The CPS will implement the HIPT Service three years earlier than originally planned. This will help the CPS to facilitate a radical change in its working practices that will increase flexible working, improve security and reduce running costs.
Global Crossing’s HIPT Service provides customers with a telephony solution over a single converged IP network which is approved for Government Restricted Use. The service is a managed one, providing IP telephony ports, telephony features, Direct Dial-In (DDI) numbers and inbound calling, outbound calling, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) telephone handsets and analogue port capability for devices such as fax machines and traditional telephones. The CPS’s employees will be able to retain the same telephone number wherever they are working and regardless of which office they are in.
As well as enabling employees to work more flexibly, the delivery of the technology included in this contract extension will help the CPS in its process of transferring to an electronic case file system. Even while away from their office, employees will be able to access and update electronic case files by using an encrypted 3G mobile connection. Working closely with Logica, the CPS’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) partner, the solution will be piloted over the next six months in Dyffd Powys, Merseyside, and North Wales. By combining IT and telephony in this way the CPS predicts it will reduce the running costs of these services by 25 percent.
Ted Higase, Global Crossing managing director, EMEA, applauded the steps being taken by the CPS to harness the benefits of hosted telephony services. “We are delighted to continue and extend our association with the CPS. This further demonstrates Global Crossing’s commitment to the UK government space and the CPS’s commitment to be a leader in the adoption of newer, greener technologies which are both secure and able to ease the strain on public funds,” said Higase.
“We understand the challenges that are unique to the public sector and this contract extension recognises the particular differentiators required to help the CPS achieve their business goals through IT. The combined ICT architecture and the close partnership between the CPS’s ICT providers also significantly reduce the resources required from CPS to coordinate these transformations.”
HIPT Services allow enterprises to reduce their expenditure on capital-based infrastructure. Hosted services can also include storage options for customers. In this way, enterprises can meet their storage needs and document retention requirements while enhancing their business continuity/disaster recovery capabilities.