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2005

Stirling Council selects THUS for provision and management of voice network

THUS plc today announced it has been selected by Stirling Council (SC) to provide, manage and maintain its voice communications network. THUS will take full control of the council’s voice infrastructure and develop a strategy to strengthen its future networking capabilities.

SC provides all council services to the citizens of the Stirling area such as education, housing, social services, planning, refuse collection, council tax, leisure, arts and events.  Prior to selecting THUS, SC relied on a combination of telecoms providers, including THUS, for the provision of its voice network into its various council sites and the main council headquarters. As a means to reduce the high costs of managing multiple suppliers, SC selected THUS for the sole management of the voice network after a competitive tender process, which included other leading telecoms operators.

In addition to managing the voice network, THUS will also work with SC to develop a technology roadmap capable of ensuring the council can meet the future needs of its staff and the citizens of Stirling. This will involve workshops and discussions to identify the council’s precise network requirements and the most appropriate method of ensuring it underpins the council’s business strategy for the future.

THUS’s state of the art digital network links the major council sites creating a virtual private network (VPN), and Carrier Pre Selection captures all voice traffic at smaller sites. Where THUS cannot provide a direct connection, for example in remote areas, it will procure services from an alternative operator and manage the relationship on behalf of the council. This is a managed element of the relationship in which THUS will take on the management and procurement of network services from other operators, saving SC time and money.

According to Jim McNeish of Corporate Asset Management, Stirling Council: “With only a small facilities management team responsible for many different council activities, it was very important for us to enlist a supplier that could take on the majority of the network management responsibilities. Adopting a single supplier model makes our lives much easier by simplifying activities such as bill payment, fault reporting and provisioning. Working with THUS means we can forget about the minute details of managing suppliers and now have the time to add further value to the council in other areas.”

THUS was selected over the competition for several reasons, notably its breadth of products and services, and its flexible approach to service provision.  Phil Male, Chief Operating Officer at THUS, said: “Stirling Council was one of THUS’s first customers so we have a longstanding relationship. We were very passionate about continuing that relationship and helping them through this important period of change. Stirling Council needs a flexible supplier that can adjust its service offering to accommodate changing needs and we more than demonstrated our ability in this area. Stirling is also in the exciting position of needing to examine what can be achieved with newer technologies for the future and we are looking forward to taking the team through the options and decision-making process around that.”