Best priced Ethernet in the UK

At CCS we are offering what we believe to be the best bargain ethernet solution in the UK.
We are now offering ethernet solutions for just £199.00 a month for companies signing up for a three year term. We will also offering installation of the ethernet lines for free.

For some time we have been watching the actual costs of the hardware that supports ethernet leased lines declining but no-one in the sector has been prepared to pass those cost savings on to the end user.

At CCS we believe we have set a net benchmark for the ISP sector with the lowest cost ethernet solution - EFM leased lines - on the market for less than £200.00 per month

EFM stands for ethernet First Mile and is a technology for delivering a fast and reliable uncontended internet connections to businesses, available in speeds ranging from 2mb right up to 20mb.

EFM leased lines provide secure and reliable internet access to your company 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with optional back-up solutions in place to ensure your company has constant access and internet break out.

EFM offers a symmetrical speed which means that the download and upload speed is exactly the same as opposed to digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.
Our EFM leased line services are ideal for businesses that require uncontended instant, high-quality internet availability, and are ideal for VOIP services, data and internet traffic for those placing the Internet at the forefront of their business.

EFM Lines deliver dedicated uncontended bandwidth and have the same service level agreement as a leased line up to 100 per cent, a feature not available on other products such as DSL lines.

EFM is a cutting edge technology primarily aimed at those organisations that would benefit from a leased line type service without the associated costs. Unlike a traditional leased line or ethernet line which uses fibre to connect you to your local exchange, EFM uses bundles of copper pairs which results in lower costs and high resilience with a faster installation time.

For more information, or a free consultation on your business connectivity needs, please visit Ethernet First Mile or call 0113 294 66 99

Get your free free consultation

Choosing the right kind of connectivity can be a difficult process as there are many things to consider, not only the financial commitment but also issues such as whether the type of connectivity you are considering suits the business’s requirements.

Often there is a technical aspect to the decision making process too which means that good solid advice is essential in order to help in making an informed decision as to what product to buy into, be it ADSL, Ethernet First Mile (EFM), bonding multiple lines or a fibre based leased line.

CCS (Leeds) does not employ sales people whose driving force is to sell as much as possible. We prefer to provide thorough and sound technical advice and as such our account managers/ technical sales are all highly qualified people with many years experience in the field.

We always give anyone who gets in touch with us at least 15 minutes of free consultation regardless of what the nature of the enquiry is. Our whole ethos is to provide the right product at the right price which will make our clients happy and hopefully mean that they will recommend us to others.

Call us now to speak to one of our experts who are here to advise and help you choose the right kind of connectivity to meet your requirements. Our technical advisers are not sales people and really do have the expertise and knowledge to match a business need to a product.

Give us a call on 0113 294 6699 for further details!

Seasons Greetings from all at CCS (Leeds) Ltd

Hello and seasons greeting from all at CCS (Leeds) Ltd.

It’s been a busy year for us and as such we have decided to create a newsletter to tell you about what we have been up to this year.

Please feel free to download our news letter from: http://www.ccsleeds.co.uk/christmas-newsletter-2011.pdf

Once again we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2012.

Spreading a little Christmas cheer at CCS

We’re starting to get in the festive mood here at CCS Towers and in the run up to Christmas we are looking to reward our loyal customers.
So, over the next 23 days we will be giving away a wide range of Christmas prize gifts to some lucky CCS customers and partners. Up for grabs are:

• 19 inch HD LCD Television
• Apple 8GB iPod Nano
• Amazon Kindle
• MP3 Dock
• Case of wine
• Digital Camera
• DAB Digital Radio
• Plus many more...

The names of the first ten customers to place an order* with us will be put into a hat and then drawn out at random to see which of the prize they have won;

*minimum order value £1,000 per annum and typical examples are bonded ADSL/EFM/Leased Lines/Colocation, minimum order term 12 months, only one gift per customer, CCS employees are not eligible for this promotion, this promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, expiry date for promotion is Friday 23rd December 2011, the free gifts will be issued on completion of any outstanding survey results being agreed – if applicable. Full terms and conditions available on request. The results of this promotion will be available on request after 31st December 2011.

Leased lines for Innovation Centre Medway

Innovation Centre Medway, Kent

We have delivered a pair of dedicated leased lines with redundant routing architecture to support the IT infrastructure of the Innovation Centre Medway (ICM), in Kent.
Based in Chatham the ICM provides high-quality serviced office space for innovative businesses or entrepreneurs - a corporate home without incurring high costs.
CCS was commissioned to install the leased lines and routers to support tenants.
The leased lines forms part of the ICM’s data centre which provides a resilient infrastructure for computer servers. The centre also benefits from CCS’s remote management via the internet to ensure 24/7 support.
ICM manager, Matthew Payne, said: "We have invested in the best IT infrastructure so that our tenants benefit from the IT support normally expected of a major corporate. CCS has installed and continue to manage our leased line."
ICM provides its clients with access to a state of the art digital telephone system. Powered by Splicecom, its system provides traditional analogue and high quality VOIP lines; inbound call routing, ring groups and round robin routing; internally and externally accessible voicemail and voicemail to email service.
As a premier DSL provider, we offer broadband solutions to a vast range of corporate and residential customers. With one of the leading web hosting solutions, we also ensures reliable and secure electronic communication solutions with a wide range of email hosting services.

Major investment in new data centre

Peter, Giles and Nick with the new Eco Cooling system

As part of a major £150,000 investment in a new data centre which can house 4,800 servers we have installed an eco-friendly air conditioning system which will significantly reduce the company’s energy costs and carbon emissions.
We also happy to show off our Green credentials with a significant investment in a new Eco Cooling system in the new data centre in Leeds.
The system from Eco Cooling, which was part-funded with a £36,000 grant from the Carbon Trust, does not use harmful refrigerants by harnessing the natural process of evaporation to provide the cooling.
At a time when many companies are cutting back on capital investment at CCS we believe it is vitally important that we continue to invest in the best IT infrastructure to ensure that existing and new clients benefit from the best possible service.
Our new data centre in Leeds is as advanced as any in the world. Moreover, while the Eco Cooling systems underscores the CCS’s commitment to the environment it also means that we can significantly reduce our costs which will be passed on to our customers in the corporate sector.
Data centres are power hungry in two ways - the servers themselves consume large amounts of electricity, and they need constant cooling to prevent overheating. Using the new Eco Cooling system CCS can recover energy, recycling it to further reduce costs.
The coolers operate using only 240v electricity the same amount of electricity as using a couple of bars of on a domestic electric fire and, unlike traditional air conditioning, evaporative cooling uses clean fresh air, allowing odours and bacteria to be expelled naturally through the ventilation system without being re-circulated.
Our investment in the data centre is all self-funded and we did not to look outside the business for third-party finance. This investment is really a statement of intent on how we plan to grow CCS further in the future.

Meet the team at CCS Leeds

Left to right Nick Ryder, Giles Falkingham, managing director Peter Knapp

At CCS Leeds we’re delighted to welcome two new members to the team. Nick Ryder joins the senior management team as technical sales manager and Giles Falkingham joins the company as senior support engineer.
Their appointments follow rapid expansion at CCS after we have seen significant new business growth and a major investment in our own IT infrastructure – more news on this later.
Nick and Giles join Peter Knapp at CCS at an exciting time in the company’s development. Both of them come from a strong technical background and as such have all the skills to advise and support customers who have or are looking at using our services.
Nick, from Wakefield, has worked in the IT industry for more 10 years and has a wealth of experience in UK leased lines, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), bonded ADSL, advanced networking, hosting services or other technical areas. Meanwhile, Giles brings an excellent technical background to CCS which covers Cisco firewall and router configuration; advance IP routing; MS Windows server operating systems; Linux; Unix; firewall technologies and tight efficient support desk operations.

We've cut the cost of 03 numbers by 50 per cent

We are delighted to announced that we have cut the cost of its 03 numbers - with immediate effect.
The price of CCS’s 03 numbers will decrease from £2.00 per number per month to £1.00 per number per month. The move will bring the per number price for 03 numbers in line with the current 01 and 02 number charge.
03 numbers that CCS currently supplies are 0303 numbers which are for charities, 'not for profit' or government bodies and 0330 numbers which can be used by any organisation or end-user.
The wholesale cost of 03 numbers has reduced and we are passing on the savings straight to you the customer. A large number of organisations such as public bodies and charities along with an increasing amount of businesses have turned to 03 numbers in the UK.
These numbers include the same benefits as other non-geographic numbers such as 0800, 0844, 0845, and 0871 numbers. However, 03 numbers are more attractive as callers are more likely to be able to make free calls to these numbers. Landline and mobile network operators offer free minutes with many packages which include calls made to 03 numbers. The same facility is not available for 08 numbers when calling from a mobile.
In addition to 01/02 geographic numbers and 03 numbers, we can also offer the full range of UK non-geographic numbers including 0845, 0870, 0844, 0871, Freephone (0800 and 0808), premium rate 09, personal numbers (07) and 056 VoIP numbers.
We also has geographic and non-geographic numbers for Ireland, and can offer toll-free numbers in many countries internationally.
To  find  out  more  drop  us  an  email  to Nick.Ryder@ccsleeds.co.uk or  call  on  0113 294 66 99

Positive feedback part 2

Another client has this to say about CCS Leeds and it makes us very proud;

Having contacted you in a bit of a panic today I thought I should take the time to thank you for the professional yet flexible approach to business.

Its important to me that my systems are highly available and that I can get the support to make sure that this is always the case.

Recently my current rack space provider has suffered from intermittent bandwidth and when I needed access to my servers, they did could not contact key holders!

I had already done the research and chosen CCS as a possible alternative based on web research. However I expected to have to complete many contracts and pay deposits before I would get any near physically installing machines.

Your service today proved the exact opposite. You were courteous, professional and yet tried everything to help make my move fast and simple.

If it had not been for the fact that I could not get access to my servers, we would have moved in today. As it was, the preparation work was not wasted and you found a solution to my latest problem by proxying email until I can install servers in your racks.

I felt that I must thank you for your support today. You reduced stress, made me feel confident and helped my business.

(If you can provide a senior managers email address I will happily send a second copy of this email.)

Positive feeback

It's always rewarding and nice when a client takes the time to write to you and give you positive feedback on the service you supply. We always do the same when we receive good service. Here is an example of something that came in today via email;

Hi,

Just a brief note to say a huge “Thank you” to you and your team. I’ve just had a client come to me and say how happy he is as since day one of switching to our telecoms system he has had not ONE problem! This has mainly been the case for all of our tenants, all of whom are very content with the service provided. Running a serviced office this is bliss for us; it’s great to get positive feedback instead of complaints! Well done and thank you. It’s also great that due to the incompetence of XX (well known telco) we are getting even more clients whom we didn’t expect e.g. XXXXX who have just come on board with us even after investing loads when they moved in on their own telecoms package (they moved in just before we started with you guys).

Kind regards

You're only one person away from........

So, I was sat at my desk and the phone rang. It was Jo, she told me that there was someone on the line who wanted to speak to somebody in technical sales and could she put him through? "Of course" I said, "more than happy to help".

The person at the other end of the line was keen to come and see me to discuss various technical things and also buy an internet router as he needed one in a hurry. As he was calling from a mobile telephone the line was bad so it was difficult to make out his full name or the company name.

Anyway, half an hour later he turned up at our offices in Leeds, I made him a coffee and we retired to the meeting room for a chat whilst the accounts department was raising an invoice for the hardware he was buying from us.

We exchanged business cards and I glanced at his - the company name was familiar to me and his position was Head of IT.

The conversation was of a technical nature, we discussed connectivity, VPN's, VoIP, Asterisk and colocation and generally seemed to get on very well. After 40 minutes or so my guest left and we promised to stay in touch which was nice.

I suppose I'm boring you now so I will cut to the chase - It turns out that out of the blue, the Head of IT for a very large national company owned by the man in the picture (who my guest knows well), decided to call in and pay us a visit. Not only that but we drank coffee and chatted.

Now that doesn't happen every day.

Ten Reasons You Should Switch to VoIP Phones

Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) is basically technology that allows you to make and receive calls over data networks. Instead of traditional phone services which channel analog signals such as the sound of your voice over copper wires, VoIP converts these sounds to digital form first—so that they can be sliced, diced, packaged, and routed over a digital network.

Because VoIP technology uses the same ideas behind data networking, and allows the use of the same networks used by computers, voice traffic can also be routed through the Internet as well. Suddenly you can now dramatically reduce the cost of voice communications, as well as achieve creative combinations of both services to create new applications for use.

With today’s advancements in technology, and the constant lowering of prices as technology achieves mass adoption, VoIP is now within easy reach for most businesses—even small ones. In fact, many have already made the switch to an all-VoIP infrastructure, using a combination of VoIP phones and VoIP communication systems.
Here are ten reasons why you may want to consider switching to VoIP for your phone and office communication systems:

1. VoIP can allow you to dramatically reduce the cost of communications, especially for interstate or international communications, since everything can go through the Internet instead of having to go through expensive long distance call charges.

2.You can make and receive calls from multiple devices—for instance, on a dedicated phone, your PC via a software-based phone, or even a mobile phone with VoIP capabilities.

3. It’s easier to add extensions to your phone. You can provide a local number or extension for all your staff without additional costs or cabling.

4. VoIP allows companies to maximize investments already made in their network infrastructure. The same network that handles the flow of data such web access and email can now accommodate voice as well—no need to add and maintain additional wires and devices.

5. VoIP allows your employees to be more productive and efficient by giving them the ability to receive and make calls anywhere with a data connection.

6. VoIP reduces the complexity associated with having to manage multiple networks and devices for communication. A company can potentially set up their office network so that each employee can use a single device such as a computer or a smart fixed or mobile phone to handle everything from email, chat, messages, faxes, and more.

7.You can use VoIP as a tool for real-time collaboration along with video conferencing and screen sharing.

8.You can potentially unify your communication channels, streamlining communications and information management—for instance, marrying email with fax and voice in one inbox.

9.You can employ presence technologies that come standard with VoIP phones and VoIP communication systems. This technology can tell colleagues about your presence or give you info on the status and whereabouts of your staff.

10. You can employ intelligence into how your calls are handled, such as: providing automatic call routing based on the number, time of day, etc; providing an interactive voice response when a call comes in, such as voice prompts that guide callers; call reporting; and more.

VoIP is certainly a technology that has come of age. It’s cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to use. Interested? Contact us and we can help you make the switch to VoIP for your business today!


Reproduced with permission, www.techadvisory.org

Website Updates

Updating websites is always a tricky business, especially when you have one with as much content as ours. Every new page has to fit the style and content of the rest of the site whilst also providing fresh new content.

The content has to be easy to understand whilst also presenting a certain degree of technical information for those seeking answers to questions which may result in them not having to pick up the phone.

In the last couple of months we have almost ten new pages on our website, each featuring a product that we supply. The content is detailed and will hopefully be easy to understand.

Managing and maintaining a website like ours is a bit like painting the Humber bridge in so much as once you have finished you have to start again, reviewing the original content and making sure is it fresh and up to date.

Will SYDR have the funds to complete their network build?

Good afternoon.

Someone pointed me to an article in the Yorkshire Post earlier today highlighing the apparent troubles the South Yorkshire Digital Region (SYDR) project may be suffering.

It makes an interesting read and I wondered what your take was on the whole affair?

Original Article: HERE

It sound a bit like a case of devil and the deep blue to me!

Welcome your comments.

Searching for the right backup

The life of a C.C.S. tech support has involved a lot of system backups lately… You see, we’ve been looking at various different enterprise class remote backup solutions over the past couple of months, and each one that we are interested in we like to test thoroughly. This invariably means installing several instances of backup server software, and many more backup clients.

It’s great that so much of the backup software out there is available to test as a free trial these days. This certainly makes our job of pre-release testing that little bit easier. But it must also be said that there are also a lot of backup solutions out there that can’t live up to their own marketing hype… It’s not my place to start writing a review, but suffice to say that we have tried several different brands before we’ve found the gold standard that we’re looking for. Watch this space to find out more!

EFM (Ethernet First Mile)

Whilst this Blog is not really as formal as our proper website it's still worth mentioning our products from time to time, especially if we feel they're of particular interest to businesses. Here is some marketing blurb that we wrote for EFM..........

CCS Leeds can now supply EFM (Ethernet First Mile) leased lines; a more cost effective solution for businesses that require the performance of a fibre based leased line at uncontended speeds of up to 20Mbp/s down and up.

EFM is a new cutting edge technology which uses existing bundles of copper pairs to deliver a much faster internet connection to your business and because it is delivered on copper, it means that the costs are lower and the installation times are much faster.

CCS Leeds recognises that some businesses cannot justify the high costs of having a fibre leased line and as such we are delighted that we can offer EFM as an alternative to our customers.

This new and exciting technology is the ideal solution for SME’s who need a highly available, uncontended, fast internet connection with an up to 100% service level agreement. CCS Leeds also has a UK based support centre which is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

EFM is not yet available in every area and it does depend on whether or not it is enabled at you nearest exchange. If it is available to you the good news is that the pricing is fixed.

What can this be.....?

Answers on a postcard please.

Day One

Fridays are never what you expect them to be. You would think that most people would spend their Fridays catching up on all the things they haven't managed to fit in during the week and do this at a leisurely pace but no, they choose Fridays to ask for technical help and enquire about new products they are thinking about buying.

Now this is fine, we don't mind at all as that's what we're here for..... bring it on we say but please don't wait until 5:29pm to do it and then expect a comprehensive proposal 5 minutes later (actually do expect it as we really don't mind that much).