Foehn talks the advantages of open source for SME’s

 ~ Discover the advantages of open source for SME’s ~

More and more SMEs are turning to open source technology and solutions from MySQL and Linux, to name two and are becoming much more widely known because of the significant benefits open source has to offer. For example the significant cost savings and flexibility it brings.

The UK government recently mandated a preference to use open source over proprietary solutions and shortly after held a conference for public sector organisations aiming to expose them to the benefits of open source.

Open source is reference to software that is made available to the public to be constantly improved and edited by the programming community who can add new lines of code. Open source technology is nothing new and has been steadily growing in popularity as more and more SMEs are beginning to discover the benefits.

In the past many companies have been reluctant to choose open source due to the higher perceived risk, such as security and reliability. But there is nothing to suggest open source is less secure than proprietary, just because the source code is freely available does not make it any more vulnerable. If anything it stands to be the opposite as the community is so vast, developers and programmers are constantly making improvements to the code.

Support and maintenance issues have all but disappeared as more and more specialist providers have the expertise and skills to provide high levels guidance and commercial support.

The arguments for open source are becoming more and more compelling thanks to the significant cost reductions, greater flexibility and improved features and functionality that would normally come with a big price tag, and will continue to increase in popularity.

For more on open source visit our website http://www.foehn.co.uk/open-source-communications

 

Foehn in process of signing up for G-Cloud initiative

 

~Foehn is currently the process of signing up for G-Cloud~

The G-Cloud Programme is a cross government initiative led by Andy Nelson (Ministry of Justice) and supported by Denise McDonagh (Home Office) under the direction of the Chief Information Officer Delivery Board as part of the Government’s IT Strategy.

G-Cloud’s initial focus is on introducing cloud ICT devices into public sector organisations with the aim of driving cost cuttings and that the IT systems delivered are flexible and responsive to demand in order to support government policies and strategies. In order to achieve this, a G-Cloud procurement framework for services under the OJEU (Offical Journal of the European Union) has been put in place.

www.foehn.co.uk

Foehn attends major Government open source conference

~Foehn attends major Government open source conference~

The first major conference on open source took place on the 18^th of April following the government’s new mandate for a preference in open source over proprietary solutions. The ‘Open source, Open Standards 2013’ set up organisations in the public sector to explore how they can take advantage of the technology and innovation open source has to offer.

Throughout the day speakers such a Dr. Ian Levy, technical Director of the Communications-Electronics Security Group all seemed to follow a recurring theme, that not only would it help save public sector organisations money, it would also help them achieve more for less, with a solution suited to their needs and requirements.

Foehn were in attendance, and as a true advocate for open source received a lot of interest from delegates. James Passingham, Technical Director at Foehn said “The sheer number of delegates and the level of interest expressed clearly demonstrates that open source has become a major feature of IT and telephony in the public sector in the UK.  Many individuals and organisations that we spoke to are an early stage of their research and investigations into how open source can help them”.

“There are of course projects that are based on open source in the public sector already, but judging by what we have experienced at this conference, there will be many more in the future.”

For more on open source visit www.foehn.co.uk/open-source-communications

Fixed Mobile Convergence – Freedom to Roam

~FMC – When two worlds collide~

The telecoms industry is under constant development, with Fixed Mobile Convergence on the front line of innovation. FMC allows you to optimise voice, data and video among users, regardless of location or communication device. It allows businesses to give employees the freedom to roam from location to location.

To many, FMC is seen as an important building block in the constant growth of Enterprise Mobility as more and more businesses are beginning to take advantage of its benefits. FMC can help to reduce operational costs, increase productivity and means staff only need one business number, regardless of location. An individual can go through various scenarios without losing the call and have no noticeable difference in call quality.

Research has shown that users are the ones leading the way because mobile phones have become such a necessity in everyday lives. The same principle is beginning to apply in the workplace; if it’s easier for employees to remain in touch through personal mobile devices then businesses should embrace these changes.

FMC has arrived and is very much here to stay.

www.foehn.co.uk

The People’s Postcode lottery Grow with New Phone System from Foehn

~ New Asterisk Call Centre for People’s Postcode Lottery ~

 The Peoples Postcode Lottery is a postcode based charity lottery. Following a pilot based study in the North of England; it was finally launched in Scotland in 2008. The alarming success quickly meant the old system could not keep up with the growing demands of the business. The rate they were growing also now meant the old system in place, just wasn’t fit for purpose. Out of several different telephony providers Foehn were picked to implement the new system when they moved offices in 2012. “It was a far from ideal situation because parts of our new office were literally being renovated at the same time as our new contact system was being established,” says John Young, IT Operations Manager, but Foehn managed to install the system under the added pressure.

The new solution is an Asterisk call centre system with an ISDN to SIP gateway, call recording capability, and Queuemetrics inbound and outbound call centre analysis, monitoring and reporting software. As well as dramatically reducing the cost, the new system was able to provide Postcode Lottery with a host of new features.

“With our new contact centre, we now have the capacity and capability to deal with large volumes of inbound calls responding to our TV campaigns,” says John. The new system allows for an all-round better customer experience and although John is very happy with the new system he is constantly looking for ways to improve the system further and take advantage of Foehn’s knowledge and expertise.

http://www.foehn.co.uk

 

Government Mandates Open Source over Proprietary Solutions

 ~Open Source to take over from Proprietary Solutions~

 The UK government recently mandated a preference for open source software for future digital developments.  The new Government Service Design Manual, released as beta in March and effective from April, lays out standards that must be used for all new digital public services.  This is the first time that government has expressed a formal preference for open source over proprietary software and demonstrates how popular it has become.

Made available to the public, open source code is free to adapt and modify to differing needs. The open source community is well supported, with hundreds of contributors regularly updating and adding new lines of code. Although open source has been around for years, organisations are only just starting to see the number of benefits it can bring. With the prospect of lower cost and greater flexibility many organisations are now favouring it over the traditional proprietary vendors.

Although in the past the perception has been ‘because open source is free to all, it is higher risk’. However, many developers have argued otherwise, as the strong community is constantly striving to improve it and through the constant drive of innovation a more reliable and feature rich solution is created.

Support and maintenance worries are now a thing of the past as specialist open source providers like Foehn have the expertise to gain the open source advantage. But ultimately the decision to move to open source is very much dependant on the organisation in question, whether it be timing, cost or a requirement for more functionality that are the influencing factors.

To find out more about open source communications, come and visit us at the Open source conference, stand 3 on the 18^th of April

Register Here: http://opensourceconference.co.uk/foehn

www.foehn.co.uk

2013 – A Tipping Point for Open Source

 ~Open Source set for tipping point in 2013~

The economic environment we live in is growing ever tougher and continuing to challenge many businesses operational costs, demanding constant review. Open Source is free in its nature, which allows anyone to take advantage of it and advances in technology has made open source a much more viable option.

“Open Source Telephony is moving beyond innovators and early adopters with more companies using it for their business communications needs.”

To date Foehn has delivered open source Customer Contact Centres and Enterprise Telephony systems and a variation of organisations. Helping companies like Low Cost Travel Group increase their productivity by 25% and customer retention by 40%, resulting in massive operational improvements.

Organisations in different sectors are beginning to see both the need and advantage of open source, as Foehn has recently implemented two new phone systems into schools both based on open source. “Schools are under pressure to improve their operational capabilities whilst at the same time needing to be mindful of costs”, explains Gary, Operations Director of Foehn.  “As schools are beginning to see what others are achieving, open source becomes a far more attractive proposition and less of a perceived risk.”

For more on open source, come and listen to Gary Muchmore, Operations Director of Foehn speak about ‘The Open Source Advantage’ on Tuesday 5^th of March at UX Expo, in the Voice and Visual Theatre 3:10-3:40pm

http://www.foehn.co.uk/uc-expo

 

‘Discover the Open Source Advantage’ come and visit us at UC EXPO, stand F609

 

~Don’t miss out: Come and visit us on stand F609 at UC EXPO and discover Open Source ~

Discover open source. visit us at stand F609 on the 5th of March at UC EXPO, London Olympia.

Learn about the benefits of Open Source:

>> Open Architecture

>> Scalability

>> Lower TCO

>> Unrestricted Licensing

With 12 years of successful IP communications Foehn has the expertise for the open source advantage. We are the leading providers for contact centres, IP Phone Systems and Hosted Telephony and are Europe’s No.1 Asterisk providers and have an impressive portfolio of happy clients and continued system maintenance.

Also, don’t forget the seminar, ‘Open Source Advantage’  at the Voice and Visual theatre on Tuesday 5th of March at UC EXPO from 3:10-3:40pm. Gary Muchmore, Operations Director at Foehn will be speaking about:

>> Challenges of using Open Source

>> Benefits of Open Source

>> Redefined Price Paradigms with Open Source

Click here to Register for the event www.foehn.co.uk/uc-expo

www.foehn.co.uk

Foehn goes above and beyond with new phone system

 

~Foehn goes above and beyond with new phone system for high school~
Parrs Wood High school in Manchester is thriving with students and previously has been able to deal with its IT infrastructure in-house with a team of internal technicians responsible for the schools VoIP system.
When it came to changing and upgrading the system later last year the school quickly realised it would not be possible to do in-house due to the level of complexity the system required. Not only this, but the school was also under pressure to get the new system in place before the August examination results, with countless calls from parents and universities.
Claire Wright, Deputy Head and Parrs Wood explained ‘we had just a week to sort the situation out. As if that wasn’t stressful enough, I was also on holiday in the Lake District with a patchy mobile reception and my job was to try and get a fully functioning new telephone system by the end of the week!’
So the search began to find a company that will be able to supply the school with their specific requirements, and came across Managed Communications Provider Foehn. ‘From the moment I called them, they were excellent’ explained Claire. Despite their confidence Foehn had their work cut out as they were required to capture all the data from the old no longer active system, and only mere 4 days later Foehn had 90% of the system in place with very little direction from Claire needed.
Foehn had completed a ‘mission impossible’ task and were still able to offer a solution that was competitively priced. The new system is based on Asterisk, an open source framework for building communications applications, turning an ordinary computer into a communications server that powers IP PBX systems.
www.foehn.co.uk/asterisk

Welcome to 2013

 

~Are we faced with a rocky 2013?~

As everyone is aware along with the prospects of a ‘new year, new me’, the financial crisis is ever looming and as a result businesses will have little choice but to adapt new methods, like that of John Lewis; to stay ahead.

2013 is also set for a number of changes in the tech world, with standalone PC’s taking a back seat and the level of advances in networking and the internet, have allowed things like enterprise mobility and virtual collaboration to become the driving methods of the way businesses now work.

Another buzz word to look out for this year, is the likes of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) giving you the freedom to bring your own smart phone to work and connect to the network.

2013 is also set to be big on FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) – this allows employees freedom to replace their desk phone with a mobile phone, transmitting VoIP calls through their smart phone.

Research has shown that the companies embracing change and following in the path of Enterprise Mobility and Virtual Collaboration are the ones to expect the biggest payback. 2013 is one to watch for IT Directors as well as finance directors.

www.foehn.co.uk