‘Internet Of Everything’ Could Help Economic Growth Says Cisco

Leading networking experts Cisco, has emphasised the growing significance of the ‘Internet of Everything’ for the future of businesses, people and nations.

The Internet of Everything is a concept described by Cisco as being the progression of networking capabilities between people, data, processes. Cisco’s recent report, The Internet Of Everything: Bringing the Future to Life, focuses on how the concept of IoE will influence the infrastructure of connections throughout the entire world and how it will have a positive impact on all industries. It reports that 50 billion ‘things’ will be globally connected by 2020.

The report outlines how the internet has already fundamentally altered the way in which businesses communicate with their customers and that is only with a small percentage of the world currently being connected. It suggests that with such a huge amount of connections in the future, businesses and their operations will be radically different.

The Plans Will Change The World’ Says Cisco Chief

Cisco Chief Executive of Cisco UK and Ireland, Phil Smith, said: “With just one percent of the physical world connected at this time, this is just the beginning of an amazing future. As connections become smarter, faster and more insightful, we will only see more imaginative and ambitious applications of the IoE which will quite literally change the world.”

In the future there will be people and areas of the planet that would normally be considered ‘unconnectable’ being easily and readily connected with everything being capable of having an internet address. Phil Smith says the world will ‘wake up’ with the internet of everything. He added: “From better, more sophisticated ways of selling to and engaging with customers, to increasingly efficient and slick supply chains and manufacturing processes, the Internet of Everything is being brought to life in a number of ways.

In the report, Cisco identifies five areas that will see the biggest benefits first: healthcare, retail, transport, energy and especially manufacturing.”

Plum Communications Providing Cisco Networking Solutions

Plum Communications provides Cisco systems to different organisation types and sizes. If you would like to know more about how your business can be better connected with Cisco then please get in touch with us on 0161 622 3500.

Sources

http://newsroom.cisco.com/release/1404521/Cisco-Showcases-How-the-UK-Is-Harnessing-the-Internet-of-Everything-in-2014

http://internetofeverything.cisco.com/en-gb

http://newsroom.cisco.com/internet-of-everything-october2013

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Campaigners Urge Government To Create National Broadband Plan

Pressure is being put on the government to produce a broadband plan for the UK which will position it amongst some of the leading countries, placing digital architecture and mobile communication at the centre of some of their policies.

Broadband campaigners, Digital Business First, have received signatures from businesses who support the concept of a new plan and who believe that a plan will help determine positive economic growth for the country. 

Other Countries Committed To A Digital Plan

The Digital Business First campaigners highlight that other countries are investing heavily and wisely into broadband capabilities, with France and South Korea being two countries which the UK is being compared to. 

France has billions stored for investment in broadband and hopes to have 100 Mbps coverage by 2023, while South Korea began investment into broadband connectivity decades ago which has now allowed the country to be able to plan for 1 Gbps coverage for the vast majority of its population by 2017.

National Broadband Plan

A report written by the organisation contains details of what a National Broadband Plan (NBP) should encompass for the UK, including several clear objectives, including the requirement for a 1000Mbps/1Gbps provision across the country by 2017; the need for a Regulatory Review and also 4G coverage for 98% of the population as well as signal strength of 10Mbps. It also outlines the need for ‘5G’ to be a priority.

Broadband For Businesses

A 2014 report also states that the use of broadband by both individuals and businesses is growing at a rapid rate and that this growth is accelerating. It points out that two leading telecoms companies recorded a 60% annual increase broadband traffic over Christmas 2013 and tens of thousands of customers migrated to a ‘faster’ broadband network during that year. The subject of regional broadband coverage is also raised in the report and specifically the question of whether or not businesses and homes are getting the service they need.

Broadband Services With Plum Communications
Plum Communications is able to provide businesses with a range of different telecommunications services including bespoke business telephone systems and high speed business broadband. We understand that businesses need instant access to the internet and as such, we can offer expert advice and information about the best products and services to suit your businesses’ needs. Please get in touch with our team on 0161 622 3500.

 

Sources

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6376-broadband-campaigners-in-the-house-of-lords.html

http://www.thametoday.co.uk/news/local-news/business-eye-institutional-denial-of-slow-broadband-speeds-1-5961229
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25545309/bay-area-news-group-editor-named-editor-chief

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Remote Working And Technology: What You Need To Know

Businesses everywhere are feeling the positive impact of the world becoming a smaller place in terms of mobile communication but what are the most important things to consider if you are thinking of employing a remote worker policy in your organisation and how do you deploy the best telecommunications system that is right for your business?
To help you work out the questions you need to be asking and the issues you need to think about, we have put together some key considerations and facts about  remote working technology.

Benefits Of Remote Working

Many companies who have employed a mobile or remote worker policy have seen travel and time costs greatly reduced; an increase in employee contentment and an ultimate rise in profits. The extension of the ‘office’ has allowed small to medium sized firms to share a multitude of online resources such as databases and file transfer sites. Virtual teams have cut down on meeting times by utilising video conferencing and companies have successfully maintained their corporate identity by working with shared technology.

Some small companies have also reported that they are able to choose from some of the best people in the industry, as they are not restricted by geographical location when it comes to recruitment.

Do I Need An IT Strategy To Support My Remote Worker Policy?

Because technology is the main enabler of remote working, you will need to have a firm strategy in place to get things right from the start. According to a white paper written by growth partnership organisation, Frost and Sullivan, ‘Mobile Collaboration and the Small and Midsize Market’: “ IT Managers must implement an enterprise mobility solution in order to stay competitive in a world in which business gets done 24/7 from any location and on a growing number of devices.”

 

Your Company’s Mobile Phone Policy

The paper also reports that because there has been mass consumerisation of IT in recent years, particularly with the advent of Smart Phones, many people integrate their own personal mobile devices with business.  It advises that while this can save costs for businesses it is important to remember that it does not offer any security or safety measures. It recommends that businesses should undertake an assessment of all mobile workers’ technology needs to develop a clear mobile device strategy.

What Is Unified Communications?

Unified Communication systems allow workers to communicate on a number of different mediums e.g. if you send a voicemail to a colleague he/she has the option of picking this up on an email. The idea behind Unified Communications is to allow users to correspond in the best medium for any given piece of information and get answers as quickly as possible.

Unified communications uses the following different types of real-time communications services:

Instant messaging

Presence information

IP Telephony

Speech recognition

Video conferencing

Interactive whiteboards

Finding The Right Remote Worker Technology With Plum Communications

If you are considering employing people who need remote access then Plum Communications can provide you with the right solution. The Plum Homeworker is a popular product as it affordable, reliable and efficient. We are also accredited to sell and install the following products and solutions:

AVAYA

Cisco

SonicWall

Microsoft

Nokia

HP

Netgear

We supply services from a range of suppliers including  BT Openreach, Talk Talk Business, Vodafone, Enta, Gamma, O2, EE, 3, Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya.
If you would like more information and advice on any of our telecoms solutions then please get in touch with us on 0161 622 3500.

Sources

http://plumcom.com/pdfs/frostsullivanmobilecollaborationsmallmidsizemarket
http://www.plumcom.co.uk/line_rental.php?page=line_rental
http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/powwownow-partner-zone/using-technology-flexible-working
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_communications

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10 million reasons why .UK is a great place to be

This month the 10 millionth .UK web domain was registered, underlining the growth of the internet economy in the UK.

.co.uk is the go-to domain for businesses in the UK and has been growing strongly with around a million new registrations in the last year.

A .UK domain says you do business in the UK and 4 in 5 internet users prefer .UK results when searching on-line, a great indication of trust in the domain – it really has never been a better time to get your business on-line and .UK is great place for it to be.

To celebrate this milestone, the folks at .UK are giving away a new iPAD daily to one lucky person who registers or renews their .UK domain name between 28th March and 26th April 2012.

You can view Nominet promotion terms and conditions here.

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4G – Will mobile internet overtake home broadband?

Until recently consumers in rural areas in the UK (around 5% of the population) received very low quality and slow broadband service, as well as poor 3G reception on their mobile phones. Similarly, the mobile 3G network as a whole has not been as efficient as it should be. In addition, it is expected that the demand for mobile data in Europe will increase by more than 500% in the next five years.

A recent trial scheme has seen such rural consumers, and also consumers in East London, trialling new 4G broadband via specific dongles, in an attempt to prepare for the inevitable availability and roll out of the 4G network from 2013 onwards. Initial trials have shown that the 4G network is actually faster than normal home broadband speeds and Wi-Fi connections.

Are you happy with your current broadband speeds? Do you regularly use mobile internet? Let us know your thoughts on the matter.

Plum can review customers’ current broadband bills, to see where they can reduce costs, and advise on their broadband and mobile data usage. They can provide customers with both home and mobile broadband services and appropriate hardware. If you would like more information or advice on Plum’s hosting services, please contact us via email or phone (01616223500).

Related links

• BBC - Will 4G be faster than home broadband?
• Ofcom - Proposals to extend 4G mobile coverage
• BBC - Our 4G future
• The Guardian - 4G mobile internet promised across UK

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Web domains to get customised suffixes

As of last Thursday, companies and individuals were able to apply to customise their web address suffix. This means that rather than using the traditional .com, .co.uk or .net suffices, they can create their own suffices, e.g. .bbc, .bt, .london.

Such customised suffices have both benefits and disadvantages. On the plus side, if companies are able to provide memorable URLs to consumers, there will be a lesser need to spend larger sums of money on paid search advertising. Also, if companies have previously missed out on specific .com or .co. uk domains they would be now to use new and more memorable suffices, such as .web.

On the other hand, such applications for a new web address suffix do not come cheaply as companies will have to pay approximately £120,000 to apply, and the whole process from applying to finally getting the new suffix could take up to a year and a half. The high costs could be seen as too high for many SMEs and non-for-profit organisations. Additionally, such organisations may fear that cyber squatters may try to obtain such suffices in order to commit fraud.

Plum can already provide customers with low cost hosting services, including domain name hosting, domain name registration (co.uk, .ltd.uk, .gov.uk, .sch.uk, .ac.uk, .com), domain name renewal, and email hosting. If you would like more information or advice on Plum’s hosting services, please contact us via email or phone (01616223500).

Related links:

• · BBC - Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names
• · The Guardian - Generic top-level domain sale begins on web
• · The Telegraph - Radical web address shake-up begins

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Increased demand for mobility and Unified Communications amongst SMEs

With recent advancements in mobile technology and more workers now working remotely; there has become a growing demand for these remote and mobile workers to have the ability to communicate with colleagues and customers, and access information, on the go. In other words, SMEs now need more mobility and Unified Communications (UC).

A recent report (IOD report: 2008) has found that 30% of workers rely on mobile communications for their job. Similarly, the lack of access to email on the move is costing UK businesses more than £7 billion per year.

To help this demand, Avaya last week released IP Office 8.0. This latest version provides SMEs the full utility of Avaya’s existing UC platform on mobile android devices. This means that, amongst other capabilities, users are able to manage conference calls, send and receive emails (through tie-ins with Microsoft Outlook), and manage call services straight from their smartphones. Essentially the new platform provides users with the full IP Office experience through their smartphones.

As an accredited business partner of Avaya, Plum provide a number of products and services to companies (including the IP Office platform and mobile devices), in order to allow for productive and effective remote and mobile working, effectively creating a virtual office. If you would like more information or advice on Plum’s hosting services, please contact us via email or phone (01616223500).

Related links:

• · Information Week - Avaya's IP Office Takes UC Mobile
• · Avaya - Avaya Mobile Collaboration Optimizes Team Performance For Small and Mid-Size Businesses
• · Director – Guide: Mobile working changing the landscape for future business

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UK slow to take advantage of faster broadband

A recent report from Ofcom has found that only 4% of the UK’s homes are taking advantage of superfast FTTC (Fibre to the cabinet) broadband services, with the majority over-using lower speed broadband instead due to lower costs and wider availability. As recently reported by the BBC, the current average broadband speed in the UK is 6.8 Mbps, whilst superfast broadband can provide 80-100 Mbps. Consequently, there appears a need for further investment in superfast broadband in order to make it more widely available to businesses.

Speeds can vary but Fibre to the Cabinet shows vast speed improvements for customers who are a long way from an exchange but near to a cabinet as the active parts are contained within the cabinet.

Are you happy with the broadband speed you currently have? Is it time for businesses to switch to the superfast FTTC broadband? Let us know your views on the topic.

Plum were one of the first companies to be offering FTTC in the Oldham area. Plum can manage orders for faster broadband and provide service now with ability to convert to fibre when available in the area. Customers can register or place orders now so they can go live as soon as possible.

Please visit the following news articles for further information:

• BBC - Ofcom: UK lags on fast broadband but loves to shop
• BBC - UK Chancellor announces more funding for broadband

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Customers call for further clarification from mobile phone operators

The last 12 months has seen a change in how mobile phone operators provide their data download usage services. It had previously been the case that unlimited data usage meant unlimited.

However, changes by operators earlier in the year meant that unlimited actually meant that customers had a cap on their data usage, e.g. 500MB or 1GB, and that customers would be charged for going over this limit. As reported in the Guardian, these changes have come about due to operators not having the capacity on their networks to support the ever-growing high data usage by customers. This lead to an increase in complaints to Ofcom earlier this year in relation to unexpected charges on bills, and a call for more clarity and transparency in data download limits and charges.

Such complaints have led to calls for changes to be made. Consequently, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has stated that operators can continue to use the word ‘umlimited’ in their advertising, as long as customers are made aware of download limits. However, others have seen this statement as unclear. As reported on the BBC recently, Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith has stated the need for further clarification from advertisements on data limits and for customers to be given updates on their own data usage, e.g. notifications when they have almost reached their data cap.

Have you had any bad experiences with high charges or unexpected bill amounts? If so, let us know about them. Plum always aim to be transparent and clear when providing customers details of their data tariffs and usage. Where customers are looking to save money on their mobile data usage, Plum can offer an analysis of expenditure, check that customer has the correct tariff and recommend savings. In addition Plum can provide tariffs with all networks.

Please visit the following news articles for further information:

• The Guardian - Mobile web users face unlimited confusion over data caps
• The Guardian - 'Bill shock' phone and internet users urged to inform Ofcom
• BBC - Pressure mounts for mobile data cost clarity

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Seasons Greetings from Plum Communications

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