Broadband Speed Checker

Find out the true speed of your internet with the FREE online broadband speed checker!

Your broadband speeds are slow and you’re sick of seeing the buffering symbol every time you log-on… want to track your internet speeds? Now you can!

The online broadband speed checker allows you to quickly track your internet speeds and see if you’re receiving the best speeds possible!

Check your connection speeds by clicking this link and following the instructions: 

www.speedtest.net

Wave good bye to e-mail outages and employee downtime, you can get superfast broadband for your business - with speeds of up to 80Mbps!

 Contact us today and see how we can help at www.national-telecom.com or pick up the phone for a quick chat on +44 (0) 33 0003 0003. 

The British Red Cross

National Telecom actively sponsors the work of the British Red Cross - the support we provide helps us to assist The British Red Cross in making a positive difference in the UK and across the globe.

The British Red Cross has been National Telecoms chosen charity for a number of years, we are keen to sponsor the British Red Cross to enable them to continue with the fantastic work they are doing.

The charity is part of a global voluntary network that responds to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.

The Red Cross helps many people in crisis by responding to hundreds of disasters in the UK and overseas, they also offer help and support long after the crisis is over. Also, The British Red Cross tackles major health issues and offers social care and support to vulnerable people in the UK and overseas.

Please help support The British Red Cross and make a donation at www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now your donation will help Red Cross voluteers who are working around the clock to support hundreds of thousands of people who require help around the globe – whether its food, shelter, healthcare or another form of support. 

Are You a Victim of Poor Connectivity?

Your business can’t afford to be a victim of poor connectivity…

When the internet goes down it has an effect on staff motivation, leading to less staff productivity as unsatisfied workers use the downtime as an excuse to do something else… like make a brew, scroll through their text messages or even complete a quick game of Candy Crush!

Loss of productivity costs the UK economy a massive £11bn a year. As 72% of people use the internet as part of their job, it’s almost impossible for them to work without it!

For the best tips on how to boost your Wi-Fi speed, take a look at our blog post: 

http://bit.ly/1oGIK3n

The Cloud - The Myth vs. The Truth

There are quite a few miss conceptions to do with cloud based systems and today we’re here to reveal the truth behind them…

Myth: “But, the voice quality is rubbish!”

Truth is: If you have a good, strong internet connection, cloud based systems are usually able to deliver better quality than the traditional copper line. The cloud system is reliant on your internet connection so this is where the main security and quality issues lie. With fibre broadband becoming available to many businesses – you can be assured of faster, more reliable broadband.

Myth: “Apparently it’s expensive…”

Truth is: Cloud systems are cost reducing. Instead of receiving numerous separate bills every month e.g phone bill, ADSL bill, broadband bill etc. – you combine these services into one monthly cost, which is easier for you and saves you money!

Myth: “It’s complicated to set up and install”

Truth is: Switching from the traditional office system to a hosted solution is a lot less complicated and the system is very easy to install - there’s no changing lines, no long installation times and no hardware taking up all the space on your premises!

Myth: “It’s connected to the internet, it’s not reliable”

Truth is: The cloud doesn’t have 100% uptime, but let’s be honest - no system does. Cloud systems are designed to give great service and reliability at half the cost of a traditional phone and broadband system. Studies by Microsoft show that companies are seeing security, privacy and reliability benefits, to read more: http://bit.ly/1QgD1gY

To find out more about the cloud and how it can benefit your business, take a look at our blog post: http://bit.ly/1niwGoP

Back Up Your Files!

A lot of us don’t back-up our important files for various reasons – either we don’t know how, or just don’t care enough to do it… until it’s too late.

Floods, fire, computer viruses and strikes… These disasters affect business continuity on a daily basis. If disaster strikes you could lose your most important and irreplaceable documents.

Loss of productivity costs the UK economy a massive £11bn a year. As 72% of people use the computer as part of their job, it’s almost impossible for them to work without it!

There are many simple and easy ways in which you can back-up your files:

External Hard Drive

An external hard drive is a portable storage device which plugs into your computers USB port, you simply drag and drop your files over onto the device. External hard drives are great for large file sizes as these hard drives tend to start at 1 terabyte.

USB Flash drive

A USB flash drive tends to be used to back up smaller files as the drives are a lot smaller in capacity, USB drives are less expensive than an external hard drive - they’re small and lightweight which makes them useful for backing up your files whilst on-the-go.

Like an external hard drive, you simply plug the USB drive into an available USB port on your computer and drag and drop the files you want to make a copy of.

The Cloud

There are many online cloud-based applications which you can use to back up your files such as OneDrive, Google Drive and iCloud.

The Cloud stores your files offsite so you’re protected from any local threats. With the Cloud, you can access your files at any time, from any place on a tablet, laptop or smartphone as long as you have an internet connection. 

Many cloud services have an app which is available to download from your smartphone so you can download or upload files whilst you’re on-the-go.

The majority of cloud systems offer free storage for a few gigabytes – usually between 1GB and 16GB. However, some cloud services offer a paid option for those who require additional storage.

Download your FREE disaster recovery plan online now at http://bit.ly/1npAfJQ or click the link and fill out the enquiry form at the bottom of the page and see how National Telecom can help to prepare your business – whatever happens.

All you need to know: Fibre Optic Broadband

What is Fibre Broadband?

Fibre broadband is a broadband supply that replaces copper telephone cables with fibre optics. It delivers broadband to the cabinet over fibre optic cables which transmit the signal using light and does not degrade with distance. Fibre optic cables are able to carry more data and they’re more efficient at carrying that data.  Fibre optic broadband is much faster, so this means less buffering, faster downloads/uploads and an all-round much faster internet speed!

What does Fibre have to offer?

Fibre is ideal for businesses that have multiple people using the internet, it boosts business efficiency and it’s perfect for businesses that require super-fast internet.

With speeds of up to 80Mbps downstream and 20Mbps upstream, you are guaranteed throughput, so you will receive a better performance. Fibre Broadband is ideal for businesses that require higher bandwidth and faster speeds to improve the running of business critical applications.

Access to fibre is growing fast, fibre will continue to be rolled-out with estimates that around 80% of premises have access to it.

Is Fibre suitable for my business?

Fibre is suitable for you if you have multiple sites and remote workers. Fibre is a cost effective site-to-site network for people who may use collective data or applications. If you are using Voice over IP or Video Conferencing - fibre is great for you, with its reliability and fast speeds, you can be sure you will have a consistent better service.  If your service goes down you can rely on us to have your problem resolved within 8 hours, giving you the peace of mind to get on with running your business.

Ofcom: Numbering

You’ve probably received or made a call to an 03 number at some point in your life… but do you know what these numbers are? And how much they cost?

Calls to 03 numbers are used by many businesses/organisations and the best part is that they cost no more than a national rate call to an 01/02 number and will be included as part of your monthly inclusive payment plans.

03 numbers include the same benefits as other non-geographic numbers such as 0800, 0844 or 0845. 40% of calls are made through mobiles that have free minutes offered by their provider so having an free-phone 03 number is a lot more appealing than calling an 08 number. This is a great advantage as typical 08 numbers charge by the minute - these can land you with large unexpected bills at the end of the month!

40% of calls are made through mobiles that have free minutes offered by their provider having an free-phone 03 number is a lot more appealing than calling an 08 number. 

You can even get a golden 03 number for your own business! Take a look at our website for more information: http://www.national-telecom.com/numbering.html

If you’d like to find out more about numbering, from 03 numbers to area codes to premium rate services - take a look at Ofcom’s website: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/numbering/

Samsung Galaxy S Rumours

Samsung are always adding to their Galaxy S line, with every upgrade introducing fancy features that pushes the boundaries in amazing new technology!

There are rumours of the next S phone to have bass rich speakers for improved sound and a duel camera to provide instant eye scanning security to beat Apples latest finger print identity sensor which is built into the Home button.

Other rumours claim that we will see the return of water resistance – something Apple hasn’t yet achieved. This would make the S7 very popular as users have been requesting a water resistant phone to make the phone more reliable.

picture from talkandroid.com

To find out more about the rumours for the new phone from Samsung’s S line, take a look at Tech radar’s article here: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s7-what-we-want-to-see-1293401

New Business Start-Up Plan!

Not every business owner can pay over the odds to get their business up and running – we understand that, so here at National Telecom we came up with an amazing idea that you wouldn't want to miss out on…

This includes the state of the art horizon based telephone system which includes features such as call recording, auto attendant and call divert. You will get lightning fast broadband with speeds of up to 80 Mbps. This deal is available with no lease, no capital outlay and no rental! With this deal you can also receive free handsets with allocated 4,000 free minutes per handset with an easy to use interface.

But we haven’t finished yet – when setting up a new business, we know that a lot of money is spent on marketing which can leave you feeling as if you have holes in your pockets, so this is where we step in!

Our start-up business plan includes the creation of a free 3 page website with free web hosting. We also offer free social media page set-up for the popular websites; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

To ensure it’s easy for customers/clients to contact you, it’s important to make your business memorable and recognisable to the public so we’re giving you a choice of essential free 0330 numbers which can appear on your business website and advertising. 

However, if you’d prefer a geographical/non-geographical number, we can help with this too! Also, we can give you free e-mail account set-up for your staff.

Take a look at this example:

1 handset option –

Monthly Line Rental	£14.20
1 Handset (4,000 free minutes per month)	£12.52
Broadband Converged	£54.60
Free Website Creation* & E-mail Set-up	Inclusive
0330 or 0207 Numbers	Inclusive
Social Media Page Set-up	Inclusive
Free Website Hosting	Inclusive

TOTAL FIXED MONTHLY COST ** £81.32

 3 handset option –

Monthly Line Rental	£14.20
3 Handsets (12,000 free minutes per month)	£37.56
Broadband Converged	£54.60
Free Website Creation* & E-mail Set-up	Inclusive
0330 or 0207 Numbers	Inclusive
Social Media Page Set-up	Inclusive
Free Website Hosting	Inclusive

TOTAL FIXED MONTHLY COST ** £106.36

offer ends Feb 21st!

To get your hands on this great deal for your business, contact us today on +44 (0) 33 0003 0003 or visit our website at http://www.national-telecom.com/new-business.html

EE for Emergency Services

Mobile operator EE has been chosen by the UK government to bring a mobile network specifically for 300,000 emergency service workers.

A government initiative of £1 billion aims to replace the current TETRA system and bring 4G to critical comms. O2 pulled out of the tender earlier on this year – so this is a good win for mobile operator EE, who can now stress how consistent and reliable their network must be to have been given this opportunity.

Information on Telecoms.com shows that CEO of EE, Olaf Swantee, says “we’ve worked closely with the police and ambulance crews to show the power of 4G in helping save time and save lives. We will now work tirelessly to deliver a highly resilient, truly nationwide 4G network to serve all of Britain’s Blue Light and First Responder teams across the UK.”

The transition to this emergency services network will start mid-2017. EE claims it’s going to add over 500 new 4G sites across the UK!

Is YOUR Business at Risk?!

Floods, fires, strikes, snow, terror alerts…

We’ve all heard about these disasters but what would you do if your business was at risk of disruption?

Backing up important data, keeping copies of important documents, equipping staff with mobiles and laptops to work from home: these are all standard measures.

At National Telecom, we go further – we strive to keep your business operating 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

If a disaster disrupts your business, you can be sure that business will run as usual. We can make sure your staff can still answer calls when they can’t get into work for whatever reason that may be.

The key to business continuity is planning beyond the obvious and that’s why our customers rely on National Telecom to keep their business working through any unforeseen circumstances.

We’ve designed business continuity to be flexible, you can quickly configure the system to your requirements with ease. The service can be accessed via a secure website or through an easy-to-use app, which is available on Android, iOS, Windows or Blackberry devices.

Download your FREE disaster recovery plan online now at http://bit.ly/1npAfJQ or click the link and fill out the enquiry form at the bottom of the page and see how we can help to get your business prepared – whatever happens.

Take a look at our YouTube video for more of an insight to our Disaster Recovery Plan: https://youtu.be/93HlVYHZ1Zo

Don’t wait for a disaster to interrupt your business - discover how National Telecom can help your business today!

web: www.national-telecom.com

phone: +44 (0) 33 0003 0003 

The Cloud

You expect your business to work efficiently, you depend on your staff to be reliable and co-operative, and you don’t expect to be kept waiting for clients or colleagues. If there was a terror alert, flood, fire, or problems at the exchange - would your business continue to trade?

Here at National Telecom we always ensure to achieve and constantly improve customer satisfaction. We focus on business continuity and we strive to keep your business operating 24/7 365 days a year.

96% of customers said they were satisfied with hosted or cloud-based services!

Cloud computing allows you to use the power of other computers, without the need to own them. Everything is stored on a system so it’s ready to use whenever you might need it.

 With our Cloud based system, it’s easy for you to keep information on a remote server which you can access from a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop.

The Cloud ensures your information is kept safe on a secure encrypted server which is easy for you to access.

To find out more about how cloud-based services could benefit you, call +44 (0)33 0003 0003 or visit our website for more information www.national-telecom.com

Bespoke Music on Hold

More and more Businesses are now investing in a bespoke ‘Music on Hold’ system. 

Studies show that while 70% of callers will remain on hold for over a minute, 60%, if left unattended for too long, will lose interest and hang up.

No business can afford that. 

The solution is to keep your callers entertained and informed whilst reassuring them that they haven’t been forgotten.

If you’d like to increase customer satisfaction with music on hold, we can help! With a wide ranging music selection with assisted professional script writing at an affordable low price – you wouldn't want to miss out!

Here at National Telecom, we can create music on hold services to transform your caller experience - to find out more and listen to a few examples, take a look at our website: http://www.national-telecom.com/music-on-hold.html

Business Start-up Plan

Not every business owner can pay over the odds to get their business up and running – we understand that, so here at National Telecom we came up with an amazing idea that you wouldn't want to miss out on…

This includes the state of the art horizon based telephone system which includes features such as call recording, auto attendant and call divert. You will get lightning fast broadband with speeds of up to 80 Mbps. This deal is available with no lease, no capital outlay and no rental! With this deal you can also receive free handsets with allocated 4,000 free minutes per handset with an easy to use interface.

But we haven’t finished yet – when setting up a new business, we know that a lot of money is spent on marketing which can leave you feeling as if you have holes in your pockets, so this is where we step in!

Our start-up business plan includes the creation of a free 3 page website with free web hosting. We also offer free social media page set-up for the popular websites; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

To ensure it’s easy for customers/clients to contact you, it’s important to make your business memorable and recognisable to the public so we’re giving you a choice of essential free 0330 numbers which can appear on your business website and advertising. 

However, if you’d prefer a geographical/non-geographical number, we can help with this too! Also, we can give you free e-mail account set-up for your staff.

Take a look at this example:

1 handset option –

Monthly Line Rental	£14.20
1 Handset (4,000 free minutes per month)	£12.52
Broadband Converged	£54.60
Free 3 Page Website & E-mail Set-up	Inclusive
0330 Numbers	Inclusive
Social Media Page Set-up	Inclusive
Free Website Hosting	Inclusive
Management Fee	£20.00
TOTAL FIXED MONTHLY COST INC. VAT	£121.58

3 handset option –

Monthly Line Rental	£14.20
3 Handsets (12,000 free minutes per month)	£37.56
Broadband Converged	£54.60
Free 3 Page Website & E-mail Set-up	Inclusive
0330 Numbers	Inclusive
Social Media Page Set-up	Inclusive
Free Website Hosting	Inclusive
Management Fee	£20.00
TOTAL FIXED MONTHLY COST INC. VAT	£151.63

To get your hands on this great deal for new businesses, contact us today on +44 (0) 33 0003 0003 or visit our website at http://www.national-telecom.com/new-business.html

Apple’s New Operating System Will Help Protect Your Eyes at Night

Apple’s new operating system is said to introduce a new feature called “Night Shift” to protect your eyes at night. Studies show that exposure to bright light can affect your body clock and make it harder for you to fall asleep. 

The feature allows users to configure the display to warmer colours at night to make it easier to look at the screen, Night Shift uses your devices clock and location to determine the sunset.

The operating system is also said to include features such as TouchID for the Notes app and a new app for the Classroom which is aimed at teachers and administrators.

What are your thoughts on the Night Shift feature? 

Clear Call Rates for Everyone!

Every single day people are calling service numbers beginning with 08, 09 or 118 - but do you really know the cost of calling these numbers? It could be over £2 per minute!

That has now been changed! UK calling has been made clear to understand so you know how much it’s going to cost you to call one of these numbers – no unexpected charges, just happy faces!  

To find out more about UK Calling – take a look at this link http://www.ukcalling.info/ or visit www.national-telecom.com