VoiceHost are proud to announce Paging as a new feature on the hosted PBX. Paging allows a user to speak an announced message to an extension via the built in speaker phone without the other user answering the phone.

Paging is an ideal Public announcement system for offices, shopping malls, reception areas and waiting rooms. Combining this feature with the snom PA1 allows you to perform public announcements via standard speakers which can be located in almost any location.

This feature can be used with any snom phone with built in speaker phone along with any Cisco SPA phone.

To use this feature, just dial '##<exten>' from a VoiceHost phone and the extension you are dialling will automatically answer and be set to speaker phone. Once you hear the beep, just talk and your speech will be broadcast.

In the near future, VoiceHost will also be enabling group paging allowing you to broadcast to multiple extensions at the same time!

VoiceHost have been accepted in the Counterpath pre-configured providers list for the Bria Soft Phone. This means that it is even easier to use the VoiceHost service on your iPad, iPhone or Google Android mobile handset.

Just visit the iPad / iPhone AppStore or Google marketplace and search for Bria.

For further information, please visit: Counterpath Web Site

VoiceHost have been accepted in the Acrobits pre-configured providers list. This means that it is even easier to use the VoiceHost service on your iPhone or Google Android mobile handset.

Just visit the iPhone AppStore or Google marketplace and search for Acrobits Softphone.

For further information, please visit: Acrobits Softphone Configuration

We are pleased to announce that our new UK Wide 0333 numbers are now live on the VoiceHost network. These numbers are available for any person, business or organisation and portray a national presence.

These 0333 numbers cost no more to call than standard 01 and 02 geographic numbers and are included in price plans on landlines and mobile phones.

0333 numbers combine all of the advantages of 08 non-geographic numbers with the advantage of keeping call costs as low as possible for callers. Therefore it's win win for the business and its customers.

VoiceHost 0333 numbers are charged at just £2 per month and can be purchased from the control panel instantly.

We are pleased to announce additional numbering in Carrickmore, Omagh, County Tyrone. This new range is now live on the VoiceHost network and can now be purchased from within the control panel.

Additional UK wide ranges will be going live in the coming month. The new 0333 numbering ranges allow any business to have a national presence while offering the same call rates as standard 01 or 02 ranges.

We are pleased to announce the following number ranges have now gone live on the VoiceHost network. Numbers from the areas below can now be purchased from within the control panel.

01276     Camberley, Surrey
01553     Kings Lynn, Norfolk
01604     Northampton, Northamptonshire
01738     Perth, Perthshire
01737     Redhill, Surrey
01746     Bridgnorth, Shropshire
01747     Shaftesbury, Dorset
028 30      Newry, County Down
028 93      Ballyclare, County Antrim
0191 3      Durham, County Durham

Further Northern Island ranges going live after February:

028 80     Carrickmore, Omagh, County Tyrone

Alongside the expansion of our geographic ranges we are also introducing UK wide numbering, these can be used by any business to have a non regional specific telephone number starting 0333 358. These UK wide numbers will appear in the control panel during April.

All Ex-Tesco/Freshtel number ranges that have been successfully obtained by VoiceHost are now live on the VoiceHost network with confirmed routing from all major networks.

Since these numbers have been protected for over 6 months allowing any previous owners to claim their numbers, any remaining numbers are now on general release.

This means anyone can now select numbers from around 620 UK and Northern Ireland area codes with additional numbering covering the entire UK. Our full UK coverage covers all areas apart from conservation areas where numbers are running out and therefore Ofcom have ruled to hold further allocations in these areas back.

The Ex-Tesco / Ex-Freshtel numbers should be live by the end of today from most fixed and mobile networks, depending on the network provider building the ranges on their networks. This means that when the telephone numbers are called they will be passed to the VoiceHost network.

Once all of the networks have built the ranges and the VoiceHost Tier 1 carrier confirms the required integration has been carried out, telephone numbers will be allocated to users accounts.

The task of obtaining the old Tesco & Freshtel ranges has been a struggle at times, however the light at the end of the tunnel is very bright and soon there will be daylight.

If you wish to use your old telephone numbers on our network, please make sure you have a VoiceHost account and sufficient credit to cover its use.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us on 0845 862 1 862 or email support@voicehost.co.uk

Good news, the VoiceHost Tier 1 carrier is in the process of building the ex-Tesco / ex-Freshtel numbers on their network and all other third-party networks have been notified. The planned go live date is the 27th October 2010.

VoiceHost require all networks to build the number ranges on their networks to allow their users to call the numbers. The third-party works should be completed by the go live date which means the numbers can go live on the VoiceHost network for use.

During the last few months VoiceHost have worked hard to get the ex-tesco / freshtel numbers live and have improved the way VoiceHost connect into the Tier 1 carrier. This has been done by integrating the VoiceHost network with the 21C network which provides high quality calls and additional numbering capacity.

If you are an ex-Tesco or ex-Freshtel customer and have not yet signed up for a VoiceHost account you can register for one on our website.

Due to hold-ups and deadline changes with BT, VoiceHost are still waiting for the ex-Tesco & ex-Freshtel ranges to be built on the Tier 1 carrier network.

This is extremely frustrating for all customers waiting for numbers to be added to their accounts and for VoiceHost, who have battled their way through the number allocation process since the announcement of Tesco and Freshtel ceasing their internet phone products in the UK on the 27th April 2010.

Ofcom have been very helpful throughout the whole process keeping the focus on the end user along with VoiceHost dedicating time and money in getting the numbers back in action as soon as possible.

VoiceHost have secured all of the requested numbers from the ex-Freshtel Ofcom number allocations and are waiting for the last pieces of the puzzle to fit into place before allocating these to the previous number owner accounts.

If you are an ex-Tesco or ex-Freshtel customer and have not yet signed up for a VoiceHost account you can register for one on our website.

We have completed the first round of Tesco Internet Phone / Freshtel number applications. The allocation process normally takes 21 days to complete. Once completed we can begin building the numbers on our network. We rely on all tear 1 carriers such as BT, Virgin Media and Cable & Wireless to also build the ranges onto their own networks so that calls can be routed to VoiceHost.

As this process progresses, we will keep you informed.

If you have a Tesco Internet Phone / Freshtel number you would like to claim and you have not already done so, please email tesco@voicehost.co.uk with your VoiceHost account number and the telephone number you would like to claim.

We need to close the door on applications for ex Tesco & Freshtel numbers in order that we can move this process forwards.

Please be aware that any requests to us after Sunday the 20th June will not be accepted.

We are finally now in a position to have your ex Tesco / Freshtel telephone numbers allocated to our network.

So, if you are an ex-customer of either of those companies and would like to use your old phone numbers again via the VoiceHost service then please send an email to: -

tesco@voicehost.co.uk

Please include the telephone number you would like to claim and your VoiceHost account number. If you have more than five numbers, please enter your numbers into a spreadsheet and attach it to the email so that we can create a full list of all of the number ranges needed.

Any questions on time frames please feel free to email support@voicehost.co.uk

Despite Freshtel telling Ofcom and VoiceHost that they were returning their numbers at midnight on Friday they "changed their minds".

They apparently have sold the company along with the numbers to a provider that will want to use these numbers for providing VoIP services.

The transfer of the numbers is not automatic and whoever it is will have to go through the paperwork exercise with Ofcom to have the numbers allocated to them.

Your old numbers will not be available until that process has been satisfactorily completed.

This means that we will now NOT be able to offer you those numbers on the VoiceHost network.

We were negotiating to buy the Freshtel business lock stock and barrel last week for the full amount Freshtel were asking. They pulled that deal on the day of the formal agreement meeting based on there now no longer being a business to purchase due to liquidation of assets for capital raise of their Australian parent company.

BT along with O-Bit Telecom, Cable and Wireless and Virgin Media group, plus ourselves and Ofcom, had pulled out all the stops to be able to provide a transition of those numbers for you for Midnight this Friday.

Those of you that want to pursue your geographical numbers with whoever will finally end up with them now will have to wait to see if there is some sort of announcement from Freshtel as to where those numbers will eventually live.

We will of course refund any money to folk who added credit to their accounts in good faith and anticipation of the scheduled transfer this Friday and who do not wish to use our service and wish to pursue a service with whatever company eventually appears with the allocation whenever that might be.

We would like to stress that throughout this whole process we have strived to act diligently with integrity and openness to make sure you were all kept informed and up to date as we put the solution together for you.

If you have any questions around this please feel free to send us an email to support@voicehost.co.uk or to give us a call.

If you have questions about the future use of your old Tesco telephone numbers please email tesco@voicehost.co.uk and we will update you.

As and when we receive updates, they will also be posed here.

With Tesco users needing to replace their defunct equipment we have reduced the price of Analogue Telephone Adapters to £35 each plus vat and the price of the Siemens A580 DECT Phones to £50 each plus vat you can visit our store and you can register for a free account to use our service.

Tesco's independent external consultants have told us today that after much discussion Tesco have decided to do NOTHING to help their 40'000 customers with regards continuing using their telephone numbers after the 27th.

We offered them a simple seamless solution with regards all traffic for all numbers to be pointed at our calling service.

There are several carriers in place to route the current traffic and no consensus could apparently be reached so Tesco will let all the numbers go back to Ofcom where they will sit in a hiatus state for 6 months with no one able to use them.

We are trying to negotiate with Ofcom to take the block allocations of numbers for our systems so folk can simply move to our service and still have access to their numbers.

We are sorry we are not able to give you better news than that right now.

In the interim, to continue using and benefiting from VoIP why not register for an account with us here http://www.voicehost.co.uk/Register/Register.jsp

We will continue to update the news section as this matter unfolds.

Siemens Gigaset today released an unlocking process that allows the DP450 Tesco Internet Phone to connect the the VoiceHost service.

The recommended action is to register for a free VoiceHost account and follow the instructions found at http://www.voicehost.co.uk/VH-Unlock-Tesco-DP450-IP.pdf

If you require any assistance or have any quesions please feel free to contact VoiceHost support on 0800 52 00 878 or email support@voicehost.co.uk

VoiceHost can offer you an Internet Phone Service just like the Tesco Internet Phone, with advanced features and competitive call rates.

If you wish to keep your existing phone numbers we are accepting porting requests to transfer your Tesco Internet Phone number to our service. We can also provide you with an alternative geographic number for £2 per month, from one of the largest UK number pools.

As a registered Siemens Gigaset partner, we are currently working with Gigaset to obtain an unlocking solution for the Tesco Internet Phone DP450 so that you can use your existing Siemens phones with our service.

For further information or to have any questions you might have answered either email support@voicehost.co.uk or call us for FREE on 0800 52 00 878

Background:-

Tesco are closing their internet phone service on April 27th 2010. We are in discussion to be able to offer a seamless solution to this situation. As discussions progress we will update this section of our site.

In the interim please follow our advice above or call 0800 52 00 878 for further information.

We have been informed of a serious fire at a BT exchange site in North Paddington which may affect some calls to our users.

BT has automatically re-routed traffic to other sites, however there may be congestion on some calls, particularly if other networks have not updated their routing to take this in to account.

We have not seen or had reported any issues with our VoIP service relating to this fire, however we are continuing to monitor the situation, and will post any further updates if necessary.

People often ask if it is possible to send SMS using a custom developed piece of software such as a CRM system or website. Up until now it has only been possible to send SMS via our website, however that has now changed.

From today, it is now possible to send SMS via a HTTP Post or GET request which is supported by the most common programming languages.

For further information on the SMS gateway, please see our support pages.

After a lot of development time the new website is live! The new site design provides a modern and professional image, that reflects the professional products and services VoiceHost offers.

The new feature pages allow existing and potential customers to better understand our features and services. Along with examples of how each service can be used.

The new design doesn't just provide customers with clear feature documentation but provides a whole new control panel that is much easier to navigate, with all features shown on the main control panel.

New features that are being launched:

» VoiceHost broadband - Broadband that is specifically shaped to prioritise VoIP traffic to provide clear calls. This service is capable of running up to 24Mbps download and 1Mbps upload depending on your exchange and the distance between your premises and the exchange. Shortly we will also be launching our 'Annex M' service that increases the possible upload speed to 2.5Mbps. Please see 'VoiceHost Broadband'.

» USA telephone numbers- USA numbers are being released with this version of the site, we have provided USA numbers for the last year to customers that required them but we are now releasing these to all customers. Please see 'USA Telephone Numbers'.

» Land Lines - Upon request we can now provision brand new analogue telephone lines should you need them. In itself that means our line rental and provisioning prices are cheaper than BT. But better still, making calls in the normal way over these lines to local and national numbers (starting 01,02) will be charged at only 1.5 pence per minute plus VAT. Please contact us on 0800 52 00 878.

» Leased lines - As well as being able to provide you with ADSL and SDSL broadband connections we can also supply you with super fast, high bandwidth, leased lines. Again these are available upon request so please contact us on 0800 52 00 878 if this is of interest or you would like to know more.

» Automated payments and top-up's - We have integrated out payment systems with NetBanx to provide automated top-up's when your account balance falls below £2. As soon as your balance is below £2 a payment request will be send to your nominated Visa or Mastercard. To use this feature you must make your fist payment manually through the control panel to register your card on the system. If you are a pay monthly customer, you can pay an unpaid invoice to register your card.

We are very interested in your feedback on the new site as it has been build with you in mind, therefore if you have any requests or comments please feel free to let us know!