Tony's Tech Tips

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Adaptive & Windows 10

How are you finding Windows 10?

The support & development team have begun testing Adaptive with great results so far.

If you've upgraded any of your Adaptive hardware to Windows 10, please get in touch.

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New Microsoft Patch Fixes Critical Bug

Whilst most of us are waiting patiently for the impeding release of Windows 10, it appears Microsoft are busy fixing other problems.

Microsoft said the vulnerability was so severe that it needed to release a patch outside its usual monthly security update.

Security researchers from Google were among the experts who helped uncover the loophole.

The vulnerability was found in the parts of Windows that let the software handle some types of fonts. If exploited, the bug would let attackers take over a target machine and run their own software on it.

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New Adaptive Call Recorders

In addition to the new version of the Adaptive Suite, we are pleased to announce a change in hardware for call recording.

Rather than a PCI-e license holder we are now shipping this tiny USB dongle! For more details please get in touch.

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Adaptive Talking Heads: Lewis

Lewis has been here for a few months now so we thought it was time we found a little bit more about him. Have a look at the video above.

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Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Launch Date

It’s official: Windows 10 will be arriving on July 29th as a free upgrade to any Windows 7 and 8.1 users – you should begin to see an small Windows icon on your task bar.

Clicking it details the upgrade process and even allows you to reserve your free upgrade. The new version looks similar to Windows 8 but also has some big changes – the biggest of which is the removal of Internet Explorer and the introduction of Microsoft Edge.

Interestingly, Taiwanese firm has gone one step further and invented a tiny computer able to run Windows 10. When we say tiny, we mean it – it’s the size of a plug, and fits directly into a power socket. As per usual, technology never ceases to astound me!

For users of Adaptive, we’re not quite sure how this is going to affect Adaptive – but we will be keeping you updated in the coming weeks.

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Engage with OFCOM

OFCOM are currently running a survey regarding outbound call centres.

Ofcom is currently developing its approach to tackling nuisance calls by reviewing whether the policy it uses to protect consumers could be improved – particularly in the area of silent and abandoned calls. As part of this, Ofcom is now running an anonymous survey of the contact centre industry to establish:

the key drivers of silent or abandoned calls;

whether any changes to Ofcom’s policy may help reduce the likelihood of silent or abandoned calls being made and, the level of harm they cause;

the costs and benefits to businesses of complying with Ofcom’s regulatory policy;

other industry developments which may be relevant to Ofcom’s work.

You can find the survey here - http://fluidsurveys.com/s/ofcom/

As many Adaptive customers will be using our diallers for call centre purposes, we thought it would be worthwhile sharing the survey. The deadline is April 24th.

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CRM & Workflow Customisations

In the past whenever we’ve installed a dialler it has had to be integrated with a CRM. Being able to screen-pop data to see who you’re calling is great and can become a valuable tool in making more effective tools.

However, CRM tools can often be expensive, and difficult to justify if being used solely for screen-popping. The exciting news is that for Version 10 we are developing the ability for users to create their own customised databases within the software. This will allow users to create campaigns much faster, edit their databases on the fly and generally see the speed at which they do things increase.

The best thing about it? Customers who don’t really need a separate, fully-fledged CRM, won’t have to get one.

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Different Lines for Different Calls

We've just changed our lines in the office, using SIP for local and national, and the higher quality ISDN lines for our international calls. So it struck me – how many of our customers are doing the same thing?

We had previously set up our CTI Gateway to put an 8 (for outbound calls) in front of every number, including when using our diallers. 

However we now need to add a leading 8 for SIP, and 7 for ISDN to the numbers before dialling. We’re no longer using the CTI gateway to add the 8, but adding it into our dialler campaigns in Excel.

It’s not necessarily a complicated task, but doing it manually can take a long time. Thankfully, technology can make it easier. We can do this by using Excel’s ‘Concatenate’ formula.  Simply create a column of 7s or 8s, then use concatenate to combine the two into a new column. Simple!

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End of Support for Server 2003

Support for Windows Server 2003 is ending on July 14th. What does end of support mean for you? Quite simply, Microsoft will no longer issue security updates for any version of Windows Server 2003.

If you are still running Server 2003, you need to take steps now to plan and execute a migration strategy to protect your infrastructure.

Whilst moving to a new server, now would be a great time to think about upgrading to the latest version of Adaptive. Give us a call and we can help talk things through.

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V10 Testing Goes into Second Phase

Exciting news! We have begun the second phase of testing of Version 10 - rolling out the beta version to a number of test sites and continuing to use the software in house.

We’re really pleased to say Version 10 is working well out in the field, and it shouldn't be long before it’s available commercially. The latest patch has a number of general improvements, along with fixing a couple of bugs and optimising the software further.

Interested in upgrading? All our software assurance customers will be receiving a free upgrade in due course. If you don’t have software assurance, please give us a call!

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Calling Guidance - A Message for all Adaptive Users

You might have seen the news over the last few weeks that the government is making it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Officeto prosecute businesses found to be making nuisance calls.

The ICO previously had to prove that offending calls were causing ‘severe damage or distress’, however now they only need to show that calls are annoying or a nuisance. We are supporting the changes and it’s great to see that the number of complaints about nuisance calls has decreased over the last 12 months – this new ruling will hopefully keep driving those figures down.

Ethan explains the changes in the video below.

The great thing is that any of our Adaptive Dialler users shouldn't be at such a risk. By taking the responsibility out of the hands of agents, and screen popping calls before they’re made, users are able to see who they’re calling – and not call the people they shouldn't be.

To read more about the legal implications and rulings when making outbound phone calls, read our whitepaper here.

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SSDs & Adaptive

Over the last couple of months I’ve seen a few of our users change over to Solid State Drives (SSD) in order to speed up their report loading. SSDs are much more expensive per gigabyte, but they do make loading a lot faster. They’re quite similar to USB storage in that there are no moving parts.

Here are a few general use tips for any SSD users:

-          Don’t Defragment: Files are written and stored differently on an SSD, so defragging can break it.

-          Think about the price: As mentioned, the cost per gigabyte in an SSD is much higher. If you’re planning on storing lots of information, an SSD might not be the best idea. You could look at having a hybrid drive.

-          Move temporary files: If you have another drive available, try moving your temporary Windows files onto it. This reduces the need to write to the SSD during routine Windows operations.

-          Disable disk indexing: Disk indexing is for shortening the time to access files on hard disk drive, but SSD itself has a much shorter response time than HDD. There is no need to enable disk indexing for SSD, as it will only shorten the lifespan of SDD for nothing.

-          Disable sleep mode: Whilst useful for quicker booting on computers with HDDs, as SSDs boot faster anyway you shouldn’t need this setting. Plus, sleep mode takes up around 2.5GB of space – turning it off will open up for storage.

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A New Way to Protect your PC

Most of us like to think that hiding the spare house keys under a plant pot or rock will do a fairly good job of keeping would-be robbers at bay. How many thieves are going to hunt through your shrubs for a key that might not even be there?

This is true, but there is one problem. If the robber does find the key, the entire security of your house is broken.

This method of protection is often called ‘security by obscurity’ by experts, referring to relying on one secret thing to protect the entire system, rather than designing a strong system which is in itself secure – but recent thinking has changed.

Whilst it’s realistic to build strong defences, obscurity can offer more protection, especially when up against automated hacking tools. Here are two practices I think work well:

Changing your server’s default port for internet and network services can stop automated port scans which will simply target the common ports.

Using different names for operating systems and servers is another easy way to stump automated hackers. Try renaming the usual admin username to something obscure – attack tools that rely on default names will fail.

Whilst I wouldn’t recommend relying wholly on this type of security, it is a useful addition to add to your armour. As always, keep looking over your current security. Viruses are always  developing, but so too are security measures. 

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New Malmare Tricks Gmail into Hacking Your Data

If you haven’t seen the recent news about the latest computer virus, read on. A security company has discovered a new program that is able to read instructions from Gmail drafts and hack the user’s data.

Hackers start by setting up and anonymous account then infect a computer with the malware. Once gaining control of the machine, the hacker will open an invisible Internet Explorer window and load Gmail.

Information can then be passed using the drafts folder. Its believed that the virus is a variety of a Trojan created in 2012 called Icoscript, which did the same thing but with Yahoo Mail.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way of detecting the malware. We recommend making sure your antivirus is up to date, your firewall is running properly and you are regularly scanning for infections. 

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Image Recognition – Technology’s Impossible Hurdle?

A few weeks ago we had an enquiry from a new customer who was interested in Adaptive. What originally sounded like a simple enough project became a much more difficult task which reminded me about something called the ‘Summer Vision Project’ – set by MIT lecturer Marvin Minsky to his students in 1966.

The customer in question, it turned out, was actually in need of image recognition software. The reason it made me think of Summer Vision is because, after almost 50 years, developers are still working on finishing the task.

Why? The task was in fact a lot more complicated. Minsky wanted to program a camera to recognise the objects it was filming. Image recognition is sadly still one of those things we’re waiting for. It turns out it’s a lot more complicated than you might think! 

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Patchy Broadband Still Thwarting UK Businesses

Ofcom has reported that fixed broadband services are now almost universally available throughout the UK. This is great news for businesses – and in particular Adaptive users who are positioned far and wide, sometimes in remote locations!

However, we wouldn't recommend you shifting your offices to the top of Mount Snowdon any time soon. It turns out that ‘almost universally available’ actually means that over 2 million of locations are still unable to get broadband faster than 2mbps – not really fast enough for business.

Whilst the UK’s average speed is 23mbps, there is currently a real disparity between the high and low speeds. The good news is the government is now entering a period of aggressive expansion, aiming to provide 95% of the country with superfast broadband by 2017, so you can keep dreaming about moving the office to somewhere with picturesque views. 

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Scientists Turn Molecule into Flash Storage

With almost all of us owning USB sticks to transport our data, we all know the peril of not having enough storage memory. Flash memory, which is used for pretty much most storage as well as USB sticks, is constrained by the limits of data cells used for their production.

However, scientists may have come up with a ground breaking new way to store data by using molecules to replace traditional components.  This is big (or rather very very small) news, meaning we might be able to store huge amounts more data than what was once possible.

So how long until we’re all using this technology? Sadly, it will probably be a while. The researchers carrying out the experiments were only able to store the data for 336 hours, so it’s unclear at the moment whether this technology is actually stable.

That said, it’s exciting news! In the past we’ve seen data storage on layers of graphene, and this method is both simpler and smaller – a step in the right direction for computing.