August 24, 2007
Nortel and BT Help U.K. Human Services Agency Handle More Than One Million Calls Per Day

By Anuradha Shukla
TMCnet Contributing Editor

BT recently announced that the recently installed IP telephony platform at Department for Work and Pensions (a human services agency in the U.K.) has successfully handled more than a million calls in a single day.
 
Switching equipment and software from Nortel (News - Alert) were used by BT in the IP telephony services package.
 
The voice call traffic milestone was reached following installation of the system at 435 sites around the U.K. BT said out that the Integrated Communications Network Services program being implemented at DWP is one of the largest converged data and voice networks in northern Europe.
 
This project is part of a two-year DWP IT transformation program that aims to extract the maximum value from IT in order to support the reform and delivery of public services.
 
BT is replacing two of DWP’s existing networks into a single Voice-over IP network capable of carrying data, voice and video. The VoIP network will allow the department’s frontline staff to more effectively manage their workflow, reduce data-access times and facilitate teamworking and collaboration via video-conferencing.
 
“The million calls-a-day milestone represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the transformational qualities of this programme,” said Tim Smart, CEO at BT Global Services UK, in a statement.
 
“It is however a significant achievement for the team in such a short space of time and is testimony to the success of the DWP’s forward looking IT strategy and BT’s ability to conceive and deliver projects on this scale,” he added.
 
More than 24,000 new handsets and nearly 4,000 fax and other analogue devices are in use over the new network. This provides more integrated communications across email, voice, instant messaging and video. According to BT, the employees have been given greater scope for flexible working with the new network having the potential to link call centres and enable home and mobile working.
 
Aiming to provide universal IP telephony, BT has upgraded more than 1,000 DWP sites connecting the existing legacy services to the converged wide and local area network.
 
“Together, these major milestones put into perspective the scale and quality of the programme, underlining BT’s ability to provide exceptional levels of service in partnership with the public sector,” said Smart.
 
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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing writer for TMCnet covering call centers, CRM and information technology.