Security, network services top enterprise challenges for deploying UCaaS, CCaaS

MarryMobile Tech

With distributed working taking place on unprecedented levels, unified-communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and contact-centre-as-a-service (CCaaS) solutions have never been so important, but businesses are still finding their implementation a challenge.

According to a market trends report based on research by software-defined network and cloud platform provider Masergy, security and network services are the top challenges for enterprises deploying or considering UCaaS and CCaaS technologies, and decision-makers prefer bundled solutions that add security features, a software-defined network and 24/7 performance monitoring.

Conducted in partnership with IDG Research, the study analysed responses from IT decision-makers at global enterprises that are evaluating, planning to implement, or have implemented UCaaS or CCaaS. Findings revealed that data security and network performance were the top two areas that IT focuses on to ensure their UCaaS and CCaaS solutions are successfully delivering on business goals.

As regards security, 70% said it was an issue with regards to

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Top Best Buy Black Friday 2019 tech deals

MarryComputer

(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Best Buy’s Black Friday ad is always one of the most anticipated of the holiday shopping season, and one pleasant surprise with its release this year is that many of the deals are already available, a sign that online shopping continues to erode the “magic” of Black Fridays past when people trampled each other to get to doorbuster specials before they ran out. 

We’ve covered Best Buy’s Black Friday Apple deals elsewhere, but below are several other sales that caught our eye.

When is Best Buy’s Black Friday Sale?

Best Buy has already announced all the Black Friday 2019 deals it plans to offer in its annual Black Friday ad  Luckily for us, some of these deals are now live, but others won’t be live until Nov. 28. Best Buy is also highlighting a new sale daily with its special Deal of the Day promotion. 

Black

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Loan charge MPs secure ‘unanimous’ support for motion to curb policy’s retrospective powers

MarryTechnology review

A cross-party group of MPs has secured unanimous support from across the House of Commons for its continued push to have all retrospective aspects of the government’s controversial loan charge policy removed.

The policy has seen thousands of IT contractors saddled with life-changing tax bills relating back to work they did between 6 April 1999 and 5 April 2019, which they were remunerated for in the form of loans, rather than a conventional salary.

In HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) opinion, these loans were never intended to be repaid and so should have been classified as taxable income.

An amendment was therefore added to the Finance Act in 2017 that made it possible for HMRC to demand contractors pay the tax the agency claims they avoided during this 20-year window through the introduction of the loan charge policy in November 2017.

The policy has been linked to at least seven

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NBN satellite complaints spike over back end of 2019

MarryNews

The number of complaints received by Australian telcos over the past 12 months has dropped by almost one quarter, according to figures released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on Wednesday.

Across the year to December 31, the number of complaints per 10,000 services in operation (SIO) fell by 24% to 93, while the year to September 30 involved a drop of 20% to 97.

Fixed broadband was easily the most complained about service type, registering 341 complaints per 10,000 SIO, followed by NBN broadband with 126 complaints per 10,000 SIO. NBN voice registered 90, while mobile complaints happened 63 times per 10,000 SIO, and traditional fixed voice was the least complained about service with 47.

Almost all service types saw drops across the year to December 31, with fixed broadband having 21% fewer complaints, NBN broadband complaints being down 36%, NBN voice dropped by 15%, and traditional

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Nokia launches AI-based operations to help telcos enter the 5G era

MarryMobile Tech

Nokia has launched AVA 5G Cognitive Operations, aiming to help communications service providers (CSPs) gain insights to assist with slice creation and assurance to meet committed service level agreements (SLAs) for massively scaled 5G networks and enterprise services 5G infrastructures.

Explaining the rationale for the launch, Nokia said that with 5G and the explosion of internet of things (IoT) devices unfolding, CSP operational teams are challenged with having to manage an ever-growing complexity through new use cases, service requirements, virtualisation and network slicing.

The company believes that to that end, traditional network and service management approaches are no longer sustainable, thus requiring AI and automation. It quoted the opinion of ABI Research senior analyst Don Alusha, who said: “AI and 5G network slicing will be fundamental for new value creation in the industry, particularly for enterprise verticals that need reliable, low-latency communication networks to support their business operations.”

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Microsoft and Google update the look of form controls in Chromium browsers

MarryComputer

Chromium’s old look (left) and restyled controls (right)


Image: Google

Microsoft’s contributions to the Chromium browser it uses for its newest Edge releases are already having a visible impact on the Google-controlled browser.

The two tech giants have been working for the past year on a new theme for form controls — that is the buttons, fields, and input elements — that are standard across the web.

“One issue with native form controls … is the inconsistency in their styling. Older controls, such as <button> and <select> were styled to match the user’s operating system,” Chrome developer advocate Rob Dodson wrote in a blog post.

“Form controls that were added to the platform more recently were designed to match whatever style was popular at the time. For Chromium based browsers, this has led to controls that look mismatched and sometimes outdated, which causes developers to spend extra time (and

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