Help & support

Support Articles

These articles are for general help & support. For things specific to your telephone system such as manuals and user guides, please click on the manufacturer of your telephone system above.

How to stop nuisance telephone calls and SMS text messages

Are you fed up with nuisance telephone calls, faxes, SMS text messages, junk mail, and fund-raising requests from charities you don't want to support? While it is not possible to stop them completely, there are a number of things you can do to reduce them significantly.

Telephone lines not working

This article provides help on identifying the type of lines that you have and what checks to make before reporting a fault if they are not working.

Toll fraud

Toll fraud, telephone system hacking, voice mail hacking – these are all terms for fraud involving business telephone systems that could cost your business thousands of pounds. Your business could be at risk if you use either voice mail or auto attendant. Even without these, there are ways to defraud companies of a great deal of money in a short space of time without them realising until it is too late.

VoIP telephony known problems

Telecoms is changing and, like everything else, is moving on to the Internet. Speech routed over the internet is known as Voice over IP, or VoIP for short. Using the internet for telecoms brings great advantages but also some problems. Here are the ones we know about and their possible solutions. This article covers all types of VoIP-based telecoms including SIP trunks, Hosted VoIP and services such as Vonage and Skype that use your computer as a telephone.

Known telecoms-related scams

There are a number of scams involving plausible sounding stories being used by disreputable telecoms sales people in order to get your business. These are the ones we know about.

Moving a BT or Virgin Media master socket

Some background information on whether it is acceptable to move a BT Openreach or Virgin Media master socket yourself, along with some advice on how to do so successfully.

Pressing reset

Should I press the reset button on my router, telephone system or other device?

Protection against malware

Computers bring many benefits and most businesses could not function without them. Unfortunately, along with the convenience and opportunities that computers bring, they also brings opportunities for criminals to attack your business from within. 'Malware' is the general term used to describe malicious software intended to harm your computers, computer network and business.

The end of ISDN 2, ISDN 30 and analogue telephone lines

Traditional telephone lines are being replaced by internet-based telephony, which means the technology used for telephones is changing. The old telephone lines based on analogue technology and on ISDN 2 and ISDN 30 are now being phased out.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

If you take payment from credit or debit cards, security of your customers' data is important. Businesses taking card payment must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This article explains more about the standard and how you can meet it.

Telephone terminology

There are various terms used to describe telephone, telephone systems and telephone services and while some of these terms are in common use, they sometimes get confused. Here we explain what they mean.

Why you need a telephone system

You've recently started your business and are trading from your spare bedroom. Things are starting to pick up for you, you've hired someone to help and you still can't keep up with the orders. Although you use the spare bedroom as your office, the garage is filling up with stock, as are the hall and the living room. You know that you are going to need proper commercial premises very soon and there are lots of things you need to spend money on before you move in. You've never had a telephone system and you're not really sure what they do or why you'd want one. So why does your business need a telephone system?

Changes to call charges for non-geographic numbers

Ofcom have made changes to the way non-geographic numbers are charged and how charges should be shown to customers who will call non-geographic numbers. This article explains the changes, why they have been made and how they affect you.

New consumer contract regulations for helplines 13 June 2014

New regulations will come into force on that will affect businesses providing post-contract telephone helplines to consumers (i.e. customer services, returns, complaints, etc.).

Essentially, companies will have to provide a local rate number, charging not more than a geographic or mobile rate number for consumer post-contract support calls.

While the legislation is new and untested, it seems that where a business currently uses 084, 087 or 090 numbers for such helplines, they will also be required to offer and promote to the same degree an 01, 02 or 03 local rate alternative for customers.

Telephone number format

Over the years, telephone numbers have changed in order to make more numbers available to accommodate more telephone services and businesses. The many changes have resulted in some confusion about how to show a telephone number. This confusion is evident by the various different ways numbers from the same area of the country are shown on shops, vans, business cards, etc. This guide explains not only how your phone number should be shown but why.

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