After a number of consultations, we provided a proposal based around Microsoft 365 system and utilising Microsoft’s Not for Profit discounts and free products and services. By taking this route not only did we save Somerset Sight £10k+ compared to the solution being advised by their previous IT provider but bought all the IT systems up to modern standards.

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By saving such a considerable sum of money it gave us greater scope to look at improving the WAN connectivity to the site. Despite having a town centre location there local internet was limited to around 50Mbps. Unfortunately, this was insufficient for the sites needs and alternatives such as 4/5G or Starlink would not provide the level of reliability. It was decided that investment into a dedicated Leased Line direct to the site would provide the level of speed and reliability required to run the charities IT and VOIP phone system. Due to the nature of the site it also meant that improved services could be offered to businesses and charities renting meeting room and conference facilities as well.

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Alongside the IT we also assisted in migrating the phones over to our VOIP phone service. As well as the standard features, Somerset Sight had a specific requirement that once a week they would host virtual coffee mornings for visually impaired users. During Covid this had become essential to many users isolated not only by their visual impairment but the Covid lockdown. We implement a system that allowed Somerset Sight staff to call users and then move them into meetings which allowed users of all abilities and visual impairment levels to access this essential service without the need for special technology.