Case Study: SWECET

About SWECET

A multi-academy trust passionate about providing the best start in life for their pupils, South West Essex Community Education Trust are united in the belief that every young person needs and deserves an education that will maximise their future life chances. They place their pupils' needs at the heart of everything they do and support their colleagues in delivering high-quality education.

Founded in 2015 when a group of like-minded schools came together to form the South West Essex Community Education Trust. These schools and the schools that have joined since are all united by shared values and beliefs, but this is where the similarities end. Encouraging each other to remain unique places of learning. SWECET believe their schools’ differences are an asset, allowing for creative thinking and sharing of best practice, raising standards across the Trust and providing exciting opportunities for our students.

Currently, there are six schools in our Trust: Deneholm Primary School, Stifford Clays Primary School, Chadwell St Mary Primary School, Marshalls Park Academy, Orsett Heath Academy and William Edwards School.

The Challange 

SWECET's incumbent solution was causing huge limitations ranging from difficult management to no flexibility, this was made worse by the fact that any changes that needed to be made required an on-site engineer visit, further complicated by the need for social distancing.

It was quickly becoming apparent that a more modernised, user-friendly system was required to support SWECET's staff and schools. Remote working capabilities were also at the forefront of SWECET's mind with the pandemic driving the switch to online teaching and virtual lessons. 

SWECET needed a solution that was easy to manage both commercially and operationally and that also offered scalability. As a public sector organisation, SWECET sought to find a new provider that would not only be able to address their pain points and offer a viable solution but one that was also included on the RM3808 government framework.

The Solution

After speaking to Atlas Support a solution that perfectly addressed SWECET's needs was identified.

IPCortex provides a simple, user-friendly web-based calling system for home and mobile workers, plus the option of a cloud-based system for customers with multiple sites like SWECET. As the solution does not require physical engineer on-site visits, the solution can be scaled to meet SWECET's ongoing needs.

Providing a remote working solution that meant SWECET's team could continue working from home during the pandemic. What's more, without the need for expensive hardware SWECET can also take advantage of significant cost-savings alongside their modernised phone system.

The Results

Through our work together SWECET have been able to take advantage of the following results;

Savings: Both in cost and time have been experienced by the trust since the new solution has been implemented. With a dedicated account manager and one point of contact, making changes or getting support is quick and easy. 

Remote working capabilities: Remote working is now a viable option for all at SWECET, providing them with the necessary business continuity throughout the pandemic.

Reliability: With unrivalled SLA's and dedicated account managers SWECET have complete peace of mind.

Usability: With no complicated tech or onsite engineer visits, SWECET have a simple to use and easily scalable solution.

"Atlas Support have always offered us great service, our Account Manager has always welcomed any project we put her way and has always been patient with our lengthy internal processes. Financially I find Atlas Support to be the best value on most services. Whenever I have phoned with ethernet or leased line queries my Account Manager is always my first port of call." - David Wakely, IT Operations & Network Lead, South West Essex Community Education Trust