G Cloud Service Description Premier SIP Trunk Software as a Service October 2015

Transcription

1 G Cloud Service Description Premier SIP Trunk Software as a Service October 2015 Premier Choice Telecom has been a trusted provider of communications solutions for businesses for over 15 years. Our clients include NHS Trusts, Medical practices, Schools, Colleges, Law firms, SMEs and FTSE 100 companies. We specialise in providing bespoke solutions for businesses because we understand that no two organisations operate in exactly the same way. We aim to make it easy for you to understand the product that you are buying and provide you with a communications solution that is tailored to your needs. The right communications solution will reduce your overheads and streamline your working practices.

2 Table of Contents An overview of the service... 3 Optional Add-On Services... 4 Information Assurance... 4 Backup, Restore and Disaster Recovery... 4 On Boarding and Off-boarding Processes and Scope... 5 Pricing... 6 Service Management... 6 Service Constraints... 6 Service Levels... 7 Financial Recompense... 7 Training... 8 Ordering and invoicing process... 8 Utilisation Reports... 8 Consumer Termination Terms... 8 Premier Choice Telecom Termination Terms... 8 Service Migration... 9 Service Provision... 9 Data Restoration... 9 Consumer Responsibilities Technical Requirements Trial Service Page 2 of 11

3 An overview of the service Premier SIP trunks complement your existing telephone system using next generation IP technology. The key benefits of using IP technology are: Flexibility - Premier SIP trunks give you the flexibility to increase or decrease the number of available lines (trunks) on a month by month basis. This facility is useful for companies with staffing levels that fluctuate or that have periods of time with higher call volumes, for example a college may look to increase the call capacity during enrolments or when exam results are being announced. Business Continuity - Disaster recovery planning is simplified with Premier SIP Trunks. Incoming calls can automatically be diverted to another landline or mobile number in the event that your site is unreachable. Reduce call costs Premier SIP trunks give lower call costs and multiple or branch sites using Premier SIP trunks will have free calls to one another. If your office has multiple locations, SIP trunking is ideal as it will keep staff regularly talking one another, with no cost to the business. For example a hospital trust consisting of three separate hospitals, in three separate locations would replace their ISDN lines with SIP Trunks and a high bandwidth data connection. The hospitals would then be able to call each other for free, potentially saving thousands of pounds per year. If your existing telephone system is not based on IP technology then a gateway can be supplied (subject to system suitability) which allows traditional telephone systems to access IP technology. Premier SIP trunks are licenses which allow you to make and receive calls over a data connection (broadband etc...) The number of SIP licenses purchased is the total number of calls that you will be able to make at any one time. You are also able to specify the number of incoming and the number of outgoing calls. The ability to specify the number of incoming and outgoing call volumes is particularly useful for GP practices that experience high volumes of calls during the morning. By keeping a certain number of trunks free for outgoing calls, members of staff will still be able to dial out during times when lots of patients are calling in at the same time. When using Premier SIP trunks, you will be replacing your current telephone lines with a data connection. This can be an existing ADSL Broadband, Fibre Broadband, EFM or leased line. If your current connection does not provide enough bandwidth to allow you to have the required number of SIP trunks then we will be able to provide you with a cost effective solution that will meet your requirements. This can be independent of any other IT infrastructure that you have in place. Premier Choice Telecom is an independent Communications Provider which uses the BT network to deliver our IP voice solutions. The functionality of the SIP trunk is managed by Premier Choice Telecom in the cloud. Page 3 of 11

4 Optional Add-On Services Call Queuing Premier Call Queuing enables you to use your existing number and queue incoming calls in the cloud. A comfort message can be played for the caller while they are waiting for an agent to become free. This is useful for schools, medical practices or any organisations that may experience high volumes of calls at busy times and their callers would prefer to hold than to call back later. The number will be a local number so the caller will not be paying a higher rate to call you. Information Assurance The service is certified to IL2 and the service is ISO27001 compliant. Premier Choice Telecom has been awarded the ISO9001 certificate for our quality management processes. Premier Choice Telecom is committed to providing exceptional customer service. Backup, Restore and Disaster Recovery Disaster recovery can be provided on a direct dial number basis, so that each user within your organisation can set up their calls to automatically divert to another landline or mobile in the event that the site is unreachable. A disaster recovery plan will be set up as part of the on boarding process, so that your team have the reassurance that should your site experience a power cut or the onsite equipment is faulty, they will not miss any important calls. Page 4 of 11

5 On Boarding and Off-boarding Processes and Scope The on boarding process will start when you contact us via or by telephone to sign up. An account manager will be assigned to assist you with the on boarding process and help you to select the most appropriate products for your requirements. A data integrity and compatibility check will be conducted to investigate whether the telephone equipment that you are using on site at the moment will require a media gateway to access IP telephony or if it is already compatible. We will determine whether the data connection that is in use at present is suitable to carry voice traffic. The data connection is your internet connection for example a broadband or leased line. The above checks may be possible to carry out over the telephone or via . If not then a site visit and survey may be required. This will be arranged for a mutually convenient time, free of charge. Once the service requirements have been understood and approved by both parties, an agreement will be sent to you to sign. This can be sent either electronically or as a hard copy in the post and the signature can be created via E-Sign or by hand. A new number(s) will be supplied or a port request placed on the existing number(s) Any additional kit (for example a media gateway, handsets, telephone system) will be either sent to site or installed by an engineer on the day of port, depending on the requirements of the job. Training will be given in the format of an easy to understand user guide which will be sent to each user by . Our customer service team are available to help with any queries during start up and throughout the life of your contract. Onsite training will be provided for complex orders for example if new equipment (telephone system) is to be installed. Once the service is live and complete, you will be able to contact our office for technical support 24/7. The exit process would be to either cancel your service with us or to transfer your telephone numbers to another provider. Porting agreements are in place between most networks and we will work with the porting team of the network that you are migrating to, to ensure a smooth transfer of service. After cancelling your service with us any data that is held by us for example copy invoices and agreements will be held and destroyed according to data protection regulations. Page 5 of 11

6 Pricing Item One Off/Connection Monthly Rental Charge Premier SIP Trunk 3.50 Direct Dial Numbers 0.30 OneNet Media Gateway ISDN Up to 8 VOIP Calls Samsung Media Gateway ISDN2 2, Up to 16 VOIP Calls Samsung Media Gateway ISDN30 2, Up to 64 VOIP Calls Samsung Media Gateway ISDN30 5, Up to 128 VOIP Calls Chargeable Add Ons Premier Call Queuing (per number) The media gateway one off/ connection charge is inclusive of the equipment and an engineer attending site to programme and install the equipment. Please see SFIA rate card for engineer services. Service Management Premier Choice Telecom has a dedicated customer service team who are available to help with any queries that you may have regarding your service. They are available from Monday to Friday. Through the initial on boarding process we will be primarily dealing with the main customer contact. Our customer service team will also be able to help any user of the service, identifiable by telephone number. Our team of engineers are available to help with any advanced technical questions that you may have. Service Constraints 5 working days notice is provided for any planned engineering works. Upgrade work is scheduled during low volume traffic times and is planned so that it does not affect service. Premier Choice Telecom is responsible for the SIP trunk service. The SIP trunk service connects onto your data connection (for example broadband) if the data connection is not supplied by Premier Choice Telecom then the provider of this service will be responsible for the maintenance of the connection up to their terminating equipment. The data connection will then connect into your telephone system. If the telephone system is not maintained by Premier Choice Telecom then it will be the responsibility of the maintainer to ensure that all of the telephone system components are in good working order. Page 6 of 11

7 Service Levels Our customer service team is focussed on helping you to get the right result. We understand what could be causing issues and will ask you a series of questions to ensure that the fault is being correctly identified. Where there is ambiguity about where the fault may be residing data connection, onsite equipment or network we will assist you in and if required liaise with your third party suppliers. A fault is raised by calling into our customer service team; this is to ensure that we are able to ask all of the key information needed to raise a trouble ticket. Queries can be raised by telephone or . The service levels that we work to are: Rating Description Target resolution time Critical Outage Total loss or degradation of service Unable to make or receive calls Target fix time is 4 hours and will be worked on 24/7, 365 days a year. Major Impact Minor Impact Queries Problems that cause difficulty in using the service and which require immediate attention but have not rendered the service unusable. Problems do not significantly impair the functioning of the system and do not significantly The target fix time is less than and no more than 8 hours Major Impact faults will be worked on Monday to Friday from The target fix time for Minor Impact problems is 48 hours, and will be worked on Monday to Friday from affect the Service Any queries made during office hours which are Monday to Friday from we will aim to respond to within 2 hours. Outside of these times we will aim to respond within 2 hours of the office next being open. Faults are logged 24/7 and the out of hours customer service team are fully trained to diagnose and log faults. Out of hours engineers are available for priority care customers. Please note that when Critical Outage and Major Impact issues are raised, we aim to put in place a temporary solution whilst the fault is being rectified. Financial Recompense Our IP core network runs on average at % availability. We run a robust network and the points of failure tend to be in the data connection for example the broadband. Financial recompense would be nominal and is not offered. The network is proactively monitored at all times ensuring the highest levels of reliability and performance. Page 7 of 11

8 Training A user guide will be provided for a basic set up. If a more advanced set up is required with additional kit for example a new telephone system then on- site training will be provided. Our team of engineers will provide telephone support as required through the life of the contract. Additional onsite training can be provided and the price for this is available in the SFIA rate table. Ordering and invoicing process Following the on boarding process you can place an order with your account manager or another member of the team by or telephone. Once the service requirements have been established an agreement will be sent for authorisation. E-signed or hand signed agreements are accepted, depending on your preference. Invoices are produced on a monthly basis and provide itemised call statistics, usage reports and rental costs on a per number basis. Rental charges are billed a month in advance and call charges are billed a month in arrears. Real time online bills are available via a web portal. The user name and password for this will be provided to the authorised account contact on request from our billing team. We accept payment by BACS, Direct Debit, Cheque and Debit or Credit Card. Invoices can be sent by post, or both and can be ed to more than one person. If the bills are sent by , these are sent by PDF. If a CSV breakdown is required, this is also available. If you have multiple cost centres then we can send you one bill, rather than many. The one bill will have a line utilisation report detailing the monthly rental and call charges for each cost centre. This will improve efficiency by helping to cut down the time taken analysing separate bills. Utilisation Reports Usage reports are available by logging in online to a web portal and also from the monthly itemised statement sent to the customer billing contact. The reports can show the number of calls made, the telephone number that made the call, the duration, time and date of the call and the number dialled. Reports can be run to show the longest duration calls, the most expensive calls and the most frequently dialled numbers. Consumer Termination Terms Cancellation to be sent in writing by the customer and one month s notice is required. Premier Choice Telecom Termination Terms The service would only be terminated if a breach of the terms and conditions has occurred. Page 8 of 11

9 Service Migration We aim to make the service migration as seamless as possible. If a number port is required as part of the service set up, we will liaise with the current network provider to establish a migration date and time. Currently porting outside of office hours is not supported. This is due to the many different network providers that we have porting agreements in place with. If there is a problem with the port and their porting office is closed then your service would be affected until their porting office reopened. If you were to port your number away from our service then we would work with your new provider to arrange the porting date to ensure that you have the highest levels of customer service at all times. Service Provision In our experience the majority of our customers prefer to or speak to their account manager or the customer services team to make changes to or request additional services. Our account management and customer services teams are fully trained to understand your requirements and provide you with advice to help you to select the right services that will make your business communications more efficient and reduce your costs. However, once established customers are able to log in to a portal if they prefer to request changes to, additions and cancellation of their service online. Data Restoration The platform used by Premier SIP Trunks is located at the following two data centres: Telehouse West and Telecity Group UK Limited. Both data centres are certified to BS :2007 Business Continuity Management. The service has an automated and seamless failover solution; should there be any problems at network level with applications or hardware. This failover would allow the call to remain live should there be a problem with the application or hardware within the network. Page 9 of 11

10 Consumer Responsibilities As part of the on boarding process, we will request your contact details, the details of where the installation is located, the current telephone system that you are using and the IP connection that is going to be used for the Premier SIP trunk service. Without these details we cannot complete the service set up. We would also request your invoicing details and agree the terms of the contract. You will be responsible for the maintenance and proper use of your telephone system. If the telephone system is not maintained by Premier Choice Telecom then you will be responsible for providing your maintainer the programming details that we give to you to connect your telephone system to the SIP Trunks. It is important that the IP connection used is suitable for the requirements of the SIP trunking service. We will assess this as part of the data integrity checks and if the current connection that you have is not suitable, we are able to supply alternative, high speed PSN IP connections to support the bandwidth requirements. If using an existing connection, we will provide firewall configuration details to be followed by the maintainer of this connection to allow the call traffic to flow. Page 10 of 11

11 Technical Requirements A fixed data connection is required which has enough bandwidth to allow the requested number of concurrent calls to be made as detailed in the below specification. G711 and G729 are standard protocols used for voice services over the internet. G711 and G729 convert your voice signal into a digital encoded signal. This allows you to have a secure and high quality conversation over a data line. G.711 Delivers precise speech transmission and has very low processor requirements. G.711 uses approximately kbps of bandwidth to carry one call at a time. For example 10 simultaneous calls would require 1280 kbps (1024kpbs is equal to 1 Meg) G.729 Has excellent bandwidth utilisation and is error tolerant. G.729 has a lower call quality than G.711. G.729 uses approximately 24-35kbps of bandwidth to carry one call at a time. For example 10 simultaneous calls would require 160kbps (1024kpbs is equal to 1 Meg) The standard that Premier Hosted Voice uses is G.711 but G.729 could be used, if required by your telephone system maintainer. We would recommend that any data connections used had Quality of Service set up at network level. You would need to request this from the provider of your data connection. The Quality of Service requirements are: Delay latency less that 150ms one way Jitter no more than 30ms Packet loss less than 1% A quality assured solution would be managed end to end by Premier Choice Telecom, supplying the data connection, service and equipment. Trial Service A demonstration of a working SIP environment is available in our office. We understand that users may be worried about call quality, after using consumer VOIP products in the past. The business grade SIP trunk platform that we use has the same call quality as fixed lines, for example ISDN or analogue. We are very happy to make arrangements for potential customers to attend site and trial the service for themselves. Page 11 of 11