The Suretec Blog

Aberdeen-based internet telephony service provider SureVoIP has been shortlisted for a prestigious industry award.

 

The company is one of six finalists in the ‘Best Business ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) for SMEs’ category of the 2011 ITSPA (Internet Telephony Service Providers’ Association) Awards.

 

The winner of the accolade – presented to the company which the judging panel deems provides the best service for small and medium business users – will be announced at an awards ceremony in the iconic BT Tower in London, on Monday, March 7.

 

• Compliance with all ITSPA approved Best Common Practice documents
• Porting numbers (in and out)
• 999 Calling
• Membership of an industry standard Telecommunications dispute resolution scheme
• Operate a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for liaison with other telecommunications operators and also the Home Office and other agencies.

SureVoIP is Scotland's First Dedicated Internet Telephony Service Provider.

Suretec recently got approval from Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator, to assign U.K. telephone numbers. Therefore, SureVoIP can assign phone numbers across the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. The company is also authorised to supply global numbers for over 60 countries.

This is unique in the Scottish market, because other companies act as "middle-men" between clients and service providers.

SureVoIP is partnering with British Telecom (BT) through a VoIP Interconnect to offer clients added benefits. SureVoIP has also partnered with Xconnect on their Global Alliance program, as well as two other U.K. VoIP carriers.

SureVoIP also provides 24/7 emergency telephone support.

Gavin Henry, managing director of SureVoIP, and founding member of the Suretec Group, said, "Our journey to securing the approval from Ofcom has been long and complex, involving the submission of detailed business plans, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the Communications Act 2003, various legal requirements, help from ITSPA (we've worked so hard that we will soon be getting the ITSPA Quality Mark), documentation and a significant investment in equipment throughout the U.K. With out FreeSWITCH and the FreeSWITCH community this would not have been possible."

Read original article on FreeSWITCH.org

First to join from the U.K. are service providers Simwood, SureVoIP and thevoicefactory.

SureVoIP is us!

Here's some news on this:

http://www.voipmonitor.net/2010/09/07/XConnect+Announces+UK+HighDefinition+Voice+Initiative.aspx
http://hdvoicenews.com/2010/09/07/xconnect-announces-hd-voice-exchange-available-worldwide-uk-promotion-with-polycom-broadsoft-and-dialogic/
http://www.mgraves.org/2010/09/hdvoice-making-progress-in-the-uk/
http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=755463

Hi All,

Quick one to say we've just signed our BT VoIP interconnect contract and paid up our setup fee. Now on to interop testing then hosting of our Ofcom number allocations!

Our new website will be up very soon for our VoIP ITSP - SureVoIP

Don't worry, that website will be very non-technical in most places unless necessary!

This would not have been possible without the power of Open Source software!

Thanks,

Gavin.

Another quick update. We've just received notice of our first ever number allocations from Ofcom.

They are "Location Independent Electronic Comm Services" which are used for VoIP accounts and we have:

05600 51XXXX

Thanks,

Gavin.

Exciting news!

Our Communications Provider Identity ("CUPID") code application has been processed by Ofcom and we just received our number of 291.

The start of many good things to come with our own VoIP provider SureVoIP (brand and website being worked on now). We're also listed as an ITSP at ITSPA.

Thanks,

Gavin.

Companies at opposite ends of the UK work together to produce innovative software solution – without ever meeting up

Aberdeen-based Suretec Telecom is in the business of supporting a company that makes holiday dreams come true. Specialising in tailor-made holidays, luxury hotels, unique tours and cruises, DreamTicket luxury holidays is a niche holiday provider to the UK travel market, and it prides itself on operating cost-effectively without ‘middle-men’ so it can keep its prices keen. And it’s based in Surrey.

Suretec Telecom knows how important it is for small and medium-sized businesses to be cost-conscious, and it makes sure that its customers get high tech solutions to telecom questions, at a very competitive price.

‘Dreamticket is a very successful niche holiday business,’ says Gavin Henry, managing director of Suretec Telecom, which was launched in 2009. ‘It grew considerably from its early beginnings to around 11 employees in 2004 – and its telephone system is its lifeblood for providing customers with the right holiday to satisfy their dreams. That’s where we come in.’

Just a quick one to say that when you think you need Asterisk for a customer request, sometimes you don't!!

A question from a customer yesterday:

Do you know of an IP desk telephone that can be used on a
hotline/autodial/PLAR type basis? Ie pick up one phone and the other
rings, etc.

Tricky bit... no call manager of any sort in-between... just the
phones
direct on the network.

Aastra to the rescue!!! Any of the new 67XXi ranges have a feature either per line or globally like so:

Autodial Settings

Autodial Number
Autodial Timeout

Simply add an IP address in the Autodial Number field for line 1 and when you pick up the handset it dials the other phone on that IP directly. No need to put Asterisk in between or any other system, other than pure IP.

Nice!

P.S. I'm sure most of the business grade IP phones out there can do the same.