Cardiff University
Nasstar implements a collaborative and cost-efficient UC solution
Cardiff University is currently the eighth largest University in the UK with more than 31,500 students representing over 100 countries. The university has over 250 buildings within three colleges that oversee its 26 Academic Schools.
Services
Communication and Collaboration
The Brief
Cardiff University needed to modernise its communications to improve collaboration throughout the university, ensuring that staff and students could work as efficiently as possible. The university’s legacy PBX system was no longer fit for purpose and as a result, the organisation was spending more time and money than necessary maintaining it.
As part of the university’s master redevelopment plan, the building that contained the central PBX platform was scheduled for demolition, meaning strict timeframes had to be met to ensure the continuation of voice services.
Due to the shortcomings of the existing communications system, relationships with students were largely formed through face-to-face interactions. However, in some cases, online communication could be a more efficient alternative. The new solution needed to be easy to use, resilient and intuitive to ensure university-wide adoption and to enable improved collaboration across students and staff.
As a Microsoft Partner and Unified Communications specialist Nasstar was the perfect partner for Cardiff University.
The Benefits
The solution has paved the way for more collaborative and innovative methods of interaction. By resolving its challenges with communication between staff, students, external communities, and partners Cardiff University has increased levels of user satisfaction.
The Solution
Working in partnership with Cardiff’s in-house IT specialists, Nasstar designed an on-site Skype for Business platform and assisted in the project migration planning.
In collaboration with the university’s IT Project team, Nasstar assisted with the roll-out of the new solution to 5,500 full-time staff. Users can now stay connected and communicate securely from one, easy-to-use platform, via any device and from any location.
This transition also enabled Cardiff’s traditional ISDN phone line to be assigned to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) system. The SIP-based solution not only facilitates lower call and maintenance costs but also allows for potential integrations and expansion, future-proofing the university’s communications system.
With both audio and video conferencing, Enterprise Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and mobility services, Skype for Business was a scalable solution that mirrored Cardiff’s future growth goals.
To fully realise the benefits of collaboration and communication and move away from our legacy systems, we needed an experienced and trusted partner to help us through this transition. Nasstar were just that - their experience and understanding of the transformation from traditional telephony to Unified Communications has been invaluable.