January marks a month of change for Packnet. Not only do we have a new website, and beautiful theme to match, but we’ve also decided to introduce the first issue of our monthly newsletter.
The newsletter will feature a ‘Packnet Corner’ section that fills you in on everything you need to know, from important announcements to new developments and hardware. Underneath that, we have the ‘In Case You Missed It’ section which keeps you updated on the latest articles posted on our blog.
Contents
1. Annoucements
2. Releases
2.1 | New Porting Form and Guide
3. Spotlights
4. Blogs
Annoucements
1.1| Our New Website
As we welcome 2018, we are delighted to announce the launch of our new and updated website! The website was built by the wonderful minds of Jonah Douglas-Byrnes and Manchester based web design company WebPraxis.
1.2 | Trustpilot
Maybe you know, or maybe you don’t but we have a Trustpilot page set up.
If you’ve used or are currently using any of the services we offer here at Packnet, such as our Hosted Telephony, Broadband, Dashboard or maybe the Switchboard, then please don’t hesitate to write something.
Whether your experience has been satisfactory or unsatisfactory, all feedback will be greatly appreciated as we can work towards improving our services and customer experiences.
Releases
2.1 | New Porting form and guide
At the end of last year, we revised our UK geographic number porting forms, handbooks and the process as a whole.
Now our resellers have their own form which, in addition to general updates, covers additional post-porting customer care scenarios like dial plan creation and invoicing instructions for Packnet.
We have also restructured the form’s questions and removed any potential ambiguity. All of this primarily helps the end user fill out the form, but it also generates a better porting request for Packnet to then go on and submit to the carriers.
In addition to the forms, brand new porting handbooks were created for resellers and customers.
The handbooks provide instructions on how to gather the required information, why Packnet need it and also a valid example answer for each of the form’s questions.
Updates to Packnet’s porting process include the immediate submission of most porting requests we receive. Previously we were confirming many of the details back to the submitter before submitting the request, which was adding an unnecessary delay to proceedings.
All of this has resulted in a noticeable rise in our porting acceptance rate and we also hope that we’ve made your lives a little easier.
Links:
Spotlights
3.1 | Development Spotlight
Every month we include a brief development spotlight which highlights the month’s important projects.
Metis Provisioning
Front end snom and Yealink provisioning platform. Features will include adding MAC addresses, assigning extensions, managing and creating customer setting templates, managing single phone settings and reporting.
Metis API
API that lets you view or update information stored in Metis, including customer account information, call rates and invoices. Any clients interested in BETA testing the API around February should let us know.
Bug fixes
- Restoring dial plan from a backup that contains a queue step.
3.2 | Feature Spotlight
Join us every month in highlighting a phone system feature that has gone under the radar, or one that we think is worth revisiting. We’re kicking things off with one of the favourites: “Call Pickup”.
Call Pick up
Call Pickup is a free feature activated using Metis.
How to activate Call Pickup
- Select ‘Extensions’ from the sidebar navigation menu.
- Click ‘Call Pickup’ tab
- Click ‘Enable’ to activate Call Pickup for your account.
- A green tick will appear, confirming Call Pickup is enabled
How to use Call Pickup
Answer a call ringing on another handset by dialling *8 from your own IP Phone.
3.3 | Hardware Spotlight
Another monthly feature for our Newsletter. Join us in reviewing the month’s major hardware release. This month it’s Yealink’s T4S series, which replaces their former T4 IP phone line.
Yealink T4S Series
Manufacturer
Yealink
Model(s)
T41S, T42S, T46S, T48S
Price point (£ – £££££)
££ – ££££
What’s new
Yealink’s T4S series is the upgraded version of the former T4 series. They maintain the same price points as the T4 series but come with a standardised firmware (66.82.X.X) and built-in USB ports for extended functionality like bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Why we like it
The major change in Yealink’s new T4S series lays beneath the bonnet. Whereas their previous handsets all had ‘Phone Model’ specific firmware versions, e.g. one for T41P, another for T46P, the new T4S series shares a unified firmware file across all handsets.
What could be better
Much like snom and their “D-Line” series, the look and feel of the phones remains the same as former models. It would be refreshing to see some design innovation from manufacturers and not just a new letter prepended to model names.
Rating
★★★☆☆
The unified firmware shows that Yealink are starting to focus more on the mass-deployment process for distributors and partners. But, does this warrant a new “range” of handsets? We are not so sure.
Further reading:
In case you missed it …
4.1 | Latest Blog Articles
What is ruining my network?
How many businesses really know the amount of devices connected to their networks? And from there, how many know which devices are exhausting their network and bandwidth capacity?
The guys in IT probably know what’s what, but ultimately the policy of the business should be to analyse what’s connected to their network and have procedures in place to ensure their business-critical services stand up to the demands of today’s online and cloud services…
Tree Planting with Fruitful Office
With all the dark and chilling stuff going on in the world, we’d just like to share something that can hopefully warm your hearts as it did ours. Every so often we get delivered a fruit basket from Fruitful office and with each fruitbasket we get, the team over at Fruitful Office plant a tree in Malawi, Africa with the help of RIPPLE Africa. We have just been informed that in the three months between October and December, we have successfully planted six trees!
Blueface and Star2Star’s £368.8m merger
Irish VoIP company Blueface and US telecoms company Star2Star have agreed to a whopping $500m (£368.8m) merger that they hope will push them into becoming a global powerhouse telecoms provider.
UAE kisses VoIP goodbye
Now, as you know we offer great VoIP services (it’s a humble brag but bear with me) and you as a business also know that VoIP cuts costs and overall helps you and your business. However, not everyone gets the privilege to use VoIP – specifically speaking, our good friends in the UAE.
