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Following a review, the Ministry of Justice has proposed a system of mediation by telephone as a
way of speeding up small claims disputes. Although a drop in the ocean of the 1.5 million disputes
placed before the courts each year, the telephone mediation service is expected to handle 80,000
cases.
Interestingly, while the general public were broadly in favour of the proposals, the legal profession
and judiciary themselves were opposed with the biggest concern being “that telephone hearings
would significantly reduce the judge's ability to control and observe the parties/witnesses properly
during the hearing." However with an existing satisfaction rate of 95%, mediation seems to be the
way forward.
This move by the Ministry of Justice is a fresh example of the way in which the telephone is
increasingly being seen as an essential time and cost saving tool. Although there is nothing new
in telephone conferences, businesses have been using them successfully for decades, the move by
public bodies to accept the telephone as a cost saving device is a welcome one. Certainly running
telephone and website services in tandem can create huge savings. However, on a note of caution,
the head of the Government Digital Service project revealed at the end of last year that in a single
year calls to government t departments as a result of broken government websites cost £942m to
process.
For the ordinary business, this amalgamation of web site and telephone can also produce great
rewards. With modern telephone technology smoothing the telephone conference pathways, it
is now perfectly possible to hold international telephone conferences without the cost of travel.
Web based management systems allow the conference manager to log callers off or to switch their
status between speaker and listener, meaning that the conference call can run smoothly with little
background interference. Conference calls can also be easily recorded, allowing an accurate report
and minutes to be produced.
Used as part of normal daily business call conferencing can speed up business processes whilst
saving transport and time costs. As part of a disaster recovery plan, call conferencing together
with call switching and information lines can form a vital cog in the recovery process; allowing
communication lines to be kept open and decisions to be made swiftly. If the Ministry of Justice’s
plan works, disputes will be similarly speeded up, which can only be a good thing for all concerned.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Safer Switching
Ofcom has recently announced further measures which are designed to make it easier to change telecoms provider. Although various measures have been taken over the past few years to safeguard consumers, Ofcom research has found that 20% of consumers lost broadband services for a week when switching and that 130,000 households had the wrong line switched over within a 12 month period.
Even more alarming the research revealed that 520,000 landline or broadband services were switched without consent (slamming) in the last 12 months. The Ofcom proposals are designed to guard against slamming with measures including switches being verified by an independent third party and addressing technical issues on switching.
As part of this latest switching consultation, Ofcom are also proposing measures to ensure consumers have accurate information on the implications of switching, improving competition and simplifying the switching process. Certainly any measures which reduce the down time on switching can only be good. Whilst personal consumers may only have to worry about switching one telephone line, for a business customer with potentially multiple lines any time without access to the telephone can be disastrous.
This is one of the reasons why Callagenix services are available on a free trial basis before clients make any commitment to the service. We understand that, particularly when switching to a virtual switchboard service, you need to have time to ensure that the service works as you want it to. This free trial time means you can spend time checking the service, setting answerphone parameters and pathways before letting the new service loose on your clients. That way, when you do switch, you already know that your new internet service will work.
When clients switch from a manual switchboard service to a virtual switchboard they often have access to many additional services which were either not available or not cost effective on their old system. Services such as caller recognition, auto call divert and call recording are easily available on a virtual switchboard and at a fraction of the cost of a manual system.
The other benefit of switching to a virtual service is that there are no costly hardware implications. In fact, we are so convinced that clients will be happy with our service excellence standards that many of our services are available on a pay as you go basis. So, whether you are starting from scratch, need a new telephone number or are thinking of switching your service, have a look at the Callagenix free trial.
Even more alarming the research revealed that 520,000 landline or broadband services were switched without consent (slamming) in the last 12 months. The Ofcom proposals are designed to guard against slamming with measures including switches being verified by an independent third party and addressing technical issues on switching.
As part of this latest switching consultation, Ofcom are also proposing measures to ensure consumers have accurate information on the implications of switching, improving competition and simplifying the switching process. Certainly any measures which reduce the down time on switching can only be good. Whilst personal consumers may only have to worry about switching one telephone line, for a business customer with potentially multiple lines any time without access to the telephone can be disastrous.
This is one of the reasons why Callagenix services are available on a free trial basis before clients make any commitment to the service. We understand that, particularly when switching to a virtual switchboard service, you need to have time to ensure that the service works as you want it to. This free trial time means you can spend time checking the service, setting answerphone parameters and pathways before letting the new service loose on your clients. That way, when you do switch, you already know that your new internet service will work.
When clients switch from a manual switchboard service to a virtual switchboard they often have access to many additional services which were either not available or not cost effective on their old system. Services such as caller recognition, auto call divert and call recording are easily available on a virtual switchboard and at a fraction of the cost of a manual system.
The other benefit of switching to a virtual service is that there are no costly hardware implications. In fact, we are so convinced that clients will be happy with our service excellence standards that many of our services are available on a pay as you go basis. So, whether you are starting from scratch, need a new telephone number or are thinking of switching your service, have a look at the Callagenix free trial.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
The worth of your telephone
Earlier this year a letter written by Alexander Graham Bell sold for around $92,000. In the letter written to his parents Bell describes and draws how his new invention works and also instructs them to run a copper wire out to their duck pond to diffuse any danger from lightning striking the phone.
The letter was written two years after Bell filed his patent application and made that historic first telephone call to his assistant. Although the letter was considered to be particularly valuable because of the drawings and personal information it set us to musing on the true worth of telephones to business and whether we appreciate them enough.
For many businesses the telephone is simply a cost. The phone bill arrives and is analysed in detail. Employees are questioned on why they spent x time on the phone, was y call really necessary and then edicts go out on the need to cut down on calls in the future. Sounds familiar? It’s not surprising as similar inquisitions go on in firms up and down the country.
Let us make one thing clear. We are not against analysis per se as it does highlight some wasteful practices such as those released to the Press Association recently which revealed that the Metropolitan Police spent more than £35,000 in making over 110,000 calls to the speaking clock in the past two years. What we would like to highlight is that analysis of telephone use should go two ways. This would enable firms to balance costs against the increased sales and customer satisfaction levels which arose from using the telephone in the first place, putting a true worth on telephone usage.
Analysing telephone costs has had one direct benefit for many businesses in encouraging them to look for alternatives. Moving away from more traditional telephone models and towards internet telephony can result in substantial cost savings and greater efficiencies. VoIP (internet) calls generally work out much cheaper than landline calls, even if the call is VoIP to landline. For VoIP to VoIP calls the cost is often cheaper still or even free in some cases.
The other main advantage of internet calls is the ability to get rid of the old fashioned switchboard in favour of a virtual one. This brings all the advantages of a quite sophisticated switchboard within the reach of smaller organisations. Call recognition and forwarding, call recording and caller handling are among the many features of a virtual switchboard.
Of course, virtual switchboards also come with the ability to analyse calls, enabling businesses to streamline practices and concentrate marketing efforts on targeted areas. The benefit is that now that calls are cheaper the marketing effort can go into full swing, bringing in revenue and proving that when it comes to income, the telephone is still worth a lot to business.
The letter was written two years after Bell filed his patent application and made that historic first telephone call to his assistant. Although the letter was considered to be particularly valuable because of the drawings and personal information it set us to musing on the true worth of telephones to business and whether we appreciate them enough.
For many businesses the telephone is simply a cost. The phone bill arrives and is analysed in detail. Employees are questioned on why they spent x time on the phone, was y call really necessary and then edicts go out on the need to cut down on calls in the future. Sounds familiar? It’s not surprising as similar inquisitions go on in firms up and down the country.
Let us make one thing clear. We are not against analysis per se as it does highlight some wasteful practices such as those released to the Press Association recently which revealed that the Metropolitan Police spent more than £35,000 in making over 110,000 calls to the speaking clock in the past two years. What we would like to highlight is that analysis of telephone use should go two ways. This would enable firms to balance costs against the increased sales and customer satisfaction levels which arose from using the telephone in the first place, putting a true worth on telephone usage.
Analysing telephone costs has had one direct benefit for many businesses in encouraging them to look for alternatives. Moving away from more traditional telephone models and towards internet telephony can result in substantial cost savings and greater efficiencies. VoIP (internet) calls generally work out much cheaper than landline calls, even if the call is VoIP to landline. For VoIP to VoIP calls the cost is often cheaper still or even free in some cases.
The other main advantage of internet calls is the ability to get rid of the old fashioned switchboard in favour of a virtual one. This brings all the advantages of a quite sophisticated switchboard within the reach of smaller organisations. Call recognition and forwarding, call recording and caller handling are among the many features of a virtual switchboard.
Of course, virtual switchboards also come with the ability to analyse calls, enabling businesses to streamline practices and concentrate marketing efforts on targeted areas. The benefit is that now that calls are cheaper the marketing effort can go into full swing, bringing in revenue and proving that when it comes to income, the telephone is still worth a lot to business.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Keeping data secure
O2 has apologised for a data glitch which resulted in mobile numbers being forwarded to outside parties. Essentially the glitch meant that web site owners could see the telephone number of mobile users who had browsed their sites, raising questions of data security.
The problem only arose for a short period in January and has now been fixed. O2 do say that in certain circumstances mobile numbers will continue to be shared with trusted parties to enable special services such as downloads or age verification. This limited sharing is standard across all mobile networks. O2 have already flagged up the problem with The Information Commissioner’s Office as well as Ofcom.
This incident has highlighted a vital issue surrounding the collection and sharing of information. Without going too far into the strictures imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office, those collecting and using data in whatever fashion may think it prudent to undertake a review of their data collection and storage processes.
Just looking at one simple example, that of data collection, storage and manipulation via a virtual switchboard. We are all used to the 1471 service which lets us see the telephone number of the last caller. Many of us are also familiar with caller display. Virtual switchboards go one step further in allowing us to treat calls according to the caller’s telephone number. So, for example, if used as part of a business continuity plan, your virtual switchboard may be programmed to route calls from key employees or suppliers or even to provide individual message responses dependant on the caller.
Similarly, when using call recording and storage via a virtual switchboard one of the elements of data retained is the caller’s number, provided it is not withheld. Whilst this number is a vital element in subsequent searching for all messages from a single caller, the fact that you are storing their number is not always something that the caller gleans from a “your call may be recorded” message.
As with any data storage, the key element is that what you store is necessary to enable you to serve your clients better and that the data storage is secure. This means that any data transfer outside the office should be by way of encrypted or secure means. Call recording via a Callagenix virtual switchboard service provides secure recording and storage. There will always be times when telephone numbers have to be identified or passed on to third parties, simply to enable the required service to function. Keeping secure control of those times and of your data means you can act in your customers best interests whilst providing the service which they require.
The problem only arose for a short period in January and has now been fixed. O2 do say that in certain circumstances mobile numbers will continue to be shared with trusted parties to enable special services such as downloads or age verification. This limited sharing is standard across all mobile networks. O2 have already flagged up the problem with The Information Commissioner’s Office as well as Ofcom.
This incident has highlighted a vital issue surrounding the collection and sharing of information. Without going too far into the strictures imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office, those collecting and using data in whatever fashion may think it prudent to undertake a review of their data collection and storage processes.
Just looking at one simple example, that of data collection, storage and manipulation via a virtual switchboard. We are all used to the 1471 service which lets us see the telephone number of the last caller. Many of us are also familiar with caller display. Virtual switchboards go one step further in allowing us to treat calls according to the caller’s telephone number. So, for example, if used as part of a business continuity plan, your virtual switchboard may be programmed to route calls from key employees or suppliers or even to provide individual message responses dependant on the caller.
Similarly, when using call recording and storage via a virtual switchboard one of the elements of data retained is the caller’s number, provided it is not withheld. Whilst this number is a vital element in subsequent searching for all messages from a single caller, the fact that you are storing their number is not always something that the caller gleans from a “your call may be recorded” message.
As with any data storage, the key element is that what you store is necessary to enable you to serve your clients better and that the data storage is secure. This means that any data transfer outside the office should be by way of encrypted or secure means. Call recording via a Callagenix virtual switchboard service provides secure recording and storage. There will always be times when telephone numbers have to be identified or passed on to third parties, simply to enable the required service to function. Keeping secure control of those times and of your data means you can act in your customers best interests whilst providing the service which they require.
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