"Our new telephone system is now up and running, in a record time with the minimum amount of downtime. The engineer was a pleasure to have in the building, a credit to your company."
Robert Johnston, Director, The Gentleman's Shop, Hungerford
Tone Leisure is a charitable leisure trust with 600 staff at 12 centres across the South West. The company stays connected with all voice and data communications through systems provided by du Pré plc.
When Tone Leisure required an upgrade of their telephone system and IT Network, they spoke to many other solutions providers but after careful consideration they selected du Pré. du Pré replaced their increasingly unreliable Alcatel telephone systems with du Pré's hosted VoIP telephone system, du Pré Connect. As well as upgrading the telephone system, du Pré also provided web and email filtering across the group and implemented an MPLS network between the centres.
Local waste container supplier Mini-Skips (Southern) Ltd, based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, has been a du Pré plc customer for more than 20 years. It had a traditional telephone system connected to normal PSTN telephone lines.
Although Mini-Skips was not actively looking for a new system, du Pré conducted a routine review and identified that the Connect business grade hosted VoIP telephone system would reduce call costs and improve flexibility.
Mini-Skips has now been using du Pré Connect for a year and it is already realising the benefits of a hosted VoIP telephone system over the more traditional PSTN or ISDN based offerings.
Having spent the last four years implementing a global IT strategy, Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has been through a number of positive changes with its information management, software applications and IT infrastructure. The journey has resulted in large areas of improvement across the company, as Rashpal Kullar, Group IT Director, explained.
“Four years ago, IT in the company was very different to now. The infrastructure had evolved over time and was in need of consistency. The previous system caused inefficiencies. For example, staff found that accessing email from other sites was not always possible and our CRM was managed through five disparate systems, each operating at different locations."
“We needed to make improvements to ensure the IT strategy would help take the company into the future.”
Bibby Financial Services selected du Pré to manage the changes required to bring the IT infrastructure up to the same levels as the rest of the company.
Having operated for many of years with a traditional telephone system, Manchester-based PrintSoft Systems chose du Pré Connect to meet their needs, embracing new technology with a future-proof system.
“It seemed to make the most sense,” explained Simon Power, Support Team Leader at PrintSoft. “After all, we are a forward thinking company so an IP solution for us was perfect.”
Simon continued, “It also makes much more sense with the simplicity of cabling throughout the company. Gone are the days of cable for telephones and cable for computers. Now it’s much more straightforward to manage.”
Having joined Newland House School in Twickenham 10 years ago, Dave Parker, IT Manager, inherited an Argent Branch telephone system. The system had served its original purpose well but times were moving on and by 2009 it was becoming increasingly outdated.
“I looked at various options for the school including a bespoke Panasonic system which was loosely IP and an Open Source alternative. But one wasn’t up to scratch and the other company didn’t even call me back.
“du Pré Connect seemed perfect for us and we felt it would meet our requirement for additional phones in the school too.”
"Snow disrupts the UK," is the headline across the UK, one that was applicable in Newbury, Berkshire during January 2010.
Not the case at du Pré, where it was completely business as usual in the line of supporting customers with their telephone systems and IT networks. Staff at du Pré have been using its own ‘Connect’ hosted VoIP telephony system for some time now. In addition to all the features and benefits it brings during normal weather conditions, it’s times like this when the system really shows off its capabilities and highlights that du Pré that has a robust business continuity and flexible working plan.
I'm not so much of a technical person," Tony Kellett, Accounts Manager at Hampton Steel explains. "This means I need a company I can trust to resolve any issues Hampton Steel has."
"du Pré provides this service and I can rely on them to get the job done. Whenever we have any changes, du Pré will swiftly complete the work with minimum interruption to the running of our business."
Hampton Steel and Wire is based in Northamptonshire. It offers a range of steel products to suit fencing needs across the UK.
Newbury, Berkshire-based du Pré provides Hampton Steel and Wire with business grade calls and lines and telephone support.
A company, which has asked to remain anonymous, was the victim of voice mail hacking last night.
"Thanks to du Pré and their fraud identification systems," said the MD, "we were made aware that illicit phone calls were being made through our voicemail and telephone system. We received a call from du Pré at 9.30 last night, advising fraudulent phone calls appeared to be being made on our main telephone number, and would we like something done about it? The numbers were expensive 0870 numbers."
The customer asked that all outgoing calls on their lines be barred immediately.
Lambeth Academy, run by the United Learning Trust, has recently opened its doors to students with a state-of-the-art networking facility implemented by Newbury, Berkshire-based business telephone specialist du Pré plc.
du Pré, a long-term BT partner, delivered a high performance networking solution that will support the use of a Managed Learning Environment for Lambeth Academy pupils and staff.
St Gabriel’s School in Newbury, Berkshire, has been a du Pré customer since 1989. The school has a Samsung telephone system, a du Pré Calls and Lines contract and a du Pré 100mb/s Lease Line.
With an increased requirement for remote access to St Gabriel’s by teachers and pupils the Bursar, Noel Erskine, decided the school would need to increase its broadband connection. Working with du Pré the school found the best solution was a dedicated Lease Line, which would offer a stable 100mb/s connection. To make the connection more cost effective, du Pré provided a solution where the bandwidth could be shared with another local school via a radio link.
The du Pré Lease Line has been installed at St Gabriel’s for nearly two years, with the school reaping the benefits of a faster and more reliable connection. St Gabriel’s is also a du Pré Calls and Lines customer, with consequential reduction in call costs compared to a previous BT contract.
John North, Partner at Royds Solicitors in London, was involved in a relocation of the firm into new offices. This move, despite being only a short distance, meant the potential for upheaval and a drop in productivity was huge. But above all things, the ability to make and receive telephone calls fast was crucial.
Royds saw the move as an excellent opportunity to review their existing telephone system and decided it was the perfect time to invest in a 21st century IP Telephony solution. After researching the market extensively, Royds selected du Pré Connect.
Having purchased a Panasonic DBS telephone system from du Pré plc in 1994, St. Michael’s Hospice in Basingstoke, Hampshire decided on a state-of-the-art Avaya IP500 telephone system to take the charity into the 21st Century.
“The Avaya IP500 telephone system is quite simply the best value for money in terms of product quality and flexibility,” says Berny Meunier, IT Manager for St. Michael’s Hospice. "With du Pré having supported the previous system for 15 years, it seemed logical to turn to them for the supply of a new IP-enabled system."
Having spent more than 14 years using a BT Meridian Norstar and faced with the prospect of moving their telephone system from Southampton Row in London to The Old Exchange in Wimbledon, the London Law Agency turned to du Pré for assistance with the relocation and upgrade of their system.
One of the benefits of du Pré Connect is the ability to retain telephone numbers, regardless of where the office is relocating to. “It’s perfect,” said Jeremy Osborne, General Manager. “Not only do we have the flexibility of du Pré Connect hosted IP telephone system but we no longer pay hefty costs to BT for forwarding every call. Our more sophisticated service is saving us money each month.”
Last year, Mary Hare School had a legacy cabling infrastructure in place throughout the whole campus, combined with a mixture of analogue and digital handsets. Guy Cowley, Bursar, was faced with updating the telephone system to meet today’s communication needs within the school.
“We needed a solution that was both backward-compatible and future-proof. This was to make the most of our existing cabling in the school while also ensuring that any new system would last us well into the age of IP telephony,” explained Guy.
An Avaya IP500 telephone system was perfect for Mary Hare School, partly because of the variety of handsets it supports (analogue, digital and IP) and partly because of the voice messaging system through ‘virtual’ extensions.
"There are many companies that claim to provide all the services that du Pré supplies, but the most important thing we have from them is assurance," says Andrew Roberts, Director of R & B Star.
"du Pré's support desk for Telephony and IT is just outstanding," continues Andrew, "and the updates we receive are second to none."
R & B Star is an electrical wholesaler with offices in Greenwich, Maidstone and Crayford. Founded in 1960 the company serves customers all over the UK.
Read how R & B Star benefits from du Pré IT network support and provision of business telephone lines and call plans.
"The telecommunications element of the project was well planned in advance and smoothly executed by the whole team," writes John Langmaid of Accountax UK. "The professionalism of every one of your personnel can only impress. With such a business critical operation to achieve, my absolute confidence in these people meant that I could focus on other aspects of the project, and that confidence was proved to be well placed."
Relocation of business telephone systems
John's project was to move two parts of a thriving business to a new location, on two separate dates. This included co-ordinating the relocation of business telephone lines and associated specialised numbers, while ensuring business continuity without disruption to customers.
du Pré and Samsung provided BBC Vecta with a telephony solution designed to support remote working and simple informal call centre capabilities with an emphasis on ease of use.
During the last weekend in October, Ambassador Packaging conducted an electrical test which required the powering down of all the electrical equipment. Unfortunately the ISDN 30 connected to the company's Panasonic switch failed to operate when power was restored.
Ian Snaith explains: "I called the du Pré 24 hour support line about 7pm on Sunday night, and left a message, not expecting a response until Monday morning. Within five minutes, du Pré's Technical Manager phoned me, closely followed by du Pré's Customer Support Manager.
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