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a&o helps Hertfordshire County Council deliver flexible working

Collaboration tools will improve communication between sites, reducing travelling and carbon emissions

29th November 2007: a&o systems + services UK ltd. has been selected by Hertfordshire County Council to implement and manage a cross-county conferencing and collaboration solution. Based on Alcatel-Lucent’s My Teamwork, the implementation will use telephone and video conferencing and secure instant messaging to improve communication and productivity between the council’s 20,000 staff.

The teleconferencing and instant messenger modules of the solution are currently being piloted at the council headquarters at Hertford County Hall. This is one of three sites replacing over 50 existing offices. The infrastructure will then be rolled out to two further offices in Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead, enabling inter-site collaboration. Once fully operational, the council plans to introduce video conferencing between the sites.

The work is part of Hertfordshire County Council’s ‘The Way We Work’ project, which aims to consolidate a number of council offices to create a more cost effective and flexible working environment. a&o has been a key partner in the process. Last year the company worked with the Council to complete the first phase of a network upgrade by installing a 10G Ethernet infrastructure at Hertford County Hall, over which the collaboration solution is being rolled out. In addition to the design, deployment and break/fix maintenance of the network infrastructure, a&o is providing the ongoing proactive management of the network. This support includes monitoring traffic and activity, which is analysed and shared with HCC to help identify potential problems.

a&o can then suggest updates or fixes before a problem occurs.

Dave Mansfield, Network Manager of Hertfordshire County Council, states: “We have over 20,000 employees, many of whom have to spend a significant amount of time travelling between sites. The roll-out of collaboration tools will help them make more efficient use of their time by working remotely if required, and reducing the need to travel.”

He continues; “a&o is a long-established and successful partner, and the company has been an integral part of the success of this project. Their team has again delivered a solution which will help us maximise our investment in technology and maintain control over operational costs, while delivering new services to council staff and customers.”

Andrew Lough, Business Manager for Communications and Collaboration at a&o UK, comments: “Unified communications is now the cornerstone of flexible working in many organisations. It is a powerful solution to counter downtime, enhance communication and increase productivity. We are delighted to have been involved with the project at County Hall and we look forward to working with Hertfordshire County Council on future projects.”

For more information, contact press@aogroup.co.uk