This is not a new story (in fact, I wrote about it last year too), but at this time of year with offices being closed for extended periods, it is the most relevant story you should be reading in the lead up to Christmas.

Telecom Fraud is still a relatively unknown phenomenon, however you should be aware of the following headlines regarding cyber crime and fraud;

• 332,570 crimes were reported to Action Fraud.
• £706 million lost by victims.
• 62% of reports were from businesses and 38% from individuals.

Fraudsters generally hack telephone systems over long weekends, to maximise the time they have to rack up huge call costs before the office re-opens and they are discovered. With the majority of offices closing for over a week during the Christmas period, it is the busiest time of year for fraudsters to commit their crimes.

Were you aware that businesses are liable for any costs that are amounted due to telecoms fraud?

What can you do to prevent this?

There are several steps you can take to lock down your telephone systems. Speak to your telephone maintainers to ensure all remote access is locked down and not set up with standardised admin passwords. You can also set up international call bars to high-risk destinations, set daily spend limits and alerts for any out-of-the ordinary call traffic.

W offer services such as Voice Safe and VoIP Safe that will assist our clients by covering the cost of fraudulent activity up to the sum of £10,000.00. Please get in touch with your account manager to discuss these options, or for any further information regarding telecom fraud.

What has Tequila and Tacos got to do with WiFi and 4G Calling? Well it may be a bit tenuous but bear with me…

I was recently lucky enough to attend a most fantastic charity event. We gathered together a group of fun-loving people and were offered a superb talk on Tequila, (the good stuff, not the one that you slam back and regret the next day). There was a Burrito van offering the most wonderful food, 500+ pints from a local brewery and a marquee full of tequila, oh yes and a rodeo bull and a bungee run inflatable, all in the name of Charity – what could possibly go wrong?

Not much; the event was a huge success and raised large amounts of money for a very valuable cause. And as we looked out at the beautiful view from the stunning rural host location, you could almost excuse all the mobile networks for having such limited coverage; some even said that it was refreshing. I, however, got on my high horse (rodeo bull) and explained that there was no excuse as WiFi calling was available and that on my phone (on the O2 network), I could even pick up the host’s WiFi. So, after negotiating the WiFi access (I am sure that you can imagine the challenge: one Tequila, two Tequila, Three Tequila – FLOOR! Well, we had three Tequilas to taste in the official tasting!), I was finally on the WiFi and smug that I had enlightened the group. I exclaimed, “WiFi and 4G calling is here – see!”. My reward was a Tequila – FLOOR!

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve switched on WiFi and 4G Calling, giving our customers yet another way to stay connected with O2.

The service is currently available on O2 for iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus and SE. It’s also available on Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge and Sony Xperia XZ Premium devices that are using the O2 firmware variant.

What is WiFi and 4G Calling?

WiFi Calling uses any available WiFi connection to help you make and receive calls. It’s perfect for when customers don’t have a phone signal but do have a WiFi connection e.g. O2 WiFi, home or office broadband. Although the free TU Go app offers O2 customers the ability to make calls over WiFi, WiFi Calling means no app is needed – just dial a number as normal.

4G Calling means customers can make high-definition calls over the O2 4G network. This can bring benefits like better quality voice calls, a faster call set-up, better indoor coverage and longer battery life. It also means customers can make a 4G call and get online using 4G at the same time.

WiFi and 4G Calling also work together, meaning a call made over WiFi will continue over 4G seamlessly if your customer loses their wifi signal and they’re in a 4G Calling supported area. And however they make the call, a minute is a minute – there are no extra charges from O2. 4G calls won’t use a customer’s data allowance.

Customers can use WiFi Calling wherever there’s WiFi coverage. 4G Calling is currently available in Belfast, Bradford, Coventry, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield and Slough. More cities will be added in the coming months until O2 reach national coverage wherever they currently have 4G data service.

“The launch of Wifi Calling gives customers the option of making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi even if they can’t connect to the mobile network, whilst 4G Calling provides our customers with clearer calls and better indoor coverage over our fast 4G network. Both of these work together to provide a seamless, uninterrupted experience and less dropped calls when moving between the two. Customers can use Wifi Calling wherever there’s Wi-Fi coverage, while 4G Calling will initially be available in Belfast, Bradford, Coventry, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield and Slough. To find out more about O2’s Wifi and 4G Calling rollout, visit o2.co.uk/connectivity/wifi-and-4g-calling. What devices are compatible? Apple iPhone 7, 7plus, 6S, 6S plus & SE Samsung S7 & S7 Edge Sony Xperia XZ Premium”

Home entertainment may be the main stimulus for gigabit expansion, two broadband experts have said.

Lincoln Lavoie, senior engineer at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory, predicted that the internet of things will play a major role in the growth of ultrafast broadband.

Speaking to Cable.co.uk at the Broadband World Forum event in Amsterdam, Mr Lavoie told us: “We’re just now starting to see what’s in the home evolving even more.

“More advanced video services, smart televisions, home automation systems, home surveillance systems, video monitoring. All of these new technologies that are evolving in the home are driving this new (gigabit) ecosystem.”

Chief executive of the Broadband World Forum Robin Mersh agreed, noting that the UK in particular had reached a “landmark” in broadband demand.

He said: “You look at certain countries that have very high bandwidth usage, like the UK, it’s all been driven by iPlayer. The iPlayer usage has just gone through the roof.

“You look at that kind of market and you need to upgrade them. That’s where we’re at. People don’t just need basic service, they’re looking for that upgrade.”

However, Mr Mersh acknowledged, what’s equally important for consumers is how accessible and easy to use the technology is and how much it costs. He added: “I think for consumers the really important thing is as long as you a hitting the right price point, it’s easy to install, you’re not going to inconvenience them, and they’re getting the bandwidth they want.

“If you can do all those things you don’t need to explain anything to them. They just go ‘great’.

“Think about what are the operators trying to do. The operators are trying to reach as many of their subscribers at a high enough bandwidth to deliver the services that are expected.

So you’ve got most consumers looking for as high speeds as they think they need – and that’s a bit of a debatable point – they want multiple devices doing high speed internet, they want to stream probably on every single one of them, they want a couple of different TVs, probably being in high definition.

“And so from their point of view consumers don’t care what that access method is, and to be honest most of the operators only really care In the sense that they want to deliver the services that consumers want. But they want to do it as cost effectively as they can.”