David Rothwell has had European Region responsibility for Voice and Data Networks and Telecom Service Providers across 12 sites, including Business Telephone Systems, Switchboards and PABX BT Meridien Lucent Definity Alcatel Octel Voicemail systems LCR (least cost routing) ISDN circuits and Leased Lines Internet connections and Broadband TCPIP LAN Local Area Networks Frame Relay WAN Wide Area Networks Contract Mobiles Supplier Management BT MCI Worldcom Deutsche Telecom France Telecom O2 Vodafone Orange During that time, he had many interesting experiences and war stories that will [...]

If you are a BT customer, be on your guard! BT is warning customers about a series of phone scams involving people claiming to be calling from the company. If you are targeted, the scammers will call you and warn that your account is in arrears. They then ask for bank or credit card details to settle the account. If you ask for proof or refuse to pay, the fraudsters then offer to prove who they are by disconnecting the phone line then and there. [...]

Broadband Speeds in the UK Ofcom recently released a report which represents the most thorough examination of broadband speeds ever performed within the UK. The data they collected was taken from over 60 million speed test results accumulated by 1600 broadband customers and it paints a relatively bleak picture of the UK broadband market as it stands today. The findings basically revealed what many people already knew to be true, that broadband speeds vary wildly depending on a number of factors and in the most [...]

Rolling contracts allow BT to automatically renew your contract with them for a further 12 months *without* your explicit consent. Their normal contract, however, allows you to leave when the 12 months is up. Which one did you sign up to? Because If you miss the annual reminder and try to leave BT for a cheaper alternative phone call supplier, you are stuck unless you pay for the privilege to leave! This is damaging to competition in the deregulated telecoms industry, and so far, OFCOM [...]

Features and Benefits of VoIP Services VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol is a new tool allowing telephone calls to be made across the internet, rather than through a phone line. For those doing this from home, a computer is usually required for connection. However, simple specialist hardware that resembles an ordinary handset is available for commercial users. VoIP telephone calls are not restricted to other VoIP phones – calls can be made to any type of line. As a result, its is beginning to [...]

Essential Business Telecom Services Introduction Telecommunications technology – in all forms, and certainly not least in business – continues to advance at an alarming rate. Business people, today, are faced with a plethora of existing, convergent or entirely new technologies, and must make important, informed decisions to safeguard the future of their businesses. New telecommunications technologies, products and services must be suitable for conveying important business information, in the first instance, but must also offer immediate payback in terms of efficiency, flexible working and customer [...]

LLU stands for LOCAL LOOP UNBUNDLING The Local Loop connects your telephone socket or switchboard to the telephone exchange. In the past, this has always been owned by BT. Since telecom deregulation was introduced to break the BT monopoly and create free market competiton and a "level playing field", call traffic between telephone exchanges was allowed to pass over alternative networks. This is known as LCR or LEAST COST ROUTING. But historically BT always owned the last part of the connection and charge line rental [...]

It used to be that BT owned a monopoly on landlines, since they built up the infrastructure to supply them. A landline is the final connection from the BT Exchange to your premises, also known as the Local Loop. On 1st August 2006 Ofcom allowed other telecom companies to supply landline services. This is also called Local Loop Unbundling, or LLU. Other providers can now rent the LLU from BT and supply it to the customer themselves, usually at cheaper rates and sometimes as part [...]

Since June 25th 2004 new Government legislation means that all Businesses making unsolicited calls to other Businesses must check that the phone number is not registered with the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (TPS), or risk a £5,000 fine Click here to Order Online NOW Our Automatic Corporate TPS Call Screening avoids risking a £5,000 fine without expensive subscription fees and monthly list checking. The service costs just £15.00 per month. The Network is directly programmed by the Corporate TPS database and is updated every 28 [...]

  Cheap phone calls for home and business have been possible for many years (originally called Least-Cost Routing, or LCR), and recent OFCOM legislation has made the process even easier than ever. LCR needed the manual re-programming of your company telephone switchboard, which was sometimes a chargeable task and not without unexpected hitches. There were also small plug-in dialler boxes which were unreliable, got unplugged or had power inadvertently turned off. Both methods “routed” your phone call off the main BT network, onto another carrier [...]