Case studies
Pegasus Academy Trust gets a faster more reliable network
When the Pegasus Academy Trust (PAT) needed to integrate the IT systems of three schools on two sites a kilometre and a half apart, Inflectiontech was chosen to design and install the new IP network. The integration project was needed when the Whitehorse Manor Infant and Junior schools formed a partnership with Ecclesbourne Primary school to become the London Borough of Croydon's first Primary Academy. Executive Headteacher, Jolyon Roberts, said: “I chose Mark for this project as I had worked with him and a number of other providers previously and found him to be the best. I also like to spend money with London-based businesses and Mark’s company is in the same borough as the schools.”
At the same time that the three school systems needed to be integrated, there were building projects going on at both sites as part of the local authority’s schools investment programme and the new buildings also needed to be brought into the network. This long-term, ongoing project has been implemented stage-by-stage and Inflectiontech has been involved throughout. Mark has also been appointed by the London Borough of Croydon as the designated ICT consultant for the Whitehorse Manor Contract 1 project to ensure that the structured cabling being provided by Kier, the main contractor, met the present and future information technology system (ITS) needs of the Academy.
Jolyon explained: “Mark has been there for all of the practical on-site elements but has really added value through his consultancy advice, which has enabled us to get from one stage to the next with minimal disruption. Mark is a strategic thinker and spots problems that could happen well in advance, and once he has been advised that a new area of the building in each school has been handed over to the school by Kier and Morgan Sindall he and his team have got the networks up and running within a couple of days. And this has happened on multiple occasions. ”
Now that the new network is installed the schools are benefiting from faster speeds and through the use of high availability Switches and Gigabit Ethernet the IT systems are more robust and have a lot more capacity. Further IT investments in new servers mean that the entire IT infrastructure is more reliable, which in turn means that the school is saving time and money on the outsourced support it uses for maintaining their IT systems. “Mark has been an important part of the team in delivering these benefits.”
The Academy’s telephony system is now completely Voice over IP (VoIP) within each building and uses energy efficient PoE (Power over Ethernet) to power all of the handsets and wireless access points. An additional benefit of this technology upgrade is that it has given the schools the flexibility needed during the phased refurbishment works. Classes have been constantly moved between temporary accommodation and refurbished or new locations so PAT needed to enable the staff to communicate effectively throughout the process. This has been achieved using VoIP over a common structured cabling ITS.
In the projects that Inflectiontech has worked on for PAT, they have brought in a number of trusted partners to support them with the elements that fall outside of their core services. Selection Services has assisted with the VLAN design and configuration and the supply and installation of Ethernet switches; while Equinox Communications have delivered an Avaya IP Office solution and ISDN circuits from a new provider that has seen the school’s call costs plummet.
Jolyon concluded: “Mark is well connected and great at bringing in the right partners to get the job done. It’s a testament to the quality of the service that he delivers that we keep using him. I get approached by many other providers but will be sticking with Mark – as our organisation has grown he has grown with us. Mark is very responsive – whenever there’s an issue he responds very quickly, and that’s ultimately what everyone wants.