Personal Service Society

Supporting innovative charity work with cutting-edge communications

Although the care solutions provided by the Personal Service Society (PSS) are

forward-looking, its staff were hampered by an out-of-date communications

infrastructure. To work more cohesively and efficiently as an organisation, the charity wanted to establish a communications network that would enable staff to share information quickly and securely across multiple sites.

A high-capacity data network and a managed telephony solution from ntl:Telewest Business provided the answer – delivering seamless, high-speed communications while keeping costs down.

Seamless connections across the organisation

Established in 1919, PSS is a pioneer in the provision of services that tackle social problems in the UK. It has laid the foundations for many community-based social and healthcare organisations – including the Citizens Advice Bureau, Age Concern and Relate. Headquartered in the centre of Liverpool, the charity has satellite offices in the north of England, Wales and Scotland. Our communications

infrastructure is helping PSS work more effectively so it can provide improved services to the people who need its help.

Speeding up the flow of information

Outdated systems were limiting the flow of information across PSS offices, and to other social service groups and fieldworkers. A slow dial-up connection meant that using email and the Internet was time-consuming – and if they

needed to distribute large documents, staff sometimes had to resort to saving files to CD and delivering them by courier. To address this, we proposed a network that would link the charity’s offices, providing high-speed Internet access and allowing them to transfer large files quickly. Barry Keal, IT Manager at PSS, was impressed by our products – and our costs. “When it came to the crunch, the package that ntl:Telewest Business put on the table simply couldn’t be matched by the other providers,” he confirms.

Smooth and efficient call handling

Although the initial focus was to improve data communications, PSS’s voice systems were also in need of  a refresh. We installed a fully-managed Centrex telephony solution across all of the charity’s offices. “In the past, we were unable to transfer calls between different sites and if people contacted the wrong department, we had to give them another number to call,” explains Barry. “Now we can forward the call directly – helping us to provide a calm,

smooth service.”

The ntl:Telewest Business solution is also cost-effective – with better tariffs, reduced rental charges, and free internal calls. “Our telephone bill has been reduced by a third,” says Barry Keal. “It means we can invest more money into further improvements to our telecommunications structure.”

PSS also took advantage of our Telebusiness Numbers service to provide a charge-free 0800 number for its groundbreaking ‘Young Carers’ campaign. By calling this free number, school-age carers can access advice, counselling,

advocacy and respite care – and PSS can manage the routing of incoming calls using a web-based interface.

Meeting a critical deadline

Speed is key to any project and for PSS and ntl:Telewest Business, time really was of the essence. Regeneration of Liverpool’s city centre meant that roads and pavements would be resurfaced directly outside PSS headquarters. We had to work fast to lay 1,000 metres of fibre before the regeneration work began. Miss the deadline and it would be another two years before cable could be laid.

“Our head office is obviously the central hub of the organisation – so if they didn’t get the fibre down in time there would have been little point to the project,” says Barry Keal. “But ntl:Telewest Business did it... with three weeks to spare!”

What it has made possible

In Barry’s opinion, the ability to control the charity’s IT infrastructure remotely  across the network is a key benefit – saving time and money. “I can now provide and apply IT expertise instantaneously, wherever it is needed,” he comments.

Barry is also excited about future opportunities made possible by the network. He concludes: “In the future we’ll be looking at videoconferencing and adding data links to other satellite offices”.