New study suggests no link between mobile phones and brain cancer

A new study that has been published today in the British Medical Journal which suggests that, contrary to long held popular belief, there is no link between cancer of the brain and the use of mobile phones.

The experiment concluded that mobile phone users were at no greater risk than anyone else of developing brain cancer. The research was carried out by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Denmark, which studied over 358,403 people who use mobile phones over an 18 year period. It found that even those people who had mobile phones over 13 years or more had no higher risk of contracting brain cancer than anyone else. However, they also concluded that mobile phone use warranted continue research to ensure that cancers were not developing over the longer term, as well as continuing to study the effect on children. As was pointed out by Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University, the comparison is effectively only between early mobile phone users and later mobile phone users, and although an 18 year period seems like a long period of time, this is only looking back to around 1995. One other concern about the research was that it did not include “corporate subscriptions”, ie. people who use their phones for business purposes, which are probably some of the heaviest users of mobile phones. 

For the past 20 years there has been a huge amount of debate and fear over the effects of mobile phones on human health, and this report is the latest contribution to that debate. The World Health Organisation still feels that mobile phones could be carcinogenic, and puts them in the same category as coffee, a category whereby a link cannot be categorically ruled out but also cannot be categorically proven. Hazel Nunn, Head of Evidence and Health Information at Cancer Research UK said “These results are the strongest evidence yet that using a mobile phone does not seem to increase the risk of cancers of the brain or central nervous system in adults”. The UK Department of Health’s official advice is still that anyone under the age of 16 should only use mobile phones for essential reasons and aim to keep phone calls as short as possible while their brain is still developing.

Commenting on the report, David Clarke, Director of DBS Telecoms – a leading supplier of 0800 numbers, 0845 numbers, virtual London phone numbers and international toll free numbers said: “I remember going back about 10 or 15 years many people were frightened about getting a mobile phone due to health reasons. Now there are more mobile phones in the UK than there are people, with figures showing high percentages of children using them. Health concerns seem to have been forgotten about or ignored over time, but they are still there lurking in the background. Whilst the headlines from this report seem pretty conclusive, there still seems to be quite a bit of ambiguity when you look beneath the surface, and whilst the results are encouraging, there is still uncertainty of the effects over long periods of time.”

DBS Telecoms to provide International Virtual Numbers

Following last month’s announcement that DBS will now be vastly expanding its selection of freephone numbers to include not just 0800 numbers for the UK but also toll free numbers for 106 other countries across the globe, the leading telecoms provider is now pleased to announce that it will also be expanding its virtual local numbers.

DBS currently offers virtual local numbers for around 500 different towns and cities across the UK. Following this announcement, it will now be providing the same service but internationally. DBS Telecoms will therefore be providing international virtual numbers for 4,000 cities across the globe.

The principle behind the idea is exactly the same as the principle behind the virtual local numbers that DBS currently offers, but will be on an international scale rather than just a UK wide scale.  So, for example, if you’re a company based in London, but want to have a presence in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington DC, then you can get an international virtual number for each of these US cities pointed to the phones of your offices here in the UK, and advertised accordingly in these American cities. This then provides your international customers with a number they are familiar with rather than a “strange foreign number” which they might feel uncomfortable phoning, and allows you to expand where you do business without actually having to relocate, purchase new premises or hire new staff in a different country.  These numbers can be pointed to any landline or mobile phone number worldwide.

Commenting on the launch, DBS Director David Clarke said: “We have always been pleased to offer virtual numbers for 479 different UK area codes, and will continue to offer this service, but this new option will satisfy the needs of our customers who want to do business overseas. We are delighted that there is such a demand for international numbers and that our clients are expanding to operate internationally, and very much hope that this trend continues”.

Extra Features for London Numbers

DBS Telecoms offers a wide range of virtual London phone numbers covering the three different sub-categories of 020 numbers – 0203 numbers, 0207 numbers and 0208 numbers. These numbers are available to be pointed at either existing landline or mobile telephones, and there are also a wide range of extra features offered by DBS which can accompany them.
 
“Press 1 For Sales” service
When a customer or client dials your virtual 020 London number, they will have a welcome message inviting them to press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, etc. to make you appear as a professional, large, well structured company.  The message and options can say what you want it to say, and can all point to the same number, or to a string of different numbers. 
 
Call Whisper
There is currently a free 30 day trial at DBS on this feature. Because a virtual London phone number is pointed to either an existing landline number or an existing mobile number, when the phone rings you do not know if the incoming call is ringing your existing landline or mobile phone number or if they are calling your virtual 020 number. The “Call Whisper” is a feature which plays a short recorded message when you answer the phone if someone is calling on your London 020 number. So, if it is a call to your normal number, you don’t hear a message, but if someone calls on your 0203, 0207 and 0208 number then you will hear a message saying “London number” “virtual number” “local number” “business number” or whatever you want it to say. This ensures you answer your London number professionally, knowing what sort of call it is coming in. The caller does not hear the message. 
 
Voicemail
If someone phones your virtual London phone number then you want to have a voicemail message so that your customers or potential customers can leave you a message. If they’re just faced with a phone that rings continuously, they probably won’t bother phoning back. DBS’s voicemail not only takes a message like a normal voicemail, but emails the message as a recording straight to your email inbox increasing the chance of you replying right away, and also notifies you of the numbers of anyone who didn’t leave a message, thus increasing your chance of not missing any customers.

Fax to Email Service
If you purchase a virtual London phone number then you might want to consider getting a London fax to email number as well. Not only will it mean that your London fax number matches your London phone number, but it also ensures you receive your faxes in a more environmentally, cost effective way. Fax to email converts your faxes to PDF and sends them straight to your email inbox, saving you on paper, ink, toner and electricity.
 
Call Recording
DBS offers two different call recording options for its virtual 020 numbers, for inbound and outbound calls. The feature allows you to record your phone calls, and then emails you the recording straight afterwards so that you can keep it for your records or use it for training purposes. 
 
Greeting Message
This is a personalised recorded message that can be played when someone phones your London phone number, such as “Thank you (company name), your call is important to us and will be answered shortly” or whatever you would like it to say.
 
Call Queuing
If you have more calls at once than you can answer to your London phone number, this feature places them in a queue, tells them they are in a queue, plays them music, plays messages of your choice, and holds up to 50 people at once. 
 
Online Call Statistics
If you want to keep track of your London 0203, 0207 or 0208 number then this feature is ideal. You can check out the numbers that have called you, the time they called, the duration of calls, how quickly calls were answered, calls missed and more. 
 
Divert on Busy or No Answer
DOBNA diverts your calls to a list of other numbers, so for if example if you’re not in the office, it diverts your call to your mobile. All you need to do is supply DBS with the numbers. 
 
Time of Day Routing
If you want your virtual London number pointed or routed to different numbers at different times of the day then this feature makes that possible. So, for example, you can have your virtual 020 number pointed at your office phone number between 8.30 and 5.30, and at your mobile phone the rest of the time.
 
DBS Director David Clarke said: “The virtual London phone numbers are great on their own because they help hard pressed small businesses who want to do business in London, but cannot afford London premises. It means they can be based just outside London where offices are cheaper, but still have a London number to appeal to London clients. These features make things even easier for them. We constantly review what businesses want and need in order to do well and aim to provide them, which is what we feel these businesses do. In tough economic times, every bit of extra help is hugely valuable.”