Have just had a glossy brochure from my local district council.   In a section about how they are going to "improve" (ha! ha!) customer service, there is the following statement:-
"Helping the council provide its new customer service centre is a new telephony service.   Global Crossing is providing a Managed Telecommunications Service (Mts).   The new Mts means improved customer service and increased efficiencies; the future possibility of shared services across the region; support for flexible working and a system fit for the 21st century."

Now I have a natural cynicism that all this is code for the introduction of ngns but does anyone know what this means & has anyone heard of Global Crossing?   Until now, I have relied on my husband, a senior officer with the council, to carry the battle against ngns but he is being made compulsorily redundant so I am losing both influence and information!   In view of comments  on this site about OFCOM & its New Labour friends, should I see it as significant that the Chief Exec introducing the new "communications" (and chopping my husband after 26 years!) is avowedly New Labour (in the heart of rural England)?   Or is that one conspiracy theory too far?

Global Crossing are an american company, one of their uk assets is the spin of of Racal BRT that was bought by the Thales Group. The infrastructure, mainly consisting of fiber optic cables leased by companies such as MCI Worldcom (are they still called that?) was sold to american company global crossing, whilst the projects bit (people to maintain the railways comms network) to Thales. This probably isn't the only assets they have, but they do have DDI ranges in alot of exchanges for rail use, which I guess now fall under global crossing so there is no reason for this to mean 0845,

Obviously now might be a good time to put it to councillors and your local newspaper that an 01 number will obviously be the number of choice, and how pleased you are that they are choosing to provide this imporved service at no additional cost.

sa0001 wrote on Nov 28^th, 2006 at 2:29pm:

Obviously now might be a good time to put it to councillors and your local newspaper that an 01 number will obviously be the number of choice, and how pleased you are that they are choosing to provide this imporved service at no additional cost.

You should ask them why they have not followed the good example of Mole Valley District Council where one of the councillors put forward a motion that was unanimously ratified by all councillors at a full council meeting in July last year insisting that the council's officers should leave no stone unturned to ensure the retention of 01/02 geographic phone numbers by the council's services.

See P.5 of http://www.molevalley.gov.uk/media/pdf/1/s/Council_Minutes_190705.pdf

The actions of the now ex councillor concerned who put forward this motion were I think exceptionally far sighted bearing in mind that the council's old crusty chief executive retired and has been replace by a new under 40s whizzkid type who would have been inclined to sign up for an 084/7 number in return for free line rental or a free switchboard like a shot.

That Councillor Shersby seems to know what he's about in the '0870' field !
Would you be able to congratulate him for us all, NGM?   ;) ;) ;)

Hmm...

I use Global Crossing's conference services a lot, and find that often their systems don't correctly recognise the DTMF tones from UK phones.  It's a real pain.

grenache wrote on Dec 1^st, 2006 at 2:59pm:

I use Global Crossing's conference services a lot, and find that often their systems don't correctly recognise the DTMF tones from UK phones.  It's a real pain.

Is that what they call an example of "added value" from using NGN services in the world of Ofcom? ::) ;) :'(