NBN HFC NTD
/ By innoTel / Uncategorised/ 0 Comments

NBN moving to Self Install for HFC connections

From the 1st of July 2017, nbnCotm have made changes to their installation policy for nbntm Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) cable connections, notably introducing Self Install for HFC connections.

These changes affect customers who have previously had a Telstra® or Foxtel® cable service installed at their premises, the cable from the utility pole to the wall plate is to known to be in good working condition and is connected to a wall-plate with the customer’s premises (otherwise known as Service Class 23).

Self Install for HFC connections

If this best describes your premise, then it’s likely this change affects you. But it’s not all bad!

Essentially, if you are one of these customers, nbntm’s policy is to now send the nbntm equipment, known as a Network Termination Unit (NTU) directly to the customer for Self-Installation, rather than sending out an nbntm installer to connect the NTU to the wall plate. These NTU’s are essentially cable modems (pictured right), which are relatively easy to install.

 

Why did nbncotm make the change?

There are plenty of reasons why nbntm might have made the change, but we don’t see it as a bad thing for customers; in fact quite the opposite.

While the downside is that you’ll have to install the NTU yourself, which isn’t that difficult, the change should result in customers getting connected to the nbntm in a quicker time frame as they don’t need to schedule a site visit from an nbntm installer, which can cause delays in areas where there is a limited installer work-force, or there is a back log of installations.

 

Can I request an nbntm installer to come out an install the NTU for me?

Yes, you can. However, there is a fee attached to this. As at July 2017, the fee was $300 which is billed to you through your broadband provider. Needless to say, the Self Install for HFC connections option is a far cheaper than a professional installation

Needless to say, the Self Install for HFC connections option is a far cheaper than a professional installation.

 

What alternatives do I have?

If you’re located in Melbourne, innoTel can perform the installation for you at no cost, which includes setting up your modem/router and connecting it to your network. If you’re not located in Melbourne, we can arrange for one of our contractors to visit you on-site and install the nbntm hardware, which does incur a charge.

If you have an I.T. person that looks after your network, they may be able to assist.

However, it’s really not that difficult to do and it’s as easy as plugging in a broadband modem, which you may have done a few times before. If you’re keen to give it a go, check out our nbntm HFC Self Install Guide which walks you through the Self Install for HFC connections process.

Looking for a small business NBN provider? Speak to us today!

 

nbntm, Telstra® or Foxtel® are registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Connecting to the NBN
/ By innoTel / National Broadband Network/ 0 Comments

The NBN installation Part 2: On installation day

Many of our customers ask us what they should expect with the nbntm installation process and while it differs for a lot of customers, we’ve come up with a series of posts to give you some insight on the process and what to expect. Check out part 1, or read on for part 2

In our previous post, The NBN installation Part 1: Prior to installation day, we gave you an overview of what will happen leading up to the day of installation. The installation day has arrived, and the following is what you can expect:

The technician will arrive during the timeframe you were provided after submitting your order. As we mentioned in part 1, technicians may not call prior to their arrival or to let you know roughly what time they’ll arrive so expect them to arrive within the time-frame window.

 

When the technician arrives

As with any contractor that arrives to perform work at your premise, you should request to see their identification. They should also walk you through what may be required for the installation.

At this point, you can discuss with the technician the preferred location of any equipment related to the nbntm installation. Keep in mind, if your chosen location results in what is called a ‘Complex Installation’, the technician will provide a quote to you for the additional costs incurred outside of a standard installation.

 

What will the technician will do on the day?

What the work the technician performs on the day depends on the technology type that nbntm have rolled out in your area and ‘Service Class’ of you premises (the current ‘nbntm’ status of your premises).

Depending on the ‘Service Class’ of your premises, they may;

  • install a ‘lead-in’ cable from the communications pit or utility pole outside your premise;
  • install a Fixed Wireless Antenna to the outside of your premise; or
  • install a Network Termination Unit (NTU) inside your premises.

During this process, the installer may need to make modifications to your premise, including fixing the required hardware to the interior and exterior.

Most nbntm technicians will install your modem/router for you; however some may leave this for you to do yourself. We provide instructions on how to install our modems with all nbntm technology types making it simple for you.

In addition, the technician should clean up after installation and they may show you the work that has been completed.

 

Can I specify the location of my NBN equipment?

When the nbntm technician arrives, you should discuss with them the most appropriate location for any nbntm equipment, which may include a Network Termination Unit (NTU), Wall Plate or both.

 

What happens if there is an issue on the day?

If the technician comes across an issue when attempting to connect the nbntm to your premise, they may need to request to reschedule a connection date & time. They won’t do this with you directly instead, they’ll notify nbncotm of the issue so they can reschedule with us. We will then communicate the new date and time to you.

Men pulling fibre through pits
/ By innoTel / National Broadband Network/ 0 Comments

The NBN installation Part 1: Prior to installation day

Many of our customers ask us what they should expect with the nbntm installation process and while it differs for a lot of customers, we’ve come up with a 2 post series to give you some insight on the process and what to expect. Here’s part 1.

So you’ve ordered your nbntm connection and it’s the day of installation – what should you expect to happen?

Well, let’s first look at whether someone is required to come out and install an nbntm connection for you.

Do I need a technician to come to my premises?

If your premises has had an nbntm connection in the past, you have previously had a Telstra Cable or Foxtel delivered by cable (in the case of HFC technology areas) or your area is using Fibre to the Node technology, then its highly likely an nbntm technician is not required to attend your premises. More about that in a later post.

If you’ve not had nbntm connected previously or never had a Telstra Cable or Foxtel delivered by cable before, then in most cases you’ll need to have a technician come to your premise.

There are some exceptions; however we’ve covered roughly 95% of cases above.

If you’re still reading on, then it means you most likely need a technician to come out and perform some level of work.

Pre-order

When you order an nbntm broadband service through innoTel, we can tell you whether an installer needs to attend your premises. Each premise is categorised into a set of ‘Service Classes’ denoting the status of your premises and from that, we can determine what’s required.

Post-order

Once you’ve submitted your order to innoTel, we’ll lodge your order with nbncotm and await their response of a next available installation date and time. Once we have this information, we will notify you of these details.

In addition to the installation date, the time provided will be a timeframe of when to expect the nbntm technician to arrive. This will generally be either 9am-12pm or 1pm-5pm.

Keep in mind that technician may no call prior to their arrival or to let you know roughly what time they’ll arrive, so we always recommend being available for the whole day in case they arrive early or late.

The timeframe is also not indicative of how long the installation will take. Each premise is different and some may require more or less work to be performed.

Leading up to the installation day

In the lead up to the installation day, it’s best to get yourself organised. The specific things you’ll need are:

Modem/Router;

When you submitted your innoTel nbntm order, if you purchased an nbn modem/router through us we will ensure this arrives to you as close to the nbntm install date as possible. If you have elected to provide your own modem/router, you’ll need to ensure this is purchased, configured and ready at your premises for installation day.

Access to your premises;

Sounds pretty straight forward; however if you’re in a building complex you may need to arrange access to areas like a communications cabinet or Multi-Distribution Frame (MDF), which are typically located on the ground floor or in the building’s basement.

A spare power source;

A spare 240v general purpose outlet (GPO / Standard power socket) will be required which will be used for the nbntm Network Termination Unit.

In addition to the above, someone over the age of 18 must be present at all times during the installation.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2: On installation day

/ By innoTel / Business Continuity • Security/ 0 Comments

National Privacy Week 2017

Did you know it was National Privacy Week 2017 this week?

In the wake of a few large businesses experiencing privacy breaches over the last few years, people are more concerned about privacy these days than they ever have been.

Check out the Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey results in info-graphic form from the OAIC.

According to the OAIC survey results, 58% of people decided not to do deal with some businesses because of security concerns.

As a business, how are you making sure you customer’s private data is sensitive?

Do your customers expect that their private information is secure?

Do you or your customers place any emphasis on privacy when dealing with each other?

A great tool for your business could be the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) eLearning program, which allows you to conduct your own privacy assessment and understand privacy risks and the strategies you could develop to help address the risks.

Take a look at the Privacy Awareness Week 2017 website hosted by the Office of the Australian Information Commission to see how your business can become more ‘Privacy Aware’.

/ By innoTel / innoTel News/ 0 Comments

nbn HFC for small business now available through InnoTel

Melbourne, Australia — May 12, 2017 – innoTel today announced that it is now offering nbntm HFC connections to Australian Small Businesses.

InnoTel announced today that HFC broadband connect for small business was now available to order for premises that are Ready for Service on the National Broadband Network. nbntm expects that nearly 1 Million premises will be Ready for Service by June 2017, giving the network a huge boost in premises-passed and customers the benefit of connecting to super-fast broadband. Over time the nbntm HFC network is expected to service 2 Million premises Australia-wide, making up 25% of the overall nbntm connections.

HFC, or otherwise known as ‘Hybrid Fibre Coaxial’ or simply ‘Cable’ is one of the technologies previously deployed by Pay TV operators in Australia to distribute TV signals and Broadband services, with most of the cable having been rolled-out in metropolitan areas across Australia.

innoTel Managing Director, Andrew Sims,  said “Small Businesses will benefit greatly with the ability to access speeds of up to 100Mbps down and 40Mpbs up; over four times faster than the current ADSL2+ connections most small businesses we see are using today.”

innoTel will offer the most popular nbntm broadband speeds of 25Mbps / 5Mbps and 100Mbps / 40Mpbs. All innoTel nbntm connections  come with a static IP address.

“Adding HFC as an nbntm  connection quickly expands our nbntm  footprint and allows a lot more small businesses to take advantage of our great business pricing and our 100% Australian based staff guarantee. Access to nbntm HFC also compliments our VoIP services, particularly our Hosted PBX product. With most ADSL2+ connections,  it is difficult to run more than a handful of concurrent calls over VoIP and this opens that right up for more customers.” Sims added.

The addition of nbntm HFC for small business compliments other NBN technologies that innoTel currently offers including FTTP, FTTN, FTTB and Fixed Wireless.

See if your premise is nbntm ready with our nbntm service availability checker.

View our nbntm small business plans and pricing.

 

What is HFC?

This short video from nbntm gives an overview of HFC:

About innoTel: innoTel Pty Ltd is a leading small business telecommunications provider offering a comprehensive range of broadband, voice, data and cloud products and services in Australia. innoTel offers nationwide coverage through its partners and operates its own VoIP network deployed in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.  Focused on providing solutions to Australian small businesses, each innoTel customer deployment is custom built for purpose and aims to lower operating costs, provide productivity gains and  achieve high reliability. innoTel news and information are available at the company’s web site at www.innotel.com.au.

 

/ By innoTel / Telephone/ 0 Comments

6 Business Phone Features you should know about

If you’ve run a small business and only ever had one or two phone lines, then you might not be aware of some of the Business Phone Features available on innoTel’s Hosted PBX phone service.

Business Phone Features

To know which Business Phone Features are right for your business, you first need to know what features are available and how they might help you communicate better with your customers. The following isn’t a comprehensive list, but we find that the following features are often overlooked by small businesses, either because they didn’t know they existed, or they thought these Business Phone Features were strictly for larger businesses.

 

Out of Hours / Time

What happens to calls that come in after you’ve left for the day? Do they simply ring out? Do they go to your voicemail?

With the Out of Hours feature, you can choose what happens to those calls and when it happens.

For example;

  • During opening hours between 9am and 5pm, you want calls to ring on your phone as normal.
  • Between 5pm and 8pm and on Saturdays between 9am and 5pmm you’re happy to take calls but would like them diverted to your mobile
  • And all other times you’d rather those calls go to voicemail so you can deal with them later.

That and more is all possible with our Out of Hours feature. You can set as many time conditions as you like to suit the way you run your business.

Voicemail to Email

Want more control over your voicemail? Our Voicemail to Email feature quickly delivers any Voicemail as a recording attached to an email to your nominated email address. The email will also contain the date and time of the call, along with the callers number (if available).

Ring Groups

Do you have more than one phone in your office? Want multiple phones to ring based on the number you customer has called?

For example;

Mary runs her boutique recruitment business and has 3 other employees, each with a desk phone. Mary wants each of her employees to have their own phone number, but also wants all of the phones in the office to ring when an incoming call comes into the main reception number.

With Ring Groups, that’s simple! You can setup as many ring groups as you like and you can also choose between whether the phones ring all at once, or whether it rings Mary’s phone first, then Jane’s phone, then Emily’s and so-on in a round robin way until someone picks up the call.

Ring Groups are often used when a full Queue isn’t required and there aren’t a lot of incoming calls.

Call Block

Being harassed by particular callers? As long as their caller ID is available, you can block specific phone numbers and not ever have to hear from them again!

Call Queues & IVRs

Call Queues are the next step up from Ring Groups where there is a higher number of incoming calls. Calls wait in the queue until an agent or employee is available and then the call is delivered to that agent. While the caller waits in the queue, music on hold is played along with any advertising you would like to add in to the mix.

IVRs

Interactive Voice Response, or IVR for short are those menus you hear when you dial the phone numbers of utilities, banks etc. You know, the ones that ask you to press ‘1’ for sales, ‘2’ for customer service and so-on.

IVRs are great for businesses that have departments and want to ensure the customer gets to the right people and department as quickly as possible. IVRs are usually coupled with Queues and Music on Hold for a complete solution to ensure customer enquiries are handed promptly.

 

This is just a very small sample! There are many more Business Phone Features that come with our Hosted PBX phone service