The Ethos Group, a leading provider of Unified Communications in the UK and Europe, is launching a brand new mobile phone service. Matt Hill, Managing Director of the Voice and Data division at Ethos, speaks to Finance Monthly about this brand new product, how it fits in with Ethos’ current product and solution portfolio and why your business should invest in it.
We’ve all been there, on the phone to a customer whilst driving on the open road or sat speeding past the English countryside on a train when suddenly you lose signal, and your connection to the customer.
Mobile phone network coverage in the UK is a patchwork of different operators, running their networks on different masts. The result is that in often less populated areas one mobile running on one network may have a good signal, while another mobile on a different network may have none.
Over a fifth of the UK has partial or non-existent mobile coverage, where one or more of the carrier networks can’t deliver adequate connectivity. These areas are called “not-spots” and they cost the UK economy dearly.
But what does poor and patchy coverage mean for financial organisations? In 2015, the FCA set rules and regulations obliging financial firms to retain records of specific telephone conversations for at least six months. When you consider that two-thirds of businesses now use remote workers, losing signal whilst travelling through these “not-spots” make it increasingly difficult for these financial firms to comply with these regulations on their mobile devices whilst remotely working. The loss to UK plc is in the tens of millions and as businesses become ever more dependent on mobile data and communications, the loss escalates.
Thankfully, there is a solution. Multi-Net offers businesses the ability to unlock their mobile fleet by allowing a business mobile to roam carrier networks by switching the device between each network as the signal strength varies. This gives businesses the best possible network coverage across the UK and helps them to avoid the financial, and compliance, liability that not-spots represent.
In addition, Multi-Net will converge with fixed-line telephony systems and in the converged future of telephony, all the feature functionality of a fixed-line handset will be on a mobile device – and vice versa. This means that features that are traditionally aligned with fixed-line systems, such as call recording, will be available to mobile devices giving businesses greater control of their entire telephony network, regardless of the device.
With this, you will be able to record inbound or outbound calls for compliance, customer service or audit purposes. This feature allows secure online access to file storage and retrieval of call details. This means that financial organisations can comply with FCA’s regulations, no matter where your employees are.
It is hugely important that businesses partner with providers, like Ethos, to get ahead of the competition. Indeed, there are powerful developments in mobile already coming to the market that can deliver huge benefits to financial organisations. Multi-Net and Converged mobile telephony will build on these capabilities and drive businesses into the future. Companies that engage with the providers, like Ethos, looking to offer these solutions will be best placed to reap the rewards of game-changing technological advancement.
Want to find out more? Join Ethos at St. George’s Park, Burton-upon-Trent on Thursday 11th May, 10am-4pm.
Email marketing@ethos.co.uk to register.
