M & A Rainmaker

If you are looking for an Internet Connection in Dorset then you may be surprised to know that Poundbury Systems has had it’s own National Internet and Telephone network since the early 2000′s. Prior to that Poundbury’s owners built National I.P. ( Internet Protocol ) networks for other people.

Poundbury has a number of locations in London ( for resilience ) where we connect to the Internet and Telephone networks of the world. We provide U.K. Hosting facilities ( mainly )  in the London and Poundbury areas ( which is very important for websites that want to rank well in U.K. searches ).

Our deep, long standing and extensive knowledge of Internet ( and Telecommunications ) connectivity ensures that you get a different perspective on your Internet Connection requirements to that which you find from the ” major players ” .

We can, of course, provide a like for like solution to that offered by other companies but given that we can provide almost any sort of Internet connection, anywhere we like to concentrate on what is best for you. That means understanding your business requirements and objectives before providing a solution to you.

In addition to ” Landline ” ( copper or optical fibre cable ) connectivity we can provide wireless connectivity. Where required we can mix and match.

Obviously in rural areas there may be some bandwidth ( size of your Internet pipe ) restrictions but if you need high bandwidth and quality service then we will do our best to provide this wherever you are. If you need resilience and fault tolerance ( no single point of failure ) then we can provide this aswell.

So, pretty well, you can think to yourself that whatever your Internet Connection requirement is, Poundbury Systems can provide it. The question is more what you want and need ??

We can provide copper and fibre broadband Internet Connections at up to 75 Mbps and a U.K. Ethernet network at speeds up to a Gigabit per second.

Whatever your requirement please give us a call on:

01305 259849

From where I sit near Burton-on-Trent nothing much has changed in ICT and Telecommunications solutions for 10 Years or so. Rubbish you might say – loads of things have changed. Part of my problem is that Voyager Networks – the company that I sold in 2000 – was way ahead of it’s time. We were a Voice over IP provider when it really was a new thing ( In fact I remember Cisco buying Celsius – whose equipment we were already using – to build some of the first VoIP systems ). We were a Managed Network Services Provider when it was a nightmare to be one ( by this I mean that there were all sorts of ” New Telco’s ” claiming to be ” better than BT ” when in fact they were much much worse. ( The problem was that we had to try them before we could find this out ). We had a ” Network Operations Centre ” ( NOC ) when this was a really cool thing to have – it even had a ” Bridge ” – and it also had some super cool software ( InfoVista ) to ” pro-actively manage our customer’s networks “.

We were only able to build and run these Managed Networks because we had some really great technical people who overcame all the technical issues that arose from being a leading edge Data Networking and Telecommunications Solutions Provider.

In fact the world has got a lot simpler in the last 10-15 years – nobody really disputes the fact that VoIP is the way to go. All the main ” telephone systems ” companies are now VoIP Solutions providers ( well actually they are Unified Communications providers having been Converged Solutions providers along the way ). Most of those Telcos are now dead and gone. ” Consolidation ” has happened big time in the Telecommunications Provider market. Network and device management software has got better and cheaper.

A look from Burton on Trent at my old companies website http://www.voyager.net.uk/partners/ serves to emphasize what I am saying – hardly anything has changed ! All of these products and services/solutions  http://www.voyager.net.uk/solutions/ were there years ago. The only hint of a change is in ” Mobility “.

A look at 365iT’s website is the same http://www.365itservices.co.uk/ ( 365iT bought 5i Limited a few years ago ). Can we find ANYTHING different ?? The only thing that stands out for me is ” Virtualization “. Server virtualization is a pretty hot area with VMware being a hot stock  http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2012/03/23/3-stock-picks-from-tech-ceos/ .

With nothing having changed I think one thing is certain – competition is fierce !! Which means price erosion.

If we look at Node4’s website http://www.node4.co.uk/ ( Node4 are Headquartered in Derby ) there is an indication of one of the main changes that have happened – Cloud computing. Words like ” Hosting ” and ” Co-location ” are prevalent on the Node4 website. Virtualization is also there.

In this article http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/vmware-cto-virtualization-is-swiss-army-knife-of-it/72151 Virtualization, Cloud Computing and BYOD ( Bring your own Device ) are the areas mentioned as being important by corporate, Revlon.

I think the real clue as where ICT and Telecommunications is going is in the phrase ” Any information, anywhere, on any device, at any time ” and the challenges that this brings both to the user ( who will have multiple communications streams coming through to whatever device they are using – more of which soon )   and also in the types of information and data that the user is accessing.

The drive to achieve this level of communication is what will drive and shape the infrastructure and Telecommunications solutions requirements.

Many companies are in denial over the use of social media ( and I am greatly amused by this as it seems to me that company management have not read or remembered their – recent – history. In our memory people have refused to accept that the personal computer would become ubiquitous, the mobile phone, emailing, texting etc etc and of course they have grown to be huge industries. Perhaps when Facebook IPO’s for $75-100 Million in the next month or so some management will start to take it and other Social Networks seriously ).

Personally I think that people will use social ( and social business ) applications alongside corporate applications and so for example the stream of communications to their smartphone, iPad and Laptop will include the ” Unified Communications bit ” ( voice calls, text and email ) and the ” Social Media bit ” and this will require the integration and control of all of those streams. Of course this is already happening for many people and it happened with the smartphone first – as looking at my Blackberry demonstrates – Messages, Text/SMS, Calendar, Phone, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ etc etc.

As Revlon chief information officer David Giambruno says this demand for information drives certain infrastructure elements -e.g.  virtualized server farms, security to protect those servers, storage farms for the all the data – including back-up data, smartphone and iPad compatible applications N.B. The rise of companies like http://www.apperian.com/ who specialize in ” Mobile Application Management “.

Telecommunications solutions will be driven by the need to fulfill our desire for ” Anything, Everywhere ” communications.

Chris Windley, Burton on Trent.

Poundbury Systems of Poundbury, Dorchester is offering local companies advice and support on the pros and cons of Cloud Computing alongside its general computer, telephony and network support offerings.

” Cloud Computing ” is a term that gets mentioned quite often these days, usually accompanied by various general benefits of cloud computing like – lower cost, pay-as-you-go, flexibility, scalability, upgradability etc etc

Poundbury Systems believes that Dorchester based companies should look at the pros and cons of Cloud Systems solutions in relation to ” on premises ” solutions for their particular situation.

Poundbury has developed and supported Cloud Solutions via their Cloud Computing subsiduary ” FutureLine ”  http://www.futureline.net.uk/

FutureLine initially focussed on Cloud based telephony, supported over networks owned and managed by Poundbury Systems. In recent months the emphasis has been to develop a broader range of cloud  based solutions alongside the Cloud based telephony.

Whether cloud based or on premises the solutions that should be adopted should meet the customers requirements now and in the future.

Factors like performance, security, reliability, fault tolerance, risk and manageability should be discussed and the potential solutions evaluated against these criteria.

Poundbury Systems is known, within Dorchester and beyond for talking to customers in plain English and not in ” jargon “.

See below for contact details:

Contact Us

If you are looking for Cisco phone systems in the Wiltshire area then I highly recommend that you give Clare a call at Poundbury Systems.

Clare will discuss the right Cisco phone system to meet your requirements.

Increase business productivity and make every call more intelligent with Cisco® Unified Communications. Our voice over IP (VoIP) phone system solution integrates with your computer network, giving you a more efficient way to manage calls – and your small business. Cisco Unified Communications can help make your business more productive by:

• Improving communication among employees, customers, and suppliers
• Allowing access to the network and information from anywhere, at any time, with remote access and wireless mobility
  Integrating your phone system with computer applications, enabling click-to-dial contacts and call information capture in your customer relationship management (CRM) software
• Offering a wide range of HD Voice enabled IP phones
• Making it easy to set up conferences anytime, anywhere with your IP phone
• Providing a full set of VoIP service offerings
• Allowing you to focus on your business and not on your phone system, with Poundbury Systems support services

Understand your options when it comes to your next phone system and demystify what VoIP and unified communications mean to your small business by setting up a meeting with one of our specialists.

Contact Clare at Poundbury on :

Poundbury Systems Ltd.
Emeria House
71-73 Middlemarsh St
Dorchester
DT1 3FD

Tel: 01305 259849
Fax: 01305 259725

enquiries@poundbury.com

http://www.poundbury.com/contact

If you are looking for a phone system in Dorset then Cisco FutureLine is one of the most popular systems to be installed by small and medium businesses in the Dorset area.

Companies ranging from lawyers to wealth management companies and garages to marketing and PR companies are benefiting from the flexibility, support, low cost, ease of moves and changes and advanced technology that Cisco FutureLine phone systems bring.

These are just some of the quotes from happy Dorset businesses that have bought Cisco FutureLine phone systems:

“Initially we opted for FutureLine because of the flexibility it

gave us. When we first started we weren’t sure how fast we

were going to grow and we needed to ensure that whatever

we choose we would always have flexibility. When we

recently added an extra member of staff, we simply placed

an order and within 24 hours the new phone was installed and

being used. The ease of use is great. The FutureLine team is

easy to deal with, they are very knowledgeable and always

quick to respond to any query. Also I now only have one bill to

pay rather than several and about the best thing is that it’s

about half what it used to be”.

Tim Gallego – Partner – Poundbury Wealth Managment

“The Futureline phone system offered us all the features we

needed at a price that suited our budget. We now have a

new phone system and we are paying less a month for phones

and line rental than we were before. We’ve used ring groups

and hunt groups to make sure we never miss a call. We can

see which number the customer has called so we can track

sales campaigns and we can review call records to help us

plan better for the future.”

John Johnston – Manager – Ford Harbour Bonfield Garage

“We wanted a phone system that would give us ultimate flexibility

whilst still ensuring that we paid a fair amount for the

features we needed. The ‘all inclusive’ package from Future-

Line allows us to easily manage our budgeting. The flexibility

has been fantastic for us. We have moved offices several

times and there is never any fuss – just a simple, quick move.

Each time we add a new member of staff it is a simple, quick

process. We know in advance what it is going to cost, so planning

and budgeting is easy.

Natalie Gamble – Partner – Natalie Gamble and Associates.

Contact FutureLine on

0871 594 3555 or

email at: info@futureline.net.uk

Why choose a telephone system from Poundbury Systems?

We have range of options that not only suit your business, but can grow and change as your business does.

Flexible – Simple – Effective

The features you need, at a price you want.

All our Telephone Systems all contain the following features

Our standard telephone systems come with all the features below needed to successfully run any business. Apart from all these useful components, we can also customise your system to provide what you need for your individual business.

Free calls within your own company – All calls to your other offices or home workers equipped with our VoIP phone are entirely free of charge. Calls to other land lines and mobiles are cheaper than BT’s standard rates.

Lower call charges to everyone else – Our phone call charges are significantly lower than most national phone companies’ standard prices without compromising any quality.

Single Bill, Single Point of Contact – One bill and one phone call for all your calls, line rental, broadband and even your IT support.

Main number voice mail – Collected from the phone, remotely or by e-mail. Callers can leave a message out of hours or when your reception staff are busy, safe in the knowledge that their call will be returned swiftly.

Individual voice mails – Any employee you choose can have their own voice mail. Messages can then be forwarded to their e-mail account, mobile phone or can be accessed from their desk phone.

Individual call forwarding – Individual phones can be set to Do Not Disturb. Calls can be forwarded to other extensions, mobiles, home numbers etc.

Presence Indication – See when your colleagues are already on the phone – Have you ever transferred a call to somebody only to find that they are engaged? See with ease who is on the phone or available.

Fully customisable – You can turn on and off features, or add them at a later date.

Easy access to call reporting – Reports are available for you see exactly who has been calling where and for how long. These are issued automatically with each monthly bill.

Geography free – The system can receive numbers that are normally associated with different parts of the country – London for example.

Music on Hold – let your customers hear music while they are on hold.

Home workers – The system can support remote users so working from home becomes easier.

Road Warriors – The system can connect you with those members of staff who are always on the road.

Demonstrations

If you would like to see and try one of our phone systems, just call us and we will arrange for a free demonstration.

Additional Services
PSL can supply any other services you might need for your new telephone system, such as a broadband (ADSL) lines and routers. We can also provide servers, PC, e-mail and anti-spam service through to desktop PC support.

Common Additional Options:

Automatic greetings – Many professional companies are now or will soon be required by legislation to ensure industry specific announcements are made to each and every caller. Remove the worry for you and the hassle from your reception staff by recording the important messages and letting the system automatically play them for you.

Automatic call routing – Callers can choose 1 for sales 2 for accounts etc. This can save resources on reception and enable calls to be answered with more speed and efficiency.

Paging Service – Do you need to know about emergency calls out of hours? – No problem at all with our system.

Conference calls – Easily talk to any other group of people without the need to get in the car.

Personalised numbers – Individual users can have their own direct dial number – where only their phone will ring – ideal for you to give to your premium clients. These can be geographic i.e 01 or 02 numbers or non-geographic numbers such as 0800/0844/0871 etc

Multiple company numbers – The system can accept calls to multiple numbers and will display the number the caller has dialled – i.e. ‘Sales Order Line’.

Operator software – this can give specific users the ability to drag and drop incoming calls and see the status of all users within the organisation.

Company Specific Directories – these can be synchronised with ‘off phone lists’. Public folders in Microsoft Exchange can be linked to the phones for example.

Click to dial – allows you to select a number on your desktop and dial it by clicking with your mouse.
Screen pops – can show you information about who is calling and be linked to your other internal software, if the necessary external connectors are made available to us.

Time aware behaviour – The system can do different things automatically at different times of day. i.e. all calls to voicemail after 5.30pm.

Handsets
There are a choice of handsets and we can show you all the options at our demo facilities in Dorchester.

If you are visiting Convergence Summit North and want to discuss Hosted Voice solutions then please call onto the Azlan stand where you will find Clare Jenkins of Cisco FutureLine.

Not sure if George Clooney is going to be there but I am reliably informed that there is a Nespresso machine and coffee mugs and Clare will be happy to go for a coffee with you and discuss how Cisco Hosted Voice might be the right Hosted Voice solution for you.

Andy Brocklehurst, Cisco’s RSM for Small Business will be presenting and participating in a round table discussion and wondering around the show.

Cisco have a new Small Business website at http://www.ciscosblaunchpad.com/

FutureLine’s use of HubSpot Inbound Marketing Software in the U.K. has helped it to dominate visibility for UCExpo related searches and get some high quality leads from potential partners and end users.

A couple of weeks ago Cisco FutureLine increased it’s commitment to HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing software in order to be able to increase awareness of FutureLine for UCExpo 2011 and to dominate selected searches that related to UCExpo.

FutureLine was sharing the Cisco stand at UCExpo and was promoting a range of S.M.B. focussed products and services.

We started blogging a couple of weeks prior to UCExpo both here and on the FutureLine blog page.

The results have been stunning with total domination of searches like:

” cisco ucexpo 2011 ”

” hosted voice ucexpo 2011 ”

” hosted telephony ucexpo 2011 ”

and

” asterisk ucexpo 2011 ”

We also dominated the search for

” coffee ucexpo 2011 ”  !!!!!!!

Although the UCExpo show was not exactly packed out we had some great visits to both our stand at UCExpo and the website. In fact many of the leads were confirmed both through the Internet and physically by visiting the stand. This showed great commitment on behalf of the prospect.

We also got our Twitter page up and running prior to UCExpo (  @Future_Line )

and that really helped us to get up to the minute reports of what was happening at UCExpo.

Searc

Clare Jenkins, M.D. of FutureLine, is going to be one of the speakers at UCExpo 2011 and will have a simples message to deliver.

For Hosted Voice to become widely used it needs to be simples !

It also helps when it is supported by one of the biggest networking companies in the world – and Cisco Systems fits the bill perfectly.

At UCExpo 2011 the Cisco FutureLine stand ( 504 ) will show and demonstrate the latest in Cisco S.M.B. telephony options.

Actually there are two audiences for Cisco FutureLine – the end user and the reseller. Clearly the reseller knows all the technical jargon but the end user does not – especially the S.M.B. end user.

The message needs to be simples to both but between Cisco FutureLine and resellers it may be ok to use the jargon.

It’s about communicating in the right way – taking into account who your audience is.

S.M.B. customers don’t know all the answers to questions like ” What features do you need ? ” – they are typically growing, dynamic businesses who are changing structure and direction quite often.

What they do need therefore is FLEXIBILITY and UPGRADABILITY.

They want to know that they can get a phone system that does the job right now but can grow to suit the needs of thier business in the future.

SIMPLES !!