NICE Get More for Less with hSo’s Converged Networks

• Over £100,000 worth of savings across two sites
• MPLS network provides fully resilient and flexible solution
• SIP trunks replace ISDN30 circuits for resilient telephony and even greater cost savings

About NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence)
NICE is the NHS advisory body which provides guidance to the nation on the promotion of good health, and the prevention and treatment of ill health. NICE guidance covers the use of new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures, as well as the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions, within the NHS. NICE also produces guidance on public health topics for those working in the NHS, local authorities and the wider public and voluntary Sector.

The Challenge
NICE have offices in London and Manchester; due to significant expansion and a requirement for an in-house call centre, it became necessary to move the Manchester office to larger premises. NICE took this opportunity to enhance its communications network across the entire establishment.

Five key points were set out in the initial brief:

• Integration – NICE wanted to run both offices as one office, despite their distant locations
• Scalability – it was important to ensure that future growth would not result in having to invest yet more money in the network
• Resilience – an earlier fault on an existing circuit had caused a complete outage in Manchester, and disrupted email accessibility in London. NICE were determined to prevent similar faults from occurring in the future
• Enhanced communication – NICE wanted a system that could cater for extensive video conferencing between the two sites
• Disaster Recovery – it was essential that the new solution be part of a greater Disaster Recovery plan.

Since its inception in 1999, NICE has employed Inspired Networks – an independent IT Consultancy – to design and assist in maintaining its networks and IT platforms. Inspired Networks are a services only consultancy (they do not resell products), specialising in designing, maintaining and operating cost effective networks in highly secure environments. Their particular expertise in the healthcare and the financial services markets made them an ideal choice for NICE.

NICE commissioned Inspired Networks with the task of sourcing and selecting a supplier who could provide a solution that most closely matched its requirements (as set out above).

Why hSo?
Inspired Networks initially requested bids from five different companies; when asked why he chose hSo, Graham Walmsley, Managing Director of Inspired Networks said, “…they were the only company to listen to our requirements and come back with a bespoke solution that exactly matched our needs… furthermore, they were more cost effective”.

The Solution
hSo:CONNECT delivers a versatile Wide Area Network (WAN) using MPLS to provide flexible, scalable, connectivity between different sites. hSo supplied high bandwidth circuits for all data traffic (including internet access) at each site. In addition to these main circuits, lower-cost back-up circuits were provisioned at both sites for extra resilience. All four circuits were provisioned using different Tier-1 carriers to further increase resilience.

hSo:VOICE+ uses SIP trunking to carry all incoming and outgoing VoIP traffic over hSo’s MPLS network, eliminating the need for ISDN30 circuits. This not only ensures resilience for all calls to and from NICE, but enables prioritisation of all voice, video and data services. What's more, incoming calls can be routed to either office, and inter-site calls can be transferred as easily as if they were coming into just the one office. NICE decided to retain a small number of its ISDN30s as failovers for its telephone systems in the event of an outage.

Video Conferencing – previously NICE had three Video conferencing units requiring a long-winded set up procedure whenever they needed to be used. It now has 14 conferencing set ups at each site providing the connectivity to function as a single office, and saving them £20,000 in operating costs.

The underlying infrastructure that hSo has used is MPLS based and gives NICE the ability to seamlessly switch between primary and back-up circuits; this ensures zero down time. After extensive testing, the verdict from NICE is that the switch over is “undetectable”.

The Benefits
hSo's services have saved NICE over £100,000 across the whole project. Lower call costs, free site-to-site calls, reduced ISDN30 costs and substantial savings on video conferencing are just a few of the areas where these savings have been made. Furthermore the increased provision of video conferencing has led to savings on travel between the two sites.

Data and voice services have been made more robust by using MPLS and SIP technologies. Additional resilience is provided through the two back-up circuits and the remaining ISDN30s. All of this contributes to NICE’s overall Disaster Recovery plan and offers NICE the assurance of business continuity.

The whole solution is fully scalable which means that as NICE grows, its network can grow too, without the fear of extra CAPEX (Capital Expenditure).

When asked for any conclusions Ben Bennett, Director of Business Planning and Resources at NICE said, “As a government funded body we are acutely aware of the need to secure value for money from all of our suppliers. hSo’s bespoke solution has saved us a significant sum of money while providing us with a scalable, resilient communications network. We are delighted with the service we have received.”

To find out more call us today on 020 7847 4510

hSo, Epworth House, 25 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AA
http://www.hso.uk.com

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