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Professional Opinions Disclaimer: All information presented and opinions expressed in this publication represent the current opinions of the author(s) used on professional judgment and best available information at the time of the presentation. Consequently, the information is subject to change, and no liability for advice presented is assumed. Ultimate responsibility for choice of appropriate solutions remains with the reader.

The issue always seems to be the business does not know what is around the corner and needs to be prepared for change.
The take up is usually driven by an IT incident or issue that the SME needs to solve. So flexibility is the key driver and the objective that we feel the cloud needs to address. The ability to add and remove services seems to be critical but the zero IT responsibility is also important.
Obviously this saves cash as the end customer only pays for what they use - giving them a direct benefit on the bottom line.

inCloudOne are also seeing a trend for larger Enterprises to adopt commodity based cloud services such as Email and CRM, but this is purely driven by price and so should not be confused with the smaller SME businesses that fuel the british economy. It is my understanding that BT in the UK have also undertaken a number of studies into adoption of the cloud by SME's and the key attributes that are required to accelerate this.

It has to be all about the "Service" that the end customer receives and can relate too. The underlying technology has to be transparent, inCloudOne has found that most SME's do not care about the technology. In fact and ideally the technology should be so transparent it could be swopped out when better or more cost-effect solutions exist. Therefore flexibility is in the overall end to end service and the perceived value this offers to the paying customer. Whilst VM's offer technology flexibility they also create as many issues as they offer with scalability and onion rings of licensing. The arguments around VM vs.single run-time environments with Multi-Tenancy apps will always continue. As will the fear of cannibalising licensing revenue from ISV if they adopt the wrong cloud deployment. We all have a lot to do to make Cloud adoption easier, flexible, secure and cost-effective for all parties. But it has to be remembered, that for the customer to adopt Cloud Services in the first place their has to be a clear advantage to do so and price isn't the single answer. If it is, then this shift in the delivery of IT Services will be a very short lived experience for all of us!

The technology is not what the end customer is buying, instead it is the Services that they receive that is important. The way inCloudOne deals with lockin's is to provide our customers with a "Data Pledge". Simply put, this means we give them a copy of their critical data every 2 hours in a secure container that only they have the keys too (AES-256). It is stored outside of our environment and so if contracts turn bad, the end customer has access to their own data, we will even put config and other items in their if they require it - Lets call it one-way Escrow. Accepted this does not give them back the full Service but it does give them access to critical data that belongs to them. If providers of Cloud Based services do not allow the transformation of data in/out of their environment then adoption of these services will be slow......

Lets face facts, cloud standardisation is not going to happen! The technology is to new and changing too fast at present. It is up to each provider, aggregator, Integrator, reseller to ensure that portability and flexibility of the cloud services is present in the solution. It is the responsibility for the end customer to plan for its Business Continuity and ensure that these key components are their from the outset or they have to accept the risks.

Professional Opinions Disclaimer: All information presented and opinions expressed in this publication represent the current opinions of the author(s) used on professional judgment and best available information at the time of the presentation. Consequently, the information is subject to change, and no liability for advice presented is assumed. Ultimate responsibility for choice of appropriate solutions remains with the reader.

Today, it is nearly impossible to run a successful business without voice and data communications solutions. But if you are running a SME business then you need all the flexibility and capabilities that an  enterprise solution has to offer but without the costs!

• Any businesses can take advantage of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) designed for any size of company that allow calls to be made over an IP network such as the Internet rather than a traditional PSTN. VoIP phone systems are now commonly used by small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) and provide users with the ability to perform calls and take advantage of rich features that integrate with the company's resources over the Internet.

On-site or Fully Hosted

• There are many VoIP based solutions available on the market today, but essentially they all work using industry standard protocols so that within reason they can be interconnected with each other.  They also come as on-site PBX solutions with high-end features such as video conferencing, but they also also be delivered as fully hosted solutions where no on-site equipment is required except the handsets.
• Fully hosted solutions offer a very low cost of entry and cost-of-ownership. They are ideally suited to small SoHo businesses, remote workforces and distributed contact centres. Whilst hosted solutions are very cost effective they also have the power and ability to scale for large organisation with many sites.
• VoIP services let small businesses present a professional corporate image at a fraction of the cost of traditional enterprise PBX systems. A growing trend in business VoIP is the integration of both office and mobile communication devices into one seamless system. 

Services Available

• All  VoIP solutions provide enterprise features, which allow companies to operate One Number solutions, Conference calls, Custom greetings, Voice messages to email, Fax to email, Team Numbers (allowing inbound calls are shared between its members fairly), Voice Recording and Auto Attendants.  Normally expensive Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are typically implemented in the cloud so that customers are pre-filtered before they are sent to the correct organisation, department or agent to deal with the enquiry.
• With most VoIP solutions, the number of end users can be scaled up and down to meet demands very quickly. Advanced features can then be added or removed as and when they are required.  This provides a very flexible solution for any business and it can be tailored to meet the businesses changing needs.
• These solutions allow employees to work remotely from virtually anywhere utilising all their desk phone has to offer for a fraction of the price.
• By utilising a single number (One Number) on a VoIP phone system, it is possible for all calls to that One Number are automatically routed to the handset or device that is currently registered. This means that staff can use traditional landlines when working from home, mobile phones when they are out  or special VoIP phones when they are at a fixed location.
• VoIP phones generally come in a range of hardware options but they also come in software applications that can run on mobile phones, desktops, Macs, etc and when making calls between these devices calls withing the same company are usually free to the end customer. 

Mobile VOIP

• Mobile VoIP is an extension of VoIP that allows IP-based calls to be made from the convenience of a mobile handset. Mobile VoIP has become a popular and less expensive solution and with solid growth rates in place, the pace doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. In fact, a recent In Stat report states that by 2015, mobile VoIP users will have grown to nearly 83 million lines/seats.
• According to In Stat, voice traffic travels over the available broadband connection, whether that connection is 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi, or GPRS. Like fixed VoIP, mobile VoIP is being adopted in both the consumer and business segments, but has only recently begun to be implemented in the business environment. According to senior analyst Amy Cravens, there are several reasons why mobile VoIP adoption makes sense. "Some of these include the ability to take the desktop phone experience with you, the ability to utilise the benefits of IP-based communication features, a cheaper international long-distance cost, an easy implementation path, and better indoor coverage where cellphone reception has historically been poor," Cravens said.

Business VoIP and Unified Communications (UC) have usually been installed on premises. But according to Steve Taylor, president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials, and Jim Metzler, vice president of Ashton, Metzler & Associates, "it's probably time to consider a adding this to your cloud strategy."

Solutions

inCloudOne® offers a large range of VoIP solutions for the SME and offers these on very flexible 30-day terms which means we do not lock our customers into any one solution. You can start with the basic voice services and build it as your business changes and evolves, call our Freephone number to talk with one of our advisors today or request a call-back.

Professional Opinions Disclaimer: All information presented and opinions expressed in this publication represent the current opinions of the author(s) used on professional judgment and best available information at the time of the presentation. Consequently, the information is subject to change, and no liability for advice presented is assumed. Ultimate responsibility for choice of appropriate solutions remains with the reader.

UK financial institutions have to record and store telephone conversations and electronic communications relating to client orders under FSA regulations

Introduced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA)

From March 2009, firms involving client orders for the equity, bond and derivatives markets have to retain these files for six months. Electronic communication includes e-mail, instant messaging and faxes. The FSA regulations have been introduced in line with an EU review and are part of the FSA's efforts to combat market abuse, particularly insider dealing and market manipulation.

FSA compliance is the responsibility of the financial institution and does not simply relate to an FSA compliant product but to the entire process used within the institution. The institution is required to have policies and practices in place that ensure they, their staff and any supply agencies carry out their responsibilities to meet these requirements. inCloudOne is able to act for the customer in delivering the call recording features and capabilities but our customers determine the rules under which we may manage it for them. The legislation proposes using Call Recording as a tool within the company policy framework.

The original FSA rules took effect on March 2009 for companies who are undertaking the following activities:  

• Receiving client orders
• Executing client orders
• Arranging for client orders to be executed
• Carrying out transactions on behalf of the firm or another person in the firm's group and which are part of the firm's trading activities or the trading activities of another person in the firm's group
• Executing orders that result from decisions by the firm to deal on behalf of its client
• Placing orders with other entities for execution that result from decisions by the firm to deal on behalf of a client.

For those firms affected, there was a transitional period of one year to give firms enough time to prepare and implement the necessary system changes.

Removal of Mobile Phone Exemption

From November 2011, the exemption of mobile phones is removed from the FSA Business Sourcebook (Recording of Telephone Conversations and Electronic Communications (No 2) Instrument 2010). This means that conversations both voice and text on mobile phones must be recorded in many areas of business within the financial sector.

FSA Regulations

The FSA regulations are in line with an EU review, including the addition of SMS logging and Voice recording requirements, under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).

Call Recording and SMS Logging

The introduction of the taping programme is part of the FSA's efforts to combat market abuse, particularly insider dealing and market manipulation, a key priority for the FSA.

The voice recording rule is being extended so firms record and keep copies of all relevant voice and SMS conversations made on mobile phones provided to individuals by firms. In addition to the regulatory requirements, there are associated governance issues for firms to ensure Mobile Compliance offers a simple and elegant solution to meet these requirements.

Solutions

FSA Voice Compliant Recording Solutions is now available on inCloudOne phone systems, Landlines and Mobiles. Suitable for any size business and ideally suited to remote workforces and including serviced offices, call our Freephone number to find out more request a call back on our website.

FSA Policy Statement PS08/1 - March 2008 - Telephone Recording: recording of voice conversations and electronic communications

FSA Consultation Paper CS10/7 - March 2010 - Taping: Removing the mobile phone exemption

FSA Policy Statement PS10/17 - November 2010 - Taping of mobile phones