Articles about communication

When it comes to comms, the pace of change is increasing and with a shift to remote working and study, the need to be flexible and fast is more important than ever. In 2015, BT announced that its PSTN/ISDN lines will be turned off in 2025. Given the rapid evolution in the way we communicate, now is as good a time as any to be prepared for this.

The decision to switch off has been made largely due to both technologies becoming outdated and unable to handle the volume, speed and quality of data in today’s increasingly digital world. But what do you need to know, and how can one prepare?

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Do you use Skype? If yes, it is time to get really excited, as there is some legitimately cool news surrounding Microsoft's wildly popular cross-platform communication software. You see, Skype now has zoom support. Please don't misunderstand things, however, as that is zoom with a lowercase z. In other words, Skype is not getting support for the competing Zoom (with an uppercase Z).

Yes, folks, Microsoft has quite literally added the ability to zoom in on Skype screen-shares. In a new blog post, the Windows 11-maker explains, "It has happened to the best of us. You're in a call and someone shares their screen to show you something. Everyone else is nodding along, but you're squinting at your computer screen trying to read the tiny text they are referencing. It's just too small! With Skype's easy zoom in feature, you don't have to miss out."

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One of the keys to the success of an IT team is the ability to communicate both within and outside the team, something that is as important as talent or knowledge.

But for this to work buy-in from executives and business managers is essential to ensure IT managers can achieve their department goals.

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As rural broadband initiatives help bridge the digital divide, communications service providers have a wealth of opportunities to add subscribers, expand territory, and grow their business. However, they will first need to address the challenges posed by IPv4 exhaustion -- and its impact on the cost of new subscriber IP addresses.

Since November 2019, when the final allocation of publicly available IPv4 addresses was made, new IPv4 addresses have been obtainable only at high open market prices. There is a virtually unlimited stock of IPv6 addresses available, but migration to the new standard is a highly complex prospect and impractical in the short term for many communications service providers. They need a more feasible and affordable way to support new subscribers.

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Telecom companies have become integral in our hyper-connected modern world. In the past, most telco revenue was generated from voice traffic (i.e., premiums on long-distance calls). An explosion in technology has given rise to a fundamentally different industry landscape with myriad new factors and considerations. From sending a simple text to confirming a reservation at a restaurant, telecom has changed forever. Yet, despite the increasing necessity of telecom to keep us connected, maintaining customer loyalty hasn’t been easy.

Customer loyalty has been on the decline in recent years. As a result, the telecom industry must work harder than ever at customer retention, which can prove challenging in the saturated cloud provider market. There are many unique and situational reasons businesses might choose to leave their Communication Service Provider (CSP). Changing consumer preferences demanding immediacy and personalized service have impacted some relationships, while the ability to provide global customer support has affected others. Evolving preferences might be one reason why 77 percent of consumers are no longer as loyal to brands as they once were.

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Productivity software specialist Zenkit is at it again. Spying a gap in the communications market for workers who need to combine the ability to chat with colleagues while setting up and managing tasks, it’s released Zenchat 0.1.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, along with Zenchat for iOS and Android.

The app, which can also be run in a web browser, can be used standalone or combined with other Zenkit offerings, including Zenkit To Do, which we covered earlier in the year.

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