Yes, it’s that time of year again – the time when we ask our clients how our team has been doing, and what we can do to raise our quality of service even further.

In 2018, a record 96% of you feel we understand your IT needs either ‘Extremely Well’ or ‘Very Well’, and 90% of you felt we met Lineal’s IT support mission statement either ‘Very Well’ or ‘Well’.

In three years, the percentage of you who feel we resolve queries ‘Much Quicker’ than expected has doubled, and a high 82% feel we’ve either met or exceeded their expectations for time taken to resolve technical queries.

Your Client Survey 2018 feedback also suggests Lineal is being used for a wider range of IT expertise than ever before – with more of respondents recognising our capacity to deliver phone systems, broadband, leased lines, Wi-Fi networks, SQLWorks business software and a whole range of Cloud IT services.

There were also areas for improvement: a small minority of you (14%) still felt our customer service had been ‘OK’ – a rating we’ll be working hard to exceed with some new processes for sharper communication, monitoring task completion, and ensuring timely confirmation.

Lineal moved into new offices in central Barnstaple this year, and we want this to help deliver a better service for our customers.

As always, thank you to everyone who responded to our Client Survey 2018 – a wide variety of constructive feedback helps us immensely to focus on key areas of improvement.

Kind and constructive comments are always helpful – here were some of our favourites.

– Always helpful, would recommend the Company to others. Thank You.

– Good team of people and we now use Lineal for most if not all our IT, software, phones and support. It’s good to have in one place and generally we are very happy with the overall service.

– Generally resolve issue promptly and friendly team.

For Lineal IT Support expertise and advice, please contact our team today.

This year Lineal Software Solutions Ltd. was an official Sponsor of the 51st North Devon Show, and launched (maybe) the show’s first ever Space Invaders Championship.

The retro arcade pub-classic, in which the player holds out against descending ranks of tiny pixelated aliens was first released in 1978, making the game 40 years old this year (yes, really.)

Mike Matthews, Lineal’s managing director explained: “We wanted to make this year’s show fun with something both young people (and the young at heart) would recognise instantly and enjoy.”

“For those of us er… more advanced in years… the memories flooding back!  Lineal was first founded in the 1980s, and it’s astonishing to think how far technology has developed.”

Fortunately so has Lineal, and visitors to our stall could learn more about Lineal IT support, cybersecurity, business software, cloud services, phone systems and much, much more.”

Lineal, which recently moved to new premises in central Barnstaple, was also an official Sponsor for this year’s North Devon Show, and presented the prizes to winners of the ‘Hacks and Riding Horses’ class.

After 2017’s Show was unfortunately cancelled due to poor weather, 2018 was a huge success and a fantastic day out for locals and visitors alike. Next year? We’ll be planning something even bigger…

Mike explained: “The North Devon Show is always a highlight of the calendar, and the array of businesses, charities, livestock, rural groups, crafts and all-round entertainment is a showcase for the community in this part of the world. We’re always proud to be able to support it.”

See you next year!

For IT Support and expertise, contact Lineal today.

Microsoft is seeking student UK technology developers to enter the 2018 Imagine Cup – with a chance to win $100,000.

The prestigious technology trophy, awarded every year to a team of three young people who develop a groundbreaking technology idea, are currently accepting entries for 2018’s Imagine Cup UK finals.

UK finalists are expected to be chosen in March (top prize $5000) with global finalists travelling to Redmond, Virginia (the home of Microsoft) for 2018’s worldwide finals, and a chance at a grand prize of $100,000.

The winning entry must be an original technology project, created from an initial idea to implementation and run from the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Entries can be on any theme, although recent competitions have been dominated by inventions designed to not only demonstrate innovation, but contribute to human well-being.

Entries from the UK will be judged by an expert panel, including Clare Barclay Chief Operating Office of Microsoft UK; Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Microsoft Research; Michael Wignall, National Technology Office at Microsoft UK; and Rob Fraser, Commercial Software Engineering Lead at Microsoft UK.

Microsoft’s insistence on the final solution operating via Microsoft Azure no doubt reflects their ‘cloud-first’ business approach, in addition to a recognition that the ‘global’ finalist’s winning idea should be a truly global possibility.

Winning Imagine Cup entries from previous years include a solution to help those with diabetes manage symptoms, a charity donation app that embeds into news articles, and the ‘Emma Watch’ – recently featured on the BBC for assisting those with Parkinson’s in reducing limb tremors.

Teams can learn more, and enter the competition, here.