4 August 2011, York

The York-based directory solutions provider Simunix has become one of the increasing number of organisations to adopt Colombia’s most recent export by launching its new API on the .co domain which was made internationally available a year ago.

The launch of www.T2A.co marks the first time Simunix has made its full range of data available to other web developers and allowed them to incorporate it into their own websites and business applications.

Users of T2A can find, validate and verify data by searching the Simunix database of over 300 million records which includes BT and Royal Mail telephone and address information, UK Electoral Roll data, the TPS and CTPS registers, data validation records and Ordnance Survey maps.

T2A homepage

Managing Director, John Lewis said: “Businesses of all types and from all sectors have a need for directory information. We already provide directory solutions to a number of organisations throughout the UK so creating our own API was a natural next step for us and has meant that we can deliver our directory solutions right to the heart of our customers’ organisations.”

When asked about the reasons for adopting the .co domain, John responded, “T2A is such a simple and easy-to-use product. We wanted to reflect this simplicity in our URL; www.T2A.co is short, memorable and easy to understand.”

Simunix promises the most competitive rate of pricing for this type of data service and is offering volume discounts across all API functions available within T2A.

Ian Martin, IT Director at Simunix adds, “All the data is stored on the Simunix servers and we hold all the relevant licenses needed for the data supplied. Organisations wishing to use this data can access it without worrying about the practicalities of storing such a vast amount of data or of obtaining the appropriate (and often expensive) licences.”

Simunix has included extensive documentation and has built a developer forum into the T2A website in order to help users through the integration process.

Users can access T2A by visiting www.t2a.co

Simunix is the company behind the widely used online directory enquiries service ukphonebook.com, the corporate version of which is in use by almost half of the UK’s police forces in addition to numerous other public and private sector organisations.

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14 April 2011, York

John Lewis, Managing Director of York-based online directory services provider Simunix, was guest speaking at the “Through The Clouds With Intelecom” conference in London earlier this week about the growing importance of cloud computing and its effect on the Directory Enquiries (DQ) industry.

Simunix has been providing ‘cloud based’ services since the launch of its online directory enquiries website, ukphonebook.com in 2000. ‘Cloud’ describes the way in which software, data, services etc. are delivered to a computer without the need for large IT departments.

Companies (and people) often have all their software installed on their own servers, PC or Mac and the data is hosted locally meaning huge IT departments are necessary to manage the hardware and network infrastructure.

John explained, “Cloud changes this and the concept of Software as a Service, or SaaS as it is known, becomes the norm”. This means that as Internet browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari become more powerful, very sophisticated programs can be delivered to computer desktops via the Internet.

John then took it a stage further, “Thanks to high-speed broadband, your photographs, music, films, spreadsheets, databases etc., can also be stored and accessed remotely”. The main advantage to this method of storing data is that it is completely secure and is accessible from anywhere in the world that has a good Internet connection.

At the conference, John spoke about the paradigm shift needed in the minds of DQ operators like BT and The Number. He suggested they move away from the traditional call-centre based service delivery of 118 xxx services in favour of home-workers delivering the services using Simunix Ltd’s 118-Express solution.

118-Express works in tandem with Intelecom’s telephony platform to provide a full featured DQ solution that will work from any location. The potential cost-savings for DQ providers are significant as they can focus on service quality and value for money issues rather than managing huge call-centres and the associated hardware installations.

The average cost of a 118xxx call is now almost £2 compared to 50p before the service was opened up to competition in 2003.

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23 March 2011, York

A recent survey conducted by York-based Simunix, provider of the online directory enquiries service ukphonebook.com, of its 2 million plus users has revealed an alarming lack of awareness amongst its corporate customers of the true cost of calling directory enquiries from mobile phones.

Many large organisations, both private and in the public sector that provide mobile phones for employees are unaware of the unnecessary charges staff are accruing by calling 118 numbers from their mobile devices. An awareness campaign has been launched by Simunix after its market researchers found that some organisations could be saving over £25,000 a year by encouraging staff to use the mobile version of ukphonebook.com instead.

Simunix performed a study to determine exactly how much the various mobile networks charged for a one minute call to the two biggest directory enquiries providers, The Number’s 118 118 and BT’s 118 500.

The 3 network emerged as the most expensive network for calling 118 118 and 118 500, charging £2.55 and £3.58 respectively for a one minute call. Orange, T-mobile and Vodafone were all around the £2 mark with O2 emerging as the cheapest option charging £1.53 for a one minute call to either of these numbers (this is actually cheaper than dialling from a BT landline).

“We were shocked to discover how much people are paying for this information”, says James Bradley, a Marketing Executive at Simunix. “If organisations are to clamp down on this unnecessary expenditure, they need to offer their staff an alternative”.

Simunix currently provides organisations of all sizes throughout the UK with access to its own online directory enquiries service, ukphonebook.com. Many organisations have reported savings of thousands of pounds a year since incorporating the service into their systems as it removes the need to dial expensive 118 directory enquiries numbers.

The mobile version of this online directory enquiries service is now being offered to all corporate ukphonebook.com customers. Most of the UK’s police forces have already incorporated the service into their mobile operations.

James continues, “ukphonebook.com for mobiles is the perfect alternative. It’s a low cost, easily accessible source of information”.

Users of ukphonebook.com can search for telephone numbers and addresses from as little as 3p a search. If an organisation was to perform an average of 600 directory enquiries calls from mobile phones per month, they could potentially be saving up to £25,560 a year by using Corporate ukphonebook.com for mobiles instead.

The cost of calling directory enquiries, whether it is from a mobile or a landline has risen steadily since the industry was deregulated in 2002. Even dialling 118 118 or 118 500 from a BT landline costs users £1.68 and £1.65 respectively for a one minute call. Unless organisations take measures to prevent their staff from regularly calling these numbers, they will continue to lose money.

However, for those who cannot be convinced away from dialling for directory enquiries, Simunix are encouraging them to do a bit of research into the different 118 services available. John Lewis, Managing Director of Simunix says, “People will dial the number that first pops into their minds, which thanks to aggressive advertising campaigns tends to mean they are calling two of the most expensive services out there”.

He continues, “We are encouraging people to take the time to find cheaper alternatives. At Simunix we provide our own directory assistance number, 118 365 which costs 50p for a one minute call – that’s a third the price of calling 118 118 or 118 500”.

Simunix first launched the online directory enquiries service, ukphonebook.com in 1999. The public version of the website is available to private users who are given 5 free search credits daily with the option to buy more if needed. There is also a mobile version of the public website which is free to search and requires no registration. Since then, the company has gone on to introduce a number of additional directory solutions to the market including 118 365, 118-Express, TPS Manage and ZoneSearch.

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14 February 2011, York

The directory services provider, Simunix recently caused many of their customers a great deal of confusion after sending out a well-meaning marketing email reminding them of the low cost directory enquiries service, 118 365.

A statement in the small print of the email had been misread by numerous recipients and led them to believe they were being charged £49 a minute for calls to the Simunix directory enquiries telephone number, 118 365.

This is not the case. The small print stated that calls to 118 365 cost 50p for the first minute and then 0.83p per second after the first minute.

The problems arose when recipients misread the 0.83p to be 83p per second meaning the second minute would indeed end up costing £49. This resulted in the Simunix offices receiving an avalanche of emails, telephone calls and posts to its blog, Facebook and Twitter pages with customers voicing their opposition to the elevated price.

The 118 365 marketing email that caused the confusion

In an effort to clear the confusion, Simunix has posted a new blog entry detailing the correct pricing structure of 118 365 and has released the following statement via its Facebook page:

“Some people seem to have been a little confused by our last email so I just want to clear the air. A call to 118 365 costs 50p for the first minute and then 0.83p per second after the first minute… NOT 83p per second as some of our users have mistakenly read!”

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17 January 2011, York

Simunix has received the first set of TPS data for 2011 which brings the total number of TPS registered residential phone numbers to over 16 million. Simunix has added the data to TPS Manage; its automated service that checks call lists for TPS registered numbers.

The Telephone Preference Service, which was launched in 1999, allows people to register their telephone number in order to prevent direct marketers from cold calling that number. Registering a number with TPS means it is illegal for an organisation to make an unsolicited marketing call to that number. Companies can face fines of up to £5,000 for doing so.

TPS Manage checks and updates call lists to ensure flagging of all TPS registered numbers. The lists are run against the TPS and CTPS (Corporate Telephone Preference Service) registers and any numbers that appear on the lists are flagged.

In addition to the 16 million residential numbers registered with TPS, almost 2 million businesses have subscribed to CTPS. The volume of numbers registered with TPS and CTPS is continuing to grow rapidly, making it essential that all direct marketers have up to date call lists.

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19 October 2010, York

The mobile version of ukphonebook.com has been relaunched with a completely new user interface and additional features.

Simunix felt a redesign of the site was needed in order to make it quicker and easier to perform searches. The interface has been completely simplified to contain three search parameters and the option to perform either a residential or business search.

One of the most important features of the new iphonebook is the addition of Google maps. As well as the full address and telephone number (if available), users are also able to view the result of their search on a Google map.

Whilst retaining the 5 free searches per day, iphonebook now allows users to begin their search immediately without the need to sign into their account. Simunix web developer James Bradley says, “We wanted to make this mobile version of ukphonebook.com as accessible as possible so removed the need to enter login details”.

This was a bold move by Simunix who rely heavily on the registration process to provide them with details on where new users are coming from. James continued, “This has opened up the site to everyone, whether they are registered with us or not, and means people can find that number or address, literally, at the click of a button. The most important thing to us is that we are providing the best directory service out there.”

There is now a corporate version of iphonebook in circulation within many UK police forces. Simunix recently completed work on a BlackBerry optimised mobile site that has since been deployed to 2,500 users at South Wales Police.

Simunix is a directory services provider that pioneered the UK’s first directory enquiries website, ukphonebook.com in 1999. Since then, its range of products and services have been rolled out to both large, multi-national organisations and small businesses all over the country.

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11 August 2010, York

The mobile device version of Corporate ukphonebook.com is being widely tested by UK police forces. South Wales Police have already taken up the service and deployed it on 2,500 BlackBerry Smartphones throughout the force.

The directory provider Simunix developed Corporate ukphonebook.com as an online directory enquiries service. It supplies users with both residential and business telephone and address information, electoral roll information, maps and multiple searching options.

Simunix has been working closely with Research In Motion (RIM), the creator of the BlackBerry Smartphone to specifically configure the mobile version for BlackBerry users. Police officers can now use their BlackBerry to carry out directory enquiries and electoral roll checks quickly and simply.

Martin Smedley, Assistant Director of ICT for South Wales Police says, “Using the device in this way is an effective tool for officers to verify details, which other systems may not have captured and ensure that our officers provide a professional service and continue to keep South Wales Safe. Officers can be better informed and more efficient in carrying out their duties”.

The majority of mobile devices used by police forces around the UK are BlackBerry Smartphones. Product developers at Simunix felt it was important to work closely with RIM to ensure that Corporate ukphonebook.com could run at maximum efficiency on these devices. Paul Hingley of RIM commented, “We are pleased to be working with Simunix to effectively integrate their services onto the BlackBerry Smartphones of police forces around the UK. It is important to us that users get the most out of our products.”

Corporate ukphonebook.com has also proven to be an effective cost reduction tool for many organisations. As more and more public sectors are being forced to save money, ukphonebook.com provides a low cost, highly efficient solution for those trying to cut back on unnecessary expenditure. Many organisations are still dialling costly 118 numbers for directory enquiries, some of which cost almost £2 for a one minute call.

South Wales Police, who have been using the service for several months, have made huge savings since incorporating Corporate ukphonebook.com into their systems. Martin Smedley added, “The cost savings are a significant bonus to the increased functionality”.

Simunix has been providing a range of directory products and services to numerous commercial and non-commercial organisations for over ten years. The information accessed in Corporate ukphonebook.com has been derived from a number of external data sources including BT OSIS, Royal Mail PAF, and Ordnance Survey data. The 130 million records are updated daily which makes it the most up to date point of reference for UK telephone and address information.

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24 June 2010, York

A new player has entered the market for Telephone Preference Service (TPS) solutions for call centres.  Directory services provider, Simunix has launched TPS Manage; a system which promises to help telemarketers save thousands of pounds a year in unnecessary fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The volume of numbers registered with TPS has grown rapidly since the service was launched in 1999.  Telemarketers can face fines of up to £5,000 for cold calling a single TPS registered number.  Simunix has created a fully automated service that checks and updates call lists at the client’s discretion to ensure flagging of all TPS registered numbers.

The self-managed solution, hosted by Simunix, permits customers to upload their lists of numbers where they are stored under a secure password protected user account.  TPS-Manage.com then runs the lists of numbers against the TPS and CTPS registers and flags any that appear on the register whilst maintaining the integrity of the original file.

Once an account is set up, complete control is given to the user who can upload new lists, append existing lists and configure their account as required.

Simunix has been working on numerous new developments and enhancements to existing services over the last year many of which will be announced throughout 2010.  The company collates data from multiple sources and has now built up a database of around 200 million records.

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22 June 2010, York

A study carried out by the York-based directory solutions provider, Simunix, has revealed that 80% of people using 118 directory enquiries are paying three times the amount they should be.

In the last year, the UK’s two most widely used 118 directory enquiries services (118 118 and 118 500), have increased the cost of a one minute phone call making them over three times more expensive than Simunix’s own directory assistance number, 118 365.

The heavily advertised 118 118 service – featuring the men with moustaches – has increased the cost of a one minute enquiry from £1.20 to £1.68. BT’s number, 118 500 now costs a total of £1.65 for a one minute call, charging a further £1.16 per minute after this.

In contrast, since the 2003 deregulation of directory assistance services, Simunix has kept the cost of its own directory enquiries number the same. Dialing 118 365 costs the user 50p per minute and there are no connection charges.However, with more and more consumers turning to the much cheaper option of the internet to find telephone numbers, the amount of calls to directory enquiries in general has fallen dramatically.

Internet providers of directory enquiries prove far more cost effective and often provide much more detailed information, with many of them supplying the information for free. In 1998 Simunix became the first organisation in the UK to provide a directory enquiries service online – ukphonebook.com.

Users of ukphonebook.com can perform 5 free searches daily and are provided with residential, business, telephone and address information. In addition to this people can search the UK edited electoral roll, Google maps and satellite imaging and also send their search results via text or email. 

Simunix have recently begun a campaign to raise awareness of the true cost of dialing some 118 directory enquiries numbers and to promote the cost saving benefits of using alternative solutions such as web-based services. John Lewis, Managing Director of Simunix says, “I find it staggering the number of people who are still using such expensive services when there are so many better options out there. We’re happy to be one of those options and provide people with the means to search for information far more efficiently”.

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