Ice Communications was founded in 2008. Since its creation, Ice Communications has been focused on building and maintaining strong relationships with both customers and suppliers.

We always focus on service before sales and each member of our team is skilled, understanding and, perhaps most importantly, friendly!

Through our strong network, we’re able to offer exclusive rates on the latest communications solutions.

The latest news

Here you can find out all of the latest industry news. Click read more to discover what is going on in the telecommunications industry at the moment.

ISDN switch off and your business

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Is it finally time to invest in new smartphones?

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What’s a cloud-based phone system?

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What we’re up to

Below you can see our most recent blog posts, click read more to discover what we’ve been up to.

Refurbishing our offices

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An exceptional manager

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Ice comms awards 2021

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The post News appeared first on Ice Comms.

Is there a reason why this happening?  

In this way, the switch-off represents the next evolution in telecommunications technology. ISDN was introduced in the 1980s, enabling both voice and data services to be delivered simultaneously. As a result of the technology and services available at the time, it served its purpose very well and continued to do so for many years.  

Almost 40 years later, we are now well into the 21st century, and technology has advanced rapidly. As the digital world becomes more and more fast-paced and everything moves to the cloud, the old telephone solutions are falling behind.

How does this impact your business? 

More than 2 million UK businesses, mainly SMEs, could be affected by the switch-off. Businesses still using landline telephones and fax machines will be impacted by the switch-off significantly. There will be changes in how your staff communicates with clients, customers, partners, and vendors due to this situation, and you’ll have to determine how you’ll cope with those changes.

We strongly advise businesses to not wait until the last minute to make a change to all-digital communications such as cloud telephony or hosted PBX even though 2025 may seem like a long while off! 

 So, what’s the alternative? 

As a replacement for ISDN, VoIP can be a cost-effective option. With VoIP, you can work anywhere, regardless of whether you’re at home or at the office. VoIP allows you to call someone over an internet connection, on a cloud network, rather than a traditional phone line. 

Steve is our VoIp specialist here at Ice, below are his top benefits of VoIP!

Businesses that switch to VoIP, have a wide range of benefits, as long as you have a stable internet connection. You’ll have more flexibility and scalability since you’ll be able to add and delete users as needed, and you’ll be able to work from anywhere because you’ll be able to make calls from your phone. VoIP is also a cost-effective and portable solution — VoIP is typically far less expensive than ISDN lines. Additionally, because VoIP is cloud-based, you won’t have to worry about any ongoing maintenance expenditures.

1. Cost Saving – A Voip system uses an internet connection to make calls instead of traditional lines. This is significantly cheaper and typically includes all uk landline and mobile calls.
2. Rich Features – As standard, such as call recording ,video conferencing, which you would normally have to pay additional on a phone system.
3. Scalability – With VoIP you can easily add or remove lines and users.
4.  Mobility – You can log into the voip account whilst away from the office from other devices, mobile, laptops etc, without the need of costly 3rd party systems.
5. Integration – Because Voip calls are internet based, hosted Voip are easy to integrate with other business applications.

Is VoIP any better than ISDN?

The shift to all-digital isn’t solely due to the outdated nature of existing phone infrastructure. The truth is that all-digital communication is far superior. Plus, even at the most basic level, you’ll be able to make and receive calls with the same numbers on any device, from anywhere.

For communication and collaboration, you can seamlessly link your business systems and apps with video chat and calls, bringing you closer to your customers and team members. You can also access company work at any time and from any location with cloud-based technologies.

When you consider the decreased costs that IP technology can bring, it’s clear that you should get moving and go digital as soon as possible.

Need help making the switch?

We’re already helping lots of UK businesses transition from ISDN systems to our cloud-hosted phone system. If you need help making the switch, give us a call! 0333 202 5000.

The post The ISDN switch off. How does it affect your business? appeared first on Ice Comms.

Just to name a few that Ice has won, because who are we not to brag about these!

1000 Financial Times Europe’s fastest-growing companies 2022
The UK’s top 100 mid-size best companies to work for 2021
The North Wests Best 100 Companys to work for 2021
Telecoms 10 best companies to work for 2021
Comms Business Diversity in the workplace award 2021

The post We’re award-winning! appeared first on Ice Comms.

At a certain point, the world will outgrow your business smartphone and it will no longer be so smart. You won’t be able to perform software updates on it or download new applications. The more sophisticated phones and apps get, the more storage they typically require. New operating systems and software updates can take up a significant chunk of space. A lack of storage space on your device will slow it down. Your smartphone battery should last you through a day of typical usage. Smartphone batteries lose capacity every time they are charged from zero to 100%. If your phone is dying more and more quickly after a full charge, it’s a sign your phone’s battery is on its last legs.

Smartphones are designed to make our lives simpler so if your smartphone is a constant source of stress and frustration because it is making life harder, it is time to upgrade. New models now have the ability to power share, greater storage capacity, screen sizes are considerably larger and with the introduction of 5G, internet and download speeds have increased on 5G ready devices. The new features have been designed specifically to enhance performance.

For security purposes, it is important to update your phone to the latest operating system available. Updates often fix flaws in older systems that leave your phone and data vulnerable to hackers and cyberattacks and are aimed at making the user experience better. A survey conducted by data security pioneer Varonis predicted that a business would fall victim to a ransomware attack every 14 seconds in 2019. Instead of procrastinating about software updates, see them as one of the most essential steps you can take when it comes to protecting your information. If your phone is unable to update to the latest operating system, it leaves business data and information open to hackers.

Ice Comms suggests upgrading whenever you can so you can make the most out of all the latest features, offers and stay connected with the times. Message us to see how we can help you upgrade. Sales@ice-comms.co.uk

The post Is it finally time to invest in new smartphones? appeared first on Ice Comms.

5G promises lightning-fast speeds and low latency. It’s effectively high-speed broadband with no cables – offering seamless, real-time connectivity.

As 5G becomes more common, we will increasingly begin to expect the same experience at home, in the workplace, and when we’re out and about. Here’s why we believe 2021 is the year 5G finally lives up to its promise.

The growth in the number of people working from home during the pandemic, combined with homeschooling, has created a situation where a lot more traffic is being generated and demand for a better network experience. Even when things go back to some kind of normal, it’s widely expected that many businesses, having seen benefits in working from home, will continue to use the model – or perhaps a blend of home and workplace work.

5G is the answer to those strained home broadband connections. It has a bandwidth far higher than the networks which came before it, meaning more data can be transferred between devices. Potentially, that means no more stuttering Zoom calls as everyone battles for network space.

It also means teams can upload and download larger amounts of content such as photos or videos and send them with ease – crucial as more and more businesses work in the cloud.

Because of how portable it is, 5G will bring connectivity to regions that have previously been poorly-served by broadband, helping to get businesses in those areas up to speed with remote working and digital transformation.

And if homeworking sticks around for a while longer, enhanced mobile broadband can introduce new possibilities for meetings in augmented and virtual reality – potentially enabling productive sessions using technology that helps you feel as though you’re all in the same room.

The post This is why 2021 will be the year of ultra fast 5G appeared first on Ice Comms.

However, this doesn’t mean that the landline is no more, far from it. It simply means that the magic of how phone calls are made will work a little differently behind the scenes. Some businesses are already preparing for this change by converting their phone systems to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). This means that their phone lines work using a reliable internet connection rather than a traditional landline.

These systems usually work by storing the network and routing elements somewhere in your own offices. Large reliable servers are needed with super-fast broadband that you better have backed up unless you want your communication nightmares to come true.

Businesses across the world become an instant search away, we cannot afford to lose customers over a poor connection. Rivals can be easily sought when such issues arise. Instant gratification is expected as standard, and people simply don’t have the patience for poor connections.

There are also start-ups and fully-fledged online empires nowadays that trade successfully without even having a real physical office. Nobody wants to plant a loud and large server farm in their home.

This is where a cloud-based phone system could be your saving grace as you transition into your VoIP solution.

Instead of the network components of the VoIP system being in your office or home they are hosted on a cloud by a dedicated provider. Your data is stored securely on high-tech servers that can be accessed via the internet. Your geographical location will have no bearing on call quality or system uptime as long as your internet connection is sufficient and if you have an unreliable internet connection, then give us a call!

A cloud system means that calls can be forwarded using switches to a phone number of your choice. This can be perfect when unexpected changes happen in your business. Say if somebody takes sick leave on a day that they are expected to be contacted by an important client, the forwarding number can be changed to another member of staff who is most qualified to deal with the query.

Taking your calls through a cloud-based phone system also means that if you had a phone network set up in an office, things will be easier when it comes to expansion or any other changes you would like to make. An old-school style landline system requires wires networked appropriately across the office so that calls make their way to the correct recipient. A cloud-based VoIP phone system is plug-and-play. Three words that make us smile, it doesn’t get any easier. If a new member of staff starts, just plug in a cloud-based phone into a normal Ethernet plug or just connect it to the WiFi. If you rent out another office in a new location, you won’t have to get an expensive quote for engineers to wire your offices for a new landline system.

A cloud-based phone system is just another one of the many ways that technology is making our lives a lot easier. With its fast setup and minimal maintenance requirements, cloud-based telephony also works out a lot cheaper for users.

Like any good technological solution, there are a plethora of extra options. You can keep things simple and just carry on as if you were using a standard landline, and that’s fine. Or you could try out additional features such as call recording, multiple voicemail inboxes, remote use on mobiles and a whole load more.

Things have changed and now is a good time to get your head in the clouds! Contact Ice comms today for further information on a cloud-based phone system for your business.

The post What’s a cloud-based phone system? appeared first on Ice Comms.

We have achieved the following:

• Ice Comms are proud to be a Living Wage employer
• We have won DWS Top Partner Performance 2020 Award
• We have been awarded the Best Company 1 Star Award
• We are also compliant with ISO 9001:2015
  

  

  

The post Ice Comms Are Winning Awards appeared first on Ice Comms.

This year we have given out 4 awards for the following categories:

Top Earner, Most Revenue Generated, Year on Year growth, The Operator

The ceremony for 2020 was hosted by James Taylor, the Managing Director of Ice Comms, via Zoom. Due to the way things are in early 2021, the ceremony had to be done online with over 100 members of staff joining the call to celebrate all of the winners. This brings us to the winners.

Top Earner – Danny Shelton

Most Revenue Generated – Jake Jones 

Year on Year Growth – Danny Shelton

The Operator – Robyn Saunders

A massive well done to the winners, but ICE is thankful to everyone. All of the Ice Comms staff pushed themself to be in the running for an award and it is this team spirit that helps make ICE the company it is today.

Robyn

Jake

The post Ice Comms Awards 2021 appeared first on Ice Comms.

“Matthew has so far displayed exceptional management and leadership skills leading the current account managers team over at Manchester. No matter the work load, day-in-day-out Matthew will always find time to ensure any issues or enquiries are dealt with in a time effective professional manor. He will also go above and beyond anything asked of him ensuring the working environment is a healthy and extremely proactive place to be. It is a pleasure to work under his management.”- Blake Williams

“Since coming to Ice Comms, Matt has helped me progress and improve so much he’s so motivating and is always there to help I honestly wouldn’t of come this far without him!!”- Hannah Stuart

“Since becoming Team Leader Matt has helped gel the group together and got the new starters up to speed in no time. He motivates the squad leading by example, giving the appropriate positive/negative feedback and helps communication between Account Managers and Closers. What a star!”
– Ash Hughes

“I am new to the business but since I have started Matt has been so helpful with everything and always has time for you. Sometimes I find it hard to stay motivated if I have a bad morning/afternoon but Matt always tells us how well we are doing which motivates us and you can tell he is really appreciative of our hard work. Overall, I really enjoy having Matt as my team leader as I feel very comfortable asking him for help or any questions I may have to ask him!” – Rachel Stuart

“Since starting at Ice, before Matthew was team leader, he was already happy to help me and made me feel more confident about the role. When he became team leader, he has shown his true passion for the role. He is always helping everyone out and lifting everyone’s spirit if we are having a down day. He keeps on top of our leads and calls. He always pulls us into a team meeting to tell us how we have been the day before and what he wants us to do to push ourselves. He challenges not just the staff but himself. He is really hard working and deserves all the credit.” – Chelsea Mawdsley

The post An Exceptional Manager appeared first on Ice Comms.

During the run up to the new year, we have been getting the Chester office updated. The new office has moved upstairs to a bigger office, but remains in Chester! We have tried to make this office fun and follow the new branding that is being rolled out, with neon signs and chill out spaces. We hope the team enjoy their new work space.

Wilmslow

Over the past few weeks, we have been getting the new Wilmslow office ready. The new office is to relocate the Manchester Office and we have tried to make this office fun and interesting with the design. We have added ping-pong, darts and table football for staff to use during breaks. We hope the team enjoy their new work space.

Crewe

We have started work on renovating the Crewe office. This brand new office space is going to help the business grow even more during 2021 and will allow us to set up teams and offices for more people. We plan on expanding the company even more so this space will soon be put to good use. This space is set to be ready sometime next month. An update will follow when completed.

Chester Office

Chester Office

Chester Office

Chester Office

Chester Office

Chester Office

Chester Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

Wilmslow Office

The post Refurbishing Our Offices appeared first on Ice Comms.