses. We felt, of all the services we looked at, that Trustpilot really ‘did what it said on the tin’ and were true advocates of the service they provide, which was very important to us. Reputation is everything so we were determined to provide our customers with a reliable place to leave an honest review and Trustpilot seemed to fit the bill.

We work hard to do the best for each and every customer every day, so had no qualms about opening ourselves up to the public vote, as it were. And with over 120,000 businesses in 65 countries being reviewed, including big names like Royal Mail, Travelex and Superdry, we’re in good company.

Trustpilot make it really easy to obtain reviews, with templates that can be customised to look and feel part of your brand. You can also choose whether to send them manually or automate the process completely.

We take the time to respond when customers leave reviews on our Trustpilot Company Page, as whatever they say (and they’re generally very positive), we value their input and the time they take to tell us about our service.

The Trustpilot Dashboard is pretty addictive too and you’ll definitely find yourself spending time there, fascinated by the wealth of data available.

Our personal favourite is the search terms that are typed into Google that result in our trustpilot company page appearing in the search results.

It really is fascinating!

There are numerous widgets that can easily be integrated into your website so that you can share your success stories. Visitors to your site immediately know that these recommendations are genuine – Let’s face it, anyone could ‘write’ a testimonial and slap it on their website. No-one would really be able to tell if it was authentic or not. Trustpilot voids that underhand trick completely.

And while transparency is very important in itself, using Trustpilot has also had additional benefits for us. Our Google ranking has improved and now we always dominate the top results positions – and so it works for us on every level.

Are you using Trustpilot or similar, if not we recommend you do!

Categories

Yearly Archive

Filed Under: Hints and Tips, Office News

Page 4 of 13
« Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 13 Next »
  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to page 6
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 13
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Legal


T&Cs


Website Terms of Use


Privacy Policy


Cookies


Jobs


Pricing


GDPR


Complaints


Boxx Communications Ltd

  • Support: 01908 350750
  • Email: support@boxxcomms.co.uk
  • Address: Boxx Communications Limited, Office 349 - Spaces, 100 Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 1FH
Trustpilot
Facebook Logo
Twitter Logo
Instagram Logo
LinkedIn Logo
Youtube Logo
Boxx Awards
Boxx Awards
FCSCyber EssentialsCityFibre City Champions

Boxx Communications Limited are an FCS Member. Our Membership number is 1624

Boxx Communications Limited are registered at Companies House England and Wales

Company Number. 07449383

VAT Number. GB 247 2241 21

All Content © Boxx Communications Limited 2022