The Conservative\'s Technology Manifesto was launched yesterday with several laudable aims, however its ambitions seem confused.

One claim in the manifesto says: \"We will be the first country in Europe to extend superfast 100Mbit/s broadband across most of the population...this is up to 50 times faster than Labour’s planned broadband network.\"

However, the Tories are not comparing like with like. Labour has made two promises, the first for the delivery of 2Mbit/s to be universally available to all the UK by 2012 - mostly delivered through copper-based networks. The second is for widespread rollout of next-generation optical fibre for the delivery of superfast 100Mbit/s broadband by 2017 and to 90 per cent of the population.

The Tories promise is identical to the government\'s second commitment, and yet they are comparing this promise with the first.

The one difference is that the Tories do not specify the percentage of the population that will have access to the next-generation optical fibre.

They also argue in the manifesto that this high speed broadband network will help to create 600,000 additional jobs.

Microsoft said on Friday that it plans to finalise the code for Office 2010 next month and, as expected, it kicked off a programme enabling those who buy Office 2007 in the coming months to get a free upgrade to the new version.

In a blog posting, Microsoft said that it will have a business launch for the Office 2010 products on 12 May. The company has said it expects the software to be broadly available in June.

As for the technology guarantee programme, Microsoft says it will apply to those who buy Office 2007 between now and 30 September and will allow an upgrade to the comparable Office 2010 product.

The majority of small businesses in the UK are not receiving the broadband speeds promised by their providers, and need more than the 2Mbps promised by the Government.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), along with ICM, conducted a survey which showed six out of 10 of the 1,300 small firms they spoke to were unhappy with their broadband speeds as well as the reliability of their internet connections.

\"The online world is crucial to small business development, especially as small firms look to grow and expand as the economy recovers,” said John Wright, national chairman of the FSB, in a statement.

“Small businesses, particularly in rural areas, have been promised action to deal with slow broadband and the \'notspots\' – where there is no broadband access – but they have seen little action.”

However, the FSB is championing their cause and calling for these issues to be addressed in the Digital Economy Bill.

It is asking the Government to make ISPs provide a minimum of 8Mbps direct to business premises, for the telecommunications ombudsman\'s remit to cover all service providers and their contractors and for Ofcom to act “truly independently of the industry” so SMBs get a fair deal.

“Small businesses need fast and reliable broadband to ensure the UK remains a key player in the global economy,” added Wright.

“The Digital Economy Bill gives the Government a chance to guarantee Britain becomes a real competitor and the FSB is calling on the Government to enforce [the above] rules on service providers and regulators so that small firms are given the fair deal they deserve.\"

Despite spending £13.9bn on telecoms services in 2008 and accounting for 45% of total retail telecoms turnover, UK businesses are still missing out on the best deals because they are not taking full advantage of opportunities to switch providers, according to new research by Ofcom.

The research, ‘Business Consumer Experience’ found that telecoms services were becoming more important to UK businesses, with communicating on the now vital for many firms.  The mix of services is also changing, with mobile, internet and data services playing an increasing important role. 

Contact Direct Voice and Data to identify how best to utilise your Communications.

Ten signs you need a server

1.       You spend lots of time searching for files or copying them from one machine to another.

2.       Your computers are already networked in some way but files are scattered across different machines and the whole thing runs slowly.

3.       You want to restrict access to confidential files

4.       You want to accommodate flexible or home-working for your staff

5.       You would like to centralise key business data like diaries, customer records, accounts, orders etc

6.       You want to be more responsive to your customers.

7.       You want your own e-mail address (joesbloggs@yourcompany.co.uk) rather than one available through an Internet provider

8.       You keep buying printers, faxes and internet accounts as you add new people

9.       You have lots of IT hassle – viruses, network problems etc.

How can I keep my passwords secure?

You should try to create a password that's difficult for anyone else to guess. It's also a good idea to avoid using the same password for everything you do.

Direct Voice and Data recommend the following to create more secure passwords:

Don’t use any of the obvious; Password, 123. Qwerty etc

Routinely change your password 

Needs to be at least six characters long but preferably use between 7 and 16 characters.

Use both Upper and Lower case letters.

Try to avoid using words that appear in a dictionary.

Don't write down your password, or share it with anyone else

Use a mnemonic – using the first letter of each word in a sentence. This usually results in something unpronounceable that would be hard for others to guess.

Password

The obvious first guess!

123

This password is often the default when someone resets your password.  Beware, it is easy to remember and therefore easy to hack.

Your children’s name (s)

Closest to your heart and at the forefront of your mind when you are setting your password!!

QWERTY

Easy!

Your First Name

Look around your desk.  How many pieces of information contain your name; hard copy emails, business cards, stationery, mugs etc?  Alternatively, it wouldn’t take a genius to guess your name by a process of elimination.

YourName1

Alphanumeric codes are much safer than just words but your name and the number one isn’t exactly rocket science

Your Favourite Football Team

Okay not everyone is going to know that you support Huddersfield, but there aren’t that many football teams out there!

123456

How many seconds would it take a professional hacker to work out this one??

iloveyou

A hacker will love you too.  This is surprisingly a very common choice

Favourite Sport/Favourite colour/Favourite animal

Any dictionary word used in isolation isn’t overly secure.

Recent events such as severe weather, industrial action and the growing threat from pandemics highlight the high cost of disruption to UK business.

Such disruptions reinforce the value of a 'work from anywhere' strategy that incorporates IP Telephony, Mobility & Unified Communications technology from Direct Telecom.

Clients who have implemented this technology have benefited from full office telephone and presence communication while working away from the office during these disruptions.The same technology also facilitates UK Directives on Flexible Working.

Contact your Direct account manager or call 01484 867867 for more information on acquiring this affordable technology.

The scammers call up their victim and warn them that their account is in arrears.

They then ask for card or bank details in order to settle the account.

If the person refuses or asks for proof, the fraudsters then offer to prove who they are by disconnecting the phone line then and there.

Once the victim puts the phone down, the scammer stays connected to their line, thus giving the impression that the customer's line no longer works.

Evidence shows this type of phone scam has been happening all over the country.

BT says it does sometimes make calls to customers about debt - but stresses that it never carries out disconnections during the call.

With Release 5.0 of Avaya''s IP Office, there are now 3 different levels of software packages that deliver various levels of functionality. These "Editions" are known as Essential, Preferred and Advanced.

As a quick overview, Essential Edition equates to the entry-level and Embedded VM solution. Preferred Edition incorporates Voicemail Pro, and the Advanced Edition brings in the Call Center applications.

To ensure productivity and efficiency, teleworkers need access to the same kinds of communications capabilities their office colleagues enjoy. Connecting them needs to be quick and easy to do and cost effective.

Professionals (solicitors, accountants, estate agents etc)who spend most of their time out of the office can remain easily accessible and connected to the vital information that helps them drive revenue and customer service.

Phone calls ring simultaneously on their desk phone and mobile phone (or any other phone), so they’ll never miss a call. They can perform the key call handling features such as transfer, conference, forward, and hold, from their mobile.

Mobile workers can have their email messages read to them over the phone, so messages can be accessed and acted upon, enhancing productivity while out of the office.

The IP Office Receptionist application provides a visual display of incoming calls and call status right on your operator’s PC screen. Caller ID allows receptionists to see who’s calling before they answer the call.

Operators see everyone’s phone status - who’s busy, on the phone, away from their desk - so calls are routed and managed quickly and accurately.