Packnet Blog

A respected commentator on the IT industry has urged businesses to switch from using mobile phone payment plans for staff, and instead opt for a company-wide business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) solution.

In an article published in PC Advisor, Liane Cassavoy argues that payment plans which enable employees to communicate with each other via smartphone can ultimately add up to a significant drain on corporate resources.

A Member of the Scottish Parliament has said she is determined to campaign for a change to government guidelines preventing Inverness from applying for funds to help develop a local superfast broadband cable infrastructure.

Rhoda Grant, who represents the constituency of Highlands and Islands, said she was angry that the city had been ruled out of consideration for such funding, on the grounds that it did not contain enough homes and businesses.

A European Union commissioner has indicated that she intends to push for tighter rules to ensure web users do not suffer from arbitrary squeezes on space for certain internet services.

Neelie Kroes, a commissioner whose remit covers digital policy across Europe, was responding to a recent report by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) which found that some internet service providers (ISPs) were unfairly preventing their customers from securing full access to certain value added services.

Over recent years, companies were given a stark lesson in the need to save costs wherever possible. As economic uncertainty continues, such cost saving measures are still being sought and introduced, with newer technologies leading the way in many respects.

An area that many companies are increasingly investing is in updating their communication platforms, with this traditionally being subject to much waste. One solution which many businesses are turning to is business VoIP.

UK business is set to be boosted over coming years, with the country set to play host to about 26 million broadband lines in just four years from now.

Opening up the possibility for faster commerce and greater expansion, the news from an independent analysis company, will please business leaders throughout the country.

The forecast has come by way of research conducted by broadband analyst company Tech Point.

Companies in Plymouth were given the opportunity to see what high-speed broadband holds for the future, as a BT Openreach roadshow rolled into town.

Teaming up with the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and Plymouth City Council, the campaign is hoping to encourage the uptake of fast broadband, following a system upgrade by BT. The project, due for delivery in 2013, aims to deliver connection speeds of 330Mbps.

There was much attention given to a Delta Air Lines passenger escorted by police from his flight last week, having made a business VoIP call. However, as in-flight Internet looks set to become a common addition to most flights throughout the world, such incidents are likely to soon disappear.

As was proven last week, making VoIP calls whilst flying is possible already – particularly in the United States where 85% of flights have access to overland Internet. Making calls using the service is barred though and it is this directive which could cause issues going forward.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has employed emulation software to test its network, to ensure it is resilient and able to provide a good experience for its users. It follows a case earlier in the year where Royal Mail networks were criticised.

The GLA chose iTrinegy’s INE for Windows for the performance tests, which interrogated all client/server systems and web and Citrix-delivered apps. It also tested its business VoIP systems.

A new report from the London School of Economics (LSE) has suggested that the broadband targets set by the government are unlikely to be achieved, following a £1.1 billion funding shortfall.

The government’s initial target for broadband is to see the whole country having access to fast broadband services by 2015. Another target wants to see 90% access to superfast broadband.

Thanks to a Cambridge based high-end technology company, a large portion of technology’s wasted space could soon become a thing of the past.

Wireless networks, which are increasingly becoming commonplace in homes and businesses throughout the UK, do not use so called ‘white space’, which many feel is a waste and unproductive.