Jun 3, 2019 | Blog, Connectivity, News
Did you know you can claim a grant of up to £2,500 towards an ultrafast, Gigabit internet connection?
We live in a world where fast, resilient internet is a must. We often think we’re ahead of the game, but have you heard that Britain’s average internet speed ranks 31st in the world, falling behind most of Europe, Thailand and New Zealand? The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have launched a £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to help small businesses keep up with the larger players.
You may have heard about the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. It’s a grant the Government’s offering to small and medium sized businesses with less than 250 employees. For a limited time only, these companies can claim up to £2,500 towards the installation of a gigabit-capable internet connection. We want to make sure you understand the facts and don’t miss out.
The technical bit
Standard broadband delivers speeds up to 20Mbs (mega-bits per second). Fibre-optic broadband, also known as BT infinity or superfast broadband can deliver speeds up to 80Mbs. Fibre-optic broadband isn’t available in all areas, and there are many “not-spots” where it can’t be supplied at all. Gigabit or ultra-fast broadband provides a dedicated full-fibre optic connection to the premises with speeds available from 100Mbs to 1000Mbs.
What this really means for your business
A Gigabit connection simply enables you to complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Usually downloading large numbers of photographs, videos or streaming media can take time, slowing down business productivity. Gigabit connections allow 100 photos or songs to be downloaded in just 3 seconds and a HD movie can be downloaded in 7 seconds.
Tasks like transferring large files, presenting a webinar or watching large training videos suddenly become pain free and seamless with no delays or glitches.
Gigabit internet is often used by organisations that have a large number of users or that engage with a lot of multimedia content. It’s brilliant for supporting HD streaming, it has improved support for multiple users and devices, video conferencing and fast data transfers and multimedia uploads and downloads.
The benefits of claiming a voucher
Businesses should be thinking seriously about taking advantage of this offer and here’s why…
Keep up to speed
Over 95% of the UK now has coverage for superfast broadband with speeds of 24 megabits per second or higher. This isn’t being used to its potential when most connections still depend on copper telephone wires, which are limited in the speeds they can support. BT Openreach has already stated that they intend to phase out all copper-based traditional telephone lines by 2025 and they plan to start this process in 2020. By taking advantage of the voucher scheme now, you can future-proof your business against these changes.
If your business depends on reliable broadband, capable of delivering faster speeds, with a guaranteed uptime and a full-service level agreement, then taking the leap towards a full fibre connection is a must.
Increase productivity
The last broadband voucher scheme saw 50,000 businesses upgrade their internet connections and of these 50,000, 86% reported the internet upgrade had significantly increased the productivity of their employees. That’s a statistic you can rely on.
Slow, unpredictable internet can cause delays and frustrations in the workplace which can impact on the productivity of your staff, staff morale and the culture of your business. When broadband goes offline, your business can grind to a halt quite quickly, impacting your business and resulting in lost revenue. With a Gigabit, ultrafast connection which comes with an ultra-reliable 99.9% uptime, you can turbo-charge your business and your productivity, knowing that down-time is virtually non-existent.
Customer satisfaction
As we’ve discussed, slow internet and delays can cause frustration and friction for your staff, but this can also directly affect your customers.
Your customers will have a better experience if your staff are happy at work. They’ll be greeted by a positive and helpful team and their experience overall will be more efficient and enjoyable.
Seamless connectivity also means you get the best out of the other services and platforms you’ve invested in. Marketing, sales and finance experiences can only be as good as the connectivity they’re provided with and Gigabit internet means your customers always see the very best of your business.
Save thousands of pounds
Gigabit internet can seem like an expensive investment which is usually something only larger businesses can afford to install.
Small and medium-sized businesses with less than 250 employees, and an annual turnover of less than £45M could qualify for the Gigabit Voucher grant to save thousands of pounds on the initial infrastructure costs.
As well as the obvious initial saving, once installed businesses will continue to see money saving through their increased productivity and customer and staff satisfaction and retention. The monthly rental of a new connection is often less than the cost of your current internet and phone lines combined, so by utilising a Gigabit internet connection for both voice and data, you can not only have a faster internet, you can have a more reliable phone connection too!
Why nxcoms?
We care about each and every one of our customers and excel in providing a bespoke, personal service.
Our experience and expertise in telecoms means we understand how critical the internet is to your business. We can assist you along every step of the way, from arranging for your connection voucher, to installing, configuring and maintaining your gigabit ultrafast internet connection. So that once you decide to proceed, the whole process is simple and straightforward as possible.
To find out if you qualify and to take advantage of the scheme, click here or email info@nxcoms.co.uk
Mar 11, 2019 | Blog, Connectivity, Data, News
The Government is committed to a full fibre Britain and they want to help your business keep up.
Britain’s average internet speed ranks 31st in the world, falling behind most of Europe, Thailand and New Zealand. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have launched their £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme in response to these findings.
This scheme allows small businesses to claim up to £2,500 towards the installation of gigabit-capable internet connections, as part of a £200 million ‘full fibre’ investment plan.
The benefits of claiming a voucher
Businesses should be thinking seriously about taking advantage of this offer and here’s why…
Keep up to speed
Over 95% of the UK now has coverage for superfast broadband with speeds of 24 megabits per second or higher. However, most connections still depend on copper telephone wires, which are limited in the speeds they can support.
If your business depends on fast and reliable broadband, capable of delivering gigabit speeds, a full fibre connection is required.
Taking this leap forward in connection speeds will massively benefit you and your business in the future.
Save thousands of pounds
Businesses can claim up to £2,500 towards infrastructure costs of a gigabit-capable connection, proving certain criteria are met.
Increase productivity
Under the previous broadband voucher scheme, 50,000 businesses increased their internet connections and of these, 86% reported the internet upgrade had increased the productivity of their employees.
Why nxcoms?
We care about each and every one of our customers and excel in providing a bespoke, personal service.
Our experience and expertise in telecoms means we understand how critical the internet is to your business. Our service level agreement guarantees 99.99% availability with a 4-hour fix rate should the unexpected happen.
Not only do we provide competitive pricing – offering 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.
If you want to ensure your business stays competitive with the quickest, most consistent and cost-effective internet connection, then give us a call on 0161 711 1100, email info@nxcoms.co.uk or text GIGABIT to 84433 to arrange a call back.
Jan 14, 2019 | Blog, Connectivity, Data, News
Businesses are benefiting from faster, more reliable internet connections thanks to dedicated leased lines.
Data demands are growing rapidly and businesses are finding they require a faster, more secure connection to keep up with the competition and to provide the service their customers expect.
A dedicated leased line is a fibre optic cable that runs from your business directly to the exchange. The cable can deliver ultra-fast speeds that no other service can beat.
A third of manufacturers have invested in a dedicated leased line connection and other companies are following suit. ( According to EEF, May 2016 )
The benefits of switching to a leased line
Businesses can benefit from switching from broadband to a dedicated leased line in many ways:
Consistency and scalability
With the rise of technology, businesses now rely on a consistent and high-speed internet connection. SME’s are expected to respond to customers in an instant, to store and transfer large amounts of data daily and to work without disruption.
A dedicated leased line ensures companies no longer have to share their connectivity with others which can often slow the connection down, especially at busy times. Instead, you’ll receive a consistent, committed bandwidth at all times meaning you can always provide and achieve what you promise to your customers.
The use of a leased line also means you can quickly and easily scale your connectivity up or down, so you always pay for the connectivity that matches the exact demands of your business.
Cost-saving
With scalability, also comes cost-saving. The benefit of being able to scale your connectivity to adapt to your changing requirements means you can achieve the most cost-effective connectivity for your business, at all times.
The cost of leased lines has dropped and they are becoming a much more cost-effective option for many businesses.
Satisfied customers
We all know that customers come first, which is why you should consider customer satisfaction when making business decisions. An excellent internet connection ensures you can deliver promises to customers without the risk of delays and downtime and also allows you to upload and download large data files in a flash.
Leased lines support VPN and remote access so your customer data can be kept safe and secure and your staff can access it from anywhere. Allowing staff to work from anywhere can also result in attracting the best talent which in turn results in a great service and happy customers.
62% of firms are planning to invest more in internet connected capital equipment in the next five years ( According to EEF, May 2016 ) so it’s imperative businesses keep up with the curve.
Why nxcoms?
Our experience and expertise in telecoms means we understand how critical the internet is to your business. Our service level agreement guarantees 99.99% availability with a 4-hour fix rate should the unexpected happen.
Not only do we provide competitive pricing – offering 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.
If you want to ensure your business stays competitive with the quickest, most consistent and cost-effective internet connection, then give us a call on 0161 711 1100, email info@nxcoms.co.uk or text NXCOMS to 84433 to arrange a call back.
Oct 30, 2018 | Blog, News
One of the ways in which your phone system can help generate revenue for your business is by marketing to your customers whilst they are on hold.
You’ve probably come across this many times before – you call a business and when you waiting to be answered they play you a professionally recorded message about their products and services.
Many businesses are missing an opportunity here, because if they have customers on hold only listening to tinny music or greensleeves etc, they have no idea what great products and services you can provide . There may be an opportunity to cross-sell or upsell to your customers, but unless you tell them about all the good things you can do for them, how will they ever know?
Ask yourself this – do all your customers use all your products and services? In reality most customers might have one or two products or services from you, and they have no idea about other things that you do. So why not make use of that time when they are on hold and tell them? Its like having a salesman working for you for free!
By using your phone system as a marketing tool, this is just one of the many ways your phone system can work for your business and help you become more profitable. Both our on premise telephone system and our hosted solutions are capable of providing music on hold at no extra cost!
Nxcoms has teamed up with iNarrator to help businesses generate more sales through on hold marketing, why not give us a call on 0161 711 1100 or email info@nxcoms.co.uk for more information.
Oct 15, 2018 | Blog, News
Many companies are taking advantage of VoIP technology
There are a number of ways VoIP, or voice over IP, can benefit a business – from cost saving, efficiency and flexibility it makes sense to use VoIP over traditional landlines.
First and foremost is the dramatic cost saving – because you are calling through a computer network, or internet connection you don’t actually need to pay for using traditional land lines. Line rental is vastly reduced, or in some cases it can be zero. Usually all call charges are also dramatically reduced by around 75% compared to using traditional landlines.
VoIP enables staff to work from any location, making your business much more efficient. If staff can’t get into the office because of bad weather, or traffic issues, they can just seamlessly work from home instead. All you need for VoIP to work is a VoIP phone and an internet connection. Some VoIP phones are software phones which means they can run on your laptop or tablet as an app, rather than a physical device, enabling you to have an extension on your phone system which operates the same way as an extension in the office!
Another way a business can benefit is through flexibility – no longer are you tied to a geographical location so your number can always go with you, no matter where you are. If you’ve ever moved premises, you may have experienced difficulty moving your telephone number in the past. For example, if you had a business in Birmingham with an 0121 number but wanted to move to Manchester that has an 0161 code, in the past you couldn’t keep that old 0121 number, but with VoIP that number can always go with you no matter where in the country you’re physically located and it means you don’t have to worry about making sure all your customers know about a new number!
Having VoIP in your business usually means you have access to a whole range of advanced features. Features such as voicemail, voicemail to email forwarding, call logging, queues and call recording can usually be accessed for very little capital outlay, making it ideal for small businesses who want to convey a big business professional image to their clients.
Finally, if you don’t have the budget for a large capital expenditure on a new phone system, then VoIP has the answer! By using a hosted VoIP system you can eliminate all your upfront costs and just pay for a monthly subscription based on the number of extensions you use. Not only does this help with cashflow, it also means you don’t have to worry about depreciation either!
If you want to find out more about how VoIP can benefit your business, get in touch on 0161 711 1100 or email info@nxcoms.co.uk
Sep 3, 2018 | Blog, News
Many people just associate 4G with their mobile phone, but in actual fact 4G has many more uses for business users, especially when it comes to internet access.
The speed of 4G is comparable to a fibre optic broadband line, but unlike a physical line which has to be installed by a phone line company, using 4G means you can move in and out of locations very quickly. 4G routers are now available to share a 4G connection with computers, laptops, and tablets, just the same as if they were in an office or home environment.
This is fantastic for those types of businesses which have temporary sites and need to move quickly. For example, a construction site can benefit enormously because they can instantly get an internet connection without waiting for lines to be installed. When the construction project closes, the equipment can be moved to the next site with very little fuss and connect from a new location.
There are also many locations in the UK which simply can’t get decent broadband speeds through a standard telephone line. By using a 4G data connection for your business internet connection, you instantly have access to those faster speeds without any large upfront costs!
Even if your business already has fast broadband speeds, another great application for 4G is by using it as a backup to your normal broadband lines. So, if for any reason your main broadband line went offline, a 4G connection could kick in automatically to ensure that internet access is always maintained at all times. This is ideal for those businesses which need to have a guaranteed connection to the internet, but perhaps cost implications prevent them from obtaining a dedicated leased line which has a service level agreement. 4G as a fail-over backup line is a cost effective alternative.
Want to find out more about how you can use mobile data connections in your business?
Why not give us a call on 0161 711 1100 or contact us here!
