Nov 15, 2021 | Blog, Connectivity, Faster Britain, News
We have the world at our fingertips with our digital devices. With this kind of accessibility, shouldn’t a reliable internet connection be accessible, too?
There’s an increasing demand for digital services and a reliable internet connection to power those digital services, especially for companies that have a hybrid workforce.
Digital infrastructure provider Faster Britain is here to meet these demands. In this blog article, we’ll provide you with what you need to know about fibre connectivity, the demand for reliable internet connection, and how Faster Britain is working to solve this issue.
Why businesses need fibre connectivity
Remember the struggles of having to be in the office in order to stay connected to your team or your customers? With fibre connectivity, that is no longer the case. With fibre, you can stay connected wherever you are with nearly every business function taking place online.
If your company has yet to make the switch to fibre-optic internet access, now is the best time – especially since we are shifting to a hybrid workforce.
With fibre-optic internet access, each office or location receives its own private connection line rather than having a shared connection. This way, bandwidth is always available and dedicated only to that office or location. This is key to protecting companies because any outage could negatively affect their business.
The demand for reliable internet connection
We are able to complete almost any job or task with the help of digital services. With the demand for digital services comes the increasing demand for reliable internet connections.
When completing a task, you shouldn’t have to worry about the connectivity of your internet, the speed, or if you will be able to sit through a Zoom meeting without dealing with a frozen screen when it’s your turn to speak.
Thanks to a hybrid workforce, companies and their employees are now able to work from almost anywhere, as long as they have a reliable internet connection.
Faster Britain is working to ensure this is the case.
How Faster Britain is meeting this demand
Faster Britain has been awarded the contract to bring a full fibre, gigabit-capable network of digital infrastructure to Liverpool, providing access to fast connectivity that will help grow some of the region’s key growth sectors.
The project, which will take place over the next two years, supports the national targets to deliver gigabit-capable speeds and reliable broadband across the UK by 2033.
When you are looking to get your business connected to fibre-optic internet access with no fuss, choose Nxcoms to help your business connect and communicate better. Get in touch with our dedicated and friendly team to learn more about how we can assist you.
Key Takeaways:
- There’s an increasing demand for digital services and a reliable internet connection, especially for companies that have a hybrid workforce.
- With fibre-optic internet access, each office or location receives its own private connection line rather than having a shared connection.
- Faster Britain has been awarded the contract to bring a full fibre, gigabit-capable network of digital infrastructure to Liverpool.
Oct 6, 2021 | Blog, Cloud, Connectivity, Data, News
More and more companies are adopting flexible work conditions, allowing for employees to work both at the office and remotely.
If your company is transitioning to flexible work, or considering the transition, there are some things you can do to make tasks more efficient no matter where the work is being completed.
What are the benefits of flexible working?
Flexible working gives employees the opportunity to either work in the office with their colleagues or work from anywhere. This in itself is a huge benefit, but there are other benefits as well.
According to the Gartner 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey, 43% of respondents report that having flexibility in working hours helped them achieve greater productivity. 30% said that less or no time spent commuting to work enabled them to be more productive. This is a win-win for both the employer and employee!
How can I make flexible work tasks more efficient?
When making the adjustment to allow your employees to choose their work environment, you should also take into account the technology to be used. Your employees will be depending on you for a reliable internet connection, telecommunications setup, and more.
Luckily, there are a few solutions you can implement to fulfill their work needs.
1. Dedicated fibre optic lines
When employees are switching between completing work tasks, logging onto yet another Zoom meeting (it seems those are here to stay), writing emails, working on documents, files, etc., they’ll need a high-speed, reliable internet connection.
Standard broadband just isn’t fast enough for these tasks.
With a broadband connection, you are using shared infrastructure to transmit data. One common challenge many employees face when working remotely is having to share bandwidth with others also working remotely in the household, delaying internet speed.
With a fibre optic leased line, the pipeline will only belong to your organisation and the travelling data will not compete with anyone else’s. The data will be able to get to its destination faster and more securely with a direct connection from home to your business premises.
2. Hosted phone system
If an employee chooses to work remotely for a day, they will most likely not want to lug their desk phone back and forth between locations — which is why a hosted phone system will greatly benefit your business.
A hosted VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) enables workers to use their office phone extension anywhere, either with a physical phone or via a mobile app. This way, your staff won’t be missing out on phone calls and they can also work smarter, faster and more productively.
3. Hosted desktop
Transporting a work computer to and from the office just isn’t efficient for your staff and can become quite annoying. Switching to a hosted desktop allows your team to run a Microsoft Windows PC in the cloud. They will be able to securely access the desktop via the internet from anywhere at any time.
Making the switch to flexible working conditions?
At Nxcoms, we want to make your technology transition as seamless as possible. Give us a call on 0161 711 1100 or email us at info@nxcoms.co.uk. Together, we can find the right tech solutions for your organisation.
Key takeaways:
- With a fibre optic leased line, the pipeline will only belong to your organisation and the travelling data will not compete with anyone else’s.
- A hosted VoIP system enables workers to use their office phone extension anywhere.
- Switching to a hosted desktop allows your team to run a Microsoft Windows PC in the cloud.
Sep 27, 2021 | Blog, Connectivity, Data, News
No matter what industry you’re in or the size of your organisation, fast broadband speeds and reliability are a must. If your business struggles with guaranteed uptime and high-speed connectivity, then a dedicated fibre-optic line is the best choice for you and your organisation.
Not familiar with fibre optic lines? No problem!
In this blog article, you’ll learn exactly what fibre optic leased lines are, how they work, and why your business needs them. Let’s begin!
What are fibre optic leased lines?
Fibre optic leased lines are a dedicated, fixed-bandwidth data connection that is directly connected from your business premises to your internet service provider (ISP). Since the fibre optic line is leased, the connection is rented from the ISP, resulting in a service above and beyond what standard broadband connections can provide.
Designed for long-distance, high-performing data networking, fibre-optic cables are made up of strains of glass fibres only slightly thicker than a human hair inside an insulated casing. In comparison to wired cables, fibre-optic cables provide higher bandwidth and can transmit data over longer distances.
How do they work?
Fibre-optic lines work by sending pulses of light down a fibre optic cable. When sending data down a fibre-optic cable, the equipment on the other end determines whether the light is on or off. It will then recognise the data, record and store it.
Fibre optic connections are insanely fast with scalable speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. They can send data at the speed of light — literally!
Does my business need fibre optic lines?
We might be biased here, but our answer is yes!
Most businesses are familiar with broadband delivered via a copper telephone line, but far too often, this is slow, unreliable and can go offline without warning.
If you want uncontended connections with no bandwidth sharing, guaranteed performance at all times, symmetrical upload and download speeds, and an ultra-fast, ultra-reliable internet experience, your organisation should consider fibre optic leased lines.
In fact, more and more businesses are switching from broadband to a dedicated leased line.
The benefits of a dedicated leased line include:
- Consistency and scalability
- Cost-saving
- Customer satisfaction
Additionally, if you have remote staff or require guaranteed connectivity, a leased line is your best option. Leased lines support remote working so that your data can be accessed securely at any time, day or night.
When searching for fibre optic leased lines in the UK, look no further than Nxcoms! Our experience and expertise in telecoms means we understand how critical the internet is to your business. Not only do we offer competitive pricing — amongst the lowest in the UK — but we also provide the Nxcoms service promise, meaning we offer the ultimate internet connectivity, backed up by our unrivaled expertise and a personal, hands-on approach.
We are confident in our service promise. If we don’t deliver what we promise, you won’t be charged for it!
If you want to ensure your business stays competitive with the quickest, most consistent and most reliable internet connection with fibre optic leased lines, then contact us by phone call, email, or even text!
Key takeaways:
- Fibre optic leased lines are a dedicated, fixed-bandwidth data connection that is directly connected from your business premises to your internet service provider.
- Fibre optic leased lines are insanely fast with scalable speeds up to 10 gigabits per second.
- If your business struggles with guaranteed uptime and high-speed connectivity, then a dedicated fibre optic leased connection line is the best choice for you and your organisation.
Jul 12, 2021 | Blog, Connectivity, Data, News
An APN is the network name that a mobile provider uses so that your device can access the internet. APN, meaning “Access Point Name” is generally the same for all users on that mobile provider’s network. A Private APN is different, because it means your network is private and separate from the rest of the mobile provider’s network. So whilst you are still connecting via the mobile provider, your network is completely secure and isolated from the general public.
There are a number of advantages for a company to use Private APNs:
Security
Being on a separate, secure network which is isolated from the general public has many security advantages. First and foremost, no one from outside your network can “hack in” to any device, as its impossible to even see it, let alone connect to it. So whilst your devices have access to the internet, the internet cannot reach your devices at all. This makes it great for those applications which need a secure network such as CCTV, cash terminals, tracking devices, traffic management, medical and critical infrastructure.
Connectivity
The Private APN has its own local network, which is separated from the rest of the mobile provider’s network. If you are familiar with the concept of VLANs, then this works in a similar way. All the traffic on your Private APN is separated from the rest of the mobile provider’s traffic. Your business can easily connect to the Private APN network using an IPSEC Lan-to-Lan VPN connection. This would effectively make all your mobile devices an extension of your existing IT network, and because the VPN is highly encrypted its totally secure too!
Cost-Effectiveness
Normally to access a mobile device remotely, you would need a public IP address assigned to the SIM card. However, not only is this very costly, it also opens up your device to be discoverable on the public internet. By using a Private APN, your devices are allocated a fixed private LAN IP address, so it not only makes the connection much cheaper, but it also means that its not possible for potential hackers to access you device via the internet.
Coverage
By using a Private APN in conjunction with our eSIMs, you would get worldwide coverage of all your devices. The devices would be on your private network at all times, no matter which country, or which mobile provider they are using. Even if you are just based in the UK, the peace of mind knowing that you can connect via any provider means you can put devices into an unknown environment and be fairly certain that it will connect.
How can we help?
If you have a project to requirement to secure your mobile devices, then we would love to hear from you. Give us a call on 0161 711 1100 or email info@nxcoms.co.uk to see how we can help
Mar 18, 2021 | Blog, Connectivity, Faster Britain, News
Faster Britain, digital infrastructure and you
As we exit lockdown, many businesses have come to realise that digital infrastructure and reliable fibre internet connectivity is essential.
New ways of working such as video calling and remote working have meant that a fast and guaranteed connection are more important than ever.
Nxcoms are pleased to announce a webinar for businesses based in the North West on 31st March 2021, hosted in conjunction with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and ITS
In this webinar we explore how the Faster Britain network can help you and your business take advantage of new connectivity without the increased cost or long installation times.
This webinar is for all businesses, however will be especially useful for businesses based in the Tameside and Stockport areas of Greater Manchester.
To register for the webinar, click on this link: https://www.gmchamber.co.uk/events/faster-britain-digital-infrastructure-and-you/
Dec 7, 2020 | Blog, Connectivity, Data, News
Is cheap broadband a false economy for your business?
Whether you are a small business or a larger company, many business owners choose broadband purely based on price. Normally this is a good thing as it saves on costs, but is it a false economy? What happens when you have a problem?
Broadband is cheap, often costing £1 or less per day, and in normal situations that is absolutely fine. However, its when things go wrong that you need to consider your options. Contrary to popular belief, standard broadband delivered through a copper telephone line can, and does, go wrong from time to time. Being based on a copper telephone line means that any issue with that underlying copper line, will result in a poor or unusable broadband connection. Many people do not realise that standard broadband comes with NO GUARANTEES whatsoever, so Openreach who maintain the UK copper telephone network are under no obligation to fix any problems within a specified amount of time.
Could you afford to be without your internet connection for a day, or longer?
Lets do the maths:
Say you are a business turning over £200,000 per year. Minus weekends and bank holidays there’s 253 working days per year, so that’s an average turnover of £790.52 per day.
You decide to connect your business using a broadband connection for £30 per month, because the dedicated leased line option at £300 per month seems too expensive. The broadband line is less of an overhead on your business, but it comes with no guarantee of service, or service level agreement if it goes faulty.
So if your broadband was down for a day, and you rely on an internet connection to make your sales, then your business could potentially lose £790.52 each and every day.
Your £30 broadband with no guarantees of uptime or service level agreement, seems like a false economy, as you may have saved some money on your internet connection with your overheads, but potentially losing £790.52 or more from your sales figures when it goes down,
Now, lets consider a dedicated leased line connection. This is a fibre optic cable delivered directly into your premises, but as its not based on a copper line, its much more reliable, as well as capable of delivering faster speeds. A dedicated leased line comes with a 99.9% uptime and 4-hour service level agreement, meaning that faults are fixed the same day. The longest you are likely to be offline for any reason is therefore 4 hours, meaning the maximum loss to your business is £395.26 (based on an 8-hour day). A typical monthly cost of a leased line is around £300 per month, making it ten times more expensive than broadband, but the potential losses are massively reduced.
Is it worth the risk?
Based on our estimates above, the potential risk to your business using broadband would be £790.52 for every day of downtime, but on a leased line it would be £395.26 as a maximum, as there is a guaranteed fix time. When you look at it in terms of potential lost revenue, then it seems pretty straightforward that a leased line is actually the better choice.
Want to know more?
If you want to know more information on how a leased line can be better for your business, then contact us or call 0161 711 1100
