CAS

Newark and Sherwood District Council testimonial for CAS

NSDC supports an area of 400 square miles (one third of Nottinghamshire). The Council’s existing contract for the provision of telephony services expires in September 2009 and NSDC acknowledged this as an opportunity to seek vendor independent consultancy advice and guidance as to the suitability of its existing voice and data infrastructure for a converged IP Telephony Solution that will support the Council’s future business needs.

NSDC awarded CAS the assignment in July 2008 and the overall requirement was to conduct a technical and commercial review of the Council’s voice and data communications infrastructure. Work commenced in August 2008, the scope of the consultancy being split into three phases with a tight schedule of phases one and two being completed by 31 October 2008.

Phase one consisted of the following:

• A thorough and comprehensive audit of all lines and circuits, identifying and highlighting a number of billing issues from the current provider for which a refund has been received.
• Examination of voice and data traffic flows in order to establish circuit capacity and resilience.
• Review of current contractual arrangements
• Determine existing cost base.
• Identify any commercial/technical risks associated with the existing infrastructure.
• Meetings with key Users, and managers to establish future requirements.

Phase one proved to be a highly valuable stage.

Phase two consisted of the following:

• Assessment of the council’s current and future voice and data communications requirements.
• Preparation of a detailed appraisal of options, including recommendations.
• A comprehensive report was delivered within the timescale and an explanation given in person.

Phase three was to assist with the preparation of a detailed tender specification for a full OJEU procurement process based on the Council’s preferred option. This has been completed to a draft specification to date and is currently being reviewed.

NSDC have been very satisfied with the level of commitment demonstrated by CAS and the quality of the reports and recommendations to date. NSDC would not hesitate to use CAS in the future and would recommend CAS to other potential customers.

Diane Kirk - ICT Customer Service Support Manager
Newark and Sherwood District Council

Testimonial provided by East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

CAS provided telecommunications planning and project management services to deliver a regional telephony solution across the eastern region and a dedicated project manager to migrate from the established Emergency 999.

Operations Centre to a newly refurbished centre.The project required delivery of the following (list not exhaustive):

• Plan and implement Meridian PBX System Upgrades
• Office Telephony relocations management
• Design, Plan and implement network telephony dial plan
• WAN connectivity for emergency control centres using SIP trunks
• Specification and Project Management of a single Voice Recording ITT across 3 sites (Norwich, Bedford & Chelmsford)
• Management of 3rd party suppliers
• Project Management of Bedford Emergency 999 Operations Centre Migration whilst maintaining a live service delivery environment.

In all cases CAS met and exceeded the requirements and performance with regards to the contract specification:

• The nominated contract project manager was extremely capable and responsive.
• The telephony expert planned and lead the Trust to achieve the objectives and ensured robust and sustained resilient telecommunicationsSuppliers meetings and regular project meetings were facilitated utilising the documentation provided by CAS which included Gant Charts, Risk Logs, Action Logs and correspondence with suppliers.

CAS provided a professional and dedicated service which exceeded the level commissioned, to ensure that the project was delivered safely and at the appropriate time.

Paul Bassett - Project Director
Associate Director for Distribution

North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

I have read the case study and believe it to be a fair reflection of the works completed by CAS for the North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. I would just like to add what I believed to be missing which is the extra value that CAS has provided.

• Quality, that which is at a high standard,
• Clarity throughout the programmes with precise clear dissemination at all levels in the directorates
• Good organisational & communication skills.
• Steady and consistent in delivery of tasks and changes.
• Pride in ownership and handover
• First class project management that was confident and flawless.

Other bonus activities delivered by CAS were within project change guidance & risk management in assisting in offering solutions to the issues that arose. Importantly to the NHS in particular CAS were cost effective, efficient and cautious of constraints within budgets & timescales.

I can conclude that CAS delivered the project aims on time & within budget. Please feel free to pass my comments on to those of your choosing.

Darrin Flood
IT Programme Manager, North Essex Mental Health Partnership Trust.