Zen offers successful home worker solution to Peninsula Business Services
About Peninsula
Peninsula Business Services Ltd provides Health, Safety, Personnel and Employment Law consultancy to a wide client base across the UK. Clients are supported by skilled staff available 24/7 to deal with their enquiries.
Challenge
Support staff needed a home worker solution to replace the dial-up and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) systems they currently had in place for working remotely on the 24 hour customer advice line.
Peninsula's Internet connectivity was proving too slow and inefficient, taking up valuable business time. Advice workers could not input customer information into the company system until the next day and were required to travel into the office. This process was therefore proving inconvenient, as it was difficult to keep customer case information up to date on the company's Intranet-based system.
Remote workers required access to these case files and therefore needed static IP addresses to create an efficient VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection into the main office.
Zen took the time to offer a solution that could be adapted to cover our needs and we have adapted the quality and reliability promised through the Zen ethos.
Dean Morris, Peninsula Business Services Ltd
Peninsula also required all traffic from the home worker to be tunnelled through the VPN to create a locked down system. This was necessary so that they could ensure that the connections were used for work purposes only. The company therefore needed a provider whose technical support teams could work in conjunction with the Peninsula engineers.
Solution
We connected Peninsula's home workers using ADSL Max broadband accounts with download speeds of up to 8Mbps, all with free static IP addresses to meet the VPN requirements. We also supplied pre-configured arranged to work alongside the Peninsula engineers through the pre-configuration of Zen supplied hardware and an ongoing integrated support solution.
Benefits
Peninsula received increased Internet speed levels, static IP addresses and a VPN service for offsite access to customer details, resulting in an improved service level for their clients. Customer files can now be updated immediately, increasing convenience for both staff and clients.
We further improved the service with a dedicated account manager and billing contact, meaning Peninsula could concentrate on their business objectives with the confidence that they had direct contacts looking after their Internet accounts.
Broadband hardware for the solution was also purchased from us, simplifying support procedures and creating the highest standard of care across the entire broadband service. The hardware was pre-configured as part of a Managed Hardware service, which allowed for a smooth activation process of each account. This meant that Peninsula did not need to worry about the set-up of each individual home worker. Ongoing integrated support also allowed the Peninsula engineers to create a locked down Internet system while maintaining effective support for each individual.
Zen has provided us with excellent support throughout this solution, from the initial stages through to the implementation of the services.
Peninsula noted the quality, reliability and support offered throughout the solution as exceptional and they continue to add new orders on a regular basis. Our solution for Peninsula led to efficiency gains, as the GPRS and dial-up bills were cut out with the broadband having no online call charges associated with it. Due to this success, Peninsula has also sought an Ethernet circuit from us for their head office. This will further improve the home worker system, as the Ethernet line will provide a VPN termination point for these workers.
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