News: business telephones

28th September 2016

Continue

Mike Odysseas, Managing Director of Odyssey Systems, looks at why telecommunications networks should be given the same support as other infrastructure.

For years now, and probably for many more to come, the media has given over countless column inches and broadcast minutes to the subject of HS2, an increasingly expensive rail network upgrade. Its great claim is that it will boost the economy by helping people to travel between London and Birmingham 20 minutes faster than is currently the case.

Whether such a time-saving is worth the tens of billions of pounds the project will cost is debateable, but one thing I can tell you with certainty is that no train will get you from A to B faster than telecommunications can connect two people on opposite sides of the globe.

With teleconferencing, video conferencing and countless more technological applications available at the touch of a button, I can connect instantly with a client or staff member and talk with them face to face, whether they are in Birmingham, Bermuda or Beijing, without having to go anywhere. I don’t even have to do it from an office – if the connectivity is right, I can take a break from a bike ride and make a call right where I am.

Whole businesses expand around the globe and intercontinental flights are hardly necessary to maintain the regular communications that keep the organisation operating and growing.

This year, we have seen an important tipping point in communications, as people are now accessing the internet more from their mobile devices than from desktops. Even within our homes and offices, we are no longer reliant upon a “hard” connection.

It needs to be accepted that the world we live in is one which is mobile technology-driven, and that the infrastructure required for effective telecommunication is as important to the economy as that which drives transport.

I am firmly behind the comments of o2 Telefonica UK CEO Ronan Dunne, who, in a recent national interview conducted at the One Young World conference in Thailand, highlighted the complete lack of legislative support for boosting mobile internet access.

He highlighted a shift in demands on politicians, from constituents urging action to stop more masts being erected, to the same people now demanding greater mobile coverage.

However, there is still no subsidy or even right of access powers that can help to make this happen more quickly.

The needs of businesses, as well as individuals, have been changing for some time, but the actions of Government, in failing to actively support greater coverage, is behind the consensus. Take Japan as an example of progress in this area; mobile wi-fi offering tens of megabits is accessible halfway up Mount Fuji, yet you can land back in Heathrow and be faced with a GPRS-only signal. Europe has shown itself to at least be addressing the shift, with the scrapping of data roaming charges, albeit not until the Summer of 2017, but the UK needs to act now to play its part.
A Stockton call handling company has benefited from a fresh new look as it prepares to expand its workforce after moving to a growing business park.

Lemon Business Solutions, which provides 24/7 call centre solutions to clients in the UK and internationally, has relocated its 45-strong workforce to Odyssey Systems’ newly-established business park.

As a result of the move, Lemon is hoping to increase its workforce by 20% to meet the demand of its growing clientele.

Lesley Wratten, managing director of Lemon Business Solutions, said: “The new office space exemplifies exactly what our business is all about and has created a fresh, zesty work environment for our staff. We have experienced significant growth in recent years and these larger premises will allow us to gear up for further expansion.”

“The IT infrastructure and connectivity in place was essential in forming our decision to relocate as we had simply maximised the space at our previous office and handle thousands of customer service calls every day. Our new, state-of-the-art call management centre will allow us to continue to deliver an excellent level of customer service to our clients and I am looking forward to what the future holds for Lemon.”

Lemon Business Solutions’ relocation completes a hat-trick of new tenants for the business park following JBC Accountants and UK & Ireland SAP User Group.

Odyssey Systems has invested in the complete refurbishment of the 20,000 sq. ft. business park for its tenants. The site offers a comprehensive telecommunications service, which includes hosted telephony and a fully-synchronous, uncontended Ethernet connection, as well as fingerprint recognition software and increased security for tenants.

Christine Gilbert, director of Odyssey Systems, said: “I am delighted to welcome Lemon to the business park and start a new chapter in our long-standing relationship. Lemon is a longstanding Odyssey Systems customer and is well-aware of the excellent service we provide, which they will now also experience as a tenant of our business park.

“Lesley and I have worked closely together on the creation of their new offices, which reflects their brand and personality as well as providing the high quality of telecoms technology they have become used to over the years from Odyssey Systems.”

http://www.no-sour-business.co.uk/
Telecommunications specialist Mike Odysseas is warning North East businesses of an increase in targeted, sophisticated email fraud.

His business, Stockton-based Odyssey Systems has experienced a spike in ‘socially-engineered fraud’ where scammers are using advanced methods to extract money from their victims.

The company is now monitoring more than 200 emails per day within the million messages sent to its Internet Service Provider (ISP) business customers where fraudsters appear to adopt people’s email addresses and try to encourage financial transactions with the email account holder’s contacts.

Common email fraud practices, known as phishing, aim to trick recipients into believing they know the person or company corresponding with them. To prevent being caught by these scams, recipients can check the email address the message comes, which will reveal it has no connection to the supposed real sender.

However, scammers are now utilising a new method, which actually mirrors real email addresses and make messages look genuine and, therefore, can also fool monitoring systems and programmes including Microsoft Outlook.

Fraudsters are also researching the contacts the accounts they are mirroring and their contacts to make the emails more genuine and dupe unsuspecting victims.

Odyssey Systems, which provides ISP services to hundreds of businesses across the North East, has identified this new practice and is employing new protocols within its automated email monitoring systems, including the ability to identify the fraudsters Internet Protocol (IP) address to capture these email before they reach their recipients

Mike Odysseas, Managing Director of Odyssey Systems, said: “This kind of socially-engineered fraud is on the rise and people have to remain vigilant. It means questioning any messages they receive about financial transactions, even if it looks like it’s from someone they know.

“Fraudsters are relentless in their use of email as a way to illegally obtain money. This latest method has the ability to not only trick recipients through a genuine looking message, but also fool computer programmes into thinking it has been generated by the real email address.

“This could have serious financial implications for North East businesses and as a responsible Internet Service Provider we are continually creating new variables to prevent this horrendous practice from affecting our customers.”
Telecommunications specialist Odyssey Systems has installed a state-of-the-art communications system for a North Yorkshire law firm, linking its branches across the county to Odyssey’s own dedicated data centre.

Previously Coles Solicitors, which has nine offices from Yarm to York and from Beverley to Settle, had independent systems which communicated via the internet.

Odyssey put in multi-Protocol Label Switching, MLPS, which allows the firm’s sites to operate on the same system and communicate with each other via secure broadband and a single firewall and with a single phone system across all the sites.

Three telephone servers located at three different sites have been replaced and the system is now served from Odyssey’s data centre.

Odyssey has worked with Coles for several years as the law firm has expanded and opened new offices.

Coles Managing Director Peter Gibson said: “Instrumental to that growth has been the technology we have from Odyssey, which has enabled us to grow at the rate that we have because the systems they put in place for us enable us to have complete connectivity between each of our branches, so each branch is in effect, part of our main office.

“We run our business as one business, even though we are in nine locations. Because a lot of what we do is communication, the broadband and communication for all of our telephony and IT have been a key and integral part of our business and I can’t imagine our business operating without Odyssey.

“We speak to them on a daily basis about issues, problems and future developments. Inevitably there are issues and problems but it’s how they are dealt with and managed which is the real differentiator between Odyssey and AN Other provider. I can’t praise them highly enough. ’’

The new system will also make it easier for the firm to expand and open new offices with greater ease of connection to telecommunications.

Odyssey Systems Sales Director Christine Gilbert said: “The installation of MLPS allows for a more secure and faster system with greater capacity. It provides access to our call recording software and allows remote management from our office in Stockton, giving the client a seamless and efficient service.’’

Peter Gibson added: “We would not be where we are today as a business with our breadth of geographic spread had our telecoms been managed by a faceless national provider rather than by using a local, independently-owned operator. They know the continued success of their business depends on the continued success of my business making us partners in the same enterprise.”
Odyssey Systems, the Teesside-based telecommunications specialists, is expanding its operations after acquiring a new building in Stockton-On-Tees.

The company has purchased the building opposite its existing head office on the Preston Farm Industrial Estate, which has quadrupled its available space.

In addition to utilising more space available in the two buildings, Odyssey Systems can make up to 20,000 square feet available to create new, fully-fitted office for a single or multiple business tenants.

Odyssey’s expansion will enable the company to increase its workforce to meet the growing demand for its services. The company currently employs 32 people and aims to create an additional eight new jobs.

The company will use some of the additional space to introduce a dedicated video conferencing suite and a technology demonstration area. Odyssey will also create a new stock and technology storage facility, which will hold the complete telephone systems and replacement parts for both current and past models.

The new building, which was the former home of housing group Vela, will also enhance the company’s internet services to its clients. Due to the building’s height, Odyssey will increase the reach of its long-range wireless high speed leased line signals, which can extend to a range of 30km.

Mike Odysseas, Managing Director of Odyssey Systems, said: “The addition of the new building to our existing facilities will create the extra capacity we need to enhance the services we offer our customers and create new employment opportunities.

“We have experienced steady growth throughout the last year, which this investment will help us build upon during 2015.”

Mike added: “Having the two office buildings next door to each other enables us to be more flexible with our use of space and also create new offices for other businesses which can benefit from the infrastructure we’ll introduce including hosted telephony systems and gigabit internet speeds.”