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The withdrawal of legacy PSTN copper phone lines in the UK is underway, and due to complete by 2025.  Part of this plan requires moving broadband customers to a new type of connection that we call SOGEA.

If you weren't already aware, this is the biggest change to billing that Microsoft have introduced in the history of their 365 product, and the first time they have ever increased the price.

Chances are, if you use any web-based software in the course of your work, you will have heard about something called the "Apache Log4j2" vulnerability, and like most people, you're probably a bit confused about what it means and what you need to do.

In our capacity as a telecoms provider, Computercentric are heavily reliant on Openreach for support and deployment of telephone line and internet services.  Line most businesses during these unpredictable times, Openreach has had to quickly adapt to the changing situation, and this document highlights the disruption and changes which may affect our clients.

gdpr compliance gdpr for business gdpr technology email encryption

We had a great response from attendees to our GDPR information day, in partnership with Andrew Dent of EU GDPR.

eBay bad buyer i hate eBay

As a provider of IT hardware, we frequently have lots of old tech equipment come through our hands. Sometimes we refurbish it and sell it, sometimes we give it away to local charitable organisations, and sometimes, especially if it's only good for spare parts, we'll sell it on our eBay shop. The following is my account of dealing with an eBay buyer who I will politely refer to as a 1st class numpty.

More and more home tech is networkable, games consoles, TVs, audio equipment, and computers of course. This week we look at the options available to connect it all together.

Read our statement on the COVID-19 / Coronavirus outbreak.

wcry wannacry ransomeware virus

As you may be aware, a widespread ransomware campaign is affecting various organisations worldwide, with reports of hundreds of thousands of infections in as many as 74 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, Taiwan, France, and Japan. The software can run in as many as 27 different languages.

office licence windows licence

If you're in the market for a new PC, or you've just bought one, making sure your computer comes with the correct licences can be a bit confusing.  We boil it down to the key information you need to know if you're buying computers for your small business.

mac vs pc

OK - so in recent months I have made a fulltime jump from PC to Mac. I have leant a lot from this experience, and I'm sharing some of the highs and lows here.

windows 7 server 2008 end of life

So you've left it to the last minute!  You know Windows 7 is being retired, but you've done nothing about it, and you want to know what your options are, well you're in the right place.

We often pick up customers after they have had a bad experience with one of the larger national (or regional) IT support companies, and the complaints are always the same, so let me share them with you.

The National Apprenticeship Service chose to use Computercentric for their latest case study.

hyper-v vmware server virtualisation

Virtualisation is one of the current buzzwords in the IT world.  It is important that decision makers understand the basics of what virtualisation means to them, if only to prevent me having to explain it to every customer for whom we are quoting a server!

We've produced this white paper as a tool for our customers or visitors to our web site to help you understand and deal with the cyber threats that businesses currently face.

I know the title sounds boring, but if you're responsible for the IT in your business, read on, it will save you money.

This month we look at the options available to businesses who either can't get decent broadband, or just want a faster connection!  We put the spotlight on our Bonded Broadband product which allows businesses to get faster internet connectivity, without it costing the Earth.

dual monitor multi monitor

Even for basic administrative tasks, it has repeatedly been shown by lots of studies over recent years, that computer users with two or even three monitors are more productive than users with a single monitor.

We get this question almost every month, so here is the answer!

For the 2nd year running, we are really chuffed to have been voted as the best IT service provider in the UK.

This week, we cover Google Analytics - a completely free tool that will give you visibility into who uses your website, how they use it, and where they come from.

Much confusion surrounds the pros and cons of hosted or cloud-based telephone systems. We try and boil it down here.

The increase in cyber-attacks on regular, small / medium sized businesses in the last 18 months has been alarming.  Here are the most common attacks we see, and hope you don't have to.

i hate sage accounts alternatives to sage quickbooks online quickbooks review

So, as I write this, Computercentric are now two months into our transition to QuickBooks Online, Intuit's accounts software for small & medium sized business, and I thought it was about time we shared our experiences, to help you to make your mind up, and also, selfishly, in the hope that QuickBooks developers spot this and pull their collective fingers out of their collective arses to make a superb piece of software even better.

We're all pretty well clued up about computer security, certainly a lot more than we used to be. However many of us are still lazy when it comes to our own personal data security.

Whenever we submit a quote for a bespoke software project, we're often met with surprise that the price is lower than they had expected.

2020 is fast approaching, make sure you have plans to move away from Windows 7 in time.

At Computercentric we offer so many services, it can sometimes be confusing to know how and where we can fit into your business and make things easier for you.  Here are my top ten tips, and ways that we can help you to make life easier, more productive, and save you money.

do I need a server

This week, we take a look at the server. When is the time to get one? What does it actually do for you, and can you manage without one?

As the price of SSDs continues to drop, and capacity continues to increase, we show you what you need to know to make an informed choice when buying a new PC or laptop.

An actual sample of data from a bespoke application we're working on for a client.

facebook wifi facebook

Do you allow visitors and guests to use your internet connection? Unless you're one of those miserly hotels that thinks it's OK to charge £20 for an hour of internet access at a speed that was slow in 1996, then you are probably giving it away for free. So why not leverage your WiFi and get your customers to do some social advertising for you? Click to read more about how you can get your own WiFi Hotspot using Facebook WiFi from Computercentric.

For those that were unable to attend, here's the full course content from our Social Media course in collaboration with Coffee Black. Feel free to use and distribute! Click to download.

I have lost track of how may times we have gone to visit a prospective client, and discovered that their existing backup routing is either non-existent, or not working. For the sake a few hundred pounds, you can safeguard your business against the catastrophe associated with data loss.

Email spoofing, where emails arrive in someone's mailbox, appearing to have come from you is almost always out of your control, here's why...

In the latest news from Ofcom, BT are ranked as the most complained-about broadband provider in the UK. For anyone who has experienced BT customer service, this may not surprise you, but what continues to surprise me is how many businesses still think that the best place to get your phone lines and broadband from is BT! We look at some of the reasons why you should consider getting your mission-critical communications services from anyone other than the major providers.

If only 'cause i'm fed up of seeing it in my Facebook timeline, (and to help you avoid embarrassing yourself), here is a warning about some dodgy scam links that are doing the rounds on Facebook at the moment.

At a recent network meeting - I heard two people independently complaining about using Sage in their business. This prompted me to write this post, in the hope that it might give other Sage users some hope!

Computercentric don't offer unlimited call plans for a fixed fee, because they almost always end up costing you more money. Here's how...

We're honored to have been recognised as the most loved Computer Services and IT Support Business in the UK, by our own customers and members of "thebestof" website.

We need to use databases because we have a very short memory and we are bad with maths! Because we live in a world sitting on a pile of papers & paperwork, it is almost impossible for us to reconstruct what we did before, yesterday, last week or last year. Trouble is, most times, we must know not only what we did, but what others did - our colleagues, business partners, anyone...  Enter the world of the business database.

Fed up with slow "up to 8MB" broadband? You might be in luck, and you might be able to get super-fast fibre-optic broadband.

hacking phishing spear phishing pdq fraud viruses malware fraud

As technology improves and provides solutions to restrict traditional widespread and distributed email or web-based viruses or "phishing" attempts, Computercentric are seeing a worrying trend towards targeted and well-coordinated attempts to defraud our customers and separate them from their cash.  In the last 2 months, we seen more of these targeting hacking attempts that we have ever seen in our 10+ years in business, with one client losing over £200,000.  Read on to find out more, and how you can protect your business.

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