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Horizon – 6 tips to make sure you get the most from your Horizon system

by with No Comment Products & ServicesTips

Whatever the size and shape of your business, with Horizon you have a wealth of features available to you. Ensure you are getting the most from your Horizon system with these helpful tips so your telecoms can be truly unlimited.

Horizon Disaster recovery

Don’t get caught out! There are many things can stop you using your office but with Horizon that doesn’t mean losing your calls. With pre-programmable disaster recovery you can designate an alternative number to automatically route your calls to in the event of your Handset losing contact with Horizon (for example due to a power outage).

Can’t get to your office? Control your call plan from anywhere you have an internet connection – even your mobile. Just login to your Horizon account and redirect your calls to an alternative number or update your voicemail to let callers know what’s going on.

Custom Hold Music

Did you know you can upload custom hold music on Horizon? Use free to air music or have special music created for your company with bespoke messages. It’s so easy to change. You can even have seasonal messages or advertise promotions or events. To find out more about formatting your audio files and changing your hold music, visit our knowledgebase.

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Horizon Statistics

Visit the Performance section of the Statistics tab to learn all about your calls. See where your customers are located; great for doing target advertising. Find out when your busy days and times are to manage staffing levels accordingly.

You can also view statistics for outbound calls. Get an overview for the whole company or use the search facility to view details for a specific user.

For even more detail you can view the Advanced Statistics section. See detailed information for all calls in and out as well as internal calls. Use the search boxes at the top to filtre your results by day, time, call type (inbound or outbound), call scope (internal or external) and user. Click download to export a csv file of all results.

Call Plans

Regularly review your Horizon call plans to make sure you aren’t missing important calls. Use the scheduling tools to send calls through to overflow hunt groups at your busiest time or add an auto attendant to get calls where they need to be as quickly as possible.

If you haven’t already, consider upgrading to full call queuing. Queue up to 25 calls at a time, offer callers the option press 1 to leave a voicemail and add your own custom comfort messages.

Company Blacklist

Missing important calls due to nuisance callers tying up your lines and staff? Getting harassed by problem callers? Use the Horizon blacklist tool to stop them from getting through. Any number added to the blacklist will get an unavailable tone whenever they try to call you. Visit the knowledgebase to find out how to manage your blacklist for call groups and user handsets.

Horizon Knowledge

Deep Blue customers get full access to our knowledgebase. It’s full of helpful guides on how to setup and manage many functions on Horizon, with images to help guide you along. You also get access to our friendly, knowledgeable staff who are happy to assist you in the management of your system. We even provide free refresher training on using the Horizon portal, just give us a call on 0333 240 9100 or email horizon@deepbluetelecom.co.uk.

Not a Deep Blue customer? If you think Horizon maybe the solution you need then speak to us today about moving your numbers on to it.

Already on Horizon? Speak to us about migrating to Deep Blue.

3CX UPDATE – The latest V15.5 Update – 6 – has gone gold

by with No Comment AnnouncementsProducts & ServicesTips

3CX Update

The latest V15.5 3CX Update – 6 – has gone gold. It’s an important update too, not only does it come with many new features & improvements but it also has updated SSL certificates that are required.

Check if you already have the latest version by looking at your license on your dashboard, it should end in 6.
 
SSL Security Updates

In the next month 3CX will be updating the security certificates on their servers, required for secure communication with 3CX. This means that you will need to go to update 6 as soon as possible. 3CX continue to add many security features under the hood to ensure safe operation of the PBX and secure communications.
 
For those of you who missed the release of V15.5, Update 6 it comes with some great new features. Amongst others, it includes a WebRTC softphone within the web client, smarter smartphone apps, SSL Security updates and more. Upgrading to the latest service pack is critical and we highly recommend you do so as soon as possible.  

3CX Version 15.0 and 15.5 Users

To make the upgrade process easy for you 3CX have prepared some tools which will automatically upgrade your PBX to Update 6 through all service packs. These tools can be used by all customers who are already on version 15.0 and 15.5 regardless if you have maintenance or not.

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Back up 3CX to either your documents folder (preferable) or desktop.

Uninstall 3CX

Install version 6 – download the up to date version here: https://www.3cx.com/phone-system/download-links/

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A simple guide to recording and storing conversations to comply with MiFID II

by with No Comment AnnouncementsNewsProducts & ServicesStories

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What is MiFID II?

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, commonly known as MiFID II, launched in January 2018. First introduced by the EU in response to the 2008 financial crisis, MiFID is a set of sweeping reforms for the financial industry designed to prevent history from repeating itself in the same way again.

Replacing the original Directive, MiFID II brings changes to many areas relating to conduct of business, including far more robust rules around the recording and storing of conversations.

This easy-to-digest eGuide cuts through the jargon and highlight the key parts to help you become compliant.

(click the images to view more)

Who needs to comply?

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What needs to be recorded?

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How do recording need to be stored?

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How do recordings need to be monitored?

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The clock is ticking… are you ready for MiFID II?

Get in touch with Deep Blue today to find out more about how MiFID II is going to impact your organisation and how we can help you comply with these new regulations.

info@deepbluetelecom.co.uk or 0333 240 9100.

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Case Study – Rural Business Park can really offer it all

by with No Comment AnnouncementsNewsProducts & ServicesStoriesTestimonial

IMG_0988Local Estate invests in superfast broadband network so that its tenants can enjoy the dream of work life balance.

Hutton Wandesley Estates offers small to medium size businesses, the opportunity to work in an attractive office environment located in a picturesque and historical village in the heart of North Yorkshire. With strong transport links to both York and Harrogate as well as easy access to the A1, Hutton Wandesley Estates can offer it all.

Sasha York, Director of Hutton Wandesley Estate, commented “We’ve just completed the first part of a superfast wireless broadband project to provide our commercial tenants with a business class service at both our Sycamore Barn and Manor Farm Barn offices in the village of Angram. We will be expanding this network in the second phase to residents in Angram and a residential development due to be completed in the Autumn. Angram is a small hamlet west of York which has been neglected by national ISPs.”

Sasha continues “As many of our commercial tenants are from the creative sector, having access to superfast broadband is vital to our business offering. We have struggled with the service that the national ISPs were supplying, 1 Megabits at best, which just doesn’t suffice for today’s online businesses.

Hutton Wandesley Estate has been working on a solution for over two years. Working with Signa Technologies and Deep Blue have enabled us to put in place the service we wanted to provide. Together they have designed and installed a network that meant we could offer our tenants packages from 10Mbps up to 30Mbps with room to grow as demand requires. This is a huge improvement and our tenants agree”.

Mike Harmer, who runs a Web Design company at Manor Farm Barn, one of Hutton Wandesley Estate’s business centres, said “using the internet is essential for the operation of my business as nearly everything is cloud based. When I first moved to Manor Farm the broadband was particularly poor and I needed to use a 4G dongle to try boost the speed, but this still wasn’t great. Fortunately, I knew the new network was coming and now it’s here the connection to the internet has vastly improved. I am now able to upload large files and back up my data without having to think about it.”

Mike continues “as the service is reliable and fast, it has encouraged me to come to the office more, as before I would need to work from home to be able to send client files over the internet.”

Martyn Boswell, Managing Director at Signa Technologies stated “working alongside an IT company such as Deep Blue, helps us deliver not only a robust broadband service but also gives Deep Blue a platform to sell innovative business solutions such as VoIP telephony, which is usually only available to companies located in urban areas.

We hope to work with Deep Blue on many more of these types of network projects in the near future.”

Ross Knapman at Deep Blue added “As a Telecoms business, we know only too well the struggles rural areas face with their technology connections. Teaming up with Signa Technologies is a vital step to ensuring areas such as Angram have improved solutions, speed and reliability.”

If you have a business that would like to provide WiFi to its customers such as a hotel, leisure facility, or place of interest; or you are a business that needs to connect various properties with internet service but are struggling to get the connectivity, then please get in touch and arrange a chat about what Signa can do to help your business. Contact us at info@signa-uk.com or telephone 01423 900 433. Alternatively you can discuss your requirements with Deep Blue on info@deepbluetelecom.co.uk or 0333 240 9100.

 

 

Top Tips for a stress free Summer

by with No Comment Products & ServicesStoriesTipsUncategorized

Everyone looks forward to the warmer months, but in the business world it can be a balancing act between giving your staff the time off they deserve while still giving your customers the service levels they need.

Here are our top tips to becoming a summer sensation and recharging your batteries without compromising on service!

Prepare Your Customers Let your customers know in advance when you will be away, give yourself that time to really enjoy your break.

Put Marketing on Auto-Pilot Don’t go completely dark on the marketing front so people start to wonder where you are. Pre-schedule posts, blogs and other forms to stay connected.

Set Your ‘Out of Office’ Decide how often and when you plan on checking in, what date you will be returning back to work and how you can be reached in an emergency (if at all) and detail those Summer rules in your out of office announcement.

Intelligently Handle Incoming Calls Whether you close completely or reduce your hours, let a ‘Virtual Office’ take care of the day-to-day. From voicemail to call forwarding to auto-attendants, your phone system has the capability to intelligently handle incoming calls while you are away.

Deep Blue customers can log into our Knowledge Base to find assistance with setting these facilities or contact us for more information on a tailored system for your business

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It’s here! The Deep Blue Knowledgebase

by with No Comment AnnouncementsProducts & ServicesTips

The first few customers have received their logins for the Deep Blue knowledgebase and the feedback we have had so far has been really positive! Don’t worry if you haven’t received your login yet as we are rolling these out throughout the week.

When you first login, try typing ‘How do I use the knowledgebase?’ in the searchbox to find out how to get the most from the information available.

If you spot an error or can’t find the answer you are looking for please let me know at rachel.macleod@deepbluetelecom.co.uk so I can get it fixed, the knowledgebase is a continually growing and changing resource so we appreciate any comments or feedback.

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Avoiding Telecoms Fraud at Christmas and year round

by with No Comment NewsProducts & ServicesTips

With many offices closing or operating with minimal staff at this time of year, it is the ideal time for fraudsters to strike. Telecoms fraud is something that spoils the start of the New Year for companies year after year, but there are steps you can take to prevent your company from being affected.

Make sure phone systems and voicemails are secured with passwords that are changed regularly, if your system has remote access configured, make sure your network is secure.

If you don’t need to make calls to premium rate and international numbers, consider setting up outbound call barring for these numbers. If you are using Horizon you can do this yourself through the portal, for any other system just give us a call on 0333 240 9100 to get it setup.

If you get your calls through Deep Blue you get the reassurance of knowing that our systems monitor call traffic volumes and alert us if you hit your daily or weekly threshold to minimise your exposure if you are unfortunate enough to get hacked.

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#FestiveFailovers

by with No Comment Products & ServicesTips

The last thing you want at this busy time of year is to be worrying about your phone system being out of action so for the final part of our Christmas tips section we will be talking about festive Failovers.

 

InBound DR Plan – Build an alternative call plan to use if the destination of your main call plan is unavailable for any reason, when you have finished your call plan, click Validate to make sure it is correct then check the box that says ‘Make this my DR plan’. You can then go to the point my number tab and activate this plan at anytime that you need it.

 

Horizon Hunt Group Unreachable – Go to Call Groups > Hunt Group and click edit next to the number you wish to set up. Select Options and check the box next to ‘Enable Call Forwarding when unreachable’, put in your failover number (any number that wouldn’t be affected by a power/broadband outage such as a mobile) and click Save.

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The system will automatically trip over to the failover number if communication between the handsets and the Horizon platform is disrupted.

Fixed Line – Should your phone lines go down, or should you be unable to access your premises, simply call the office on 0333 240 9100 and we will be able to apply a temporary divert at the exchange to forward your calls to an alternative number.

 

That’s it for our Christmas tips, all that’s left is to wish our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Keep a look out in January for updates on the launch of our New Knowledge base to help you get the most from your telecoms set up.

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