Microsoft Teams is a digital hub that brings conversations, content, and apps together in one place. In this article, we explore how using Microsoft Teams phone system might just be the technology of choice for businesses looking to replace an existing, legacy phone system. In these days of flexible working, hot-desking and external sales teams working from mobile phones or tablets, real-time effective inter-team communication is vital. Business owners and IT managers are starting to …
Hacking – A Growing Problem Phone hacking is becoming an increasingly common practice. It occurs when criminals hack into business phone systems and make unauthorised calls to Premium Rate and International numbers. These attacks can result in extremely high costs if your phone system is not monitored. They can also leave your business exposed and vulnerable to further attacks. And, with the added threat of Social Engineering (whereby criminals attack voicemail boxes to place call) …
If someone said to you the words ‘Video Conferencing’, like most people I would expect you to immediately think about a camera and a screen on the wall with someone at the other end talking away. So when considering what VC system to choose, most people concentrate on those 2 items. I’d like to challenge this way of thinking as I personally believe they’re way down the pecking order in terms of importance. When discussing VC …
We are very pleased to announce that we are now Cyber Essentials certified. This involved a full assessment of our systems which has been independently verified to standards set by the National Cyber Security Centre. What is Cyber Essentials? The Cyber Essentials scheme is a cybersecurity standard against which organisations can be assessed and certified. The scheme is based on the ’10 Steps to Cyber Security’ which was launched by the government in 2012. Within this, the …
This subject is frequently a shocker…. Even the most diligent of IT managers can get stung by unexpected or ‘rogue’ devices appearing in their network, innocent or otherwise. All you have to do is read the headlines to know that the conventional approach to IT security is failing. The rising number of security incidents globally reached 1,792 with nearly 1.4bn data records being compromised and billions of dollars lost along with reputations irreparable damaged. That is a year …
Should I go Hosted VoIP/Hosted UC? …This is a question we hear every day of the week. Hosted VoIP/UC providers do a great job of telling you all the benefits and brainwashing people into thinking it’s the only way forward, but not discussing the downsides. It’s worth mentioning at this point that we at Marlin Communications are agnostic, as we have 7 VoIP capable platforms in our portfolio, which can be installed in a range of hosted, virtualised, …
In a time when Cyber-crime is growing at an astronomical rate, are your employees the biggest risk when it comes to cyber-breaches? The biggest strength for most companies is their human capital and it is usually seen that most of their employees did something at least once that could have left their company at cyber-risk. Its commonly seen that employees prioritize personal convenience over security protocols when it comes to transferring and storing of data, …
A Quick Overview With so many businesses buzzing around trying to figure out the what/who/where/why/when around GDPR, Marlin Communications have been getting heavily involved in the network security aspects of this heavily enforceable change. For the benefit of anyone who’s been living in an isolation chamber for the last 6 months, here’s the main headlines around what GDPR can mean: Customer data that is not adequately protected according to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) could lead to fines of €20 million …
With just one year for organisations to be compliant with the new law that comes into force on 25th May 2018, cyber-security should be top of mind for businesses of all sizes. Whether it’s cybercrime or human error, high profile security breaches are seldom out of the news and of course, there are many from smaller organisations that go unreported. The disruption to business, even closure in some instances, and the loss of reputation that …
In exciting news recently, ShoreTel have been acquired by Mitel, accelerating Mitel’s growth and moving them to #2 position in UCaaS market globally. What does this mean for ShoreTel customers? In a customer assurance statement from Mike Bee (CEO, Mitel), the ShoreTel platform will continue to be cultivated and developed, as part of their growth strategy. Ultimately, the merger with ShoreTel is for it’s platform & people, including it’s truly multi-tenanted cloud platform, it’s CPaaS …
Get it while it’s hot! Marlin Communications are pleased to announce that we are offering free project management for all customers looking to migrate from ISDN to SIP. Depending on the complexity of your existing set up, this could save you between typically £600-£2,200 of professional services. The benefits are obvious, but for those who have had their head in the sand for the last couple of years….. Lower line rental – Save money on your ISDN line …
In this educational piece, we look at what the law says regarding call recording and financial transactions and how Oak’s solutions can help you tick the right boxes. Compliance is a murky subject. A casual glance presents the uninitiated with a series of rules and regulations that can seem at once critical and yet apparently contradictory. Some state that certain financial transactions must be recorded, whilst others, so it seems, demand that financial details be …
The growth of cloud technology over the last few years has been remarkable. In short, cloud is fast becoming the new normal. By the end of 2015 it’s estimated that 90% of UK businesses will be using at least one cloud service. The reason for this kind of rapid growth is quite clear: cloud helps businesses address their objectives. But when the internet is flooded with technical information about how cloud works, what the different …
ShoreTel has announced a major expansion of its cloud offering in the UK with the launch of Connect CLOUD and Connect Contact Center for CLOUD. ShoreTel UK Connect Cloud The full UK roll out of the cloud versions of ShoreTel’s hugely successful Connect software follows 15 months after they were initially introduced in the US. The company said the launch meant it could now provide a full UCaaS service in the UK. The move is intended to make …
Why choose Sonicwall for SME businesses? For businesses with 1-500 staff, Sonicwall for SME offers the market-leading solution for protection against the constantly evolving threats our there today. Giving you peace of mind against: Viruses Malware Ransomware Staying ahead of the ‘network security‘ curve can be a daunting subject for any business, which is where we come in. We offer a complete network access solution, including free analysis of existing services, gateway antivirus, email security, …
Polycom HDX End of Sale Launched in 2006, the Polycom HDX range has had a long and well-regarded life in the VC world. To illustrate my point, did you know: in 2006: the iPhone didn’t exist Netflix only provided DVDs MySpace was the most popular social media site Top 10 Reasons to upgrade your Polycom HDX systems to Realpresence Group Series #1: Native Integration with Skype for Business #2: High Quality Interactive Content – …
1. SMEs are now the prime target for Ransomware “Smaller to mid-size businesses have not historically been the target of cybercrime but in 2015 something drastically changed,” says Toni Allen, UK head of client propositions at the British Standards Institute (BSI). Enterprise-level businesses now employ significant network security policy, making them harder to penetrate. Typically, SMEs purchase network security hardware when they feel it’s appropriate. The problem is that emerging threats and changes in tactics …
It’s inevitable that your traditional, trusted phone system will eventually show signs of age or weakness. Perhaps it isn’t flexible enough to keep up with the needs of your business as you add branch offices or move applications to the cloud, or is becoming unreliable with more dropped calls and degrading call quality. Cloud communications could be the answer. Reliability is key In fact, 17% of small businesses say that reliability is a key reason …
While more and more businesses have come to understand the advantages of the cloud and cloud-based telecommunications systems, it’s often hard to get around the fact that moving from an older solution costs money. That puts executives in a quandary: Do they put off the investment until it’s absolutely necessary and use their dollars for other initiatives, or upgrade their system now in order to take advantage of the flexibility, cost-effectiveness and power a cloud-based …
How Charges Have Changed The cost of mobile phone calls in the eurozone has plummeted almost 90% since a sliding scale of charges came in almost ten years ago.In 2007, the first EU cap set the cost of calls at 33p a minute. And the price of sending a text has crashed by 77% from 9p when it was capped in 2009 to 2p today. Mobile roaming charges cut in EU Roaming Data typically caused …
