We saw multiple scare stories in the press of late about the prospect of networks crashing under the pressure of staff streaming live games, so you'd be forgiven for thinking that we really should be using this World Cup to sell customers more bandwidth - it could be an easy sell.

But this is not a technology issue. This is one for HR.

Yes, the need for bandwidth is increasing as businesses use more applications such as VoIP and video conferencing alongside email and traditional internet access. And over time all businesses should be looking at their requirement but what they should not be legislating for is a very seasonable, albeit considerable peak in traffic over their network that could result from dozens, or even hundreds of staff streaming live football matches in the afternoon.

There is a chance that this could compete with the legitimate needs of their business but it should not be IT's role to find a way around an issue that is all about personnel. However, that's not to say we'd advocate blanket bans on watching matches, handed out in an HR diktat. This simply creates more problems than it solves.

Instead, businesses need to think more creatively and think about the cost and morale implications of getting this wrong. Staff around the UK have had a tough couple of years. Bosses around the country have already found practical ways around this World Cup issue without risking the effectiveness and productivity of their business, giving staff a few very cost-effective perks.

So, even though the England team has now departed here are our tips for the remainder of the tournament:

- Get a television set up somewhere staff can openly watch and enjoy the games that kick off at 3pm. It's not "giving in", or "showing weakness", it's simply a way of showing staff that you respect and trust them enough to manage their workload around important games. Or if you are a company that does a lot of presenting, ask whether this makes the case for investing in that projector or large screen TV you've been meaning to get. If staff think it's so they can enjoy the World Cup in big screen splendour, so much the better.  

- Use the World Cup as a project to test emerging communications tools. Run a caption competition on a free blogging service, such as blogger.com. Encourage staff to personalise an iGoogle homepage or tweak your intranet with World Cup related RSS feeds. It may seem frivolous but a popular subject is a good excuse to encourage better understanding of tools we should all be using already for real business benefit.

- Some friendly reinforcement of the idea that the business and their own work cannot suffer should suffice. There may always be some staff who take advantage but what do you think those same staff would do if you didn't concede some middle ground on this issue? They're likely to be the first to phone in sick, or take their laptop off to a meeting room to watch a game. To use a footballing cliche, 'at the end of the day' it shouldn't take a World Cup to find out which staff are team players and which probably need to be put on the transfer list.

Lumison recently visited the Data Centre Europe Conference 2010, and one of the hot topics was something  called 'Evaporative Cooling' that Microsoft and the global players are looking to use in their fourth Generation datacentres.

It’s a clever system:  evaporated water from the heat generated is trapped in a fibrous membrane, cooling the outside air by up to eight degree Celsius.  This means that instead of using active cooling technology such as compressors (as found in your fridge or freezer), it's passive so it just needs a fan to blow the cool air across the heat load.

Just as our bodies sweat to cool our core temperature down in order to keep our power systems happy and healthy in the heat, its water that keep the datacentre systems ticking. Best of all, it's 90% more efficient on energy and carbon compared to traditional active cooling technology.

How do we know this works? At Lumison, we've been using it for the past three years in our switchrooms! Just one of the ways that is helping us towards our goal of a 9.6% in cut Co2 emissions by September 2010.

Voting for the annual PCPro Service & Reliability awards is now underway for one of the most respected awards in the UK IT industry.  This is a very democratic award where users of all technology get to nominate their preferred supplier/device.

As an added incentive to participate in the voting, voters can win one of ￡4,000 worth of prizes, including a Lenovo laptop, a Samsung NX10 camera and a Pure Siesta Flow digital radio.

So if you feel that we at Lumison have given you the level of service and reliability that's worthy of  recognition here's the URL and let's hope you and Lumison walk away with a  prize!

https://www.demographix.com/surveys/TWHI-SO67/SH6H9ERL/?story1

One such company is web solutions specialists, Conscia, who recently joined forces with healthcare solutions specialist, System C Healthcare PLC. With this expansion came the unwelcome prospect of having to install more lines and new hardware to meet their new telephony needs. With a portfolio which include NHS Scotland, local authorities and international law firms, clients naturally demand that contact with Consica is quick and instantaneous. 

But rather than dig up the road and invest in new kit, Lumison's hosted iPBX and an upgrade from SDSL to EFM meant that Conscia could outsource the problem and scale up (or down) as they see fit.

Because iPBX utilises broadband technology, companies such as Conscia benefit from cheaper calls and a host of added features from call conferencing, call queuing to picking up voicemail externally and voicemail to email. Suffice to say, because it’s a managed service, they longer have to worry about managing the system and benefit from Lumison's 24 hour service SLA as standard.

The upgrade to EFM was also a “no-brainer”.  For the same price as SDSL, Lumison could deliver MetroEthernet speeds to Conscia, with the upgrade taking a few weeks, rather than the 3 month lead time for fibre optic services.

In a nutshell, all this technology means being more responsive to client needs. It improves customer relationship management, makes working on the move easier and ultimately increases employer effectiveness.

All in all a bit easier than getting the diggers out…