Client Focus: Buzzworks

A new addition to the Buzzworks family, Scotts at Largs is situated at the Yacht Haven. It has a stunning Bar and Restaurant with amazing views over Cumbrae.

The laid-back bar area is open all day for casual drinks and a bite to eat, while the elegant restaurant enjoys a vantage point overlooking the marina. Most impressive of all, though, is their heated outside terrace, enabling guests to dine al fresco all year round. Kenny Blair from Buzzworks talks about how Abica has helped Buzzworks deal with streamlining their communications across their 6 venues.

With such attention to detail, superb food and friendly, professional service, it should come as no surprise to learn that Scott’s has already been awarded the coveted ‘Best New Bar in Scotland 2011′ title at the DRAM magazine awards. All in a day’s work!

A wood-burning fire provides welcome respite from the elements on those less than clement days, while our unique, salt-water fish tank is home to all manner of maritime creatures, including tropical fish, seahorses and even a few baby sharks! Masterminded by the award-winning Nord Architects and with an elegant interior by our good friends at Thompson MacLeod, the space is as stylish as it is welcoming.

Industry: Hospitality
Employees: 40
Location: Buzzworks hosts 6 restaurants across Ayr, Troon, Prestwick and Largs.
Website: www.buzzworksholdings.co.uk

“We approached Abica to see if they could help simplify our telecoms over our 6 venues. Each of our venues had its own phone system which used various line types supplied by different suppliers.

Our main issue was diverting calls to our central reservations booking department. As well as dealing with 6 different companies about our telecoms, we found we were spending a lot of unnecessary time chasing calls and furthermore, wasting money on these extra calls.

Abica managed to streamline our phone system. They have simplified all our billing and the end result has allowed us all to communicate as one organisation much more smoothly. The team are always helpful, quick to resolve any faults or queries and a pleasure to work with. I would not hesitate to recommend them to any one of my contacts.”

Kenny Blair, Buzzworks.

Challenge:

• Dealing with different suppliers for all telecommunication requirements.
• Complex billing.
• Difficulties in forwarding calls to different venues.
• Costly phone bills.
• Unable to divert calls to main reservation booking department.

Solution:

We proposed a Hosted VoIP solution (CommuniCore) which covered 40 users over 5 sites. This allowed for:
Increased functionality – Auto attendants, voicemail, DDIs, call reporting

• Simplified billing
• Short digit dialling across all venues
• Reduced call costs
• Voicemail to email

This was delivered venue by venue ensuring there was no downtime as all sites had to be kept open as being restaurants.
Abica also provide broadband access at all sites for business computers and customer WiFi access.

Tags: Buzzworks, dining scotland, Scotts Largs

Hey! You! Get off of my Cloud! – Is the Cloud safe?

Cloud Computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than on a local server or personal computer.

How does it affect your business?

The most important benefit to storing your data in the Cloud is that it offers you an alternative to purchasing expensive computer hard and software. It is resilient because if your computer is stolen you can continue working using another web connected PC.

But is it safe?

Cynicism is common place for new methods. However, the fact remains and is being widely accepted by most in the industry that the Cloud is now the safest place for your data.

The risk of data loss is ever present and a major concern for businesses. Some of the main causes of data loss are viruses, hardware failure, software corruption, human error, theft and fire. Keeping your data on site whether you back it up to removable hardware or you keep duplicate copies on a few office computers, is not secure. With a good online backup provider your data is stored in a secure data centre which lets you set policies as to what devices can be used to access the data.

With the fast paced development of new devices that can access the internet it is more important than ever to ensure your security strategy is airtight. One of the main concerns, when the term cloud computing started to be branded around, was the security issues. Surely keeping your important information on an external hard drive is the safest way for your business to operate?

The future of data is in the cloud and there is no need to be afraid of it.

Tags: Cloud Computing, cloud services, safe clouds

AbicaPedia – Jargon Buster

CDMA – CDMA is usually meant to refer to CDMA2000, a family of mobile telecommunication standards that use a multiple access scheme for digital radio to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialled telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites.

EDGE – Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution: EDGE improves on the “packet” data system introduced by GPRS.  EDGE is considered a 2.5G mobile communications standard, offering higher data rates than the first 2G GMS systems, but lower speeds than “true” 3G systems such as UMTS.  EDGE transmission speeds average from 100 to 130 Kbps.

Tags: CDMA, EDGE

5 Interesting Facts about the Telephone

We came across some interesting facts about the telephone! Here are a few of our favourites. How far we have come since then.

• “Ahoy” was the original telephone greeting: Alexander Graham Bell suggested ‘ahoy’ (as used in ships), but was later superseded by Thomas Edison, who suggested ‘hello’ instead.
• The very first phone call was “Watson come here, I want you!” It was made on March 10 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, between Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas A. Watson
• Britain’s first mobile phone call was made across the Vodafone network on 1 January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise.
• The origin of the phrase ‘to put someone on hold’ was Alexander Graham Bell handing over his telephone instrument to his partner Mr Watson and saying, “here, hold this”.
• The memorable Nokia tone for receiving SMS text messages is Morse code for ‘SMS’  Likewise, the ‘Ascending’ tone is Morse code for ‘Connecting People,’ (Nokia’s slogan) and ‘Standard’ is Morse code for ‘M’ (Message).

Tags: facts, telecoms, telephone

Why businesses are choosing VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology offers businesses an unbeatable proposition: unified telecommunications and a significant reduction in the cost of ownership.

Research shows that businesses will cut their telecoms investment by 30% when they switch to VoIP.

VoIP integrates business communications into a single infrastructure: the data network. From small businesses to large enterprises, VoIP users report increased productivity, flexibility, and lower bills. Abica offers its own version of VoIP – CommuniCore, more and more of our customers are choosing CommuniCore to help improve their business, we assess the reasons why.

Lower maintenance costs and lower Cost of Ownership

There is no capital outlay and this form of unified communications allows for NO maintenance costs, also allowing for lower monthly bills.

Functionality

Call forwarding, call centre type support, call conferencing.

Flexibility

VoIP is extremely scalable to suit any size of business whatever their needs, and users are able to make changes to the system quickly and efficiently.

Integration

VoIP technology integrates easily with CRM systems which is an invaluable tool for sales and support teams.Your voicemails can be retrieved from your email inbox.

Access

You can access your phone system via internet at anytime and from any location.

Visit our CommuniCore page or call one of our team to find out more about how our VoIP solution can help your business develop.

Tags: call conferencing, call forwarding, cloud telephony, cloud telphony, free calls, internet calling, telecoms, unified communications, voip, voip solutions

Hot tips for calling from abroad

Recent research shows that almost 62% of smartphone users have been hit by a huge mobile phone bill following a trip abroad.

The problem usually lies in lack of knowledge. Smartphones can easily use one MB in seconds, which can result from downloading an email or opening a web link. In this era, the temptation to stay in touch whilst abroad is clear and for those travelling on business- essential.

The unexpected costs suffered by many can be avoided by simply checking network roaming charges or activating cost-saving bundles before making the trip.
Abica offers some attractive mobile bundles for travelling abroad.
Click here to view the bundles.

“The costs of telephone calls, email and data for my mobile whilst travelling abroad used to be horrendous but now with the fixed packages for incoming calls and data bundles from Abica I can have total peace of mind.”  Eric Gardiner, Hamilton Brothers.

Here are 5 hot tips for staying mobile whilst abroad.

1. Check your rates

Check with your network operator costs for calling, receiving calls, texting and receiving texts. This varies with every network and different areas.

2. Look out for hidden rates.

Often network operators hide elevated costs so do not be surprised if you discover extreme charges whilst travelling outwith the UK.

3. Check with your network operator

Check with your network operator what bundles you can buy prior to leaving but make sure that you leave enough time so that they will be added to your bill THAT particular month.

4. Switch off your Roaming Data

iPhone: Scroll to Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming – then touch the button Off.
Android: Click on Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks and uncheck ‘Data roaming’.

5. Call barring and forwarding

You are bound to receive calls whilst you are away and it is likely that you will be charged for receiving these incoming calls. You can avoid this by barring calls to your phone, or forwarding calls to your voicemail.

Tags: data download, mobile abroad, roaming

Client Focus – OCD, Obsessed with service, Passionate about IT.

Kevin Ashcroft (MD) talks about his experience with Abica.

OCD is a Glasgow based IT support and Solutions company with clients across Scotland and North England.

What makes OCD differ from other IT companies, is their ability to prove the quality of their work. Their clients do this naturally. Companies chose OCD because of their proactive IT support which reduces the risk of unscheduled downtime by over 79 percent on the national average. They understand the specific needs of different companies and appreciate the destructive consequences to companies when their IT systems fail.
In a similar vein to this, we look at how OCD has benefited from Abica’s CommuniCore product.

Industry: IT
Employees: 15.
Location: Glasgow

“We found ourselves in a tight spot when our phone system broke down. We had no one available for maintenance, so I called David Munro at Abica. He quickly sorted out the situation within 24 hours. When looking for our new telecoms provider, Abica was the obvious choice and has since proven to be an invaluable extension to our service offering. All our phone systems were installed within deadline. They share the same passion for customer service and on-going support which allows us to work without worrying about future problems, for example a fault occurred on one of our lines prior to moving offices and Abica had it sorted within 4 hours. We recommend Abica to all our clients and network of contacts.” Kevin Ashcroft, OCD.

Challenges

• Find a replacement immediately for an out-dated and mal functioning phone system, as an interim solution prior to moving offices.
• Find the best telecoms solution for their new offices.
• Ensure that this phone system could grow with their business.
• Find an advanced phone system with features that could improve customer services.
• Find the correct, flexible and future proofed system that could be implemented immediately into their new offices.

The Solution:

• Abica provided an immediate replacement for OCD that was working within 24 hours.
• Competing with one other Telecoms provider, Abica won the final contract to provide OCD with their full telecoms provisions to include VoIP (CommuniCore) for their new office. This was completed within deadline and all was up and running before they moved into their new offices.
• Abica provided OCD with all the new lines, a demo and full training to ensure that OCD were able to use CommuniCore to its maximum potential for their business.
• Online statistics for all their calls allows OCD to monitor all calls easily.
• Voicemail to Email.
• A system that ensures no calls are ever missed.
• Unified communications, a quick turnaround, and an on-going support network.

Tags: IT Scotland, IT Support Glasgow, OCD

AbicaPedia – Jargon Buster

3G – Is the general term to describe the third generation of mobile phone standards, superseding earlier digital networks that were called 2G and 2.5G. 3G technologies enable networks to offer a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity.

4G – A way to refer to fourth-generation wireless communications, the broadband mobile standards will supersede 3G.

AGPS – Assisted GPS or A-GPS: An enhanced-performance mobile location system designed to address some of the weaknesses of GPS, the satellite-based positioning system.c

PUK, or personal unblocking keys, are used to unblock a mobile phone which becomes blocked. Mobile phones may become blocked when a PIN (personal identification number) is entered incorrectly on three consecutive occasions. In some instances, the phone may become blocked, which requires a PUK to unblock it, and in other instances, the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card itself becomes blocked and again will require a PUK to unblock it.

A PAC code ( porting authorisation code) allows you to transfer your existing mobile phone number from one mobile phone network provider to another mobile phone provider so that if you change mobile phone networks you do not have to give everyone a new number. You can keep your existing mobile phone number. The process is termed mobile number portability, or number porting. It’s quick and very easy to do.

Inbound Numbers provide you with a simple solution that enables you to route, monitor and manage all inbound calls to your organisation regardless of whether they come into a geographic number or a national number.

Cloud computing basically allows for virtual servers to be available over the Internet. This means that businesses can store all their data and files on this virtual server. The main benefits of this are that you can increase capacity or add capabilities easily and quickly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. In most cases you would pay a subscription for this service.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It is also referred to as IP Telephony or Internet Telephony. It is another way of making phone calls, with the difference of making the calls much cheaper or completely free. All communications are delivered through the Internet rather than the traditional phone system.

Tags: 3G, 4G, AGPS, Cloud Computing, Pac, Puk, voip

Improving Customer Service – Our New Ticketing System

Abica’s new ticketing system designed to streamline client support through the simple medium of email.

How it works for you: Responsive

When an email is sent to support@abica.co.uk you are met by an immediate response from Abica explaining that your email has been logged and a client services representative will be in contact shortly.

How it works for us: Expedient

Each ticket is received to the “unassigned” category, this is constantly being watched by the CS team. When the ticket is received it is assigned to the relevant department to deal with.

How it works for you: Informative

Customers can be updated every step of the way no matter if it is an order, issue or any other request and they will be notified by email if any updates are made to this request. If the customer responds to a ticket, Abica are informed of this quite clearly on the system because the ticket turns yellow to indicate that the customer has sent an email back, in addition to this the CSR who has been assigned the ticket also receives an email.

How it works for us:  Thorough

Notes can be added at any point during the process and the customer will not receive these, these are obviously for internal use.

How it works for you: Continually Updated

Customers can also login to the Kayako portal once their initial support request had been received and check their status updates from there.

How it works for us: Fail-safe

There is a failsafe system within the ticket system whereby if a ticket of a certain nature isn’t answered within a certain time it will escalate to a higher management level to ensure that the client is getting the focus that they deserve.

We hope that this new system will add even more value to our offering and level of service that we promise to all of our customers.

Tags: added value, customer service, telecoms, ticketing service

Watershed Moment for The Cloud – “It Just Works” – Steve Jobs

Apple has dropped a ton of new software at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including a major update to its mobile operating system with iOS 5, which includes integration with Apple’s new cloud service and features a brand new messaging system. The update is slated to launch in the fall, and will be available for the iPad and iPad 2.

Big Updates in iOS 5

It’s hard to determine exactly what new feature of iOS 5 marks the biggest announcement. With over 200 new features and updates, there’s a lot to choose from and pore over.

Notification Center

One standout update is the remodeled notification system in iOS 5. Notifications will be collected in the Notification Center, which users will access by swiping down from the top of their device. While the update is appreciated, and some iOS users have clamored for a new approach to notifications, many have also jabbed at Apple considering the extreme similarity between its new approach and the setup used by Android.

The Notification Center will feature weather and stocks at the top of the screen, and other notifications like call and SMS alerts under that.

Newsstand

Apple’s new hub for newspapers and magazines will be accessible via the App Store in iOS 5. Newsstand will support background downloading and manage user’s various subscriptions over the service.

PC Free

Apple iPad and iPad 2 (and iPhone) owners will no longer have to wire into a desktop or laptop and launch iTunes to receive future iOS updates. All future software updates will be delivered over the air.

Twitter Integration

Users can sign in to Twitter once on their iOS 5 device, then have full access and the ability to tweet across all Twitter-enabled apps on the device.

New Multitouch Gestures

iOS 5 now supports four- and five-finger swipes, which now pull up the multitasking bar and swiping between apps. Also users can now pinch to return to the homescreen.

AirPlay Video Mirroring

Apple iPad 2 owners can now mirror their iPad 2 display wirelessly to an HDTV through Apple TV. Through mirroring, users can display iPad 2 screen as it is, including all navigation, on a large-screen HDTV.

Safari Updates

Several updates have been made to iOS 5’s built in web-browser, Safari. Firstly, it will feature the all new Safari Reader, which will present just a website’s images and text to allow for a more peaceful web-browsing experience. Safari in iOS 5 will also support tabbed browsing, and a Reading List feature to view articles at a later point across other iOS 5 devices.

iMessage

Apple’s answer to the popularity of the BlackBerry Messenger service has come in the form of iMessage, which will work exclusively on iOS 5 devices. Users on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iOS 5 will be able to send each other messages and media over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Like BBM, there will be delivery and read receipts.

iCloud

This could be the biggest news of the day from Apple: a new collection of cloud-based services for iOS 5 devices under the moniker iCloud.

iCloud takes the old MobileMe services like mail, calendar, and contacts, revamps them, and adds a ton of other features and functionality. iCloud will also backup purchased music, books, and apps automatically, manages uploaded photos with a Photo Stream service, and provides users with 5 GB of space to use for extra document backup and storage.
These are just some of the features of iCloud, which will be thoroughly integrated in iOS 5.

Other Updates

The list above just features the primary highlights. The update to iOS 5 also includes a new Reminders app, enhancements to mail and airplay, and camera updates, such as turning the volume up button into a shutter, the ability to take photos from the lock-screen, and some in-context photo editing capabilities like crop, rotate, and enhance. TabletPCReview’s site, Brighthand, highlights more features in its take on the iOS 5 news.

Tags: iCal, iCloud, iOS 5, iPhone, Steve Jobs, The Cloud, WWDC

AbicaPedia – Jargon Buster

PUK, or personal unblocking keys, are used to unblock a mobile phone which becomes blocked. Mobile phones may become blocked when a PIN (personal identification number) is entered incorrectly on three consecutive occasions. In some instances, the phone may become blocked, which requires a PUK to unblock it, and in other instances, the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card itself becomes blocked and again will require a PUK to unblock it.

A PAC code ( porting authorisation code) allows you to transfer your existing mobile phone number from one mobile phone network provider to another mobile phone provider so that if you change mobile phone networks you do not have to give everyone a new number. You can keep your existing mobile phone number. The process is termed mobile number portability, or number porting. It’s quick and very easy to do.

Inbound Numbers provide you with a simple solution that enables you to route, monitor and manage all inbound calls to your organisation regardless of whether they come into a geographic number or a national number.

Cloud computing basically allows for virtual servers to be available over the Internet. This means that businesses can store all their data and files on this virtual server. The main benefits of this are that you can increase capacity or add capabilities easily and quickly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. In most cases you would pay a subscription for this service.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It is also referred to as IP Telephony or Internet Telephony. It is another way of making phone calls, with the difference of making the calls much cheaper or completely free. All communications are delivered through the Internet rather than the traditional phone system.

Tags: abicapedia, jargon