Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Where FTTC or EoFTTC (see earlier blog on connectivity types) are not available to their customer a common question I get from Jola Partners is around Return on Investment (ROI).

Since we launched our automated connectivity quoting tool in the middle of March 2015 we have quoted for nearly 400 separate postcodes. The feedback we have had is that the system is simple and fast and the question we are most frequently asked is about the differences between Fibre Ethernet, EFM, EoFTTC and FTTC.

Travel agents need a fast, reliable Internet connection for accessing multiple travel applications. High street travel agents often need to be able to gather your details and enter them into multiple online applications to get you the best deal. If the system is slow or you could search faster on your mobile it is going to put you off booking your holiday with them.

Automating broadband

Griffin was the first to completely automate the ordering, provisioning and management of broadband creating the ‘ISP in a box’ and enabling resellers to get into a market they could not enter profitably with manual systems. We were also able to make reasonable profits by managing broadband traffic efficiently and balancing high users with low users.

Club together to fund faster connectivity to your business park 

The BDUK voucher scheme allows companies to club together the £3k grant available if it means getting fibre to them collectively.  A Jola Partner had a customer who wanted faster broadband but it wasn't available at a reasonable cost due to the extra work needed digging up the road and laying cable. He saw this as an opportunity and went round to all to units to let them know about the voucher scheme and the quandary his customer was in, our partner managed to sell the idea of collectively bringing fibre into the business park setting up a multi tenanted access network to 15 of the 20 units.

What is the scheme?

The Broadband Connection Vouchers scheme is a grant run by the Government to help SMEs upgrade their broadband to faster, better connectivity. The scheme provides financial support (up to a maximum of £3000) to businesses for the purchase of superfast Internet connections and has just been extended to over 50 cities across the UK. 

Our MD says that whoever quotes the customer first for connectivity is three times more likely to win the business based on his experience selling connectivity through Partners.

I was out with one of our JolaPhone dealers last week demonstrating the platform. The customer, warming to the concept, made the point that they would probably need to upgrade from their existing ADSL circuit to either Fibre broadband or a leased line. The dealer replied that he agreed but it was not something they got involved in. When the customer nipped out to get their BT bills I ask Jon why he felt that way. He said they did not do 24/7 support and the 36 month commitment on leased lines worried him in case the customer went bust or didn’t pay. Dealing with the carriers was a pain he said. It took ages to get prices from them all and even then he had to haggle to be sure he was getting the best deal. By the time he went back to the customer they had usually progressed the circuit with someone else.

5 tips for generating high quality IT contracts

Q. When is an organisation absolutely, definitely in the market for a complete IT overhaul?
A. When they are moving into a new building

There are hundreds of construction consultants in the UK ranging from huge international companies like Capita and Mott Mac to small local businesses. Often they are given the task not only of overseeing the construction and fit-out of a building but also making sure utilities and IT infrastructure are ready to go when the client moves in. They are a remarkably un-tapped resource for IT companies and here are 5 ways to help you engage successfully with them.

Design agencies with up to 20 employees located both on business parks and in city centres are turning to Jola for their connectivity. They use powerful machines and software such as the Adobe Creative Suite to create materials in PDF to be emailed to clients for review and when approved send large print-ready files and specifications to the printers. Some use cloud proofing software such as RedPen to allow clients to log into their design work and mark up any changes in the proofing process. To do all of this they need a fast and reliable Internet circuit.