Azzurri Communications today announced that following a recent contract win to provide Wiltshire Council with an IP telephony solution for their 5000 staff, the project has been delivered on budget and within 50% of the planned timeframe, taking nine rather than 18 months.

Wiltshire Council was formed in 2009 by a merger of four district councils with the county council. It is now one of the UK’s largest unitary authorities, with its 5000 staff supporting a population of over 446,000. Following the merger, the council was faced with a raft of disparate and in many cases duplicated communications platforms and contracts, along with surplus building stock.


Wiltshire Council logoWiltshire looked to turn these challenges into an opportunity by using new communications technology to standardize onto a single telephony platform and supplier. They also wanted to ensure the same functionality could be delivered to end-users irrespective of location, to facilitate flexible and home working.

After reviewing potential suppliers through the OGC Buying Solutions framework, Wiltshire selected Azzurri on a pilot basis, testing IP telephony in just one location initially. Following initial success, they went back via the OGC and re-engaged Azzurri to implement, support and manage a hosted Mitel-based platform.

Glen Holmes, Head of ICT Design and Delivery, Wiltshire Council, explains: “Azzurri and my in-house team worked very well together on the implementation. I usually only get pulled into projects when things go wrong, but I’m very pleased to say there were no major issues at all during the roll out. In fact it went so smoothly that an expected 18 month project was actually delivered within 9 months!”

This speed of the implementation means that Wiltshire has already seen a number of benefits. Holmes believes the new telephony platform has contributed significantly to the £2.5 million of savings identified since the merger, through the combination of supplier consolidation and reduced support costs. Additionally, council staff have been able to reduce the amount they travel, as the system provides them with the flexibility to sign in from any location – home, office or mobile - and get the same functionality and performance.

The project can be seen as instructional for other local government organisations: Holmes aimed to bring private sector know-how to the public sector, which is why he was “impressed with Azzurri’s account management, which has been clear and concise. Azzurri are focused on what business benefits they can bring to my organisation, which I find valuable.”

Following the successful implementation, Glen Holmes offers his advice to other local government IT leaders: “The larger an organisation gets, the greater the need to standardize and simplify. By using a single trusted supplier, my view is that councils can gain in a number of ways – cost savings being one, but also through access to new products and new offerings in the market, which have the potential to transform working practices.”

Mark Quartermaine, CEO, Azzurri Communications,  said: “Azzurri’s strategic focus on the public sector, along with its strong partner relationships, allow us to take a very focused and aggressive approach to project roll outs. IT leaders in this sector face some unique challenges in terms of reducing their cost base and rationalizing property portfolios, but they also have an opportunity to use IT in an innovative way. That’s why we’re delighted to have exceeded Wiltshire Council’s expectations in terms of project delivery and why we look forward to helping them innovate further as the contract progresses.”