Pink Connect Blog

Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

Net Neutrality.  Many of you may not have heard this term before, but it is a term that may become very common in the new decade.  Simply put, it is an extension of “freedom of speech”.  As the internet becomes more and more common, the quality of service will drop correspondingly.  Back haul networks will require a higher bandwidth throughput, and datacenters will require increased capacities.  To stop this occurring, some people have brought forward a tiered system where users will pay more for better access, and those who pay less will be restricted from certain services and/or have less prioritised connections.  This would go against all the principles of Net Neutrality.  Many high profile figures have spoken out in favour of Net Neutrality, such as Tim Berners-Lee, who is generally acknowledged as the creator of the Web.

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R.P.Lovatt Insurance have again chosen their long term Communication suppliers Pink Connect in a deal that includes all lines, calls, mobiles, phone systems, ADSL and IT infrastructure. With this deal, Marc Lovatt has fixed the cost of his partnership’s Communication and IT budget for the next five years. Marc said “Pink Connect have been our chosen suppliers for over eight years now. As we have grown they have expanded our systems ahead of demand ensuring we always have the tools for the job. I am delighted to have secured their comprehensive services at a fixed cost with this innovative agreement. I recommend Pink Connect to any company wanting the best solution for their business communications”.

Management consultancy McKinsey has identified 10 technology trends that will force executives to anticipate and respond to their effects on their enterprises.

• Distributed co-creation moves into the mainstream
• Making the network the organisation
• Collaboration at scale
• The growing “internet of things”
• Experimentation and big data
• Wiring for a sustainable world
• Imagining anything as a service
• The age of the multisided business model
• Innovating from the bottom of the pyramid
• Producing public good on the grid

McKinsey said it identified emerging internet technologies, increased computing power, and fast, pervasive digital communications as key forces changing the management landscape back in 2007.

“Since then, the technology landscape has continued to evolve rapidly,” it said. It noted that Facebook has quintupled in size in two years to touch more than 500 million users. More than four billion people now use cell phones, and 450 million access the web from a mobile. Read the rest of this entry »

In a world of so much choice, the tools allowing us to make those choices are important.  One of the biggest decisions for a business in recent times has always been ‘internet’.  The internet is a complicated infrastructure, with thousands of service providers and hosting companies, all doing their bit to expand the internet and to provide others with the tools and information to do their job.  With almost all companies using the internet to some degree, it is important that as a service provider, Pink Connect Ltd gives their customers the best connection for what they need, and that our customers know exactly what they are going to get, and what other choices are available to them through our useful broadband package system.  For this task, some special tools are needed, and the most useful of these are the websites allowing us to supply information regarding internet connections to a customer, before they order it.

SamKnows is one of the most popular ADSL resource sites on the internet, providing a lot of useful information about specific connections, about exchanges, or about ADSL as a whole.  Their most useful feature for us is the Broadband Checker, which will allow us to estimate the download speeds on most connections before we install them.  The checker is very simple to use, just enter a telephone number, or postcode, or both and get information regarding that connection/postcode.  You will get a set of results, which you can browse through with the tabs down the left hand side of the central box, but the most useful of these is the “BT ADSL” tab, which will bring up a result like this.

This page will give you information on the specific line, such as whether ADSL is actually enabled at the local exchange, whether it is enabled for further services, such as ADSL Max, ADSL2+ and 21CN.  It will also tell us the speeds to be expected on the line.  All of these are important to learn as much as possible about the line, and let the customer know what to expect from their connection.  Another useful tab, is the “BT 21CN” tab, which will give details of BT’s new 21^st Century Network infrastructure.  The postcode search works in the same way, but the results tend to be less accurate as a postcode can cover a reasonable area.

Also included in the SamKnows website, is the Exchange Search, which will allow you to find the local exchange of any town.  This will also give you details such as which services are available at the exchange, and also which ISPs currently operate from this exchange.

Another happy customer, was made even happier with his latest purchase from Pink Connect. Craig Webb of the Pine Wood Hotel who already has a myriad of services through us, upon deciding he needed a new laptop as his current one was (and I quote) “down on its knees begging to be put out its misery.” and so he naturally came straight to us asking for a laptop quote.

It didn’t take long, we researched a laptop to his specifications and budget and promptly provided him with the quote and a picture of the laptop so he knew what he was getting. He being satisfied confirmed the order and it was sourced immediately in and fully setup for him and then sent on a next day delivery so that on arrival all he had to do was plug and play!

Upon receiving the laptop he sent a thank you email on his brand new Office 2010 suite and is now able to do his day to day business on a fast and reliable laptop!

Original article published on comms business news http://www.commsbusiness.co.uk/News_Article_JS1.cfm?NewsID=11465

Stephanie Watson of MZA

UK companies could be missing out on new ways to interact with customers and employees because of their reluctance to follow US consumers’ rapid uptake of social media according to new global comparative studies on the Web 2.0 media in business and customer communications.As well as slower acceptance of social media, a UK study suggests clear differences in how consumers and business use social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook. A study of 1500 UK consumers by Siemens Enterprise Communications showed that a clear majority (over 60%) use social media and nearly one in three (30%) want to interact with businesses via social media.

A separate study of 1000 office workers in the UK by Siemens Enterprise Communications showed that 30% don’t participate in social networking in the work place or aren’t aware of their company’s participation in social networking activity. More surprisingly, over 60% of businesses in the UK still don’t have a formal social networking policy in place.

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The brand new Church Street Town House Hotel in Stratford on Avon has chosen Pink Connect to supply all their Communications, Data, Wi-Fi, EPOS Till Systems and Power needs. “The PointOne EPOS System is the most intuative system we have used” say staff the newest Pink Connect Hotel customer. It will enable us to handle everything from booking guests into rooms to charging bar and resteraunt bills to guests and non residents. Exactly what a busy Hotel needs. The boutique Hotel opens on the 28th July with a dazzling selection of superb rooms. If you are planning a visit to Stratford and the surrounding Cotswolds you could choose no better base than the Town House. Contact the Hotel on 01789 262222.

Dormer House School has chosen Pink Connect to overhaul their existing IT ifrastructure in an upgrade that will see the pupils computer experience transformed. Security, speed and reliability are being bought right up to date with a state of the art Server that will trebble the working speed of on site PCs and see all data secure and backed up. Staff are delighted at the benifits this is already bringing in useability and reliability. Pink Connect are delighted to be providing this IT support at a special rate to make the upgrades as affordable as possible for the school.

Pink Connect are probably the neatest cablers in the business acording to one vey happy customer. The picture above shows a recent Network Patch cabinet installation carried out by our team in Norfolk, as you can see, the installation looks absolutely perfect. Danny Snelling, managing Director of Pink Connect Norfolk said ” It really makes a difference to have professional engineers turn up and take pride in the finished job. The Telephone and Data network is now working as designed and you can just see the care that went into the job”.

R & M Wholesale, an established fast growing wholesale floorcovering supply distributor to the Trade have chosen Pink Connect to supply a new telephone system for their Offices and Warehouse. R M who sell products used in the installation of carpet, hardwood, laminate, ceramic tile, vinyl, rubber and other floorcoverings have two warehouse locations that service The Westcountry and Southern England. They have been long term customers of Pink Connect and so naturally asked for a quotation for their telephone system. Speed was of the escence as their old system was failing and as the price was right and everything was in stock, Pink Connect were able to deliver and install within 48 hours. A delighted Simon Cole said “it is great to do business with a company that understands our needs and delivers when we need” –  R M Wholesale can be contacted on: 01179 531222 or www.rmwholesale.co.uk