The Paddington Waterside Partnership Connect to Business Hosted VoIP
Company: The Paddington Waterside Partnership
Supplier: Voicenet Solutions
Product: VNcomplete with Cisco Phones
The Business Background
The Paddington Waterside Partnership was established in 1998 to regenerate the area of Paddington, promote business and attract a new generation of residents to this once overlooked area of central London. Ten years on and the face of Paddington has changed beyond recognition and now boasts some of the most sought after business spaces and residential developments with investment into the area topping £2 billion.
With more than 1.4 million sq ft of commercial space, bringing more than 35 new corporations with over 8000 employees to Paddington and a further 2 million sq ft of development in the pipeline, 30,000 employees will soon be realised.
Established initially by developers, landowners and transport interests PWP works alongside local agencies and communities to ensure that this new location fits socially, economically and physically with its surroundings through a variety of initiatives.
The Challenge
Due to expansion, Paddington Waterside Partnerships outgrew its previous offices and when moving into new space in July 2008, it needed its whole IT and telecom infrastructure developed. IT Specialists, and Voicenet Solutions Centre of Excellence were recommended to PWP by existing customers – The Victoria Partnership. They were commissioned to supply, install and configure new PCs and an MS Small Business Server, migrating all users from a previously complex system.
PWP's past experience of office telecommunications however had not been a good one. The previous telephone system had come as a part of the serviced office's services, which offered no real choice and so PWP had to make do with what was offered. The phones they had were extremely basic not even offering voicemail.
The Solution
PWP had already part signed a contract with BT but decided to ask Voicenet Solutions, for advice on a suitable product. Paddington had quickly established a good working relationship with Voicenet Solutions and trusted their recommendations and expertise within the IT sector. Voicenet Solutions demonstrated the hosted VoiP solution and Cisco handsets from Voicenet Solutions in the PWP offices. For it to work to full capacity all that is needed is an internet connection and the customer can gain full access to their communications network, on their specific extension number.
PWP were immediately convinced that this hosted solution would offer far more benefits, advanced features and greater flexibility. They went for the all-in-one hosted solution, VN complete, which included free UK calls. This package comprised of Cisco 7911 and Cisco 7941 handsets, two Polycom Soundstations, with a new Power over Ethernet switch.
The Result
The effect of having a new phone solution has transformed communications at the PWP office. The Partnership is now using features the previous system simply didn't offer which proved, in hindsight, inhibitive.
Call transferring, conference calling, caller ID and individual answer phones and messaging were previously unheard of, now they are part of every business day.
One of the key features of a hosted VoIP solution easily offers remote working, allowing a large proportion of staff to seamlessly work from home as if they were in the office. This aids greater office flexibility enabling the team to work the way they want to more easily.