Fibre broadband telecommunications provider enters small business market with innovative Internet and multi-line telephone bundle: u-mee Business

u-mee have introduced a new fibre broadband product for local small businesses. Following significant investment and utilising latest Internet and telephony technologies, tried and tested with u-mee's residential services, this service is available immediately.

After revolutionising the local residential broadband market with Gibraltar's fastest speeds, included landline and next-generation TV services, the launch of 'u-mee Business' complements u-mee's suite of genuine fibre broadband products with a comprehensive, all-in-one bundle, specifically tailored to the requirements of the small business.

u-mee Business is the first all-inclusive telecoms solution to deliver all the connectivity and telephony components required by the typical owner-managed or SoHo (small office/home office) business, whilst also providing low-cost local and international calling rates and free calls to other u-mee or Sapphire subscribers (such as another branch of the same business with a u-mee service).

Costs and installation

u-mee Business is available now for £79/month and provides real fibre broadband with 100Mbps download speed and a boosted upload speed of 20Mbps, to facilitate faster and more reliable use of cloud services (including e-mail, application suites such as Microsoft Office365 and online accounting packages). All services are delivered using fibre-to-the-premises technology, a significant step up from inferior VDSL services.

The £225 setup fee includes a visit from u-mee's installation partner who can guide the customer through the process and advise on Wi-Fi requirements. The installation fee includes a £50 credit towards the customer's preferred Wi-Fi router -  as requirements vary, a fit-for-purpose solution can easily be installed at the outset or replaced at a later date as requirements or wireless technologies evolve. These customers might include coffee shops with multiple concurrent connections, those with larger premises that require more than one access point, or businesses whose users demand the fastest speeds to work with the latest computers, smartphones and tablets.

Customer premises equipment

Another benefit for local small businesses, whose previous options were mostly limited to rebranded residential technologies, is the included customer premises equipment (CPE) - this business router provides eight Gigabit Ethernet ports, facilitating connection of multiple computers, printers, Wi-Fi access points, etc.

A single static IP address is also included with the u-mee Business product - this feature is sometimes requested by customers with more sophisticated setups and is often an extra charge with other providers. Additionally, u-mee TV is available as an option for £25/month (additional set-top-box required - £85) to suit the requirements of office receptions, staff rooms, etc.

Telephony

The u-mee Business bundle comes with multi-line fixed telephones, with four separate landlines (at no additional cost). Existing numbers can easily be transferred from a current provider to u-mee, allowing the customer to benefit from significant savings on line rental(s). Customers will also benefit from low-cost calling rates for local and international calls, and those who currently make regular calls to international destinations using their traditional landline provider could potentially save the monthly cost of the u-mee Business bundle.

Multiple extension configurations are available to meet the different needs of a diverse range of businesses, catering for those with distinct receptionist, assistant/team member and manager roles. These determine how and to whom external calls are routed, and features such as call transfer and voicemail are also included.

Furthermore, u-mee's revolutionary smartphone app (Talk for iOS/Android) is available to business users for the first time - this allows any extension to be 'mirrored' on a smartphone to make and receive business calls anywhere with Wi-Fi/3G/4G* coverage, using landline rates (*data charges may apply). This could be whilst on the same business premises, at home or when travelling away from Gibraltar ... to all intents and purposes, it will appear that the user remains in Gibraltar, in fact. u-mee's low-cost tariff is substantially cheaper than comparable landlines and even better value when compared to mobile phone rates (which might additionally incur roaming charges and fees to receive calls when away from Gibraltar). This feature alone creates significant opportunities to improve flexible working practices, allowing team members to be reachable no matter whether they are working from home or on a business trip – the business owner can activate/deactivate the feature (to help manage costs) and the staff member can control whether or not he/she receives calls simply by deactivating the app.

Support

Standard online support is included with u-mee Business - however, for customers who require a guaranteed response time, a Premium Support option is available for £100/month, ensuring a call back within 15 minutes during business hours - visit website for details (u-mee.com/business-premium-support).

Summary

u-mee Business has been designed as a simple and efficient solution aimed at meeting the needs of most local small businesses, typically with up to 4 desk telephones, and u-mee expect to release more business products to suit other segments in future. u-mee Business is available at all locations with u-mee fibre availability including residential homes.

Companies with access to more expert IT staff and with more complex requirements (e.g. integration of a PBX system, requirement for VLAN connectivity between multiple sites, or demanding high-availability and security) may opt for 'Business Fibre' solutions from Sapphire Networks (u-mee's sister brand). These have proven to be extremely popular amongst larger local firms as they replicate many of the technologies and expertise applied by Sapphire in its enterprise-class solutions for international e-gaming and financial services operators, but at a lower cost.

Information

For more information on u-mee Business, please visit u-mee.com/business