Client: A Leading Museum and Cultural Institution  
Industry: Museum and Cultural Institution  
Location: London, United Kingdom  
Partnership Since: 2021

Background 
Our client is one of the world’s largest museums of decorative arts and design. Located in London, this prestigious institution boasts a vast collection of over 2.3 million objects, spanning 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum is renowned for its historic architecture and cultural significance.


Challenge

Our partnership with the museum involves providing specialised support for the wired and wireless network infrastructure, contact centre, and unified communications solutions. We have facilitated the transition from legacy collaboration platforms and voice solutions to an upgraded internal infrastructure, which underpins the introduction of new cloud solutions.

This transformation has modernised the museum into a contemporary workplace while preserving the historic integrity of its buildings, which are renowned for their architectural significance. Working with such a prestigious client requires a deep understanding of the physical constraints and expansive environment of the museum.

Despite these challenges, we deliver premium service support, along with first-class hardware and software solutions, ensuring the museum remains a leading-edge organisation in the 21st century.


Solution

Amillan partnered with the museum to provide consultation, implementation, and ongoing comprehensive managed-service support across the wired and wireless network, contact centre, and unified communications solutions. The key aspects of the overall solution included:


Results

The partnership between Amillan and the museum has successfully transformed the museum’s multiple sites into a modern workplace while maintaining its historic place as a leading design and art institution.

Key outcomes include:
Enhanced Collaboration: Improved communication and collaboration among staff through upgraded systems.
Reliable Connectivity: Stable and efficient network infrastructure supporting the museum’s operations.
Future-Ready Solutions: A scalable and flexible infrastructure ready to support future technological advancements.


Conclusion

Working with the museum has been a testament to Amillan’s ability to deliver premium professional service support and cutting-edge solutions in challenging environments. The successful modernisation of the museum’s infrastructure highlights Amillan’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

 

 

Birmingham, UK – February 17, 2025 – Amillan Limited, a leading UK managed services provider, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Netcall, a UK-based enterprise software company specialising in digital transformation solutions that help organisations to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions with its Liberty Platform. This collaboration aims to leverage Amillan’s expertise to implement, manage, and enhance Netcall’s Liberty cloud contact centre solution, which is enhanced with advanced AI capabilities.

The partnership will enable businesses to transform their customer service operations by integrating AI-driven solutions, ensuring more efficient and personalised customer interactions. Amillan’s professional services will play a crucial role in deploying, optimising, and managing the Liberty Platform, helping organisations achieve seamless and effective communication with their customers.

Kevin Lee, Sales Director at Amillan Limited, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership: “We are thrilled to partner with Netcall to bring their innovative cloud contact centre solution, Liberty Converse, to our clients. By combining our professional services with Netcall’s cutting-edge technology, we can deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive significant operational improvements.”

For businesses, this partnership between Amillan Limited and Netcall signifies a transformative leap in customer service capabilities. Amillan’s expertise in implementing advanced contact centre solutions with AI and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will ensure seamless integration and optimisation of Netcall’s omnichannel contact centre. This collaboration will enable businesses to achieve operational efficiency, scalability, and enhanced customer interactions. With comprehensive support from Amillan’s professional services, organisations can deliver personalised, efficient customer service and adapt to evolving customer demands with ease.

Clare Rafferty, Head of Partnerships at Netcall, added: “This partnership with Amillan Limited marks a significant milestone for Netcall. Amillan’s expertise in professional services will be instrumental in ensuring the successful implementation and adoption of our Liberty Platform. Together, we are committed to empowering businesses with AI-enhanced contact centre solutions that elevate customer engagement to new heights.”

The key benefits of this partnership include enhanced customer experience through AI integration, operational efficiency with AI-driven automation and analytics, scalability and flexibility due to the cloud-based nature of the Liberty platform, and comprehensive support from Amillan’s professional services. These benefits will enable businesses to provide more personalised and efficient customer service, streamline contact centre operations, and adapt to changing customer demands with ease.

 

About Amillan Limited

Amillan Limited is a managed services provider specialising in the implementation and optimisation of advanced technology solutions. Committed to excellence and customer satisfaction, Amillan helps organisations achieve their strategic goals through innovative and effective services. For more information, visit Amillan Limited’s website. Our team of experienced professionals provides proactive 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and support, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities.

 

About Netcall PLC

Netcall is a leading provider of low-code and customer engagement solutions, helping organizations transform their customer interactions and streamline operations. With a focus on innovation and customer success, Netcall’s solutions empower businesses to deliver exceptional service experiences. For more information, visit Netcall’s website.

Netcall Partner Brochure
Netcall Partner Brochure
Size: 853kb

 

PR Contacts:

Catrina Ure | Marketing Manager | Amillan Limited

catrina.ure@amillan.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 121 704 58 40

www.amillan.co.uk | Amillan LinkedIn | Amillan YouTube

 

Lisa Ferguson |Campaign Manager | Netcall

lisa.ferguson@netcall.com

www.netcall.com | Netcall LinkedIn | Netcall YouTube

Birmingham, United Kingdom — 27th January 2025 – Amillan Limited, a leading Managed Services Partner in the United Kingdom and PolyAI, builders of the world’s most lifelike voice AI agents, are excited to announce a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the customer experience through innovative AI-driven solutions.

Amillan provides comprehensive solutions in unified communications, contact centres, network infrastructure and artificial intelligence, all underpinned by robust managed services to provide clients with continuous support and proactive management of IT environments. These services can be provided both on-premise in the private or public cloud, CCaaS / UCaaS, and include 24/7 monitoring and maintenance, ensuring that any potential issues are identified and resolved promptly to minimise downtime and disruption.

PolyAI is a leading provider of conversational and generative AI solutions, specialising in creating lifelike agentic voice assistants for enterprise customer service. Leveraging best-in-class technologies such as large language models (LLMs) and speech recognition, PolyAI’s bespoke AI agents are designed to enhance customer interactions by providing seamless, natural, and personalised experiences.

This collaboration will leverage Amillan’s extensive expertise in managed network and communication services to deliver seamless PolyAI’s cutting-edge generative and conversational AI capabilities to create efficient, personalised customer interactions.

Kevin Lee, Sales Director of Amillan, stated, “Our collaboration with PolyAI marks a significant milestone in our commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences. By combining our strengths, we can offer innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients and set new standards in the industry.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Amillan to bring our advanced conversational AI technology to a broader audience,” added Michael Cibelli, VP of Channel Partnerships at PolyAI. “This partnership will enable us to integrate our solutions with Amillan’s robust networking and communication services, bolstering their value proposition with world-class agentic AI that will benefit businesses and their customers alike.”

The partnership will focus on developing and deploying AI-powered customer service solutions across various sectors, including retail, finance, healthcare, and telecommunications.

 

About Amillan

Amillan is dedicated to delivering comprehensive managed IT services tailored to the unique requirements of businesses. Founded in 1985 we deliver a proactive approach to IT management, ensuring that clients’ systems operate smoothly and securely. Our team of experienced professionals provide proactive 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and support, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities.

 

About Poly AI

PolyAI builds customer-led voice assistants that carry on natural conversations with customers to solve their problems. PolyAI serves organisations where customer dialogue is an important part of doing business, including transformative visionaries in global banking, hospitality, home services, insurance, energy, retail, healthcare and telecoms, as well as NGOs and the public sector. The company has been featured in the Forbes AI 50 and recently won a Gold Stevie award for best Contact Center Solution. To hear the difference lifelike voice assistants can make for your business, visit www.poly.ai.

 

PR Contacts:

Catrina Ure | Marketing Manager | Amillan Limited

catrina.ure@amillan.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 121 704 58 40

www.amillan.co.uk | Amillan LinkedIn | Amillan YouTube

 

Damien Smith |Senior Communications Manager | PolyAI

press@poly-ai.com

www.poly.ai | PolyAI LinkedIn | PolyAI YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

Sales Account Manager

Job Title: Sales Account Manager

Location: Amillan HQ/Hybrid working/Travel to customer sites across the UK.

Salary: £25,000 – £28,000 base (depending on experience) with an OTE of £50,000

Job Type: Full-time

About Us: Amillan is a Managed Service Partner dedicated to delivering comprehensive managed IT services tailored to the unique requirements of businesses. Founded in 1985, we take a proactive approach to IT management, ensuring that our clients’ systems operate smoothly and securely. Our team of experienced engineering professionals provides proactive 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and support, enabling clients to concentrate on their core business activities.

Profile: We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic Junior Sales Account Manager to join our growing IT sales team. The ideal candidate will be very personable with a drive to create net new sales with client relationships for business opportunities, and ensuring customer satisfaction. This role is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to grow their sales career with a Data Networking and IT Managed Services Provider.

Key Responsibilities

Client Relationship Management:

Sales Development:

Account Management:

Qualifications

Skills

Key Attributes

What We Offer

This role involves travel across the UK, so a valid UK driver’s license and access to a car are essential.

Health, wellness and pension benefits are provided.

How to Apply: Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume and a cover letter outlining their relevant experience and why they are the ideal fit for this role to kevin.lee@amillan.co.uk (no agencies/headhunters)

Leading Managed Servies Provider, Amillan, has once again been named a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) G-Cloud 14 framework.

Building on its success from the G-Cloud 13 and Network Services frameworks, this achievement is a testament to Amillan’s continued excellence in providing public sector organisations with seamless access to cloud-based technology solutions.

Amillan will offer services in the following Lots:
Lot 1: Cloud Hosting
Lot 2: Cloud Software
Lot 3: Cloud Support

Amillan underwent a rigorous selection process, evaluated on multiple criteria including service offerings, implementation skills, service delivery, customer references, and experience.

Patrick Daly, Managing Director of Amillan, commented:

Being named once again as a supplier on the G-Cloud 14 framework is a significant milestone for Amillan. This recognition not only validates our commitment to delivering high-quality services but also opens up new opportunities for us to introduce innovative AI solutions to support public sector organisations more effectively. We look forward to leveraging this framework to enhance our service delivery and foster stronger relationships with both new and existing public sector clients.”

The G-Cloud 14 framework provides cloud-based services to the entire UK public sector, including associated bodies and agencies, the voluntary sector, charities, and other private organisations acting as managing agents or procuring on behalf of the public sector.

G-Cloud 14 aims to simplify and expedite communications and networking procurement for public sector organisations, with pre-defined and agreed contract terms and conditions and a shortlist of pre-approved suppliers offering a wide range of services. The framework will run until at least 2026.

Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector in achieving maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2023/24, CCS helped the public sector achieve commercial benefits equal to £4.9 billion, supporting world-class public services that offer the best value for taxpayers.

About Amillan

Amillan is a communications technology specialist dedicated to delivering integrated solutions that enhance your organisation’s performance. We bridge the gap between you, your partners, and your customers, regardless of location or communication preferences.
Our technology portfolio features the latest innovations from global vendors in Unified Communications, AI, Telephony, and Network Infrastructure. We work with advanced Contact Centre platforms underpinned by AI solutions. Our network infrastructure practice ensures the protection, direction, and delivery of your information through robust Network, Connectivity, and Infrastructure services. All of this is supported by our comprehensive care programs, providing you with the highest level of expertise and support at all times.
Our extensive experience in the digital transformation landscape, coupled with a strategic partnership approach, is why businesses of all sizes choose to work with Amillan.

Press Contacts : Marketing Department | Amillan Limited

Follow us on: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amillan/

 

 

Anywhere with Webex | Gurste Case study

Webex empowers UK startups to help companies respond to emergencies

UK startup Gurste is taking on big responsibilities. They work to ensure no organisation faces a crisis alone. They might help a small shop recover after a fire, aid an international distributor with sudden supply chain issues, or assist clients with their security and counter-terrorism planning.

No matter the client, Gurste starts with a process of threat and risk assessment⁠ to determine what they need to prepare the client for. Once the assessment is complete, Gurste works with clients to develop plans the businesses can implement should threats and risks materialize. Most importantly, these plans help ensure that employees stay safe and receive long-term support as needed. Gurste also helps companies build public relations plans and identify other ongoing actions they might need to take after a crisis. From there, Gurste supports its client in training their teams to ensure that plans run like clockwork as soon as they’re required.

Easy-to-use, flexible video conferencing

With such a wide range of clients scattered internationally, Gurste needed a collaboration platform that was secure, reliable, cost-efficient, and easy to use. They tried Microsoft Teams, but found the user experience clunky. Gurste explored Zoom, but it struggled to meet necessary security requirements. They also used RingCentral, but moved away due to a mixture of high prices and first-party support for Cisco desk phones. After ruling these providers out, they worked with their Cisco partner and decided Cisco Webex was the perfect fit due to its robust feature set, performance, security, and support.

“We are a remote-first company, so Cisco Webex is central to what we do,” said Gurste’s CEO Connor Gurney.

Gurste uses Cisco Webex Meetings as their primary method of communicating with clients, both on an everyday basis and during an incident. The video conferencing tool’s many features have served the business well.

“We regularly use the recording and transcription features of Cisco Webex Meetings to ensure that everybody can access information,” Gurney said. “This means that we always have a record of truth, which is vital when conducting post-incident reviews.”

When disaster strikes and clients call, time is of the essence. Gurste must quickly make accurate assessments of the situation and rapidly deploy the correct resources.

“Let’s say there was a fire in the building. We can quickly send them a link to join a Cisco Webex Meeting via their mobile phone when they’re in a safe place and see what is happening in real-time,” Gurney said. “It can be incredibly easy to underestimate what’s going on based on just a phone call. Having reliable video conferencing available is important for us. Having Cisco Webex video conferencing allows us to see and understand the situation — first-hand.”

Best-in-class Cisco security to protect client data

Security is critical for Gurste. Whether responding to an incident in real-time or developing a contingency plan, clients share details that need to stay safe and private.

 

“A lot of the information we handle is incredibly sensitive. We must have the very best in security, and we get that with Webex. Webex offers end-to-end encryption and is the only solution we identified that is able to offer this on VoIP calls, meetings, and messaging, which made it by far the best solution for our security needs.”

 

Webex Calling in addition to secure video conferencing

While they previously had to make calls from their personal mobile phones while working remotely, Gurste now relies on the Cisco Webex Calling platform to make and receive calls from any device, anywhere in the world.

In times when a phone call is the right move, the Gurste team has found Cisco Webex Calling to be an excellent resource for internal and external collaboration. They also use the Cisco Webex App to collaborate with suppliers in the UK and abroad.

Standout support

As a small company, Gurste has been impressed with the responsiveness of the Cisco Webex team. Any time they have a question or a unique challenge, the Cisco Webex team is there. There was no initial cost to get set up, and clients and contractors without technical experience were able to get up and running quickly and easily.

Cost savings with Webex

There are several ways that Gurste measures its ROI from Cisco Webex. One aspect relates directly to the company’s bottom line.

“Previously, we might have had to send somebody a significant distance, only to find out it could have been handled with a video conference. Cisco Webex means that now we are not deploying resources unnecessarily. We also have gained increased capabilities around security, which we didn’t have before.”

Gurste has also seen great ROI in terms of client satisfaction. Gurste needed a reliable solution that could help them communicate smoothly with clients and deliver excellent customer experiences. Having that face-to-face interaction on Cisco Webex really makes a difference.

“When our clients call, it is most likely because they are having one of the worst days of their lives. Being able to interact with somebody who is not as emotional, who can calm them down, and who can begin to provide solutions is important,” Gurney said.

Webex drives critical learning and growth

Because no two incidents are ever exactly alike, the Gurste team also uses Cisco Webex as an important source of knowledge to help them learn and do better each time.

“Cisco Webex Meetings and Cisco Webex Calling enable us to have recorded and auditable conversations while responding to an incident,” Gurney said. “This is crucial as it means we can review decisions as they were made in real-time and harness the knowledge that may otherwise be lost, which allows us to learn vital lessons, which may well save lives in the future.”

Additionally, as Gurste grows and expands, it is looking into how it might leverage additional Cisco Webex solutions, such as incorporating Cisco Webex Events for webinars and other educational sessions.

 

Simplify and future-proof your technology footprint Amillan

Leading communications integrator, Amillan, has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Network Services 3 (NS3) framework (RM6116).

Amillan’s success in being named as a supplier will allow them to give public sector organisations easier access to its expertise in telephony and communications technology as Amillan can provide servicers on the following Lots:

Amillan underwent a rigorous  selection process where applicants were evaluated for multiple service lots, based on multiple criteria, including service offerings, implementation skills, service delivery, customer references, and experience.

Patrick Daly, Managing Director, Amillan, said:  “Amillan has seen tremendous success via our previous listing on Network Services 2, and we are delighted to be successfully selected once again on the new Network Services 3 framework. This award continues to give us access to an expanded pipeline of public sector procurement opportunities and will enable us to transact business much more quickly and seamlessly with existing and new public sector customers. It will help streamline the whole process both for us and our clients.”

The NS3 framework is for the provision of telecommunications and network services and can be used by the whole of the UK Public Sector and their associated bodies and agencies, the voluntary sector, charities, and/or other private organisations acting as managing agents or procuring on behalf of the public sector delivering services of a public nature.

NS3 aims to simplify and speed up communications and networking procurement for public sector organisations, with pre-defined and agreed contract terms and conditions and a shortlist of pre-approved suppliers providing a wide range of services. The framework will run until at least 2025.

Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2022/23, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £3.8 billion – supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers.

About Amillan
Amillan is a leading solutions integrator delivering unified communications, contact centre, data networking and connectivity solution, on-premise or in the cloud. For more information, please visit, www.amillan.co.uk

About Crown Commercial Service
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office, supporting the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services.

To find out more about CCS, visit: www.crowncommercial.gov.uk

Follow us on Twitter: @gov_procurement

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/2827044

 

The modern business environment is becoming increasingly complex, and organisations in the public sector are no exception. One key challenge is keeping up with the rapidly evolving technology landscape. With cloud computing, unified communications, and other technologies emerging as critical components of enterprise IT, public sector organisations must take steps to ensure they are efficient and meeting the needs of their stakeholders and local communities.

Cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure can be a powerful tool in the public sector’s digital transformation efforts. Here are some of the key benefits that such infrastructure can offer:

  1. Enhanced collaboration: Cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure enables team members to communicate and collaborate more efficiently, regardless of their location. Whether they’re in the same building, working remotely, or stationed in different parts of the country, unified communications systems can bring everyone together on the same platform, with real-time communication and collaboration tools at their fingertips.
  2. Increased productivity: With cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure, public sector employees can get more done in less time. By providing a single platform for messaging, voice and video calling, and file sharing, this infrastructure eliminates the need for multiple tools and systems. This makes it easier for employees to access the information they need, when they need it, and work collaboratively with their colleagues.
  3. Improved flexibility and scalability: Cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure can be scaled up or down based on an organization’s changing needs. This means that public sector organizations can easily add or remove users, applications, and services as required, without having to worry about the associated hardware costs and management overheads.
  4. Better security and compliance: Cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure can offer advanced security features, including encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection and prevention systems. This helps to protect public sector organizations’ sensitive data and intellectual property from unauthorized access or theft, and ensure that they remain compliant with relevant regulations and industry standards.
  5. Lower costs: By adopting cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure, public sector organizations can reduce their IT costs significantly. This is because the infrastructure is hosted and managed by the service provider, which eliminates the need for on-premises hardware and software, as well as associated maintenance and support costs. This makes it a more cost-effective solution than traditional on-premises deployments.
  6. Improved citizen engagement: Cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure can also enable public sector organizations to engage with citizens more effectively. By providing real-time access to information, services, and support, unified communications systems can help to improve citizen satisfaction and trust in government services.

In conclusion, cloud-hosted unified communications infrastructure is an increasingly important technology for public sector organizations looking to transform their operations and maximise efficiency. By providing enhanced collaboration, increased productivity, improved flexibility and scalability, better security and compliance, lower costs, and improved citizen engagement, this infrastructure can offer significant benefits to public sector organisations of all sizes and types. To realize these benefits, it is essential that public sector organisations work with trusted and experienced service providers like Amillan to design, deploy, and manage their unified communications systems. Contact Amillan to discuss how we can help you take the next steps on your digital transformation journey.

The University of Sunderland (UoS) has a student FTE count of over 24,000 based across campuses in Sunderland, London and Hong Kong and, in addition UoS has many partnerships with learning institutions in various countries around the globe, extending its global teaching reach.  Sunderland is recognised internationally as a leading, digital first university, with a long-established commitment to widening participation, world-leading research, public and private sector collaborations, and a track-record for providing quality student experiences.

To underpin their digital first agenda, the university adopted a cloud first strategy, focussing on leveraging key skillsets offered by managed service providers to align activities that underpin core operational infrastructure.  This allows UoS to be more digitally transformational, adding greater value to the University and its customers.

To tie in with this strategy, in 2021 UoS made the decision to scale out its current investment within O365 and migrate telephony to a single unified communications platform, accessible from anywhere in the world, further supporting the aim to move away from data centres and an on-premise footprint.

In early 2021 the University began seeking a supplier to fully manage and support the design, implementation and migration of staff from their current telephony services to a hosted Microsoft Teams for telephony service. UoS’s telephony environment at the time was a mixture of Skype for Business 2015 and Astra MX1, with smaller legacy PBX systems also on-site in London and Hong Kong campuses. The Microsoft Teams app was used by the University, but for collaboration, and meetings only.

The university conducted a procurement process via CCS’s RM3808 Network Services 2. After an extensive review of the marketplace, they made the decision to partner with communications specialist Amillan for this project. Amillan is a communications integrator with over 30 years’ experience in enterprise voice technology, holding Microsoft’s Communication competency for 15 years. Amillan supports a number of other UK universities with their voice infrastructure, and it was decided they were the best fit to support the University in this digital transformation.

Amillan’s solution provides the University of Sunderland with a Cloud based Telephony Platform delivered from a Private Cloud which hosts Session Border Controller’s, PSTN SIP Trunks and for the migration phases, SIP Integration to the existing On-Premise Skype for Business deployment.  Session Border Controllers are configured in a resilient configuration to provide Microsoft Direct Routing towards the University of Sunderland’s M365 Tenant.  Amillan’s Direct Routing provides the Teams application with PSTN capabilities for all incoming and outgoing calls.

In the Amillan Data Centre, GAMMA SIP Trunks are provided in the form of Active / Standby.  This provides the University of Sunderland with a resilient PSTN service from the GAMMA Public SIP Infrastructure.  All DDI Numbers were be ported to the new GAMMA SIP Service.  These SIP Trunks and DDI Numbers are presented to Amillan’s Session Border Controllers which are also working in Active Standby mode.  The SBC’s send the DDI to the end user via Direct Routing into Microsoft’s M365 architecture, delivering “Dial Tone” into the Teams users.

Like all Universities, UoS required extra SIP Channel Capacity during the annual clearing period. Amillan’s solution has been built with the high clearing capacity in mind, however with the Gamma Portal the University can change the channel count instantly, meaning that outside of clearing the University can scale down the SIP Trunks from the Gamma network, only paying for what is required, meaning no wasted expenditure.

Due to the covid 19 pandemic and the immediate shift to home working, many university staff were already utilising teams for internal calling and Skype for Business for external calls, this made the transition to teams for all telephony significantly easier with regards to change management and user adaption. All staff already had the appropriate equipment to allow them to work in agile way from home or when on campus with laptops and headsets, and the project included replacing physical handsets with Teams compatible alternatives where required. This in itself was a remarkable achievement for the University and for Amillan, as the rollout and the configuration of YEALINK Teams handsets was a first for both. In addition, there are several communal analogue devices (e.g. corridor phones) which needed to be migrated to SIP as part of the overall design consideration. Amillan connected these endpoints to a SIP to Analogue convertor to provide a DDI and dial tone for this service.

Amillan fully managed the on-boarding procedure for the UK and Hong Kong sites to enable all campuses for Teams Telephony. A risk adverse approach was followed where Amillan connected to the on-site topology using Public IP Addresses from both the University of Sunderland and the Amillan data centre, allowing for a phased migration of users from Skype for Business to Teams, avoiding a “big bang” approach, resulting in a seamless and disruption free transition of services.

Following the successful upgrade to Microsoft Teams, Amillan now fully manages and supports the service for the University, with Amillan’s Service Centre and engineering resource supplementing UoS’s in-house skills. This includes Amillan having agent access to the University’s IT Service Desk, meaning any ticket that is submitted for telephony is sent to Amillan to resolve and close seamlessly.

“The upgrade to Teams for the University’s telephony is an important step forward for our Digital First agenda, providing staff with simplified communication and collaboration platform wherever they are in the world. Amillan’s management of the transition has been first-class with a true desire to understand our organisation needs and become a valued partner moving forward.” Jason Marshall IT Service Manager, University of Sunderland.

“We admire the University’s forward-thinking drive to invest in technologies which improve experiences for staff and students. We hope that this project will be the start of a long-term partnership between both organisations. ” Patrick Daly Managing Director, Amillan.

 

Is your Network due for renewal?

Before settling for your current vendor, consider a better deal, with the potential for a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

When considering the cost of refreshing your network, it’s crucial to look beyond the price points of switches and access points. Consider the typical five-to-seven-year lifespan of the network equipment and take a closer look at both the hard costs such as hardware, maintenance, licensing and support, and the soft costs such as network downtimes and operational efficiency

In addition to these obvious costs, there are many other factors affecting your network’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) including interoperability with existing products and management systems, purchasing models and market instabilities.

 

Compare before you buy

Of course, all vendors are not created equal. To help you choose a vendor that can provide the most cost-effective solution for your next network equipment purchase or upgrade, here’s a vendor comparison checklist to consider:

  1. Does the vendor have a comprehensive portfolio that covers both your LAN and WLAN needs (including indoor and outdoor equipment)? Beware of vendors who have built their portfolio through acquisitions with no clear path for product evolution or integrated management.
  2. Does the vendor have a single, unified management system to manage both the LAN and WLAN equipment including unified policy management, Guest Access/BYOD and IoT management, analytics, and fabric provisioning? Multiple management systems can add considerable costs in provisioning and maintaining your network. Avoid vendors that do not offer a single pane of glass to manage the entire network or that require multiple servers to deliver all the functionalities mentioned above.
  3. Does the vendor offer cloud-based or on premises network management options with identical features? You shouldn’t have to compromise on features just because you want to manage your network in the cloud.
  4. Does the vendor offer flexible purchasing options to suit your purchasing preferences? You need to be able to purchase equipment and software in the manner suitable for you, whether you’re buying the equipment out-right or through a subscription model.
  5. Does the vendor have a good track record with their existing customers? Customer reviews are important. Check how the vendor stacks up against other competitors.

 

 

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise can help you

Amillan recommends you consider Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for your next network refresh. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise provides digital age networking, communications, and cloud solutions, with flexible business models. All ALE’s solutions have built-in security and limited environmental impact. They have a proven track record with years of global experience in networking. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise stack up very well against competitors. In fact, customers have rated them higher than Cisco. Read this Gartner Peer Insights head-to-head comparison.

 

ALE can help you simplify your network and operations with:

Amillan are confident we can find you with an equal or better solution than your current vendor. Contact Amillan today to discuss your requirements and to compare options from leading networking vendors.

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