Below you can find our opening times for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Please note that, although our offices are closed, we have Technical staff on call 24/7, monitoring our platforms, and ensuring that we are able to respond in case of emergency, or issues with our services.

We hope you all have a fantastic Easter weekend, and your Bank Holiday is as fun or relaxed as you wish it to be!

Important changes to non-geographic number charges.

If your organisation uses a ‘non-geographic’ service number for people to contact you – that’s one beginning 08, 09 or 118 – you need to be aware of major changes to how these numbers are charged.

Ofcom state that, “The unbundled tariff will ensure consumers can know, for the first time, how much of their money is paid to their phone company and how much is passed to others, such as the organisation or service being called. It will require that, instead of paying a single charge to their phone company, they will pay two separate charges:

• the Access Charge: which will be paid to the phone company which originates the call; and
• the Service Charge: which is paid to the phone company which terminates the call and may be shared with the service provider, i.e. the company providing a service using the number (a bank for example), to cover or contribute towards their costs.”

If you have a Soho66 non-geographic number (0845 or other chargeable 08 numbers), we will have recently emailed you to advise you of the updated charges, coming into affect from July 1st onwards.

You must ensure that your customers are made aware of these updated charges when calling your number, for example by stating, where you advertise your number, the clear breakdown of costs involved.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this, you can visit the Ofcom website which explains the upcoming changes: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/policy/non-geo-call-services/

If you are yet to receive an email concerning your non-geographic Soho66 number, please don't hesitate to contact us on 03333 443 443, and one of our Technical Support Team will be happy to talk you through things.

The working environment over a number of years has been, and still is, a changing landscape. For many businesses it's now less of a case of routine and more of a one of mobility and cost-saving.

We're all increasingly connected, we work longer and more irregular hours, and we're generally progressing towards a much more flexible working arrangement.

On top of that customers are expecting businesses to be able to meet their growing demands when it comes to customer service, which a flexible telephone system – complete with all the excellent routing features and call forwarding options – can only help businesses achieve.

But if you're unsure whether VoIP is for you, here are just some reasons why considering propelling your business into the 21st Century by joining the hordes of other businesses already moving to VoIP should be at the top of your priority list for 2015.

Cost saving potential

VoIP enables businesses to save up to 50 per cent on their bills when compared against traditional fixed line providers, as there are no line rental fees, no cost of maintaining or replacing hardware, no significant costs involved in the event of business relocation or expansion, and of course, call costs are significantly cheaper.

What's more, is the fact that calls from one VoIP phone to another is completely free – which is particularly helpful for companies with multiple locations or even those where communicating internally, when you may not be within earshot of one and other, is essential and routine.

Advanced call forwarding

Workers are increasingly working more flexibly ​and with legislation in the UK allowing workers the right to request flexible working, it could become even more commonplace with employees possibly wanting to work from home more or on flexitime. Therefore, having a simple, quick and effective way of deciding where and when you want calls to be routed is exceptionally useful.

VoIP enables you to route calls to any internal or external destination within a few clicks of a button. So for example, if you're out visiting clients, in a meeting, out on a job or elsewhere, you can configure your routing to make sure a call still reaches you on your mobile. You can even set your routing so that a call can ring on your mobile, and if it goes unanswered after a certain amount of seconds specified by you, it can divert to another number of someone within your organisation.

Geographical independence

With VoIP your phone system becomes flexible overnight because it can be extended or moved to anywhere you have an internet connection anywhere in the country – or even further afield.

What this effectively does is virtualise your organisation; simply unplug your phone and plug it in at its new location and you can use your phone as normal – people will be able to contact you as they normally would using the same number, and your caller ID will still present the same when you call someone.

Desk phone or softphone – it's your choice

For many of us we still like the sense of normality that having a phone sitting on our desks makes us feel, so switching to a VoIP system does not mean you have to ditch a traditional desk-top phone in favour of something software based.

However, with VoIP you are at least given the choice, so that if you think your desk phone is just cluttering up room there are a number of software phones (“softphones”) readily available for you to make and receive calls on, just as you would with a desk phone.

There are a number of smartphone applications available as well. So for example in your office you may wish to have a phone sitting on your desk, while at the same time if you spend a lot of time out of the office you can take advantage of the many apps out there to essentially turn your phone or tablet into an extension of your VoIP system, facilitating you to take your calls on the go.

Stress-free transition in the event of relocation or expansion

With a traditional PBX fixed line, the costs and hassle involved when it comes to relocating your business or expanding can be of a concern. The porting of numbers and installation of any new lines alone can take months, just adding to the stress a relocation or expansion can already cause.

With VoIP, relocating could not be easier because all that is required to be up and running in your new office is to unplug your phones and plug them into the internet connection in your new space – it really is as simple as that.

Meanwhile in the event of expanding your business, adding new locations or phones is done through a simple account upgrade which only take minutes for the changes to take effect, enabling you to have new staff or locations up and running before you know it.

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Your Usomo pay monthly business VoIP package doesn't just include a number and handset. Each order includes a range of additional features as standard

Our most popular feature is Call Recording. Once you select to activate this within your account, your inbound and outbound calls will be recorded and added to a fully searchable database for 1 year.

Activating IVR allows you to provide customers with an unlimited list of menus to ensure that they reach the correct department, or just to make your business appear more professional and bigger.

If you need assistance using any of the features included with your account, please don't hesitate to drop us an email, or call our technical support on 03333441441

In Focus: Calling Through the Internet

In the modern, competitive climate, many businesses are converting to VoIP (voice over internet protocol) to help them reduce cost while increasing capability and flexibility. VoIP is a good choice for SME’s and corporates alike, providing rich features and enabling new ways of operating.

Despite the obvious advantages, many haven’t adopted VoIP and hesitate when faced with making the jump. The most common reasons for delaying adoption are risk, complexity and the expected quality of calls.

At Usomo, we’re trying to address some of the perceived challenges by packaging our services into a single monthly cost per handset, with inclusive minutes, no capital investment and a 30-day commitment-free trial. We’re confident in our service and technology, and the trial period offers peace of mind for our customers.

The service model we’ve chosen is similar to the way UK mobile networks operate – with a few key differences. Unlike the retail mobile market, we provide a fully managed service so, if a device fails, we replace it next business day – regardless of the manufacturer’s warranty period. As a cloud- based provider we are more focused on delivering features within our service, rather than relying on handset capability – so features such as call recording, time of day routing, call menus and queuing are all delivered within our core platform.

We’re passionate about changing the way the market operates for VoIP and, although our model is unique in the marketplace today, we believe we’re leading where our competition will inevitably follow.

How can VoIP help you embrace flexible working?

Under new employment legislation workers have the right to request more flexibility in the way they work, which could increase the amount of people spending days working from home.

Working from home has already become commonplace for many of us, due to already having the tools and capabilities required to do your job – usually no more than a laptop and a phone – at home.

Small to medium sized businesses could reap the benefits of granting workers more flexibility, with employees being more motivated, committed and generally happier being citied among the possible benefits.

So if you're a business, how can VoIP ensure your employees remain connected with each other and the business in such circumstances?

No such thing as a fixed location

With VoIP there is no such thing as a fixed location. Once it has been set up, a phone can be moved to any location providing that location has an internet connection, and start receiving calls again once it's plugged in.

So if someone spends a large percentage of their day on the phone talking to customers, this needn't be affected by working from home. All they need do is unplug their phone and take it home with them and they will be able to carry out their duties as normal.

Simple call forwarding and routing

Why limit an incoming call to just one location? With a VoIP system you can easily set an incoming call to ring on multiple destinations at the same time, so if you have employees at work and home simultaneously, you might choose this so whoever is most ready to take a call can answer it first.

Alternatively you may want a call to ring on a particular number first, before ringing on another number if the call is not answered after a certain amount of seconds – this helps to reduce the chances of a call going completely unanswered.

You can even set incoming calls to ring on external landline or mobile numbers, meaning you aren't just limited to forwarding calls to a VoIP phone.

Mini telephone conferencing

If something vitally important comes up where you need to speak to more than one person, sometimes a group email is simply not urgent enough or practical enough to hold a meeting over. This is where 3-way calling can come to your rescue.

With this you are able to hold a mini telephone conference with two other parties, saving you the inconvenience of having to call one person before hanging up and calling the other; enabling the three of you to exchange ideas between each other quickly and efficiently without having to make multiple phone calls or relying on people checking their emails.

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New way of using VoIP

As a cloud based communications provider, Usomo offer a completely unique way of purchasing a VoIP telephone system. We believe that companies of all sizes should be able to experience the simplicity and reliability of a VoIP service using a range of feature-rich phones. Our innovative business model provides customers with the latest phones available on a single monthly contract. Each desk phone has a choice of tariffs and is preconfigured for ease of use and installation.

We understand the importance of securing a phone system that adapts as your business grows whilst providing you with the tools to reduce communication costs. At Usomo however, we believe that VoIP has far more benefits that ensure you maintain a professional image whilst ensuring your customer's high expectations are met.

Features and Packages

In order to address some of the perceived challenges associated with VoIP, we have packaged our services into a single monthly cost per service with inclusive minutes and a choice of free handsets, with the ability to upgrade. There are three call tariffs, each for 24 months. Once you've chosen a tariff and a handset you can assign a number to the phone or transfer your existing number across to us – removing the inconvenience of changing area codes should your business move premises.

All phones are shipped preconfigured with the selected number and correct settings so that set-up is as straightforward as possible, reducing the possibility of compatibility or installation issues.

One particular advantage of a VoIP system is the ability to work remotely and forward calls directly from your VoIP desk phone onto a second device or mobile phone. This gives you the capability to answer calls regardless of where you are, or set-up an office in an alternative location.

All Usomo customers have access to the extensive range of platform features, including; Call Recording, IVR Menus, Time of Day Routing and Call Queuing.

Service and Security

Our innovative business model utilises the simplicity of a single monthly payment whilst offering customers the security of a fully managed service. This means if there is a fault or a device fails then we will replace it the next business day, regardless of the manufacturer's warranty period.

Each handset comes with a 30 day commitment-free trial so that it is possible to test the service without any risk. If for any reason the service isn't quite right for a particular business, the device can simply be returned with no further obligation. Such a guarantee therefore protects our customers and makes our service as user-friendly and convenient as possible.

Technology

As a cloud based provider, our emphasis is still on delivering the best possible features within our core platform. While we offer an excellent range of VoIP phones, we believe that the power of VoIP lies in the ability to control and customise your service as your business grows and adapts. As a result, the service we provide is constantly evolving and all developments are implemented so they are available to our customers as quickly as possible.