Next Telecom announced today that it had signed Wingecarribee Shire Council (the Council or WSC) for its new Microsoft Teams Direct Routing service.
Tristan Plummer, CTO Next Telecom said that WSC had been earmarked to have its ISDN services decommissioned; an impending termination that forced rapid action. “We had an aggressive 10-week delivery timeline. To get the project done, we established a service delivery project team within Next Telecom to ensure the successful coordination of the delivery of services, hardware and porting. This team maintained regular contact with Council right through to successful delivery and project completion.”
John Crawford, Chief Information Officer, Wingecarribee Shire Council said the Council had previously been using an older generation PBX that was not capable of carrying IP voice. “We needed a solution that could be implemented quickly, and we wanted better collaboration, video conferencing between sites, mobility, improved DR and something that would fit with the Microsoft suite.”
After a rigorous and competitive procurement process, Council selected Next Telecom to review the range of IP solutions available. As WSC was already operating Microsoft Office 365 it was determined that the Next Telecom service offering, Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams on Office 365, was the most suitable solution.
Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams (DR4T) provides direct dialling capability for both landline and mobile calling from a single, dedicated geographic number integrated with Microsoft Office 365 Teams. It allows businesses to deliver and manage their business communications from a single, integrated platform regardless of where their staff are located. DR4T leverages the Cloud to allow users to communicate through chat, meetings, video and voice calls to anyone inside and outside an organisation. It also allows companies to use their existing VoIP, ISDN or PSTN numbers.
Next Telecom was engaged to migrate the ISDN services to IP voice using MS Teams Phone System via MS direct routing for 330+ users over multiple sites. The project included porting DID ranges, inbound 1300 numbers and co-ordinating the delivery of voice into the MS Teams Direct Routing solution. It also included the supply of Teams handsets to around 130 staff.
DR4T went live late August 2019. The project was completed within 10 weeks, from the initiation of the agreement to the go live date.
Crawford said, “It was a sensational result. Next Telecom delivered our platform and added a lot of value to the whole process. They offered a great price and had exceptionally good references. They were flexible and willing to work with us; it was clear they wanted to ensure the project was a success. The services offered by Next Telecom have been flawless, and the project and sales teams have been fantastic.
What this solution has enabled for Council is communication anywhere. Teams follows you, enabling mobility and flexible working. It has cut back a lot of administration time, and the soft phone follows the user, enabling video conferencing and collaboration with internal parties and external vendors which is very important due to our location and the remote location of some of our sites. It literally brings our partners, customers and vendors to our door.
With Next Telecom, I feel it has been very much a partnership. They have been willing to work with Council, and they have been transparent, honest, and agile throughout the whole roll out,” concluded Crawford.