Telephony/Unified Communications Solution

Over the last 20 months' Mid Devon District Council (MDDC) has faced significant challenges due to the Covid19 pandemic. The Council has been faced with 1. radically changing our service delivery model 2. balancing shifting customer and staff expectations 3. modernising current working practices 4. maintaining financial sustainability All of the above occurred before we were able to invest in our infrastructure to provide seamless communications between staff and with our customers. With the shifted expectations on contemporary working environments and practices, and in conjunction with our Transformation Programme we are seeking a modern and resilient telephony provision with Unified Communications. Our existing systems need replacing in order to deliver a truly modern and unified communications framework through which we can deliver our services to the public. We plan to replace our existing on-premises PBX, Meridian switch system and our Avaya IPOCC contact centre with a cloud based VOIP solution. We operate out of various sites, so it is essential to ensure staff are able to move between sites and home whilst keeping their telephone number and functionality. We are looking to achieve the following from replacing our existing Telephone and Contact Centre solutions: Functions Enhancements • Unified Communications and Collaboration tools • Enhanced Mobile/Agile Working • SIP Endpoints (softphone, mobile device Apps and 'hard' desk phones) • Improved reporting on call handling, volume, usage and cost breakdown. System Availability & Enhanced Support • Contemporary System Architecture • Improve system lifetime (PSTN retirement) • Improved Redundancy/Flexibility (Business Continuity) Cost • Reduced/Efficient system administration • Reduced call costs • Reduced licencing and line rentals.