Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Roam Like Home lets you make calls, send texts and use data in 47 EU destinations at no extra cost. When you are in a Roam Like Home country, data use, calls and texts made to other Roam Like Home countries and back to the UK are included. It is also free to receive calls and texts. If you go over your monthly allowance for calls, texts or data you will be charged. It is worth noting that calls and texts from the UK to international destinations are not included and these will be charged.

What countries are included?

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (Incl. Azores & Madeira), Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Vatican City

Canary Islands, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Iceland, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Mayotte, Norway, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Switzerland

Many of the mobile carriers have extended roaming zones to include 71 countries such as Australia and the US.

How much money can you save?

A customer spending 2-weeks in a Roam Further country using 671 minutes, sending 39 texts and using 2.70GB data, saved £2,322.37.

G.fast is new technology that can deliver internet connectivity speeds above 100Mb/s by using higher frequencies over the access infrastructure.

Like FTTC, G.fast provides a high-speed broadband connection to the premises by using optical fibre to the street cabinet and then copper wiring to the premises. Where existing FTTC used VDSL2 to deliver speeds of up to 80Mb/s, G.fast replaces VDSL2 and offers speeds of up to 330Mb/s over the same copper phone line.

Just like ADSL2+ and FTTC, the maximum speed achieved will be limited by the length of the phone line between the premises and the street cabinet. Engineer installations are required for this service.

FTTP is Fibre To The Premises. Unlike ADSL and FTTC, FTTP does not use a copper phone line, it uses GPON, (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) which is optical fibre to the premises. You do not need a telephone line for FTTP.

It is faster than FTTC and does not lose speed over distance. The speed you order is the speed you will receive, currently up to 330Mb/s, however, faster speeds may be available in the future.

New FTTP installations require an engineer, however migrations or second installations may not require a visit. Unlike FTTC, FTTP installations are all-day appointments.

IoT as a phrase has the ability to both engage and turn off many readers. Internet of Things can be quite specialist and not something customers ring up for. That doesn’t mean however that there are not opportunities from IoT that you could be winning from within your customer base.

Our partners often feedback that IoT is not of interest to them, however as they learn more about the types of 4G data opportunities we are winning with partners, they often change their minds.

4G Data SIMs

Customers who measure or monitor equipment often already have IoT solutions using low consumption, mobile data SIM cards. Problems occur when mobile networks fail, at this point they turn to their IT/Telecoms providers for help.

We provided 4G data SIMs to a partner with a customer waiting to measure how long trains are cleaned for and how often they are cleaned. Jola provided over one thousand data SIMs to be installed into train cleaning equipment to do just that. We were able to displace the existing provider as our SIMs were multi-network with excellent monitoring.

Consider 4G internet connectivity.

JolaNet 4G offers monthly data packages of up to 300GB. It is a managed 4G router with an integrated data SIM. Choose from a selection of data SIMs from O2, Vodafone and EE, as well as multi-network EU roaming SIMs and Fixed IP SIMs.

Control

The solution is managed by the Mobile Manager portal, which gives you the ability to view real-time data usage, set-up alerts, apply SIM-swaps, add bolt-ons and bar SIMs. Using Mobile Manager, you can maximise margins and eliminate overage charges.

The ZyXEL LTE3302 4G router provides wireless broadband connectivity over any available mobile data signal. The router comes with support for external antennas and will support 32 simultaneous Wi-Fi connections. You can rent the router on either a 12 or 24-month contract or choose to buy the router and pay monthly for monitoring.

Demand is growing for managed 4G solutions from businesses who; cannot get fast, fixed line services, who need a temporary solution until leased lines can be installed, and who need a cost-effective 4G back-up. The biggest benefit is the real-time data usage report you can view in Mobile Manager and auto bolt-on facility to eliminate bill shock. 

For companies that already sell internet services, back-up solutions are a natural up-sell. The challenge for resellers is that catastrophic failure often effects multiple services going into a building, so additional fixed line connections don’t guarantee business continuity.

Until now, the alternative, mobile data, has been slow and expensive with only dynamic IP options on offer. Customers have had to estimate the amount of data needed in the event of a primary failure and pay for it whether it is used or not.

With the introduction of 4G management portals for fixed IP SIMs and unique overage protection, 4G becomes a cost-effective alternative. Customers pay a small monthly fee for the back-up service and when the data fails-over, they pay for the additional usage, only for the period it was used.

Fixed IP Failover SIMs offer customers significant cost savings, due to the unique way they are managed. Data usage is monitored and additional data bolt-ons automatically added as required and removed again when the primary route is restored.

According to a recent report by Ofcom, 90% of all UK premises (almost 26 million) can access up to 24Mb/s fixed line broadband, however there are at least 190,000 premises that can’t get 2Mb/s and 2.2 million premises that can’t get 10Mb/s. Locations with less than 2Mb/s broadband speeds are known as slow spots.

The problem

Businesses in areas of slow speed broadband cannot benefit from hosted applications (pay-per-month software, hosted online) such as office applications, telephony, CRM and accountancy packages. They rely on on-site solutions, which need to be serviced and are more expensive.

The solution

4G offers fast, reliable internet connectivity where it is available. The mobile carriers are advertising 90%+ UK 4G coverage, however speeds can vary. SMEs need to review all the mobile networks to see who has the best frequency, highest speed and lowest price to meet their requirements.

In the IT/communications industry most of the products we buy from the networks are essentially commodities, in vanilla form. This is because product development in the large Telcos lags technical innovation by 2-3 years. With such rapid technical innovation and cost/unit (£/MB, £/MBs) decline, more bespoke products are often out of date before the network has a chance to launch them.

This is one reason why good aggregators thrive in the channel and why good resellers and dealers are able to beat the direct selling divisions of the networks – particularly in the SME market. For aggregators, tailoring these vanilla products for specific markets is critical to continuous growth. For resellers it often comes down to their process for evaluating, selecting and on-boarding new suppliers (usually aggregators) and then how quickly they can produce collateral, update provisioning systems and train staff.

A mobile data aggregator partners with all the mobile carrier networks to provide the widest range of mobile data services, at the best possible pricing. Aggregators have one platform for ordering, monitoring and management.

Why do I need a mobile data aggregator?

Mobile data coverage is not universal. The networks use frequencies between 800Mhz and 2600Mhz. This means that the best network for a customer depends on their location, the device they are using and whether they are indoors or outdoors. Companies are looking for providers to meet an increasing demand for 4G services from SMEs. It is much easier to contract with one provider, with one portal, than it is dealing with multiple providers and platforms.

Selling services to UK SMEs is rarely a nine to five occupation. When customers need information quickly, companies can’t afford to rely on third parties. They need access to answers fast. For core products this information is readily available. When launching new products, easy access to relevant information helps to influence decision makers, improve sales and reduce churn.

The Knowledge Base

Jola is a wholesale provider of hosted telephony, internet connectivity and 4G solutions to the voice and data channel. We created the Knowledge Base for partners to have 24/7/365 access to our product information, templates and guides in a white label format.

It is divided into product sections to make it easier to search for materials. Partners can re-brand ‘how to’ guides to help customers manage their own changes instantly. Guides are designed for both the employee and organisations to answer common set-up and provisioning questions such as; how do I set up busy lamp fields on my new handset? and how do I reset my Office UC password?