Posted by Cloud Net on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 @ 09:05 AM
Ofcom licences companies to dig up your street to install
telecommunications infra structure via the Electronic Communications Code. So just how many companies are licensed to dig up your streets? The 2010 list is below and runs to 152 companies (including the blank company). They range from internet service, business telecoms and VoIP providers to water companies.
Given the £142 million that Ofcom spends annually and the relatively small amounts that these licences raise it is not really surprising that Ofcom clearly hasn't bothered to delete companies that no longer exist. If they did I'm sure that it would reduce the list to a more manageable 100 or so companies that may come creating traffic chaos.
Just for the record Cloud Net is not going to annoy you by digging up the street - we have better things to do.
Here's the full list of companies:
• 51º Limited
• AboveNet Communications UK Limited
• Airwave Solutions Limited
• Arqiva Communications Ltd
• Anglian Water Services Ltd
• AT&T Global Network Services (UK) B.V.
• Barnsley Cable Communications Limited
• Birmingham Cable Limited
• Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water Plc
• Bradford Cable Communications Limited
• Bristol Water Plc
• British Telecommunications plc
• Bytel Networks Ltd
• Cable Camden Limited
• Cable Enfield Limited
• Cable Hackney and Islington Limited
• Cable Haringey Limited
• Cable & Wireless UK
• Central North Sea Fibre Telecommunications Company Limited
• Centric Telco Ltd (now dissolved)
• CityLink Telecommunications Limited
• Cityspace Limited
• Cogent Communications UK Ltd
• COLT Telecommunications Ltd
• Crown Castle UK Limited
• Doncaster Cable Communications Limited
• Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig
• Easynet Telecommunications Limited
• Equant UK ltd
• Eircom UK Ltd
• Energis Communications Ltd
• Energis Local Access Ltd
• The Environment Agency
• EU Networks Fiber UK Limited
• Eurobell (Holdings) Limited
• Eurobell (South West) Limited
• Eurobell (Sussex) Limited
• Eurobell (West Kent) Limited
• Euro Payphone Ltd
• FARICE hf.
• Faultbasic Ltd
• Fibernet UK Limited
• Fibrespan Limited
• FibreSpeed Limited
• FLAG Atlantic UK Limited
• FLAG Telecom Ireland Limited
• Fujitsu Services Limited
• Gamma Telecom Holdings Ltd
• GeneSYS Telecommunications Limited
• Geo Metro Limited
• Geo Networks Limited
• Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Ltd
• GT UK Ltd
• Global One Communications Holding Ltd
• Halifax Cable Communications Limited
• Hibernia Atlantic (UK) Limited
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• Hutchison 3G UK Limited
• H2O Networks Group
• Independent Fibre Networks Limited
• In Focus Public Networks Ltd
• Infolines Public Network Ltd (Code powers suspended)
• Internal Communication Systems Limited
• Internet Central Ltd
• Internet Airworks Ltd (now dissolved)
• Interoute (i-21 Limited)
• KDDI Europe Ltd
• KCOM Group Plc
• KPN EuroRings B.V.
• Lancaster University Network Services Limited
• Level 3 Communications Ltd
• M3Com II Limited, Bermuda
• Mapesbury Communications Limited
• Middlesex Cable Limited
• MLL Telecom Ltd
• National Transcommunications Ltd
• ntl National Networks Limited
• Neos Networks Ltd
• NewNet plc
• Northumbrian Water Limited
• NWP Street Limited
• O² (UK) Limited
• Opal Telecom Limited
• Orange Personal Communication Services Ltd
• Pipex Communications Business Solutions Limited
• Pipex Internet Limited
• Reach Europe Ltd
• Redstone Communications Limited
• Scottish Water
• Severn Trent Water Ltd
• Severn Trent Retail Services Limited
• Sheffield Cable Communications Limited
• Smallworld Media Communications Limited
• South East Water Plc
• Southern Water Ltd
• South West Water Ltd
• Sprintlink UK Ltd
• Spyder Facilities Limited
• SSE Telecommunications Limited
• Surf Telecoms Limited
• Sutton and East Surrey Water Plc
• Tata Communications (UK) Limited
• Telecom New Zealand (UK) Licences Limited
• Telewest Carrier Services Limited
• Telewest Communications Group Limited
• Telewest Limited
• Telewest Communications PLC
• Telewest Communications (Liverpool) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Central Lancashire) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Cotswold) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Glenrothes) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Dumbarton) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Cumbernauld) Limited
• Telewest Communications (South East) Limited
• Telewest Communications (South Thames Estuary) Limited
• Telewest Communications (London South) Limited
• Telewest Communcations (Telford) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Flyde & Wyre) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Southport) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Dundee & Perth) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Midlands) Limited
• Telewest Communications (South West) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Falkirk) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Motherwell) Limited
• Telewest Communications (North East) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Wigan) Limited
• Telewest Communications (Scotland) Limited
• Telewest Communications (St Helens & Knowsley) Limited
• TeliaSonera International Carrier UK Limited
• Thales Transport and Security Limited
• Thames Water Utilities Ltd
• Thus plc
• Tiscali UK Limited
• T-Mobile (UK) Limited
• Torch Communications Ltd
• Tweedwind Limited
• United Utilities Plc
• UK Broadband Limited
•
• Veolia Water East Ltd
• Veolia Water Central Ltd
• Verizon UK Ltd
• Virgin Media Limited
• Vodafone Limited
• VTL Wavenet Limited
• Vtesse Networks Ltd
• VTL (UK) Ltd
• Wakefield Cable Communications Limited
• Wessex Water Services Ltd
• Wight Cable 2005 Ltd
• Windsor Television Limited
• Your Communications Ltd
• Yorkshire Water Service Ltd
Source Ofcom
Full Description of Code for those that are interested is here:
The Electronic Communications Code ('the Code') enables electronic communications network providers to construct electronic communications networks. The Code enables these providers to construct infrastructure on public land (streets), to take rights over private land, either with the agreement with the landowner or applying to the County Court or the Sheriff in Scotland. It also conveys certain immunities from the Town and Country Planning legislation in the form of Permitted Development.
In addition to providers of electronic communications networks the Code is also available to those who wish to construct conduits to be made available to network providers.
The Code is granted to network providers by the Office of Communications ('OFCOM') by a direction made following a public consultation and consideration of the responses to that consultation.
The Code has effect in all cases subject to the conditions and restrictions set out in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003, SI. No 2003/2553 ("the Regulations") (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032553.htm) as amended by The Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) (Amendment) Regulations 2009. SI. No 2009/584. (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20090584_en_1).
Written by David Hill, Chairman of Cloud Net
Posted by Cloud Net on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 @ 08:29 AM
Until now, business phone systems have been sold on price. The usual 'We can save you money off your BT bill' is no longer the clinching argument that it used to be.
What's more important to you - saving a small percentage off your current bill or winning more sales and improving customer service? An important part of your decision process should be how you respond to incoming calls - so called inbound telephony. There are many compelling reasons why inbound telephony should be key when you buy a business telecoms system.
Ensuring that a customer call gets answered correctly first time every time has to be worth thinking about and can mean the difference between a successful sale and a missed sale. My survey below reveals just that!
I carried out a brief unscientific survey of car tyre vendors yesterday. Of the 25 companies I phoned 15 failed to respond at all to my call - the phones simply rang out. I really needed some tyres and so I just wanted to speak to someone or get someone to call me back within an hour. Those 15 companies who didn't answer or have voicemail facilities didn't even get to first base.
There really isn't any excuse today to miss a call. With our Cloud Net business telephone system you can choose a variety of options to suit your needs and your callers' preferences, including call cascading, calls answered with IVR, calls answered in different parts of the country, calls answered on mobiles and even answered using a live answering service on demand. It all adds up to the most powerful set of tools to help small businesses never miss a call while providing a professional image. This is how you can really start to see a massive ROI and never lose a call.
What's more, another benefit of Cloud Net is that businesses can really monitor the team's performance in terms of call handling. With Cloud Net, you can see how long it takes to answer a call and how many you calls are lost before the caller rings off.
You can allocate a number specifically for a particular purpose and then monitor the response. At Cloud Net we take this so seriously that we monitor our own inbound statistics as a KPI and report on them every week. We know how long on average we take to respond to a sales or help call. We believe that the fact that you can talk to a real person on the support desk when you call Cloud Net without waiting or paying a premium rate has to be good.
Of course if you want to improve the way you respond then it makes sense to talk to a supplier who owns the network and can improve call functionality and provide a good quality of service, rather than hire a telecoms reseller for companies such as Gamma, BT or Opal. Try out our inbound response today.
Written by David Hill, Chairman, Cloud Net.
Posted by Cloud Net on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 @ 10:42 AM
Until recently the Private Branch Exchange (PBX) has been at the cornerstone or the business phone systems. However, technological developments have meant that in-house, hardware-based PBX solutions have fallen out of favour. Organisations need to understand why the PBX is now not the popular solution to buy and what the best alternative is if they are to remain at the front of the pack.
The popularity of traditional PBX has fallen because it no longer meets the needs of' smaller businesses, especially those hit by the recession. Most companies are finding a PBX unnecessarily expensive especially as it can't be combined with an existing broadband connection. As well as paying for both of these connections, the business then either has to lease the PBX hardware itself, or try and buy a PBX outright. Also, PBX systems are not easy for the end user to configure. If another phone needs to be added, or if users need to he swapped around, it is a difficult and time consuming task. This difficulty extends to technical problems as well, because they require an engineer to be called out to the site - which can sometimes take days - leaving the business without its phone line.
The main thing that SME's want out of any PBX alternative is a reduction in cost. With Cloud Net there is no hardware involved, other than the handsets themselves and these are free. The actual PBX is hosted by Cloud Net and all you needs to do is connect your handset to the network. As there is no hardware lease costs arc eliminated you only have to pay for the monthly costs of the service itself.
This also means that hosted PBX only requires a broadband connection, letting businesses avoid the cost of paying for phone and broadband lines. The fact that the PBX is hosted in 'the cloud' also makes it simple for end users to configure their own PBX via a graphical user interface (GUI) that runs inside a traditional internet browser. Adding new users, changing numbers or creating groups, only takes the click of button, rather than the process of swapping cables over in a physical PBX box.
Another reason why customers should buy Cloud Net Connect is because it is easier to set up than standard PBX. Everything can be configured in the systems handling the hosted PBX, rather thin having to configure PBX hardware and then send it to the customer to he set up by an engineer. This also means that any problems can be solved by Cloud Net, and it doesn't require an engineer to be called out to the site, reducing your downtime.
The fast pace of technological change in the telecommunications industry means that customers need to keep up to date. Traditional PBX's were instantly out of date. However with the Cloud Net Connect hosted solution you are always at the forefront of technology. No more scrapping of hardware.
The right technology at the right moment can provide customers with many opportunities. The old fashioned PBX is dead.
Written by David Hill, Chairman, Cloud Net.
Posted by Cloud Net on Wed, Apr 14, 2010 @ 09:06 AM
There is a US service called Slydial that I've just come across. 
You dial directly into someone's voice mail without them being able to answer. It only works when phoning mobiles apparently. These are the some of the uses for the service - genuinely taken from their website - check it out at http://www.slydial.com
1) Create the illusion of communication.
You maxed out your emergency credit card the first week of school. Your parents are looking for some answers. A text message isn't going to cut it, but a voicemail would mean that you tried calling them.
2) Just tell your side of the story.
You just partied hard last night and going to work is just not on your radar today. You dread having to call your boss and answering any awkward questions he may have. Instead just leave him a simple voicemail letting him know that you won't be coming into work today.
3) Put a name to the phone number.
You were out late last night painting the town red. When you wake up the next afternoon, you notice a new phone number listed in your recent missed calls. It could be the sweet hottie that you were flirting with or the creepy chick that wouldn't leave you alone. Don't play Russian roulette by calling! Instead just go directly to the voicemail greeting so you can figure it out.
4) Buy yourself some time.
You go to a week long convention for work in Las Vegas and blow $5,000 the first night at the roulette table. You need to call your wife and tell her why she should hold off on making the monthly mortgage payment. Her voicemail will be much more understanding than she will.
5) Play the field more effectively.
You are dating quite a few people at the same time. You don't want to leave them all text messages because there is nothing romantic about that. But a nice voicemail to each would score you points.
6) Have your cake and eat it too.
You desperately need to call your girlfriend but she is a talker and you don't want to spend an hour on the phone with her because you would much rather watch the game with your buddies. Leave her a sweet voicemail and get a reprieve for the night
Of course a responsible business phone company like Cloud Net could not possibly commend such behaviour but it does make you think!
Written by David Hill, Chairman of Cloud Net.
Posted by Cloud Net on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 @ 04:36 AM
Having altered their prices last in January Virgin are hiking their prices again from April 1. Some details are
| Telephone charges | | | |
| Phone packages (including line rental) | | | |
| | From Jan 1 | From April 1 | Change |
| Package | Price (per month) | Price (per month) | |
| Talk Weekends | £11.00 | £11.99 | 9.00% |
| Talk Evenings & Weekends | £14.45 | £15.44 | 6.85% |
| Talk Unlimited | £18.95 | £19.94 | 5.22% |
| 4p Plan* | £11.00 | £11.99 | 9.00% |
| Talk Off Peak`* | £11.00 | £11.99 | 9.00% |
| Talk Evenings & Weekends Local* | £13.00 | £13.99 | 7.62% |
| Additional standard lines (per line) | £11.00 | £11.99 | 9.00% |
| Talk Anywhere 200 | £20.00 | £20.99 | 4.95% |
| Talk Anywhere 400 | £28.00 | £28.99 | 3.54% |
| Talk Anywhere 800 | £40.00 | £40.99 | 2.48% |
BT helpfully give us the following information in the small print on their latest ads and to that we've added our own info.
Costs from April1 1 UK
| | Daytime | Evening | Weekend | Plus set up |
| Virgin Media | 7.5p
| 7.5p
| 0p
| 11p
|
| BT | 5.9p | 1.5p
| 0p
| 9.9p
|
| Cloud Net | 1.2p
| 1.2p
| 1.2p
| 0p
|
Calls
BT, 5.9 ppm Daytime, 1.5ppm evening, 0 ppm weekends plus 9.9p set up fee.
Virgin Media, 7.5ppm Daytime, 7.5ppm evening, 0ppm weekends plus 11p set up fee.
At which point my eyes give up.
Written by David Hill Chairman of Cloud Net
Posted by Cloud Net on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 08:23 AM
The UK landline market place has changed more radically in the
last 2 months than ever before. For once BT the largest player hasn't reported a major change, however the others of the big 4, Virgin Media, Cable and Wireless and Talk Talk have had major events.
In date order:
Virgin Media
NTL: Telewest as a brand was unceremoniously dumped by Virgin as they rebranded their business offering to Virgin Media Business on February the 11th. That rebranding exercise seems to consist of deleting all references to NTL Telewest on all documents on their web site and replacing them with Virgin Media Business.
Mark Heraghty, Managing Director of Virgin Media Business, said: "We have big ambitions for Virgin Media Business. Delivering fabulous fundamentals - great service, good quality and value for money - is at the heart of our strategy. Over the last three years we've invested heavily to put the building blocks in place, which means we're more than fit to wear the Virgin badge."
Cable and Wireless Worldwide
Then on March 26 Cable and Wireless split in two and Cable and Wireless Worldwide were born. It is to concentrate on The Worldwide business (formerly Europe, Asia & US) specialising in offering communications services IP, data, voice and hosting to large enterprise, reseller and carrier customers. It operates globally, with core markets in UK, Asia and EMEA, and provides connectivity in 153 countries.
Talk Talk
Then on March 29 Talk Talk was admitted to the UK stock market following the demerger with Car Phone Warehouse. Their business offering is still branded as Opal (watch this space). They say Opal has a 15 year history and is well established within the SME market, currently offering voice, data services, telephony systems and mobile services to business customers in the UK.
Opal has 3 distinct channels to market, Small Business (Connect channel) - managing businesses up to 50 employees / customers, Large business and public sector (Consult channel) - managing organisations over 50 employees and all the way up to the FTSE 100 and resellers and dealers (Partner channel) - from dealers up to Systems Integrators
Financials
So let us compare their financials (all figures in £ millions, except employee numbers)
| | BT | Virgin Media | C W W | Talk Talk |
| Year end | Mar-09 | Dec-09 | Mar-09 | Mar-10 |
| Turnover (m £s approx) | £21,390 | £3,804 | £3,646 | £1,385 |
| Profit Before Tax | -£134 | -£338 | £233 | £115 |
| Market Capitalisation current | £9,675 | £4,164 | £2,414 | £1,235 |
| Employees | 111,000 | 11,000 | 13,000 | 1,500 |
| Debt | £12,365 | £5,934 | £832 | £862 |
The market capitalisations (number of shares times share price) are interesting with the markets clearly taking into account differing factors.
VoIP
It is interesting that none seem to be placing a great deal of emphasis on the hosted VoiP revolution that is headed down the tracks toward them. It will be interesting to see just how they react to when they see companies like Cloud Net taking an ever increasing proportion of their business systems revenues.
Written by David Hill, Chairman of Cloud Net.
Posted by Cloud Net on Wed, Apr 07, 2010 @ 02:38 AM
Recent reports suggest that there was nearly a National Rail Strike
just after the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. This could have effectively caused major disruption to people returning to work and resulting in a poor business image and a loss of potential earnings.
Workers expecting important phone calls at work would be unable to receive them resulting in collapsed deals and potential customers choosing to use competitors. With a Cloud Net phone system, disruptions with your office communications will be a thing of the past. The free internet phone that we provide with our hosted business phone systems can easily be transferred from your work office to your home office. The beauty of being able to do this is that the telephone number is assigned to the phone and where ever the phone goes the number goes with it. Even if the number has an area code assigned to it you can move the phone to any broadband connection and be able to make and receive calls on it.
Even if you decide to leave your handset at work you can access your Cloud Net control panel to set up call diverts or follow me using any computer connected to the internet. This allows you to pick up your office calls on your mobile without having to go into work to change any settings.
Our business phone systems could solve many issues with travelling to work such as natural disasters or car problems etc. So make sure your company is prepared for any such issues.
Written by Kevin Box
Posted by Cloud Net on Tue, Apr 06, 2010 @ 08:24 AM
Microsoft releases patches for it's systems on a Tuesday usually which is why your machine has probably just been patched again. Their main patch day is the second Tuesday of the month - patch Tuesday. Adobe and Apple seem to release patches every other day. Every time I launch most programs these days they seem to nag that I should upgrade.
I use a program called TagRename which is a great little program for batch tagging mp3 files. Every time I launch it it nags me to upgrade. I once did click yes by mistake. It promptly upgraded to a paid version - demanded money and stopped working.
Did you ever leave a lap top switched off for a few months and then turn it back on - you can forget doing any work for at least a day as it whirs away downloading and updating.
This would be great if there was only one program or operating system - but there isn't. All of which makes the Cloud Net business phone system great. You pick up your phone and it works. Because it's plugged directly into your network it doesn't even need a computer - and it's free, no capital cost. All of the updating, patching, and backing up is all done for you, for free in the cloud. One less thing to worry about.
At least the constant upgrades give all you soft phone users time to go and make a coffee before starting work.