Invercylde Council

High speed communications for a 21st century council

On the verge of a major modernisation programme, Inverclyde Council knew that the effective use of technology would be critical in helping to create one of the best smallto-medium sized councils in Scotland.

What was needed was a resilient, scalable network that would grow with the Council – giving it a communications infrastructure to rely on and high speed connectivity that would benefit residents across the region.

Our high speed Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution gives Inverclyde Council the ability to modernise by making the most of the latest technologies. For example, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) now gives the Council improved communications and enables home working, whilst the speed and reliability of the network gives the region’s schools vital access to media-rich learning facilities.

A solution based on understanding

On the banks of the River Clyde, looking across to the Argyll Hills and Scottish Highlands, Inverclyde is a picturesque area with a population of 82,000 residents. Formerly home to a thriving ship building industry, a major regeneration

programme is now underway to improve work and leisure activities in the region. Our high speed network provides a robust communications platform to support this programme, and many more of the Council’s crucial plans.

Creating a network for long term growth

Having already worked with Inverclyde Council for over five years, we were delighted to yet again complete a stringent tender process and win the contract to work with them – this time to develop an appropriate network solution to support the Council’s modernisation plans.

Gordon McLoughlin, Head of ICT and Business Transformation at the Council, explains, “ntl:Telewest Business and ourselves have a very good relationship that’s developed over the years.

They understand what we do, the services we require and what our network needs to achieve.” And after designing and implementing a network solution

to address these needs, Inverclyde Council now has 84 sites connected to its high speed Ethernet VPN – giving the Council the ideal infrastructure for improvement and growth for many years to come.

A scalable, reliable infrastructure

Upgrading the Council’s existing copper connections to fibre involved our engineers running approximately 40km of fibre in and around the Inverclyde area. The weather during this implementation phase was dreadful, and extensive flooding occurred. Fortunately our robust project management and builtin

contingency planning enabled the project to remain on track.

Alan McDonald, Support Team Leader at the Council, commented, “The implementation was remarkably smooth. ntl:Telewest Business was very good at minimising disruption despite the extreme weather, completing the work on time and within budget.”

With a solid and reliable network infrastructure in place, the Council can now install the sophisticated technology required for modernisation. This includes improved operational applications such as Exchange 2007, plus contact centre and VoIP functionality. In practice, the solution allows connections at any

of the Council’s sites to be scaled up from 10Mb to 100Mb without an engineer even having to visit. Gordon comments, “The new network gives us exactly what we need – it is reliable, scalable and has resilience built into key sites.”

Improving educational facilities

The benefits felt from the high speed network reach much further than simply within the Council walls, as Gordon explains, “The ntl:Telewest Business solution covers the entire remit of education within Inverclyde, as well as the traditional council services.”

There are now approximately 2,000 educational users on the network – from nurseries to secondary schools – right across Inverclyde. This robust infrastructure will be critical to the region’s schools as ‘glow’, (the new intranet project to digitally link Scottish schools), is increasingly used to deliver online

learning content.

This enables users on the network to interact with a wide range of tools to assist their learning – such as instant messaging, uploading and sharing of video footage, plus secure access to content on the network from anywhere –

giving pupils the freedom to study from home, the library, or anywhere they choose.

Inverclyde Council believes that the strong partnership with ntl:Telewest Business has been key to the success of the project. “We have a very good and open relationship with ntl:Telewest Business,” says Gordon. “The Account

Management team is always very proactive in helping us achieve what we need to.”

What it has made possible

With the network in place, the Council’s modernisation programme is well underway. “We are using technology more and more – if we hadn’t upgraded our network we wouldn’t be able to implement technologies that are critical to our operation, such as VoIP and contact centre applications,” explains Gordon.

“Thanks to ntl:Telewest Business, the Council now has a robust and strategic platform to build upon.” Our scalable solution gives the Council the confidence that the network will grow alongside its changing requirements. Already differentiating Inverclyde from other Scottish councils, the new network has meant that Inverclyde is one of the first councils in Scotland to use Exchange 2007.

Looking to the future, the Council is already planning to use its new infrastructure and VoIP capabilities to improve levels of customer service through dedicated contact centres. Additionally, by using the network’s reach to its full potential,

staff now have the ability to work remotely. So, whether they’re working from home or out in the field, the Council’s new technology allows staff to work more productively – spending more time getting closer to the citizens of Inverclyde, and

delivering a level of service that’s second to none.