Engineering consultants choose 8el to upgrade multi-site data network

Reading, UK, August 19th, 2004 --- Specialist network operator 8el has won a contract expected to be worth £250,000 over 3 years to supply engineering and design consultants Gifford & Partners with a new, ‘Quality of Service’ enabled data network. The 8el solution was chosen ahead of proposals from 11 other suppliers and aims to deliver a more dependable service for data traffic across 6 sites, introduce significantly increased resilience and provide future proofing for a planned network expansion.

The new network, set to go live later this year, will provide the Southampton based consultants with a high performance, Wide Area Network (WAN) solution with centralised Internet access to their chosen ISP. Fully managed by 8el, the network will allow Gifford & Partners’ 450 UK employees with un-contended Internet access and a solid platform to roll out centralised applications.

Said Andrew Slade, IT manager, at Gifford & Partners “With rising traffic across the network our number one priority was to find a solution that could guarantee reliability, performance and quality. Secondly, we needed piece of mind that, should we encounter a circuit outage on one particular part of the network, service would be maintained via a back-up route. 8el’s solution more than satisfied our criteria with effective use of technology and demonstrable, proactive support.”

Gifford & Partners prime disciplines cover civil, structural and building services engineering will also benefit from 8el’s range of value added services including remote access to corporate systems and advanced data monitoring tools available 24/7 from http://www.8el.com

About Gifford & partners
Gifford & Partners offer a comprehensive consultancy service in engineering and design. Their prime disciplines cover civil, structural and building services engineering as well as complementary support from geo-technical, environmental and archaeological departments. Gifford & Partners’ corporate headquarters are based in Southampton and they maintain 5 other sites throughout the UK.

About 8el
8el (pronounced ‘A-Tel’) is an innovative, specialist network operator providing efficient voice and data services to the corporate market. UK businesses use 8el to satisfy the communication challenges presented by their office, home and remote communities and derive strategic, financial and quality benefits.

8el is an established and trusted supplier to leading businesses, delivering voice and data network services to over 30,000 users. Solutions are deployed across a number of vertical markets including the engineering, recruitment, transport, publishing, accountancy and legal professions.

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For more information on 8el’s converged solutions contact Chris Sayer on 0845 33 000 93 or email [email protected]