The background

South West Communications Group develops a full communications solution complete with contact centre functionality to meet the needs of Swansea University and its Welsh Video Network.

Swansea University was the first campus-based university in the UK. It was founded in 1920 as a research-led University at the forefront of academic and scientific discovery. It is set in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula and caters for around 12,500 students offering more than 500 undergraduate and 130 postgraduate courses in a wide range of subject areas.

The challenge

Swansea University was looking for an experienced communications company to take over the ongoing support and development of its existing Alcatel telephone system.

The University’s main campus hosts 3,800 users in more than 30 buildings. This includes a contact centre for the Welsh Video Network; one of the most advanced video conferencing networks in the world. The Welsh Video Network facility installs and supports videoconferencing studios and other video facilities to public sector institutions throughout Wales. There are currently 30-plus studios operating over this network.

As well as sourcing a first class support service, the University was very keen to protect itself in the event of a communications system breakdown, network failure or the effects of an unforeseen disaster, such as flooding or fire.

It was also looking to achieve cost savings on its communications bill while in no way impacting on the telephone and data systems’ efficiency.

A contact centre was also required by the internal IT service helpdesk to deal with student, lecturers and administration staff’s IT and audio visual queries.

The solution

After a formal tendering procedure, South West Communications Group were awarded the support contract and subsequent upgrade of the University’s existing Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 telephone system to the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise system together with associated software and support. This comprised:  

•    IP telephony across the campus
•    Cordless handsets to accommodate mobility requirements
•    Contact centre software and hardware to efficiently deal with the high volume of calls
•    Data network redesign and disaster recovery
•    Unified communications
•    Maintenance support 

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