Telco Independent Consulting Blog

WARNING!!! ISDN SHUTDOWN DEADLINE IS HERE. Businesses who don't start the process of migrating away from their ISDN lines now, risk getting caught in a massive bottleneck as the September deadline looms. Line disconnections will start on September 30! Just 76 DAYS away. TIC is advising customers to migrate off ISDN immediately to ensure there is time to implement a new solution before the disconnection date. There is only upside - financial and operational - to migrating now. The downside is major business disruption if migration does not occur before the ISDN disconnection dates. The migration process can be time-consuming, with decision-making about a new solution, upgrading of equipment, and implementation.  If a business waits for its final disconnection letter it will not have time to migrate before disconnection occurs!" What does ISDN disconnection mean for business? Businesses who currently utilise ISDN lines will need to move to a new technology.

Saving on your phone bill is a high priority for many businesses. Business Phone costs can be expensive so here are a few tips to get your Business Phone charges down. 1. Get low flat-rate mobile phone calls or make sure your capped plan is aligned to your call spend. Ensure you get a single low call rate across all your calls regardless of destination or time of the day. Avoid half price for mobile or landline or cheaper after-hours calls unless you are certain they suit your call patterns. 2. Call charged in 30-second increments are costly as you only use on average 50% of the final 30 seconds of the call. On short calls, this can increase your timed call charges by up to 50%. Ensure you get per second billing on your phone calls, in particular, mobile phone calls and international calls so you only pay for what you use. Most capped Mobile plans have 30-second billing increments. This can be OK as long as the cap is aligned to your call patterns. 3. Flag Falls are a h

I love telecommunication acronyms, one I’m especially proud to be able to quote instantly is “ISDN”. “Integrated Services Digital Network”, which was born in 1986 and Telecom Australia was one of the first telecommunications carriers in the world to introduce ISDN starting in 1988. Now just over 30 years later, Telstra will commence the disconnection of copper ISDN services from the end of September this year, as the NBN rollout continues to bring business-grade networking solutions online. Telstra issued a “stop sell” to all retail and wholesale customers for ISDN2, ISDN2 Enhanced, ISDN10/20/30, DDS Fastway, Megalink and Frame Relay products on 30 June 2018, encouraging users to find alternative replacement solutions ahead of a “final exit date”. That final exit date on copper ISDN services is approaching, according to a Telstra spokesperson. “As part of the NBN rollout, copper  ISDN services are being disconnected from September 30th, 2019. Remaining custo

Two industry leaders quoting on the  nbn™  recently. Phill Britt in Reddit and ITNews... Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt believes affordable gigabit speeds in Australia are still “a while” away, requiring - in part - “a change of mindset at NBN Co” to become a reality. “I think it will be a while before we see affordable gigabit here,” he said. “Given only a small part of NBN has been built as FTTP [fibre to the premises], and they are limiting HFC and FTTC [fibre to the curb] currently to 100Mbps, it’s going to require a change of mindset at NBN Co to achieve this. The hope is that a writedown of the value of the NBN would mean NBN Co is under less pressure to seek high financial returns, and could therefore drop its wholesale prices. Britt believed a writedown could have a positive effect on 100Mbps prices. These are currently subject to a special pricing promotion, though the long-term future of the discount is unclear. “I believe we will see the price

How much of your business Internet traffic goes offshore? How does it get to and from Australia? Here is some Information about the Internet’s Undersea Cables. Australia’s submarine communications cables carry the bulk of our international voice and data traffic and are a vital component of our national infrastructure, linking Australia with other countries. Submarine cables are vulnerable to damage and breakage, which can cause serious consequences for the flow of information to and from Australia. Cable damage can cause data loss, significant delays, and severe financial loss to businesses, cable owners and individuals who rely on communication links with other countries. (Map updated 1st February 2019) Currently, 99% of the data traffic that is crossing oceans is carried by undersea cables. The reliability of submarine cables is high, especially when multiple paths are available in the event of a cable break. As a result of these cables' cost a

Do you ever see a phone number in a film, a book, on TV, or a stage production? Are you tempted to call it? Who will answer? The ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) has set aside a series of telephone numbers available for use in radio, books, films and television. These numbers can be used without registering or submitting an application. The numbers are: Premium rate 1900 654 321 Geographic ranges Central East Area Code Region (covering NSW and ACT): (02) 5550 xxxx & (02) 7010 xxxx South East Area Code Region (covering VIC and TAS): (03) 5550 xxxx & (03) 7010 xxxx Central East Area Code Region (covering QLD): (07) 5550 xxxx & (07) 7010 xxxx Central and West Area Region Code (covering SA, WA and NT): (08) 5550 xxxx & (08) 7010 xxxx Mobile 0491 570 156 0491 570 157 0491 570 158 0491 570 159 0491 570 110 Freephone and local rate 1800 160 401 1800 975 707 1800 975 708 1800 975 709 1800 975 710 1800 975 711

What is a business inbound number? An inbound number is a virtual business number that is used exclusively to receive and manage your incoming calls. Calls made to your inbound number can be redirected to your preferred answerpoint, such as your mobile, office phone or even a professional answering service. The most common inbound numbers are 1300 numbers, 1800 numbers and 13 numbers. Smartnumbers or Phone Words are also inbound numbers that gives you flexibility and control over your incoming business calls. Why choose an inbound number Inbound numbers such as 1300 or 1800 numbers can serve as a great business tool. Not only do they make your business look more professional to prospective customers, they offer far more flexibility and portability over a standard business phone number because they are not tied to a fixed landline or location. What is the difference? 1300 NUMBER 1300 numbers are the most popular form of national business phone number, and for good

The NBN™ is a complex beast. Not all NBN™ providers are equal, the download speeds and the overall service you get heavily depend on who you sign up with. Are you planning on migrating your business to the NBN™? An NBN™ 100 plan on one provider, say Telstra, won’t be identical to an NBN™ 100 plan on Optus, even though they’re technically the same product. The way NBN™ providers buy capacity from NBN™ means there can be quite a bit of variance in peak hour speeds from one provider to another. As of December 2018 there were over 100 NBN™ providers for business and many of these wholesale in turn to even more providers such as IT companies (Managed Service Providers, MSP), so which one is the best for YOUR business?           10MATES           1300EASYISP           2EASY TELECOM           AAPT           AARNET (FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PURPOSES)           ACE INTERNET           ACN           ACONNECT PHONE AND INTERNET           AIRLAN           AIRTEL