Posted on: 4th September 2024, by Magrathea
Good morning and welcome to the September newsletter, combining news from Magrathea and around the industry.
What’s included
- Fax support update
- Broadband update
- Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
- Service Spotlight: Back up switch feature
- One Touch Switch – go live this month!
- Ofcom call for input: Mobile number spoofing and reducing mobile messaging scams
- Ofcom consultation: Global Titles
- Ofcom’s mobile roaming rules come into force soon
- Article: Closing the loophole on scam callers
- Events: CCUK Awards and ISPA Awards
Fax support update
With fax no longer being a universal service obligation on BT and the very clear decline of fax usage, it’s no surprise that support throughout the UK carrier network is slipping away.
And whilst we have many fax calls transiting our network without difficulty, we also have just as many that are problematic due to the diversity of routing and lack of support across the wider carrier network. Understandably our clients often think that using the T38 SIP protocol will smooth out these challenges but in our experience, apart from in a number of specific scenarios in which we can control the call path, it’s not foolproof.
Unfortunately, the time it takes our team to manage a fax related fault, which always requires input from other parties, is becoming unsustainable and therefore we are urging our clients to encourage their users to find alternatives to this method of comms. We will continue to triage fault reports as usual, but we have asked our team to limit the effort they put into fax related issues to those that are within our control in order to make the time invested reasonable for this legacy service.
Broadband update
First of all a reminder that the Ofcom changes published in this statement come into effect this month. From the 16th providers of broadband must follow new guidance which ensures services are described in a clear and unambiguous way. For example, the use of the word ‘fibre’ on its own to describe the underlying technology is considered ambiguous – you must give a more detailed explanation to users.
We would also like to remind clients that any broadband order placed through us for business premises must be submitted as a Premium order type, this will ensure sufficient time is assigned to the installation and a greater cabling distance is automatically provided for. Any orders for business premises submitted as basic will automatically be rejected.
And finally a reminder that we cannot process orders for ‘Hot Sites’ currently. You may not be aware that a site falls into this category until we attempt to place an order, but again, any attempt will be rejected. Please refer to our Broadband User Guide for more information on these various services.
Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
If you or your customer make sales or marketing calls within the UK you are required to check the TPS database so you do not contact any member of the public who has registered there (unless they have specifically given permission to do so).
Magrathea are now able to help our clients meet their obligations by applying a block, real time, on any call attempt to a number on the TPS list.
For a much lower charge than getting a full TPS licence we will manage the call blocking, database updates and reporting requirements for you. If this service is of interest please do get in touch and meanwhile you can learn more here: https://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/telephone-preference-service/
Service Spotlight: Backup Switch
Magrathea’s ‘Backup Switch’ tool is designed to give you control over basic SIP to SIP failover routing. In the event of a full outage across your primary call handling servers, you can use a single command via our MAGIC Portal to instantly switch all of your numbers to a secondary SIP address.
Similar to our SIP Resilience product but this allows you to manually override the routing rather than rely on specific failure codes triggering a diversion. The tool is also useful for disaster recovery testing.
If you would like to learn more about this tool please contact our team. A small administration charge will be applied for setup.
One Touch Switch (OTS) – Go live 12th September 2024!
The OTS process will be mandatory for all residential switches in just over a week! Remember this applies to any provider offering a broadband or phone number service to a residential user. If this applies to you and you are not ready, please contact TOTSCo as a matter of priority.
Meanwhile here at Magrathea we are working on incorporating the new number porting process, known as OTS Porting, industry are still putting the final touches to the plan and we hope to have some news in the coming weeks as we understand that supporting OTS is only really useful if the service switching part takes place quickly and smoothly in the background.
The path for business providers is not yet so clear but we will keep you updated as things progress. Meanwhile, you can see our simple guide here.
Ofcom Call for Input: Options to address mobile spoofing
This topic has been at the top of the agenda for the NICC CLI Task Group for a while now. They have been trying to work out the best way to introduce call blocking when a UK mobile CLI is presented on a call originated overseas, but of course there are many legitimate calls that would also be blocked – when a user is roaming overseas. No conclusion has yet been reached but a number of options are being assessed.
It is generally accepted that with geographic CLI being limited now, and more improvements to come, even more scam calls will move to presenting mobile CLI so this is another loophole that has to be filled.
There are two types of options being assessed, the first involves the provider who brings the call into the UK doing checks to see if it’s a roaming user. The second type sees the international gateway identifying the call and modifying associated data before forwarding to the home network for validation.
Ofcom would you like your views by 3rd September and will decide if they need to consult based on responses received. We can expect a consultation in the Spring of 2025. The Call for Input can be read in full here.
Ofcom Call for Input: Reducing mobile messaging scams
The second Call for Input looks at SMS and RCS messaging, another common conduit for scam communications. Ofcom are seeking feedback on existing measures as well as input on where further measures could have the greatest effect. They would like your responses by 7th October and the full document can be found here.
Ofcom Consultation: Global Titles and Mobile Network Security
Global Titles are used to send and receive signals that help locate and connect mobile phone users to networks and to one another, they can be misused to intercept calls and messages or cause network disruption so Ofcom want greater controls over who they are assigned to. Ofcom propose banning the leasing of Global Titles to third parties or sub-allocatees. If this topic is of interest to you please view the full document here. The consultation closes 15th October 2024.
Ofcom’s Mobile Roaming Rules
This is a reminder that from 1st October the latest Ofcom rules around mobile roaming come into effect. This means that providers need to alert customers that they are roaming, help them understand the charges and enable them to set spend limits. If you need a reminder of the final rules they can be found here.
Article: Closing the loophole on scam calls
Relating to the latest Ofcom statements and Call for Inputs, we provide a summary and a few opinions in this article. If you would like to discuss any of these issues with us please do get in touch with our support team who will set up a call with an appropriate contact for you.
Sponsored events and other outings
As a longstanding primary sponsor of the CCUK Awards, taking place this year on 26th September, we are always excited to make the most of this event. Quite a few of our team will be present this year and look forward to catching up with many of our clients and perhaps meeting some potential new ones!
Meanwhile, we are also planning our evening at the ISPA Awards, where we sponsor the Best Voice Provider category. We have a couple of spare tickets so if you would like to join us for dinner and dancing (ok, the dancing is optional) on Thursday 21st November in Whitehall, please get in touch. With limited spaces we will manage on first come first served basis.
Some of our team will also be heading to Connected Britain next week, if you are going and would like a quick coffee with Linda or Hayley, drop them an email to sales@magrathea-telecom.co.uk. You will also find them supporting the CCUK Women in Telecoms panel session on the Thursday afternoon.
What’s on our minds…
Sara joined us just as the previous newsletter was coming out so we would love to introduce her properly.
Sara has taken on a part time role here at Magrathea, supporting our business development team and taking care of all things marketing. Sara has extensive marketing experience and promises to work on all the areas where we are weakest, this will be quite the journey for us!
Sara’s decision to step away from life in large corporations and join a much smaller company, was a very conscious one. As well as being able to reduce her days she is excited about being able to make such a big impact. She is new to the industry but not to the tech space so we are excited to introduce her to the wonderful world of Telecoms. You can meet Sara and the rest of our business development team at the various events we support throughout the year.
As always here at Magrathea we appreciate your comments and feedback, if there is anything you would like to contact us about, or you would like to opt out of receiving future newsletters, please email info@magrathea-telecom.co.uk
Kind regards
Client Focus Team, Magrathea
The information contained in this guidance is for your information only and is not intended to be relied on. It does not constitute legal professional advice, nor is it a substitute for you obtaining your own legal professional advice. Magrathea accepts no liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or statements in this guidance or for any loss which may arise from your use of this guidance