THE PROBLEM
This leading and established School based in the Guildford area found themselves with a dated phone system that was due to be decommissioned. With only 2 months to find a suitable replacement, they turned to Alphascan to fit them out with a modern, future-proof system and cost-effective system.
The school is for children and young people aged 3-16 who have a range of learning difficulties and is part of the Educational Impact Academy Trust. The school works with numerous other schools, businesses and charities in the community to create an inclusive and positive learning environment that is beneficial and supportive to everyone.
The school uses their connection to the community to broaden the curriculum on offer as well as provide pupils with regular educational and social outings. With around 300 pupils across two different sites, The school is ardent about offering individual focus to each child, making them one of the leading educational providers for special needs children in the region.
THE ANALYSIS
With a phone system that was soon to be decommissioned, The School needed to quickly find a new solution. They wanted a system that could offer the same level of functionality as their previous Cisco system but with additional enhancements that would suit their evolving needs. Despite their high level criteria, they also needed a complete solution that would be simple to use, flexible, scalable, and most importantly affordable. What’s more, as the school operates across two sites, it was crucial that the new system be completely reliable and easy to deploy at multiple locations. The staff need to be able to respond quickly and keep all lines of communication open at all times, whether with other staff members, parents or carers. In a nutshell, the School was looking for a solution that would:
- Provide a phone service for its 80+ existing users.
- Improve and increase overall system efficiency.
- Standardise telephony across the MAT (Multi Academy Trust).
- Reduce costs and improve functionality.
- Facilitate a one-to-all broadcast capability (for announcements/emergencies).
- Offer scalability for future expansion.
THE SOLUTION
Up against 3 other telecommunications providers for tender, Alphascan knew that 3CX was the right solution for the school’s needs. The situation was time sensitive, and required that the new phone system be rolled out without disruption. Not only could 3CX be deployed seamlessly in a matter of hours, it’s ease of use and management meant that employees could easily adapt to the new apps and features without any learning curve. What’s more, the system was sure to be future-proof for the school, reducing costs, providing the latest technologies, and offering an incredible level of scalability.
The project, involving a Pro license and on-premise deployment, was completed in 3 weeks. In addition, the school was able to utilise their existing infrastructure and devices for further cost savings.
THE RESULTS
The school were delighted to have their Cisco system replaced before the decommission deadline, allowing for continued service across sites without downtime. In addition to continuing on with the same functionality they were used to, they welcomed numerous additional features and benefits. In particular, the school was relieved to have easily deployed the smartphone apps and have extensions provisioned remotely during the holidays for staff that still worked. Mobility and productivity saw significant improvements as they could now easily access all channels of communication from wherever they were located.
Other benefits and challenges that School observed were:
- Integration of the Broadcast function with third party tannoy system for announcements.
- Free calls to UK landlines and mobiles.
- No per extension pricing
- Easy and cost-effective set up.
- Inclusion of call recording.
- Inbuilt disaster recovery.
The school have recommended Alphascan and 3CX to a number of educational partners.