Key Sectors

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust identified a need to streamline their Telecommunication contracts and move to a single supplier in 2007. Providing facilities and support to residents of housing schemes and retirement villages, ExtraCare originally used multiple suppliers to service the complex needs of their Head Office and different UK residential contracts; this arrangement was inefficient and resulted in a variety of problems including service downtime, inconsistent call quality, lost call data and mislaid bills. ExtraCare chose Eurolink Connect to provide a complete connectivity and telecommunication solution and we continue to do so to this day.

When managing a chain of charity shops or retail businesses, operators require a two-pronged approach to telecommunications; the first is to enable these businesses to communicate and work on central systems, the second is to overcome the individual telecommunications challenges that each premises may face. For ExtraCare, who operate 62 separate charity shop premises, each shop works independently and has its own connectivity requirements, but it is also important that ExtraCare Shops can centrally monitor funding. Eurolink was able to support with a store-by-store solution to connectivity, while meeting the overall objective of centrally monitoring fundraising.

For the hotel that’s been awarded the AA Hotel of the Year Wales, an out-of-date phone system was proving cumbersome, with the software no longer supported and the hardware parts hard to come by. Eurolink was tasked with a full system upgrade at the beginning of 2018, when the hotel would be quieter and the disruption for guests less; in fact, the full system installation was pulled forward to peak season 2017, to deliver a better guest experience, and was fitted with no disruption to the guests or business.

For multi-site operators whose employees are required to visit multiple off-site locations, communication with Head Office can be a challenge. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enables immediate contact between office-based staff and on-the-road employees, and supports two-way recording of information via smartphones. For Universal Care Services who help vulnerable individuals to maintain their independence and continue living in their home environment, NFC is used to enable off-site carers to access head-office information and to feed back their actions with their client. When a carer arrives on-site, the latest information for the client is sent to their smartphone using NFC tags, and any actions taken by the carer are then recorded and returned to the central database. This helps maximise client care and safety and ensure a smooth transition between staff shifts.

Getting good internet and WiFi connectivity in rural locations can be a challenge; particularly when it needs to be affordable and flexible. For the Arboricultural Association, getting good internet provision at Westonbirt Arboretum was crucial for their annual ARB event, where they needed to support stallholders' PDQ machines. Eurolink's YellowBox WiFi to the rescue; affordable mobile WiFi that's great for rural locations.

Phreaking is a form of telephone fraud where criminals hack into a phone network and use the lines to make long-distance or high-value calls. It can cost businesses hundreds or even thousands of pounds in unexpected bills. Earlier this year, the phone lines for Woodbrook Medical Centre were targeted and compromised on a Bank Holiday Saturday, but thanks to Eurolink’s threshold controls on all our contracted phone lines, we were able to instantly prevent criminals from running up a huge bill.