Scalable Communications
I have used other partners in the past who have recommended equipment, but in the long term, they were not experienced enough to deploy or support it. Despite working within the short timescales, Scalable Communications were quick to understand our requirements and implemented a solution that will support the business now, and into the future.
Charles Russell
Scalable Communications Provides Interoperability for Charles RussellCharles Russell is a top 50-full service London-based law firm with seven other offices worldwide, dedicated to developing client relationships by successfully fulfilling their needs. Charles Russell works with clients ranging from international organisations and FTSE and AIM listed businesses to private companies, governments, not-for-profit organisations and private individuals. Established in 1891, the practice is now an international firm with 102 partners and some 650 staff worldwide.
To support the growth of the organisation, Charles Russell was forced to look for new London offices to provide ample working conditions for its growing family of employees and found a home in a new-build office building in Fleet Place, London. Following the move to these new premises, Charles Russell was faced with another challenge involving the firm's network and communications infrastructure. The company wanted to deploy a centralised core solution that would provide interoperability with its existing
IP-Telephony solution and applications such as IP TV and video. A robust wireless infrastructure was also required to support these applications and seamlessly allow both corporate employees and visitors to access the network throughout the several storeys of the building. The solution also had to lend itself to future growth by providing the capability to add further locations for disaster recovery purposes.
To gain a thorough understanding of the market, Charles Russell turned to Scalable Communications for a full appraisal of the solutions available.
"We were required to set up the new network in a very short timescale and there was no room for error," said Charles Russell Director of IT, Lee Hanley. "Our primary concern was to install a secure and resilient network that was fully compatible with the applications and technologies we wanted to run alongside it."
Time for Change
One of the key requirements for Charles Russell was network availability when hosting triple play services and the interoperability of different connected devices. Having reviewed the technologies and solutions available from a shortlist of partners, Scalable Communications was selected to provide a solution incorporating Switch technology from Extreme Networks and a Wireless solution from Trapeze Networks, based on Scalable's in-depth knowledge and the performance of these technologies.
"We carried out a thorough review of the available solutions, capable of providing reliability and support for triple play services," explains Hanley. "It was paramount to us that we weren't tied to a single vendor solution and that the network would allow for a degree of flexibility to allow for changes within the network."
Following a stringent review process of available solutions, Scalable Communications and Charles Russell found that Extreme Networks BlackDiamond® and Summit® family of solutions would provide the resiliency and availability necessary at the Core for hosting triple play services, with sub 50 millisecond failover in the event of device failure.
The suggested wireless solution from Trapeze Networks incorporated Mobility Exchange (MX ) controllers powered by Smart Mobile intelligent switching technology. This technology would enable the seamless integration of secure, wireless LANs with wired infrastructures as well as being robust enough to handle Charles Russell's corporate services and guest access simultaneously, throughout the multi storey building.
"Alongside the review with Scalable Communications, we also went up to Extreme Networks UK Headquarters for a thorough demonstration of all its solutions, continued Hanley. I was particularly impressed with the interoperability between different vendor products as it was one of our key requirements."
When recommending Extreme and Trapeze to Charles Russell, we knew these technologies would meet all its resiliency and compatibility requirements and provide it with a secure, future-proofed network, said Scalable Communications Senior Sales Manager, Matt Cross.
Quick Implementation
Charles Russell conducted an off-site pre-test to make sure that the network was able to deliver its requirements. By setting up the network several days prior to connectivity was available, the implementation time was minimised to allow Charles Russell to focus on running its business, with minimal disruption to day-to-day business operations.
The network has already made an impact on the organisation's operations. With the increased reliability and bandwidth, Charles Russell has been able to deploy a multitude of 3rd party IP Telephony and IPTV solutions that are wholly interoperable with the network. Additionally, the firm has been able to move vast amounts of information across the whole organisation in a secure and reliable manner.
"The new network allows us to move information around the firm, safe in the knowledge it won't be lost," added Hanley. "It s also easier to communicate with our other sites, and we have seen a great improvement in the performance of our video conferencing facilities."
Along with the improved performance and reliability, Charles Russell now has the capability to set up a new building as a secondary data centre for disaster recovery purposes, and to improve its business continuity and further reduce downtime and risk within the organisation.
"This solution allows our staff access to a wide range of multi-media content deployment options," explained Hanley. "It's also allowed us to improve staff training and the way we present our services to clients. We have also deployed Extreme Networks EPICenter network management tool to further improve the efficiency and ease of operability of the network."
The Future
Since the success of the network implementation, Charles Russell is now looking to begin deploying Extreme Networks technology at the network edge within some of its other offices, and hopes to upgrade its data centre core over the next few years.
"I have used other partners in the past who have recommended equipment, but in the long term, they were not experienced enough to deploy or support it," explained Hanley. "Despite working within the short timescales, Scalable Communications were quick to understand our requirements and implemented a solution that will support the business now, and into the future."
About Charles Russell
Charles Russell is a top 50-full service law firm. We are headquartered in London with five other UK offices and international offices in Geneva and Bahrain. Our clients range from international, FTSE and AIM listed businesses, to private companies, governments, not-for-profit organisations and private individuals. Charles Russell's commitment to training and development and strong team spirit is a key reason for being known as a friendly practice to work with and work at. And it's not just us saying it, the firm has received several awards for demonstrating high levels of employee engagement and enthusiasm across a wide range of service criteria.
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