Boxx Communications Ltd

Simplifying telecommunications for businesses large and small!

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Website Update: New dedicated customer section

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Website Update: New dedicated customer section

Here at Boxx we are passionate about doing everything we can for our loyal customers.

Wanting to go that little bit further, we have created a new special area on our website with features designed to make customer’s lives as easy as possible.

Here, customers are now able to do the following…..

Check your bill online: – We know that being able to log in and check your bill, at a time that is convenient is important, so we had it built into the website. All you need to do is enter your username and password. To get set up with this feature, get in touch.

Tell us how we are performing: – Feedback is crucial to us to enable us to continue to improve. We wanted to make the ability to provide feedback straightforward, so again we added it to the website. As an extra incentive, each time you make the effort to give us feedback through the site we will knock £5 off your bill.

Recommend a friend: – If you recommend a friend to us and they go on to sign up, we will give you £35 off your bill plus your friend will get a £9.99 credit on their account as well. It’s as simple as that!

Also featured on the new Customers section are links to our Customer Stories, where we take a more in-depth look at some of our clients and how they have developed and grown while with us.

We hope you like the new features. Of course, if you have any suggestions or comments about what we’ve done, or indeed anything else that we could do, then feel free to use the feedback box to get in touch!

ISDN phase out plans: What now…?!

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ISDN phase out plans: What now...?!

A recent announcement by BT that they have a 10-year plan to migrate all customers off their ISDN network and on to the IP network, has made now an excellent time to make your communications future proof…..

While there is certainly no need for ISDN customers to panic – a decade is more than long enough to plan an effective migration – it does makes sense to look at your options sooner rather than later. Moving across to a more modern system now will take any worry away as well as give access to additional benefits.

So what is BT doing….? In simple terms, they are moving away from traditional telephone lines and instead relying on Internet Protocol to carry voice data (Getting confused by technical terms? Read our guide here)

The announcement by BT CEO Gavin Patterson that:
“We already serve many thousands of customers in businesses using IP, our goal is by 2025 all of our voice customers will be served using an IP with a premises solution and will migrate off the traditional telephony platform”
was the first step towards their vision of replacing all legacy networks and platforms.

An excellent option for many ISDN customers looking for an alternative solution of the type envisaged by BT would be VoIP. It offers many benefits above and beyond being a next generation system that will not be under threat in the same way ISDN is.

So, why would we here at Boxx Comms recommend VoIP….? For these key reasons:

1) Improved Call Handling – The ability to put calls on hold, play marketing messages and move calls seamlessly between locations

2) Flexibility – Easily increase or decrease the number of of users on your system as you grow or change, and easily add another location for taking calls, eg if you or staff are working from home.

3) Lower call costs – Call packages suited to business needs, rather than one size fits all

4) Full control – Monitor call traffic as well as analyse performance according to your specific measures.

To reiterate again, there is no need to panic – a decade is obviously a long time for things to change and be changed. iPhones, for example, didn’t even exist 10 years ago!

That said, why not get ahead and access the rewards of upgrading to a more modern system sooner rather than later – you know it makes sense!

Selfies: MasterCard trial for purchase authentication

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Selfies: MasterCard trial for purchase authentication

Selfies have become annoyingly commonplace across all social media platforms, but now it turns out there might be a real use for them…..!

According to reports, MasterCard is experimenting with a smartphone app that allows people to use facial scans and fingerprints to authenticate purchases they make online.

Easier to remember than a password and designed to cut down on instances of fraud, users will be asked to look into the phone during checkout and blink once, to cut out the chances of a photograph being used. They can also choose to authenticate their purchase by fingerprint.

Ajay Bhalla, security expert at the American financial services company MasterCard, told CNN Money:

“The new generation, which is into selfies…I think they’ll find it cool. They’ll embrace it.”

MasterCard users can currently set up something called SecureCode, which asks for a PIN for online purchases at checkout. It was used in over three billion transactions last year and stops card numbers that have been stolen from being able to be used online. But the thinking is that PINs and passwords, are more susceptible to being forgotten, stolen or hacked than body parts.

So MasterCard is following in the steps of Apple, whose Apple Pay showed that customers are happy to use biometrics to confirm purchases.

The use of facial scans (which would use the phone’s camera function) and fingerprints is reportedly going to be launched as a small trial involving 500 people later this year. MasterCard said it has partnered with every smartphone maker to make this method of verification possible, and that a pop-up will ask for authentication after a purchase.

Crucially for data retention purposes, MasterCard does not actually transmit a picture of the user’s finger or face. Finger print scans will create a code that stays on the device, while facial recognition software will map the face but convert it to an algorithm to send over the internet.

But even this isn’t the full extent of MasterCard’s experimentation – they are also experimenting with voice recognition as well as working to develop technology that will approve transactions by recognising a person’s unique heartbeat.

Exciting and innovative times in the fight against fraud!

Direct Internet Access: Could your business benefit?

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Direct Internet Access: Could your business benefit?

Sometimes referred to as ‘Data Connectivity’, ‘Ethernet Connectivity’ or ‘Leased Lines’, Direct Internet Access (DIA) is a dedicated internet connection that is even more robust, reliable and faster than a standard broadband or even fibre broadband connection.

The connection possibilities are endless and with so many options to suit individual business needs, bandwidth requirements and speeds, we have made the decision not to offer off-the-shelf products. Instead we offer bespoke packages tailored to specific business requirements.

But in an attempt to give you an idea of what you can expect from a DIA connection, we have put together some examples…..

Business A operates from a single site and has 15 members of staff who use the internet to send emails and surf, but are not using many internet based applications. They are just entering into the world of DIA and have a budget of just £100 per month to spend.

Our solution – ‘Ethernet over Fibre To The Cabinet (EoFTTC) / Generic Ethernet Access (GEA)’ uses existing fibre or copper wires to connect to the street cabinet and then a dedicated network connects to local telephone exchange. The upload / download speeds are 20MB p/sec and costs from £129 per month.

Business B is a 3 site organisation that has 15-20 members of staff at each site at present but they are looking to grow their teams over the next 18 months. They use many cloud-based applications and if their internet connection were to suffer any downtime, there would be serious financial & operational implications.

Our solution – ‘Ethernet Fibre’ uses fibre to connect directly to the local telephone exchange (i.e. not via a street cabinet) and is not only the most robust connection but is also scalable at reasonably short notice, so can easily accommodate their growing size. The cost is from £400 per month.

Business C is a single office company that has 20 members of staff who use cloud-based applications and often stream videos. Fibre is not available in their area but they are desperate to increase their speeds and reduce buffering without stretching their budget too much!

Our solution – ‘Ethernet First Mile (EFM)’ uses multiple copper wires to increase bandwidth and provide a faster solution for those who do not have access to fibre.. The upload / download speeds are 35MB p/sec and costs from £150 per month.

All of the above examples feature a totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, which in simple terms means that they do not share with anyone else and that the download speed is the same as the upload speed. They also come with additional IP address options, plus 24/7 monitoring & support 365 days a year.

Direct Internet Access opens up all kinds of opportunities to improve productivity and efficiencies within your business, including moving to internet based voice solution – VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) dubbed the future of telecoms, which can make even further savings and improve your call handing.

To find out more about DIA or VoIP, call us on 01908 350750 or click here

Mobile phone coverage checker launched by Ofcom

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Mobile phone coverage checker launched by Ofcom

Consumers and businesses can now check how good their mobile phone coverage will be in any given area, thanks to a simple and powerful online tool launched by Ofcom.

The mobile phone coverage checker provides a one-stop answer for consumers and businesses across the UK who want to know how networks perform where they live or work, or even where they intend to move.

Users can either zoom in on the UK map, which is powered by data supplied by Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three, or enter a specific postcode to check. As well as showing the state of 3G and 4G data in the area chosen, it also classifies mobile signal, needed for voice calls and texts, and data coverage into three colour-coded categories: green; amber or red.

Green means that good coverage for calls and texts is likely, amber means that you may experience some problems and red suggests you are unlikely to receive a reliable signal. Each location shows data for coverage of 100 square meters and there is also an option to choose whether you want to know mobile coverage for inside buildings or outside.

The new map will be a great resource for people trying to source the most reliable mobile service for where they need to use it and takes advantage of new Ofcom research into the signal strength needed to provide a good consumer experience. The map also takes account of the increasing shift from handsets with external aerials to smartphones with internal aerials, which can sometimes be less effective at picking a signal.

Additionally, it also shows topographical information allowing users to identify areas where there are natural obstructions to coverage, such as valleys and hills.
Helping to improve mobile coverage and quality of service are key priority services for Ofcom. As well as supporting consumers and businesses in choosing the operator and service that most meets their needs, it will also boost competition between the four main providers, which in turn will be good for consumers.

Ofcom is inviting users to check their coverage experience and leave feedback to help refine the accuracy of the new map even more for a new version due out in the autumn.

In related work, Ofcom is seeking to improve the process for switching between different mobile providers and is actively working on ways to do this.

If you would like to know about our Mobile SIM Only offers, get in touch and we’ll be happy to talk you through it.

Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

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Broadband Connection Vouchers: Government grants to boost your broadband

In excellent news for those who are looking to save money and improve their broadband performance at the same time, here at Boxx we have become an approved supplier of the Government’s Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme.

Vouchers worth up to £3000 are available to SME’s who meet the criteria, to assist with the £100+ upfront costs of an improved broadband service. The vouchers can be used for a range of things from a simple installation of superfast broadband (if this was missing before), to the installation of a dedicated or uncontended connection, such as one of our Direct Internet Access (DIA) products.

The vouchers are available in 50 cities across the UK and have been made possible through £40m of Government funding. They are available on a first come, first served basis until 31 March 2016 and your business needs to be registered in one of the local authority areas covered by the voucher scheme.

To be eligible for a voucher, the broadband service you select must deliver a ‘step change’ speed or performance improvement on your current connection and must meet certain conditions.

For a Fibre Broadband connection

These must offer a minimum of 30MB p/sec. If the existing service is already 30MB p/sec or greater, then the upgraded service must deliver at least twice that speed.

For a Direct Internet Access (DIA) connection (ie those provided on a dedicated/uncontended basis)

These must offer a minimum of 20 MB p/sec and be capable of being configured/upgraded to support at least 30 MB p/sec. They are also required to provide a service of at least twice the speed of the current one to qualify, unless you are upgrading from a standard Broadband or Fibre Broadband service, where this requirement does not apply.

DIA is the connection of choice for businesses who have discounted standard broadband, and even a fibre broadband connection, as not being sufficient to fully support their business-critical online demands. It’s akin to the Rolls Royce of connections, offering ultimate reliability and a rock-solid connection for those who need continual and reliable online access. Ideal for large teams and those who use a lot of cloud-based applications, it offers totally uncontended and symmetrical bandwidth, and the ability for multiple users to be doing multiple tasks at the same time. We recently blogged about What is Direct Internet Access and more recently Could Direct Internet Access benefit your business.

The Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme is managed by the Broadband Delivery UK unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Each company can only apply for one voucher, and while this can be used for upgrades in more than one premises, it cannot be for more than £3,000 in total.

If you are interested to see how these vouchers could be used to upgrade your broadband connection or to answer any questions you may have call us on 01908 350750 or click here.

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