United Utilities, the largest listed water company in the UK, has signed a £30 million, five year deal with Cable &Wireless Worldwide to provide converged voice and data network services to its 300 UK sites including data centres, water works and two key contact centres.
With this deal C&W Worldwide, which has managed the United Utilities private voice infrastructure for some years, becomes the largest provider of communication services to the business. C&W Worldwide will also manage the transformation of United Utilities legacy voice estate, replacing aged technology with best-in-class IP telephony services.
Now when United Utilities colleagues access core business applications, such as SAP, they will connect over C&W Worldwide’s resilient, high bandwidth next-generation Multi-Service Platform (MSP). By converging voice and data services onto the MSP platform, United Utilities will benefit from reduced cost of ownership and the flexibility to access a range of innovative data applications such as High Definition Video Conferencing, IPCCTV and IP Telephony.
Customer experience is a key driver for UU and through this contract with C&W it will help it further improve its operational infrastructure. The increased delivery speed and service reliability offered by the MSP will support United Utilities contact centre activities, including during periods of heightened call rates.
Mike Naden, IT Operations Director, United Utilities commented:
“Our expertise is in operating and managing utility networks. We needed the same level of expertise brought to the management of our communications network, and C&W Worldwide was the obvious choice. We’re very pleased with the total customer experience we’re receiving from C&W Worldwide and look forward to continuing our relationship.”
Jim Marsh, Chief Executive Officer, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, added:
“United Utilities performs a critical service and having the right telecoms infrastructure and services in place is crucial. For us, managing its voice estate and keeping its sites in constant contact means United Utilities can do what it does best; keeping its public in water, gas and electricity supplies.
Our secure, resilient network, applications and services, together with our expertise, put us in a strong position to help our customers carry out the often vital services they provide. We believe we’re the first choice for mission critical communications. It matters to us because it matters to our customers.”