Building Blocks to C21 Business

PRESS RELEASE: Business IT specialists Boffins Computer Workshops is launching a Building Blocks initiative to help small and medium sized companies make the most of the latest developments in phone, broadband and IT.

A growing number of local telephone exchanges have recently been upgraded, with the result that businesses can now take advantage of improvements in connectivity across the UK, and harness these for more efficient business.

By using a Building Blocks approach, Boffins will help customers improve their businesses incrementally, at a pace and a cost that is best suited to their needs.

The Boffins box of Building Blocks includes:
improved broadband with higher speeds
secure router access
secure virtual private networks (VPNs)
wireless connections on the move
effective use of PDAs and mobile phones
the voice over IP communications and smart voice messaging
access to head office data from anywhere
remote access to key business systems
easy document sharing

“We are now starting to see the impact of BT’s £10 billion investment programme in 21st century networks, with many local exchanges upgraded,” says Tony Dawes, Boffins’ technical director. “The upgrades unlock a whole range of new possibilities, from flexible working to seamless IT connections with customers and suppliers.”

“Most obviously, both businesses and householders have access to faster, lower cost broadband, but this is just the start of a revolution in communications. Smaller businesses now gain access to a whole host of efficient, flexible ways of working previously only available to blue chip companies who used to pay handsomely for them.”

‘We’re on hand to make the transition simple and cost-effective. And in these tight times, our Building Blocks approach means our customers can upgrade their efficiency and their systems on a step by step basis.”
The 21st Century Network is the result of a £10 billion investment by BT that will replace all their exchange equipment by 2012, bringing together both voice and data into a single, high speed, IP based, routed network.

Local exchanges that have already been upgraded include: Aylesbury, Banbury, Bicester, Didcot, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Reading, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wycombe. Boffins is now providing up to 24Mb broadband to businesses in these areas.

Adds Dawes: “We are offering Building Blocks to both existing and new customers, for whom our plain-speaking approach is often welcomed as a refreshing change. By taking the jargon out of IT, we are able to transform our customers’ ways of doing business, making them more efficient and customer-focused.”

“The key to building a successful 21st Century Business is to have a coherent, step-by-step plan from the beginning. This will ensure that the right foundations are in place and will help avoid buying and implementing incompatible solutions along the way.”