Well, my home number is ex. directory and I don’t want to be marketed to. They do give a number to call which they say will thn remove you from their lists, but damn them, I didn’t ask to be on in the first place.

So I’ve programmed a nice little wheeze into my PBX. When they call me, and use that number as caller ID, I place an outgoing call back to them and bridge the calls together. They can then speak to themselves. My phones will never ring again when they call.

Fantastic!

To implement it for a VoIP operator (or ITSP) in the UK, there are a few things we need to have in-place; database checks for the installation address, extra code in the PBX infrastructure to manage outgoing caller-ID, code in the head-end to make sure this caller is properly validated to the emergency services and so on.

But how do you test it? We’re told that we are not to make test calls through it, so the first time it will be executed will be the first time it’s tested…

Well, almost. When implementing it, I was able to fake the final 999 call placement so I could test most of the code, so was relatively happy.

There’s always a nagging “what if” in there though…

However yesterday I was able to “test” it for real when I fell off a ladder… Despite great pain and a near inability to walk, with great self-sacrifice I hobbled to my desk and watched the console as I made the call.

And I’m happy to report that everything “just worked”.

As for me – well I dislocated 2 toes, bruised my bum and bashed an elbow. That’s what I get for climbing dodgy old wooden ladders. (It decided it wanted to be firewood just as I got near the top)

It’s a funny old thing, pain and shock though. I was also on my own at the time which did make it a bit scary… I couldn’t actually get up for a few minutes either and when I did try, I nearly threw up and passed out.

Slight lack of communication between the emergency handling people and the ambulance station…. The 999 services said that because it wasn’t life threatening, the ambulance would be dispatched at a lower priority… Ambulance got here in 5 minutes in full flight top-priority emergency mode… (Ambulance station is 4 miles away in the next town)

Lessons to learn: Use sensible shoes when climbing ladders. (and not flimsy old slippers). Don’t climb old wooden ladders – burn them instead. And with a mobile to hand use it rather than hobbling to the desk to watch a console as a 999 call is being made!

Customer Relationship Manager

What does it do? CRM uses a database to manage customer stuff for you – the stuff usually being business related – managing customers contact details, keeping track of what you sent to who, and what they sent back to you, allowing you to cross reference data, and much more.

These days, CRM systems are often web based, so can be accessed from anywhere you have a computer and broadband connection. Your customer data is held securely in a database, leaving you free to worry about other things.

Todays buzzword comes from South West ICT and Simon Leek – who I had a meeting with this morning. Simon provides CRM solutions to companies using open source software. His clients are all over the UK and range from small businesses to large call centres. I met Simon to talk about integrating some of my telephony systems with his CRM solutions. However, that’s covered by another buzzword – CTI and I’ll write about that soon…

Do you have a backup plan for office broadband failure?

Do you rely on broadband for your business? If you do, then do you have a backup in-place? If not, then why not?

The answer to that might well be that you simply don’t know how, and also that it’s not always as easy as it might be!

We all get very used to always-on high speed Internet access these days, so when it goes, it can be quite a shock! So what are the alternatives these days?

1. Run a 2nd broadband line to a different ISP. A good alternative, but what if the JCB digs up both cables at the same time – which is 100% likely if it’s a cabling fault of that kind… It’s very rare to get what’s called diverse routing of the cabling to an office unless you are prepared to pay a lot of money for it. Sometimes you can get it by using two different telcos – eg. BT and Virgin, but even then, there may be common points where both cables are physically close to each other, so any earthworks involving diggers is still potentially problematic…

2. Use mobile broadband. This is what I use. It’s not perfect and not always avalable, and not very fast either! Where I’m based in rural Devon with my O2 service, I can only get GPRS. In a city you may have the luxury of a 3G data connection.

3. Read a book.

While I did (3) above, I’m working on improving (2), so I may look for a separate USB “dongle” with a 3G connection to a network carrier that has 3G access where I am (Only “Three” as far as I can tell right now), rather than just using my Nokia E90, but then there’s the on-going expense, but what price do we pay? For the average home user it’s hard to justify. For a small/medium office? I think it should be standard, and more modem/router devices have USB ports these days for just such a device, so there’s little excuse!

And what of the fault itself? Well, according to my ISP, BT did a “re-map” of my line. Whatever that means. Personally, I think BT screwed up somewhere as the whole exchange went down, not just me!

But it got me thinking – Music on Hold. Can I use that as a music on hold track in my PBXs? How do I license it? Who do I pay? Do I have to pay anyone? (Yes!)

It appears to be a complicated matter, but an email and a phone call from the very helpful people at De Wolf set me straight. I need to buy a copy of the track, then for each installation apply for an MCPS  (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) license (at a cost of £35 for each 30 seconds!) and, if the music is ever going out to Joe random public, apply for a separate PRS (Performing Rights Society) license too. (These start at about £95 per year for a small number of incoming lines and go up from there) Some premises may already have a PRS license, so extending it to their music on hold may not be that difficult.

The MCPS and PRS have recently formed a new brand called “PRS for Music”. Their website is here.

So if you want “The Gallery Tune” on your PBX, then it’s certianly possible, it’ll just cost you (but not a lot in the grand scheme of things).

Well – Once their installation address has been verified, checked, double-checked, sent-in, sent back again and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters…

I digress, but getting the address right would appear to be crucial to the whole process.

It seems that the Emergency Handling Authority have a very precice idea of what an address is, and it’s not something like “Please Mr. Postie, give it to the Hendersons in the street with the papershop in the town with the big Abbey.” I was quite surprised at the requirements.

For a person they want a “Title”. Is this Mr, Mrs, Ms? No, it’s Sir, Lady, Lord, etc. Then they want the name, and initials must be specified with full-stops, then any honours. You know, OBE, KBE, and so on. (does this mean that titled people get a better class of 999 service? It does make you wonder!) Then the address and how do you specify an address in the UK? Just how many different ways are there? Well, only one according to the EHA and it has 4 parts: Premises, Thoroughfare, Locality and Postcode. These 4 lines of information will exactly specify any address it seems. (Thoroughfare? I ask you. What century are we living in today?)

Businesses? It’s the same in the address department (complete with thoroughfare), the name must be the company name, and there is a separate part for Ltd or plc (and llp) There is also 10 pages of mandatory abbreviations for company names too. If you’re business name is “Wholesale Watchmakers, Weaver and Travel agent”, it should then be “Whsle Wtchmkrs, Weav and Trvl Agt”. I wish I were making this up!

But there you have it, we submit the data, wait for it to be checked and validated, then enable 999 on the clients system and off they go. The validation process takes about a week or less and that’s that!

As of January 2009, Drogon Systems is now a member of the ITSPA – Internet Telephony Service Providers Association. Their website is here.

The ITSPA is the trade association for all matters regarding Internet Telephony in the UK. They liase with various governmental bodies (eg. the Home Office, Ofcom, DTI), as well as their European couterparts.

As a member, Drogon Systems will be adhering to their code of practice, and looking to sign up to their new “Quality Mark” scheme announced at the awards ceremony in December.

However, from myself and Drogon Systems, lets hope for a happy and prosperous 2009!

So 2009 – what’s it going to hold for us all? Out Internet providers are squabbling over how fast they can get data to us – Virgin and Be claiming 50 and up-to 45Mb/sec respectively with BT continuing to roll-out their wholesale ADSL2+ product (up to 24Mb/sec). It’s little help if we’re getting data off slow sites though, or if they then throttle the speed after we’ve downloaded our quota for the day in 10 seconds rather than 10 minutes now. Personally, I don’t mind data caps, as long as we know up-front what they are so can make a choice as to who to choose based on our expected data requirements.

From a VoIP point of view, which is what I really care about right now, you’ll be hard-pushed to really come close to most limits on monthly data transfers, but what we do need is upstream speed and an ISP who’s own network has little or no contention inside it. That does narrow it down somewhat, so if you’re going down the VoIP route, do listen to your supplier – they’ll have a good idea of who’s good and who’s not, and if it’s a business service you’re after, do be prepared to pay a little bit more for the service.

Here at Drogon Systems, we’re expanding our network infrastructure with more servicers going to the co-lo facility this month, as well as some upgrades being carried out. The DSX is about to undergo a major software upgrade which will add in a host of new features, and who knows what else. As long as people keep making phone calls, we’ll be here to help them make those calls!

The claim is that these numbers are required for call queueing.

Well, for small/medium surgeries and office, this simply isn’t true. (It may be true if you need network call queuing, but then you’re talking more than 60 lines and that then becomes a bigger problem entirely)

The surgeries have been ripped-off by the telecom equipment vendors, who are making money off every call placed to the surgery. The PBX supplied (with long, expensive leasing and maintenance terms) which implements the call queuing is only there to make sure every call gets answered – at which point the telecoms company starts to earn money on the revenue generating 084 numbers.

It’s a scandal. There is no other word for it. Doctors, etc. are brilliant people, but they can’t be expected to know everything, so they have to trust what they’re told, and IMO what they’re being told is a pack of lies designed to line the pockets of the telecom vendors who supply the equipment and the 084 numbers.