Yorkshire Water reinforces its technology
defences
Network investment strengthens the communications backbone that
connects and underpins operations at its 130 sites
Yorkshire Water, the UK’s fourth largest water and sewage
company, has reinforced the defences of its daily operations
through an advanced digital network from ntl:Telewest Business. The
network investment strengthens the communications backbone that
connects and underpins Yorkshire Water’s operations at its 130
sites, meaning that major problems at individual sites do not have
a broader impact.
The enhancements to the network also provide Yorkshire Water with
the foundations to roll out and utilise advanced communications
services, such as Unified Communications and WiFi wireless network
connectivity. This will help to enhance customer service by
empowering operatives in the field with advanced communication
tools, and also increase competitiveness through enabling flexible
working practices to be adopted across the organisation in the
future.
Covering an area of more than 6,000 square miles, Yorkshire Water
supplies 1.24 billion litres of drinking water every day - the
equivalent of a glass of water for every person on the planet. The
investment in the IPVPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network)
with MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) provides a secure,
flexible and fully scalable infrastructure for carrying the
company’s voice and data traffic. The enhanced network has also
enabled the company to adopt a new approach to communications
management. By linking all sites centrally over the network, the
utilities company benefits from greater flexibility in managing the
flow of data between sites, as it is easier to locate and isolate
any problems.
Prior to the project being undertaken, network sites were linked
through a ‘daisy chain’ system, which meant that when one site went
offline it would take down the next site – and faults with major
sites would impair the operations of at least six other locations.
The enhancements to the private network, which became fully
operational in January 2008, mean that each site is now connected
centrally.
“The water industry is a highly competitive market. The
network we’ve deployed provides us with the resilience and
flexibility needed to manage and ensure the delivery of our
service. Carrying all traffic on the same network provides
significant cost benefits today, but it also provides us with the
platform for greater innovation in the application of services and
the ability to introduce some new services, such as unified
communications and broadening the footprint of our Telemetry
systems in the future. This will allow us to build real competitive
advantage,” added Mr Nussey.
In a separate project, ntl:Telewest Business has helped Yorkshire
Water successfully migrate its back-end systems to a new data
centre located in Bradford. ntl:Telewest Business
helped ensure a seamless integration by establishing and managing
Wide Area Networks (WANs) at both sites, and by switching off the
redundant WAN when the new office was connected to the ntl:Telewest
Business network.
“Technology underpins the delivery of services within the utilities
industry, so it is vital that companies have a network
infrastructure that can withstand the challenges of today’s
environment,” said Ed Critchley, Business Sales Manager for
ntl:Telewest Business. “By investing in advanced communications
network today, Yorkshire Water is in a fantastic position to roll
out new services and applications that can make a real difference
to the organisation’s effectiveness and customer service in the
future.”
Yorkshire Water operates more than 700 water and sewerage works,
and 120 reservoirs. The company is also responsible for operating
40,000 miles of water and sewerage mains, enough pipework to
circumnavigate the Earth.
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