• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Boxx Communications Ltd

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 >>
      • Broadband Solutions
      • Direct Internet Access
      • Wi-Fi Hardware
      • Gigabit Cities >>
        • Milton Keynes
    • CLOUD & IT >>
      • Networking
      • Unified Comms
      • Cloud Backup
      • Microsoft 365
    • SERVICES >>
      • Engineering
      • Project Management
      • Web Listings
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
      • Interact Medical
      • Mercer and Hole
      • LBT Flooring
    • Downloads
  • Contact
  • Customer Support

admin

Ten years of the iPhone – how far technology has moved on

1st November 2017 by admin

Ten years of the iPhone – how far technology has moved onIt’s such a part of our lives now that it’s funny to think that the iPhone was only launched ten years ago.

Then, it was a revolution – the ability to carry the internet as well as a good camera around in your pocket was new, and the iPhone launch propelled the mobile revolution, as well as the fortunes of its maker, Apple, forward at speed.

The next game-changer was it’s App Store, which meant your phone could be anything from a bank to a scanner, depending on your needs and what developers could create.

In these and so many other ways, the iPhone led the way and others followed, with the smartphone in all guises becoming an indispensable part of 21st Century life.

So, what’s changed after a decade?

The new iPhone X (pronounced iPhone Ten) doesn’t just look sleeker, the new phones have some big changes under the hood as well with an updated iOS that benefits all iPhones new & old.

Here are our top 10…

1) The iPhone X does away with the familiar home button, making the entire front the screen. Instead, you swipe to wake the device up.

2) The latest Apple iPhone also features Face ID.

3) The ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature is an important one for safety. You have to activate it, but using this new mode when your phone is in the car will hide notifications for texts, calls, and other apps while you’re driving. The feature can even notify people that you’re driving and will contact them when you arrive.

4) There are also improvements to Siri, thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence. ‘She’ can now translate short phrases, and sounds much more natural than previous versions. The new feature is available in Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish and you need to ask ‘How do you say….’ and end your phrase with “in Spanish” or your choice of language for it to work.

5) There’s also a new ‘type to Siri’ feature, for those who don’t like talking but want answers, while Apple has also switched to Google, from Bing, as the default web browser.

6) Maps are better too, and Apple has added hundreds of indoor plans of airports and shopping centres around the world.

7) Photos have also had a bit of an overhaul, and live photos now feature Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure options. Loop is similar to Vine, while Bounce puts us in mind of Instagram’s popular Boomerang effect.

8) The files app, too, is very handy and allows you to organise files on your iPhone or iPad better.

9) Third-party platforms such as Google Drive are now available.

10) You can now tweak Control Center, and add your own frequently-used toggles, such as Apple Wallet or low-power mode, to the existing ones, as well as re-arrange them.

That’s a lot of changes in a decade – so we can’t help but wonder what the next ten years will bring!

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Mobiles

Improving connectivity in the capital and beyond

18th October 2017 by admin

Improving connectivity in the capital and beyondWith strong broadband connections and Wi-Fi connectivity now seen as critical to business success, it is heartening to see concerted efforts being made to level the digital playing field in the capital and beyond.

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled plans to boost the capital’s digital connectivity through a new Not-Spot Team which has been set up to identify areas suffering from particularly poor connectivity, and then work with local authorities and providers to come up with and implement solutions.

Councils will also be invited to a summit at City Hall to explain how best to apply for money from the government’s Digital Infrastructure Fund, which will also give them an opportunity to discuss and share new ideas and best practices on achieving good borough-wide connectivity.

Transport for London is also getting on board, looking at ways it can bring mobile connectivity to London Underground lines, so that passengers on the Tube have continuous mobile phone coverage and internet access as they travel underneath the city.

Mr Khan said: “London is now a leading global tech hub, with thriving start-ups alongside major companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google. But our digital connectivity needs to be improved – internet connectivity is now a key public utility, and it is no surprise that some businesses see poor connectivity as a barrier to growth.”

Insisting that everyone living and working in London needs to be able to access a fast and reliable internet connection if the city is to remain competitive in the global economy, he added: “That means working to boost connectivity across London, tackling not-spots, delivering connectivity in the London Underground and working with local authorities to provide digital infrastructure fitting of a global tech hub.”

David Leam, Infrastructure Director at London First, added that the city should make the most of existing infrastructure, such as the London Underground network, while insisting that planners in the city must get behind this effort, or risk strangling the city’s digital ambitions in red tape.
The moves in London come as a new survey found that more than half of rail passengers would rather go online via mobile broadband instead of a public Wi-Fi network.

The research by Cobham Wireless found that 51 per cent favour connecting to the internet via their mobile provider, with just 36 per cent preferring to use a public Wi-Fi network.
The biggest issue was security concerns, cited by 63 per cent of passengers as a worry, although 41 per cent were also unhappy at having to share personal information in order to connect to train Wi-Fi. How-ever they accessed the internet, the survey found that commuters are often frustrated by both mobile broadband and Wi-Fi services while travelling.

Just one in three passengers said mobile signal was good enough to connect them to the internet, while almost a quarter described their mobile phone coverage as poor.
Similarly, only 13 per cent rated the quality of train Wi-Fi services, while 22 per cent said Wi-Fi is not available at all on their train route.

As a result, 52 per cent of passengers felt they were unable to perform some work-related tasks while commuting, such as checking emails and accessing files remotely.

Ingo Flömer, Director of Product Management at Cobham Wireless, said: “In these hyper-connected times, the majority of commuters expect to be able to connect to the internet on trains via their mobile service provider. Unfortunately, because of a lack of mobile phone coverage, passengers find it difficult to work during their business commute, [and are often] unable to browse the internet, send emails, or even make phone calls.”

He added that more investment in mobile phone coverage would “go a long way to improving passengers’ train journey experience and ensure they stay connected to work during their busy commute”.
If you’re excited by these plans to improve connectivity for commuters and want to hear more of our updates, sign up to our Mailing List below.

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Connectivity

Hack-a-thon: You spoke, we listened

4th October 2017 by admin

Hack-a-thon: You spoke, we listenedFeedback is really important to us, which is why we’re such big fans of Trustpilot. Whilst our Trustpilot score (currently 9.4/10) is outstanding, there is always room for improvement…

We decided to dig deep and look at the root cause of our complaints, which highlighted that customers were unhappy about costs that result from faults to either their line or equipment.

Our charges for a BT Openreach call-out are £145 + VAT per line and that can soon mount up! Whilst our charges have always been clearly explained in our T&C’s, no one is ever happy with that news. We wanted to do something to alleviate this, and to educate our customers in terms of their financial responsibility when things go wrong.

Our team like a challenge – so we decided to put it to them in what we dubbed our product ‘hack-a-thon’. We chose a handful of staff members, from various departments, with different levels of experience in order to give a real ‘back-to-the-floor’ viewpoint.

We tasked them with the following:

To create one or multiple products that would directly resolve the issue identified and improve the value of the service we offer to our customers.

They had to think with an ‘end-to-end’ viewpoint covering the whole process – from product conception to costs of delivery & sales, marketing, training, launch & beyond.

Our first ‘hack-a-thon’ group comprised of Emily (Sales), Leah (Customer Service), Akeem (Tech Support) & James (Marketing). We locked them in a room (ok we didn’t actually lock them in!) for 2.5 hours where they discussed, debated, planned and postulated product ideas & names until they agreed, resulting in two product offerings.

Our second group included Salma (Provisioning), Jamie (Tech Support Supervisor), Saiesh (Credit Control) & Emma (Customer Account Manager) and were given the same amount of time together and had a really productive session. They came up with a third suggestion, as well as pricing and draft terms for the previous group’s ideas.

This is the first time we’ve done something like this. Normally new products & services are driven from the top down, but it was great to see the team so passionate and being as though they have the closest contact with our customers, the resulting new products really have been designed to meet their exact needs.

So, what did the team come up with during their collaborative thinking sessions?.. Well here goes;

  • No engineer call-out charges in the event of a fault
  • Care Level 2 included
  • Cost £1.49 per line

  • Replacement router sent next day service in the event of a router fault
  • Cost £3.50 per ADSL connection or £5.50 per FTTC connection

  • All the benefits of Router Care, plus
  • Special Faults Investigator Engineering included
  • Care Level 3 included for the PSTN line the broadband is supplied on
  • Sonar 24/7 monitoring
  • Cost £10 per connection

We’re thrilled with what our team have come up with and hope you are too. In fact we’re so hyped about Line Care in particular, that we’re offering one month FREE to all customers in November. If anyone wants to opt out after that just let us know, but we think you’ll love it as much as we do!

As for Router Care or Complete Care, that’s a choice up to you. If you’re interested get in touch and we’ll happily talk you through it and/or get it set up for you.

And we’ll definitely be doing a hack-a-thon again in the future!!

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Connectivity, Hints and Tips, Office News, Voice

Thinking outside the Boxx

20th September 2017 by admin

Thinking outside the Boxx‘Corkscrew Thinking’ came to prominence in the Second World War, when Winston Churchill used it to describe some of the great but unconventional operations that helped the Allies overcome Hitler.

He used it as a definition for those with creative problem-solving skills who could break away from traditional linear ways of thinking to dream up game-changing solutions to huge problems.

Churchill’s corkscrew thinkers most famously came up with the famous Operation Mincemeat, an elaborate plan to convince the Germans that the Allied armies would invade Greece, not Sicily, leading German troops in the wrong direction at a critical time.

Skills like thinking out of the Boxx (sorry we couldn’t resist that one!) are becoming rarer – and thus valued – in large part due to changes to our education system over the past few decades, which have ensured teaching to the test and promoted standardisation as the norm.

Thinking out of the box, therefore, is needed more than ever in our modern society. It is entrepreneurs who most embody the spirit of corkscrew thinking. Routinely taking risks and gambling on innovative solutions that others in their comfort zones ultimately don’t see. These visionaries understand that the most appropriate solution is not always the easiest – or the one that everyone else sees.

Luckily we can all develop corkscrew thinking in our own lives – and in our businesses.

Here are our top tips:

1) Accept that creativity is a process that does not thrive under pressure, so allow it time to breathe and develop. The first idea for a solution for any problem is rarely the best – time invested in this stage is likely to pay dividends further on. A solution that stands you apart from your competitors is always the aim – and these take time (otherwise everyone else would have thought of them too!)

2) Don’t be afraid of sharing your ideas widely. Not only does this hone your pitch, but it widens the scope of feedback and so ultimately creates a better end product or process.

3) Take risks – leaps of faith are sometimes a necessary step.

4) Accept you will fail – maybe more than once. But try to learn the lessons in each case, and use them in the future.

5) It is often said there are no truly new ideas – so be inspired by the world around you, and let existing ideas collide and evolve into something new.

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Hints and Tips

Improving our Service

6th September 2017 by admin

Improving our ServiceIt might only just be back to school this week but we’ve been busy this summer!

In response to customer feedback, we’ve implemented some important changes to make working with us even easier.

Firstly, we were told that customers found our introduction to answering the phone a little frustrating. We used to say, “Can I have your account number please?” and then “How can I help?”

This was particularly frustrating for customers who needed to talk to the last person they spoke with and quickly. So we listened, and we changed.

Now we say “How can I help?” before we ask for you to verify your identity.

This has improved our customer contact scores and we are grateful to Claire Ranger of Hammond and Dummer Opticians for pointing out what is a relatively simple change, but has made a huge impact.

Second to that, in August, we promoted Salma to Project Manager. She now ensures that all new contracts are perfect, and that orders are completed on time and on budget. Well done Salma, you’re the best!

Salma: Project Manager

Finally, we have updated and improved our ordering process using e-sign instead of verbal recordings to verify orders, and updated our Terms and Conditions to cover all the products we sell.

Feedback from our customers suggested that having multiple agreements for each service was confusing and unnecessary. So we set to work on developing a master service agreement which covers everything from line rental and broadband, to complex leased lines and private data circuits. All in one document!

We haven’t changed any pricing or your minimum terms. We have just made it easier for you to do business with us.

All your services, in one Boxx!

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Office News

The top 5 marketing tools we can’t live without…

23rd August 2017 by admin

The top 5 marketing tools we can’t live without...Businesses rely on many things to keep them innovating and ticking over – marketing tools are becoming an increasingly important part of the mix.

Here is a summary of our five favourites we simply cannot live without:

Trustpilot

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZwuuv1-3VAhUG5xoKHfG3CzsQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.salecycle.com%2Fstrategies%2F10-ways-to-use-your-online-reputation-in-your-marketing%2F&psig=AFQjCNGdd680f6efn8wG0jxzmyXt46INug&ust=1503588923526001

This global reviews website provides us with valuable, ongoing feedback – whether it’s good, bad or down right ugly. Luckily, it’s mostly good!

We love the transparency which means that anyone can see the reviews posted – and the honest, unbiased nature of the reviews themselves.

Our customers are mainly happy bunnies, and our score is ever-increasing, but we are not complacent and are determined to keep our product offering and customer service levels as high as ever. Constant feedback helps us do that.

Ultimately, it is only through opening ourselves up to feedback, whatever that is, that we will keep learning and growing as a business – and Trustpilot is the best way that we’ve found to do this.

Sharpspring

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjfp66X1-3VAhWB7BQKHYG3Au0QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsharpspring.com%2Fidentity%2F&psig=AFQjCNHRUXfYJ6Z-GIOKiN-5qNbNXJXRyg&ust=1503588871842467

If you’re looking for a no-hassle, automated marketing solution, then this is for you.

We initially used it as an email marketing tool, but it also comes with a whole host of additional features that really do set it apart from others on the market. Built in CRM, landing pages and website visitor identification to name but a few!

Setting up workflows to automatically send emails in pre-defined circumstances is a big time saver for us and means we have more time to spend using it to drive leads and convert sales. And it’s affordable too!

Google Analytics

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiW1oaF1-3VAhVPnRQKHeTqC70QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdevelopers.google.com%2Fanalytics%2Fterms%2Fbranding-policy&psig=AFQjCNF1t8i5gA9-5p5q39L1QES63lamWQ&ust=1503588834152223

This might sound like an obvious one, but it really is gold dust for your business.

We all know the volume and sources of your website traffic, both organic and any pay-per-click, are important metrics to measure, but Google Analytics allows you to slice and dice this data pretty much any way you want to drill right down into what matters to you.

The dashboard can look quite daunting at first, but Google does offer training to get you started. Alternatively, you can outsource to experts who specialise in this so that they can analyse your data for you.

Lead Forensics

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi5uO3I1-3VAhVCXRQKHYxmCIMQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crunchbase.com%2Forganization%2Flead-forensics&psig=AFQjCNErEgPxrwLNzyEDEs10PFCbCRj6jQ&ust=1503588975841031

While Google Analytics is great for an overview, the paid-for Lead Forensics is very insightful and gives you more specific information about site visitors, including contact information, demographics and search behaviour.

Sign up to receive instant notifications if existing clients visit your site, or browse through a list of visitors to your site to identify new sales opportunities, among a host of other targeting options. This really is one that does pay for itself again and again and again.

Canva

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi-tfzm1u3VAhUJXRoKHVkOAqoQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fahnahendrix.com%2Fcanva-the-content-creation-tool-you-cant-live-without%2F&psig=AFQjCNG_8bhu79D4Z-O7h40Px7z2kK1Wng&ust=1503588766526996

Last but definitely not least Canva.

We love this site – it’s like having your own in-house graphic designer, yet it’s so easy to use. Whether you want to create a funky graphic for social media, design news business cards or put together a more complex brochure, there are a wealth of templates to choose from.

By opting for the business ‘Canva-for-work’ package you can upload your logo, fonts and brand colours to your account and you’re ready to start creating. Our marketing team use this for everything we do internally.

These 5 are our firm favourites at the moment – but do tell us any gems you’ve found that you think we should know about as well!

Categories

Yearly Archive


Subscribe to our newsletter


Filed Under: Hints and Tips, Office News

Page 7 of 27
« Prev 1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 27 Next »
  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to page 6
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to page 8
  • Go to page 9
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 27
  • 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
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 2021