Inverclyde Council Saves For The Future With Advanced £3m Network

Published 9th November 2007

• Fibre network and VoIP technology delivers significant cost savings, as well as a scalable platform for the future
• Resilient and reliable Ethernet VPN offers high-bandwidth, secure access for over 5,000 staff
• Council to realise a return on their investment within 3 years

Inverclyde Council has successfully implemented a cutting edge £3m ntl:Telewest Business Ethernet VPN network, which is set to fulfil all of their communication and data needs for the next five years. This has resulted in reduced running and billing costs and will ensure security and stability for Inverclyde Council’s 5,000 staff.

The Ethernet VPN fibre network is now more robust and reliable than the old legacy system and is a foundation to serve the future modernisation and efficiency agenda of the council. According to the Gershon report, the overriding priority for all councils is to “make better use of the public’s money.” As such, the Ethernet VPN network ensures that the council can utilise technology as well as staff expertise to enhance services for both internal and external customers, while saving resources.

The new network will mean the council benefits from significant cost savings through Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies, facilitating free internal calls on the network. Billing procedures have also been significantly rationalised freeing up council time to deal with what really matters, the estimated 82,000 citizens it is responsible for.

Gordon McLoughlin, Head of ICT & Business Transformation, Inverclyde Council, said of the project: “The network is absolutely the foundation on which Inverclyde Council will grow its technical strategy. We now have the flexibility to provide scaleable bandwidth to all of our Council and Schools buildings within Inverclyde, and ensure that our citizens benefit from this investment. Convergence has just started and once fully deployed, savings will be made thanks to applications such as VoIP. We expect to reduce our revenue payments by £120,000 a year, every year for the next 5 years. However, it is the core network and the partnership that is vital for us at the moment.”

“With this new network Inverclyde Council has raised the bar in terms of 21st Century communications,” said Christopher Small, Director for Public Sector, ntl:Telewest Business. “The cost savings were an obvious driver, but it is the flexibility and resilience of the system that will stand the test of time and really benefit the staff and citizens of Inverclyde.”

The Ethernet VPN service delivers 10mbp/s bandwidth to each council building, with connections to their core site delivered as Gigabit Services. Each of the 100 corporate and education sites directly connected to the ntl:Telewest Business network can be increased to 100mb remotely, without the need for any equipment changes or the need to send out an engineer.

The council’s key aim is to make Inverclyde one of the best performing local economies in the United Kingdom and an attractive, healthy and safe place in which to live, work and play. To achieve this, it works collaboratively with the business and residential community as well as external agencies, basing its approach on customer satisfaction, openness, innovation and value for money. As such, the new communications network epitomises the spirit of Inverclyde Council.