Lascom Clear communications and IT for UK businesses

Lascom

Clear communications and IT for UK businesses

Latest Articles

Presentation Is a Setting, Not a Promise: Owning Outbound Caller ID Across a UK Estate
Connectivity

Presentation Is a Setting, Not a Promise: Owning Outbound Caller ID Across a UK Estate

The number a customer sees when your team calls out is produced by a chain of configurations, not by a single switch. This article sets out a practical audit of outbound caller ID across DDIs, SIP trunks, mobile forwards and softphones, with a governance routine that keeps presentation accurate as staff and systems change.
Connectivity

The Menu Nobody Rehearsed: Auditing Your Phone Tree Before the 2026 Christmas Break

Auto-attendants are configured once, trusted indefinitely and tested almost never. With the 2026 Christmas and New Year closures approaching, a short, structured audit of your phone menu is the cheapest way to avoid sending customers to a voicemail box nobody reads.
The Uninterrupted Assumption: Auditing Power Protection in UK Comms Cupboards
Connectivity

The Uninterrupted Assumption: Auditing Power Protection in UK Comms Cupboards

Connectivity plans tend to focus on fibre, routers and cloud services, while the power behind them receives little attention. This audit framework helps UK SMEs review UPS capacity, battery age, surge protection, labelling and ownership in the comms cupboard before an outage exposes the gaps.
The Keys to the Public Name: Auditing Domain Control in UK Businesses
Connectivity

The Keys to the Public Name: Auditing Domain Control in UK Businesses

A domain name is not merely a renewal line; it is the public address for email, websites and customer trust. This audit explains how UK SMEs can map registrar access, DNS authority and renewal ownership before a lapsed card or a departed administrator interrupts communications.
Who Owns the Door? Networked Entry Systems and the Gap Between Facilities and IT
Connectivity

Who Owns the Door? Networked Entry Systems and the Gap Between Facilities and IT

Replacing an analogue door entry panel with a SIP or IP device quietly adds another computer to your network — one that can open a door. This article examines the ownership gap between facilities, landlord and IT, and sets out a practical hardening checklist for UK businesses putting entry systems on the corporate LAN.
The Allowance Is Not the Asset: Offboarding a Personal Handset Used for Work
Procurement

The Allowance Is Not the Asset: Offboarding a Personal Handset Used for Work

A monthly phone allowance can look like a simple payroll line, but it places business calls, authentication apps and customer message threads on a device the company does not own. This article sets out what a UK SME should recover when a stipend-phone user leaves, how to word the contract, and how to deprovision without demanding someone's personal phone.
Rooms With Logins: Treating Hybrid Meeting Spaces as Managed IT
Procurement

Rooms With Logins: Treating Hybrid Meeting Spaces as Managed IT

Hybrid meeting rooms often contain cameras, microphones, displays and controllers bought outside the IT budget, leaving unmanaged devices on the business network. This article sets out a practical way for UK SMEs to register every meeting space as an IT asset, with clear ownership, security segmentation and a pre-refresh test plan.
The Invoice Is Not the Inventory: Reconciling Comms Services Before They Become a Liability
Procurement

The Invoice Is Not the Inventory: Reconciling Comms Services Before They Become a Liability

A monthly comms bill records what a supplier believes it should charge, not necessarily what the business uses. Reconciling invoices against a live service register is both a cost-control exercise and an exit-readiness check for UK SMEs. This guide sets out a practical, evidence-led process for finding dormant lines, duplicate SIMs and licence creep before they become a procurement problem.
The Unplugged Safety Net: Rehearsing 4G Failover for UK Business Networks
Connectivity

The Unplugged Safety Net: Rehearsing 4G Failover for UK Business Networks

A 4G or 5G backup router is often bought as evidence of resilience and then left untested until the main line fails. This article sets out a repeatable failover rehearsal covering data allowances, CGNAT and VPN behaviour, power continuity, telephony routing and the records that support contractual and insurance claims.
A Postcode Is Not a Plan: Verifying Emergency Call Routing in Cloud Telephony
Connectivity

A Postcode Is Not a Plan: Verifying Emergency Call Routing in Cloud Telephony

Cloud telephony makes it easy to add users, sites and softphones, but emergency call routing depends on address data that is often assumed rather than checked. This article sets out a practical verification programme for finance, HR and IT teams, including what to test, who should own it and which procurement questions to ask before an incident.
The Unseen Ledger: Auditing the Voice Data Your VoIP System Retains
Connectivity

The Unseen Ledger: Auditing the Voice Data Your VoIP System Retains

VoIP platforms often retain more voice data than businesses expect — call metadata, voicemails, transcripts and backups can accumulate quietly. This article sets out the UK GDPR questions to ask and a practical audit checklist for bringing that unseen ledger under control.
The Weekend Bill: How Toll Fraud Reaches a UK SME’s Ledger
Connectivity

The Weekend Bill: How Toll Fraud Reaches a UK SME’s Ledger

Toll fraud rarely announces itself with an alarm. It often appears first as an unusual finance query on a Monday morning, after a compromised VoIP system has spent the weekend dialling international and premium-rate numbers. This briefing explains the warning signs, the settings that close the easiest doors, and how a UK business should respond if the bill has already landed.
What the Lease Does Not Show You: Auditing a Building’s Communications Inheritance
Procurement

What the Lease Does Not Show You: Auditing a Building’s Communications Inheritance

A broadband quote can tell you whether a service is available; it cannot tell you whether the building will let you use it well. Before signing a UK office lease, tenants should inspect the communications inheritance — risers, wayleaves, consents, shared cabling and the landlord’s paper trail. This pre-signature audit sets out what to ask for and what to record.
Where Signal Fails: Seven Wireless Questions to Ask Before an Office Wi-Fi Upgrade
Connectivity

Where Signal Fails: Seven Wireless Questions to Ask Before an Office Wi-Fi Upgrade

Most office Wi-Fi problems begin with the floor plan, not the router. Before buying new hardware, UK SMEs should ask how walls, density, interference and movement affect coverage — and what a proper survey and post-installation test should prove.
The Analogue Estate: Finding the Devices Your Phone Migration Forgot
Connectivity

The Analogue Estate: Finding the Devices Your Phone Migration Forgot

Most UK businesses have counted their handsets, but the lift line, fire panel, PDQ terminal and door-entry system can sit outside the migration plan. This checklist-led guide explains how to map analogue dependencies, assign ownership and resolve supplier gaps before copper is withdrawn.
Before the Bot Picks Up: Seven Procurement Questions for AI Voice Agents
Procurement

Before the Bot Picks Up: Seven Procurement Questions for AI Voice Agents

AI receptionists can cover calls, but UK SMEs need more than a demo of accents and scripts. These seven procurement checks cover lawful call handling, escalation, CRM access, number ownership and exit terms before signing.
Your Business Number Is an Asset: Treat a Port Like a Property Transfer
Connectivity

Your Business Number Is an Asset: Treat a Port Like a Property Transfer

A phone number is often the most valuable thing on a telecoms contract, and the least examined. This piece explains how porting works between UK providers and sets out the questions an SME should have answered in writing before signing anything.
Keys, Codes and Configs: Building an IT Exit File Before You Need One
Procurement

Keys, Codes and Configs: Building an IT Exit File Before You Need One

Support contracts end for good reasons and bad, but the handover work is identical either way. A calm, dated checklist covering administrative access, data, phone configuration and licence ownership for UK businesses changing IT supplier.
Beyond the Feature List: The Hidden Work of a UK VoIP Switch
Procurement

Beyond the Feature List: The Hidden Work of a UK VoIP Switch

VoIP migrations are often sold on features, but the real risks sit in number porting, call routing, staff habits and acceptance testing. This analysis explains what UK SMEs should settle before switchover and how to keep the business talking during the change.
When the Line Goes Quiet: A Calm Outage Playbook for UK SMEs
Connectivity

When the Line Goes Quiet: A Calm Outage Playbook for UK SMEs

Broadband and phone outages are operational events, not technical mysteries. This practical playbook sets out how UK SMEs can manage the first two days with clear ownership, disciplined escalation and a short list of purchases to avoid until the cause is known.