Durham County Council choose Azzurri for Telecoms Supplier Consolidation

7th August 2012 - Durham County Council has chosen Azzurri Communications to consolidate a number of existing telecoms suppliers and to take on the support of its legacy telecoms estate. This will give the council just one support number to call and a single service level agreement (SLA) across the entire 10,000 user estate.

Legacy hardware will be displaced to allow Durham to take advantage of new technologies, with Azzurri equipping the council’s staff with an enhanced IP telephony-based platform for all its fixed line telephony. The platform also supports computer telephony integration (CTI), so staff retain consistent telecoms functionality if they are working flexibly or remotely, and ensures they maintain a quality service to the County Durham population.

A further innovative aspect of the contract sees Azzurri investing in two new IT and Telecommunications Professional Apprenticeship schemes to run in County Durham. The apprentices will be supported by Azzurri’s national engineering infrastructure for on the job training in the region.

This telecommunications strategy aligns with Durham County Council’s vision for an ‘Altogether Better Durham’, the framework which guides all of the council's plans. It is comprised of five priority themes prefixed by ‘Altogether’, namely: Wealthier, Healthier, Safer, Better for Children & Young People and Greener.

The contract has been carefully structured to provide a number of additional benefits to support the framework, including:

• Alignment with the Government’s “shared service” agenda:  the telephony platform will be capable of supporting other Government bodies and public authorities, potentially providing the council with a source of future income.
• Azzurri’s ‘Intelligent Telecoms Estate Management’ (ITEM): the council will use this online tool for asset inventory services, management reporting and personal call manager services, alongside dedicated cost consultancy to continually drive down costs, highlight overcharging and track ROI.
• A green solution: all equipment disposals will be kept to an absolute minimum.

About Durham County Council

Durham County Council is made up of an elected assembly of 126 councillors accountable to over 513,000 people in County Durham. We are responsible for providing a wide range of public services to the people of the county.

We also represent and promote the interests of County Durham when dealing with regional, national and international affairs. Through effective local government, Durham County Council allows local people to look after their own affairs and to decide how and where money is best spent in their area.

Our powers and responsibilities are determined by Parliament with county council elections held every four years. The most recent election was held in May 2008 and the next one is expected to be held in 2013.

About Azzurri Communications

Azzurri is the UK’s leading independent provider of managed communications services. We help organisations transform ICT into a strategic asset to support growth, enhance agility and efficiency, boost collaboration and deliver competitive advantage.

Our flexible, integrated communications services encompass IP and mobile telephony, converged networks, unified communications, contact centres and document solutions.