Categories
Business fun stuff

What's Going To Happen In 2009?

I would be writing this from my Caribbean beach home if I were really any good at predictions. Having said that there are a few macro level changes I think will happen in our industry that are worth putting down as reference points. Some of these might be considered obvious but are none the less valid – they will be high profile in 2009.

  1. Facebook will come of age as a business tool as well as a social networking website. Linked-In will struggle to keep up with Facebook.  Twitter will gain in strength.
  2. The use of web based conferencing and collaboration will grow significantly in the face of the economic downturn and the need to cut costs. 
  3. The ISP industry will see some big consolidations. In the UK the Big 6 will become the Big 4. 
  4. Mobile VoIP will become mainstream for business.
  5. The ISP industry and the Music industry will finally get together to combat illegal P2P downloading.
  6. Liverpool will win the Premiership. 

6 predictions are enough. It reduces the chances of getting it wrong 🙂 .

Categories
Business fun stuff

Review of 2008

2008 has been a very busy year – as they all seem to be. The action started early on when Timico acquired Twang.net. This is the third ISP we have bought and the process is getting slicker every time. Soon afterwards, the integration of the Twang and Timico network infrastructures began. Twang ADSL users all saw an immediate improvement in network performance and web surfing experience on the larger Timico network.

In the summer we established a separate Network Operations Centre in Ipswich to take care of the growing Timico core network. Previously this function had been split across a number of locations as the company grew and acquired businesses. A well as settling the team in a single location we set about hiring developers to provide the growing number of customers (both internal and external) with a world class ISP capability. 

September saw Timico appear 4th in the Sunday Times Techtrack 100. This was up from 10th last year and an improvement that thrilled everyone involved.

We then had the installation of our 21CN Hostlink – a resilient dual Gigabit Ethernet fibre connection over which we then ran the ADSL2+ trials. 

Finally in December Timico won the ITSPA Award for the best Unified Solution. This was for the best ITSP that was also an ISP. Many VoIP service providers do not manage the underlying netowrk that is used to carry their voice traffic. Timico does and has now been recognised for the excellent job it does.

Along the way the company has grown to over 130 employees and has broken a number of it’s own records in terms of sales, profitability and numbers of subscribers.

On a personal basis I started this blog in May and am now pleased to say that it is getting in the region of 40,000 hits a month and growing by the month. I welcome any constructive feedback readers might have. I was also elected to the council of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which is proving to be a very interesting place to be.

This is in addition to my role on the council of the Internet Telephony Service Providers’ Association ITSPA. Being on both councils I think gives me a pretty unique insight into what is happening in the UK’s internet world and I hope that some of it comes through in the blog posts.

The activity within ITSPA has grown this year and the organisation now holds regular networking events, dinners and workshops which are proving to be very popular.

During this year the Web2.0 revolution has gained pace with Facebook coming to the fore and plenty of new sites such as Twitter making the news. If you want to hook up with me on Facebook I am trefor davies. On twitter I am tref – the benefits of being an early entrant.

This year people have moved on from talking about VoIP to talking about Unified Communications which is good for Timico because that really is where our VoIP service has been pitched since the beginning. The rising cost of fuel and the green agenda is also helping to drive the market for us.

I am very excited about 2009, despite the economic downturn . It is an opportunity though I’m sure not without its challenges. The landscape is going to change yet again and it is good to be part of the game.

Categories
Business engineering

IT Housekeeping Over The Christmas Break

If you happen to be working over the Christmas Holiday period, as am I, it is a fairly quiet time. Not many phones ringing. It might be stating the blatantly obvious but there are a few housekeeping type jobs you can get on with.

  1. Tidy up your directory structures – all the rubbish that has been accumulating on your desktop – bin it or file it. You might even want to change your PC’s wallpaper 🙂 .
  2. Following on from that, if you haven’t got one get your backup strategy sorted out and do some backing up.
  3. Get your firmware upgrades done – any Microsoft security patches, if they aren’t done automatically & rolling firmware upgrades on your Cisco routers.
  4. Finish off all the biscuits and chocolates left around the office from before Christmas.
  5. Renew your gym membership.

The last point is optional and the one before that inevitable, I know. Also I wouldn’t bother with any New Year Resolutions. They have never worked for me.

Categories
End User fun stuff

Panto

I was at the panto in Lincoln on Boxing Day. As usual they had three kids up on stage at the end for some freebies. In the brief interviews we discovered that there were two nine year olds and a six year old and that Santa brought them a laptop, an iPod Touch and a Nintedo DS for Christmas!

I guess this is good news if you are in the technology business!

Categories
Business fun stuff

Have A Good Christmas

I’m shutting down now until Monday 29th. Happy Christmas to all my friends and readers.  Here’s hoping that Santa recognises that I’ve been a good boy all year!

Categories
Business security

Netgenium

I came across Netgenium whilst discussing a security project with one of our engineers. They manufacture Power Over Ethernet (POE) components that are used in building security systems.

These days practically everything can be controlled over secure IP connections. In this case we are now talking locks, speakers, lights and cameras. The first objective is security and control. Card readers can limit entry to certain areas to specific individuals. These card readers also tell a system who has entered which part of a building. This might sound big brotherish but it is a real requirement for many businesses.

The second, and surprisingly useful, by-product is cost saving. For example a company’s security system can be programmed to enable the POE to a desk when that user has swiped his or her card upon entry to a building. POE for a phone can be switched on thus saving unneccessary waste of power. Similarly when the last person leaves, the swipe of the card will turn off the lights and switch on the alarm.

Because SIP is supported the system now creates the prospect of hooking into a PBX announcement system that targets specific zones/locales in a building where an individual was last known to be.

Categories
Business voip

Office Moves

I moved office on Monday. Actually the boys were in over the weekend doing all the work, but I physically sat in it first thing on Monday morning when I got in. So what, do I hear you say?

This is my eighth office since we started in April 2004. It isn’t that I can’t sit still for long, or keep a good office. We have been growing and I keep getting displaced by an expanding customer services department. Although I “don’t do paper” I do seem to have accumulated a 4 drawer filing cabinet full of it. That however, (or at least the paper in it) is the only physical object I have had to move each time.

Whenever I move office all I have to do is log out of my VoIP phone when I leave, and log on to the new one the next time I am in. My laptop plugs into the network cable emanating from the back of the phone and hey presto, I am up and running again.

When you think about it eight moves probably would traditionally have represented a lot of time spent in doing so – adds, moves and changes were always a high cost item in running an office communications network. Not any longer.

Categories
Business internet security

Ed Balls Starts UKCCIS Rolling

The first UKCCIS Executive Board meeting took place in December chaired by Ed Balls, DCSF Secretary of State and Alan Campbell, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for crime reduction at the Home Office. The fact that this Board is being chaired by such high profile politicians is an indication of the seriousness with which the Government is taking the safety of children when using the internet.

Set up to implement the recommendations of the Byron Report, the committee has initially prioritised a number of areas of concern and is in the process of setting up working groups to move the activity on.

The first four working groups will focus on the following areas: 

Industry Standards (title subject to change)
Aim: To develop clearer common standards (in the form of codes of practice or other guidelines) that are adopted, monitored and consistent with EU partners and are widely recognised as good practice. This should cover the areas identified in the Byron report but, over time, should also look at new issues that arise as technology and user habits move on.

Better Education
Aim: To ensure that children, families and the childrens workforce have access to consistent and comprehensive support and information that improves their knowledge, skills and understanding of internet safety.

Public Information and Awareness
Aim: To develop a comprehensive and joined-up public awareness campaign on internet safety for children and families based on consistent messages that form the basis of the one stop shop for all aspects of internet safety.

Video Games
Aim: To ensure that children and young people have a safer gaming experience and parents are aware of the issues and support mechanisms around gaming.

With the continually changing nature of the internet this is always going to be a work in process but at least a start is being made.

Categories
Business engineering

Royal Treatement For Netops Team

The Timico Network Operations Team is up at HQ today in preparation for the big Christmas Party. We apply the same principles for them as we do for the Royal Family. They aren’t all allowed to come up in the same car (apart from the fact that it would have been a tight squeeze).

We did it in shifts which meant that the NOC was manned at all times. I do believe that these guys deserve special treatment in any case. We are talking serious commitment to the job. They are online every waking hour of the day and one of them, I’m told, religiously develops code on his laptop in bed on a Sunday morning. It does take a special type of nutcase to want to do this but the job satisfaction is very high and I certainly appreciate the efforts they put in. If they didn’t know that before they do now.

My thanks also go out to Chris Nicholls who is manfully on call tonight and will miss the show.

Categories
Business fun stuff

Scale Is Important

This is a business where scale matters. One machine costs £100,000 and can process 16 million bites a day. It takes 45 weeks to grow the bite in the ground and they are pulling for 50 weeks of the year. They grow 8 million per acre!

What on earth am I talking about? Chantenay carrots actually which is what I mean by a bite in this case. Thats a heck of a lot of carrots. I’ve just been to a soiree where mine host runs a carrot processing plant in Nottinghamshire. I got talking to him about his vegetables and was totally fascinated with the statistics important to his business.

He runs three carrot polishing machines. They can also be used for potatoes and parsnips, though with different brush sizes obviously!! Next time you buy a baby carrot in the supermarket remember that it has probably been cleaned for your delectation by my friend Martin.

There was also a farmer in the room and I would have been happy discussing carrot pulling until the cows came home had I not had to take the kids home to bed.

What a wonderfully diverse world in which we live. It’s not that different to communications. Bits, bytes, brush size (?). The language is the same. Check out your carrots here.

Categories
Business internet

Network Cables Cut

We have been notified by o ne of our network partners that there has been a major break in an undersea cable that carries internet and telephony traffic to Asia and the Middle East. I understand the break is off Egypt.

The nature of the internet is that the traffic that would have used this link will be rerouted elsewhere but it may result in some web pages being slow to download.

If I get any more news in I’ll update the post.

Categories
Business voip

ITSPA Video Produced By Illume

Check this video short out.

Categories
Business engineering

Redundancies at Cable & Wireless / Thus

Sources inside Cable & Wireless/Thus say the company is wielding the axe before Christmas. It is a sad truth that many large companies do this at Christmas to clear the decks for their new financial year in April.

In actual fact this must have been only a matter of time following C&W’s recent acquisition of Thus. I don’t know how many individuals are affected but I daresay it will be in the press sooner rather than later. There is certainly no mention of it yet in the FT or The Register.

BT also seems to be making substantial cuts in headcount. These days being made redundant is not necessarily a reflection on the abilities of an individual. Large organisations often close down complete divisions.

It is said that during the dot com bubble burst in the early 2000s around a million people left the telecoms industry. I don’t believe we are in for the same wholesale exit this time round but only time will tell.

Categories
Business engineering

Redundancies at Cable & Wireless / Thus

Sources inside Cable & Wireless/Thus say the company is wielding the axe before Christmas. It is a sad truth that many large companies do this at Christmas to clear the decks for their new financial year in April.

In actual fact this must have been only a matter of time following C&W’s recent acquisition of Thus. I don’t know how many individuals are affected but I daresay it will be in the press sooner rather than later. There is certainly no mention of it yet in the FT or The Register.

BT also seems to be making substantial cuts in headcount. These days being made redundant is not necessarily a reflection on the abilities of an individual. Large organisations often close down complete divisions.

It is said that during the dot com bubble burst in the early 2000s around a million people left the telecoms industry. I don’t believe we are in for the same wholesale exit this time round but only time will tell.

Categories
Business events

Party Time

I don’t know about the rest of you but by the time Christmas Day comes along I’m going to be partied out. It all started with the ITSPA Awards at the House of Commons on Thursday last week followed by lunch with customer Foxtons on the Friday.

Monday I had dinner with KeConnect MD Robert Kemp in Ipswich, lunch with NTL on Tuesday at Cafe Bleu in Newark. Last night it was the Timico management bash at the Olive Branch in Clipsham. Tomorrow night it is the Twang.net party at Monty’s in Newbury.

Then Monday it is the Timico staff party at Belton Woods near Grantham. Tuesday night it’s The Wig And Mitre in Lincoln. I’m assuming that Santa has already sorted out what presents to bring the kids because I certainly haven’t had time to do it.

I have to say that I am looking forward to the period of austerity that this time of credit crunch and financial uncertainty merits and will be joining the queue for discounted lettuce at the reduced section in Tesco’s on the 2nd January.

Categories
Business internet

Animoto

Animoto is a company that takes your digital photos and turns them into a slideshow whilst adding music as a backdrop. Their platform employs an algorithm that analyses the content/colours in a photo and applies what it deems to be a suitable soundtrack. 

The product looks pretty cool. I understand that their principal claim to fame is that when Animoto was launched on Facebook the demand was such that their use of virtual machines went from around 30 to 4,000 within 48 hours.

If true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, this illustrates the power of Web2.0. Most Facebook applications of course disappear into obscurity but this type of success story is what keeps people developing.

It’s also what makes me keep playing golf. One good shot…

 

Categories
Business ofcom UC voip

ITSPA Awards Photos

I mentioned that I would get some photos up once they came back from the developers and here they are. The biggest shock for me is to see how much weight I have put on this year – something to sort out in January!! I also note that I need a haircut.

On the plus side having reflected of the Awards Evening it was a highly successful event from ITSPA’s perspective. Not only was the turnout high but in his speech Ofcom Board Member, Stuart McIntosh, was most complimentary regarding the work that ITSPA has been doing. This is ITSPA growing up.

This is a time of fast moving changes in the industry and it is good to be a part of it.

Tref accepts the ITSPA Award

I accept the ITSPA Unified Award from Dave Axam of BT.

The acceptance speech; erudite, informed, witty yet tempered with the appropriate level of gratitude and humility.

Categories
Business internet

Movie rights

We live in interesting times. UK Film and TV producers today called for the Government to take action to tackle potential online copyright infringement.

 

I fully support rights holders’ right to enforce their intellectual property rights. In fact this has been the subject of discussion in the industry since the publication of the Gowers’ Review in December 2006.

 

The ISP Association, of which I am a council member,  has previously stated its preference for an industry-led system based on the agreement of providers from across the Internet industry and stands ready to facilitate the involvement of a greater number of ISPs in discussions. This remains the ISPA’s view despite what appears to be an attempt to make government provide additional legislation in this area.

 

In other words ISPA is saying don’t go making unnecessary regulations. You might think that this is a good cause to regulate but in fact there are many areas where regulation is being considered and if we are not careful we will end up being regulated into a straight-jacket and the internet will lose the ability to be the incredible environment that it is now.

 

I fully believe that the ISP industry’s efforts in advocating a positive and proactive cooperation between the Internet and rights holder industries is the correct one. In fact the UK Government noted in its July consultation document that enforcement is one tool and that consumer education and the availability of legal remedies are also essential factors in combating online copyright infringement.

 

The Internet provides tremendous opportunities to make more music and video available in legal and efficient ways. Music, film and software industry rights holders should continue to embrace the Internet and the opportunities it offers to disseminate their materials efficiently, legally and profitably.

 

You can read the statement online here.

 

Categories
Business internet security

Internet Explorer Security Flaw

In the news today is a very high profile security flaw in Microsoft browser, Internet Explorer. Hackers have been hijacking websites and inserting code that enables them to steal username and password information of persons browsing using IE.

Microsoft made the situation public at the end of last week by which time they had calculated that 0.2% of internet users would have been exposed to a website that had been the subject of this hacking. 

Apparently other browers are not affected at this time so users of Safari, Firefox, Opera et al should be safe at this time. This isn’t to say that web users should never use IE. Microsoft is working on a fix and most software of this type is likely to be subject to different vulnerabilities at different times.

A browser is a very personal thing. Different people like different browsers. Because it what I have always used IE that is typically what I stick with. However the Microsoft browser is known amongst tecchies as being imperfect and serious geeks won’t touch it with a bargepole. That isn’t to say it is no good. You just have to understand how the minds of most engineers work.

There are in fact times when I have to resort to other browsers to make a certain web functions work. For example when I am writing posts for this blog if I need to upload photos then as often as not I can’t do it using IE and have to resort to an alternative.

 

Categories
End User fun stuff

Duck Suicide Rate Rises In Run Up To Christmas

Apparently suicide amongst ducks is on the rise in the run up to Christmas. This latest victim was clearly unable to cope with the pressures that come at this time of year.

Speculation is rife amongst the Timico Network Operations Team as to what made this particular individual “go over the edge”. On the surface what to the outside world looked like a cheery duck clearly had an inner angst.

The team offered the following possible explanations:

  • The duck’s pension fund was tied up in the stock market, and Woolworths in particular
  • He couldn’t face having the family over to stay during the festive period
  • There are other more sinister reasons involving a knife and fork and an orange…

Whatever the explanation our thoughts are with the family. It is not known whether the trend is also being seen amongst other members of the poultry community.

If anyone can shed any more light on this tragedy please leave a comment. Remember a duck is not just for Christmas. It tastes great at any time of year 🙂

Categories
Business UC voip

Timico Strikes Gold At ITSPA Awards

I’m thrilled to report that Timico won the Best Unified ITSP at the ITSPA Awards at the House of Commons last night. This was for an ITSP who is also an ISP. It’s an exciting finish to what has been a very exciting year for us and is the icing on the cake after the 4th place in the Sunday Times Techtrack.

The event was jointly hosted by MPs Ian Taylor and Derek Wyatt, Chair of the All Party Communications Group and took place in the salubrious surroundings of the Members Dining Room at the House of Commons.

Other winners were BT for the consumer award, Gradwell.com for the business ITSP, AQL for innovation, and Cisco for best hardware.

The Cisco win is also significant because Timico Group company KeConnect is Cisco’s partner of choice for SIP trunks and this provides a nice filip for the partnership going into the new year.

Finally the VoIP personality award was won by Eli Katz for his tireless service to the industry since founding ITSPA four years ago. This came as a total surprise to him as we had decided at the Council meeting not to have this category 🙂

Once I get hold of some photos I’ll do another post – I know how you are all dying to see them.

Categories
Business events voip

ITSPA Awards

Off to the ITSPA Awards in The Houses of Parliament today. A good day out in store. This is the first such award bash for ITSPA and I understand there were 50 entries which must represent a fair percentage of ITSPs in the UK.

Timico is sponsoring the “Best CPE” category which I believe highlights our partnership approach to this business. Working closely with suppliers means better support and fast access to new technologies.

No doubt I will report back after the event.

Categories
Archived Business

It’s a Partnership Approach

Businesses cannot succeed with an “us and them” attitude. We live in such a complex environment that in order to be successful you have to have friends who are pulling your way.

At Timico we work with through both a direct sales orgainsations and through business partners. At the end of the year we have a bit of a celebration. This year our best selling partners were treated to a conference and lunch at Timico Towers.

The conference was informative and entertaining and the lunch was top notch. The photo below shows some of the individuals involved.

Categories
Archived Business

It's a Partnership Approach

Businesses cannot succeed with an “us and them” attitude. We live in such a complex environment that in order to be successful you have to have friends who are pulling your way.

At Timico we work with through both a direct sales orgainsations and through business partners. At the end of the year we have a bit of a celebration. This year our best selling partners were treated to a conference and lunch at Timico Towers.

The conference was informative and entertaining and the lunch was top notch. The photo below shows some of the individuals involved.

Categories
Business internet

IWF Wikipedia Update

The IWF has reversed its position on the wikipedia article reported yesterday. Its statement can be found here. It’s best you read the statement than I replicate it here.

Categories
broadband Business

Broadband Technology: Bonded ADSL Solutions — Shareband

broadband churn Broadband Technology Pipe

Over the last couple of years we have been testing Shareband, a broadband technology solution for bonding ADSL lines together. In theory, if you use 4 ADSLs you can get 4 times the speed of a single connection.

Of course this type of broadband solution has been available for years using Cisco equipment and multi-link technology. In practice, however, the installation costs have been expensive because it relies on high end 1800 and 2800 series Cisco equipment.

Where Shareband is different is that it uses low cost routers. It is also possible to use ADSL connections from multiple broadband technology providers, which offers a resilience story that isn’t necessarily available with the traditional multilink solution.

Whilst in practice it is unlikely that installations get the full theoretical aggregate speed performance, the results are still pretty good. Certainly much better than a single ADSL. This is important for users that are a long way from their local exchange, as Shareband may be their only solution for an adequate broadband technology service.

The Shareband service is now considered to be a production service having been tested at around 40 customers. It has been rolled out by Timico subsidiary KeConnect.

Categories
Business internet

IWF Blocking Access To Wikipedia Article

There’s been a lot in the news over the weekend regarding IWF blocking access to an article  Wikipedia. I recently covered the IWF in this blog. Now it has hit the heights of the news this morning on BBC Radio 4.

The IWF provides blacklists to ISPs of www links that they consider to have child pornography content and this is what it has done in this case with Wikipedia (link to Wikipedia article here).

Consumer ISPs block these links by using proxy servers as filters. However in doing so they are channelling all traffic to Wikipedia through a small number of IP addresses. This in turn causes problems for users of Wikipedia because the website occasionally blocks the ip addresses of abusive users to prevent them from editing articles. Because all users are seen as coming from the same IP addresses Wikipedia can’t distinguish between good and bad and this has the knock on effect of blocking many genuine editors.  Around 25% of all English language articles are said to be edited by UK based users.

According to Alexa.com Wikipedia ranks as world’s the 8th most visited website. The IWF statement on the issue can be found here. There isn’t an easy answer to this problem which is very much part of an ongoing debate regarding censorship on the internet.

 

Categories
Business internet Regs

Data Protection

The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that South Yorkshire Police should not have retained the DNA of two men who had been convicted of no offence. Check the BBC report here.

This is an interesting one because in March 09 the Data Retention Act comes into play whereby ISPs will be required to store email habits of their customers. For “DNA” in this respect read “Data”… Is the European Court of Human rights going to rule on the Data Retention Act downstream?

I have a meeting with the Home Office at Timico in January so it will be interesting to report back on this issue.

Categories
broadband Business ofcom

Ofcom Broadband Code of Practice

Ofcom’s new code of practice in respect of how consumer ISPs sell broadband comes into force tomorrow. It has been brought about because up to 25% of consumers consider that they don’t get the speeds they expect from a broadband connection.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding how ISPs sell broadband, specifically in the consumer space as they have been desperately trying to outdo each other with tales of superior performance, unlimited downloads, bigger, faster, better etc.

Whilst the code does not apply to business services it is a good code. Timico has always operated in a transparent way in respect to selling ADSL. For example our 21CN ADSL2+ service in theory will provide download speeds of up to 24Mbps. In reality users are unlikely to get this. I will be publishing the results of our trials after Christmas showing what speeds the trialists have been getting.

The ISPA is issuing a press release today supporting this Ofcom code of practice.

Categories
Business internet

Project Kangaroo Kyboshed

The Competition Commission has put the sword to Project Kangaroo. This was a proposed joint venture by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 for a single online vehicle that would provide each channel’s TV content over the internet. Content was going to be paid for by advertising.

Basically the Commission believes that the venture would reduce competition in the online video market in the uk. The JV may be allowed if it shares its content with other providers and appears to have until 24th December to appeal, presumably informing the Commission of how it would do this.

Personally I can’t understand why people watch the TV anyway. Notwithstanding that, this does point towards a change in business models, in particular for the BBC. It isn’t difficult to envisage a scenario where more people will eventually watch the TV online than they do on their traditional box in the living room. At this point, because of the paid for by advertising element, there would surely have to be a question mark over the future of the TV license fee.

Internet users are already beginning to be charged more for the increased usage that video online is stimulating. So effectively they are already paying twice though obviously these usage revenues don’t go to the BBC.