Coventry Best 4 Business

Summary

The infrastructure is a state of the art combination of optical fibres, microwave/radio and associated transmission and routing equipment to provide a high quality, high capacity, robust and very secure business class broadband internet environment for BID clients. The service will be provided for the duration of the BID programme

Security is achieved via the specific allocation of fibres to the BID network, secure and specific static IP addressing topologies, central infrastructure firewalls, and virus and spam protection software. Clients are recommended to procure their own security software aswell to further protect their individual PC's/operating environment.

The service is based on a contention ratio of no more than 20:1 -  typical commercial packages are often based on a ratio of 50:1 (which can in fact be further deteriorated in an "open" network). This lower contention ratio means that BID clients download, upload and general internet useage capacity will be far more stable.

All equipment, including client premises equipment (eg: Transceivers and routers) will be installed by experienced engineers, ready for connection.

To get connected, all the client needs to do is to plug in their ethernet cable to their new router, call the number that will be shown on the router and they will be "enabled" !

Once their connection is enabled, and as part of the funded service, they can get access to:

Download speeds of up to 8 mbit/s, with a fair useage allowance policy

Performance in an "open" network is effected by quality and type of  infrastructure, and distances of the business from their local exchange. The BID Network is far less effected by this.

Useage will be monitored to ensure no detrimental impact to others on the network and may be capped accordingly !

Upload speeds of up to 2 mbit/s

This is the rate/speed at which information is uploaded to the internet for transmission. The service provided via the BID network is again relatively high (eg: typical BT Business Broadband Options provide upload speeds of less than 0.5 mbit/s), and because this is a dedicated network is less likely to be impacted by capacity sharing !

Outlook web access/browsing

Interface to common web browsers

Business email

10 email addresses with outlook web access/browsing

This allows clients to access email from any internet connection, and enables the creation of up to 10 email accounts for employees or to direct types of mail for example This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

NOTE: if a client has existing email accounts with other providers (eg: NTL, AOL, Tiscali etc) and they wish to transfer these to the new BT service, they would need to discuss directly with their existing provider and there could well be a charge from them to transfer !

Inbox (POP3/SMTP)

POP3 Protocol:

The POP (Post Office Protocol 3) protocol provides a simple, standardised way for users to access mailboxes and download messages to their computers.

When using the POP protocol all your eMail messages will be downloaded from the mail server to your local computer. You can choose to leave copies of your eMails on the server as well. The advantage is that once your messages are downloaded you can cut the internet connection and read your eMail at your leisure without incuring further communication costs. On the other hand you might have transferred a lot of message (including spam or viruses) in which you are not at all interested at this point.

SMTP Protocol:

The SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) protocol is used by the Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) to deliver your eMail to the recipient's mail server. The SMTP protocol can only be used to send emails, not to receive them.

Associated email tools, eg: Personal address book, personal folders, spell checking, out of office assistant, messaging rules, and BT voicemail forwarding.

Minimum of 50 mbit/s of mailbox allowance, plus 25mbit/s of space for email attachments.

BT Workspace Lite (storage space 10mbit/s, maximum of two consecutive projects at any point in time)  

This facility provides businesses one place to store documents, allowing  them to share information over the internet and work collaboratively with colleagues, customers and suppliers. Backed up daily and password protected, this secure space is ideal for eg: an intranet to store and control process and/or training documents, or as an extranet to work on projects with external partners.

This also includes other features such as discussion boards and sales opportunity tracking!

24/7 Support

Freephone access to BT's UK business broadband helpdesk for help with technical and/or connection issues.

Website review

A free 15 minute appraisal of the clients current website with suggestions as to how to improve the look and feel with a view to driving up traffic to the site.

Instructions in respect of accessing services will be included on the Coventry Best for Business website, www.coventryb4b.co.uk

Additional services can be made available subject to separate discussions and negotiations. Examples are included on the Coventry Best for Business website www.coventryb4b.co.uk