Six Degrees Group constructs advanced communications solution for United Living Group

Following the merger of United House Limited and Bullock Construction, the newly formed United Living Group (ULG) has a vision to become a national leader in the provision of affordable housing and sustainable solutions. Requiring a first class IT infrastructure, ULG has entrusted Six Degrees Group (6DG) to support its expanding workforce and clientele with wide area network (WAN), IP telephony and Disaster Recovery (DR) services.

As part of the ongoing integration process, ULG needed to consolidate its network and communications assets. This was essential to ensure a seamless transition as the headcount doubled and the group entered a phase of rapid growth.

6DG is underpinning ULG’s new operations with a unified network and common infrastructure. The 6DG WAN service has been designed for organisations that need multi-site solutions ranging from broadband speeds of 8Mbps, to those in excess of 1Gbps. The Next Generation Network (NGN) is completely resilient with the ability to re-route in less than 50 milliseconds, keeping traffic flowing 24/7/365.

6DG has deployed its IP telephony voice offering across 400 ULG users and there are plans in place to deliver this to 400 additional users. The service gives staff access to video and collaboration tools on virtually any device and is delivered over 6DG’s high speed, secure network, leveraging SIP services and business continuity capabilities. Key for ULG, the IP Telephony solution also has the built-in capacity to grow as and when the Group expands.

Campbell Williams, Group Strategy and Marketing Director, 6DG, explained: “Working in the construction industry means that ULG runs to very tight deadlines. When work on a new site starts, the team on the ground needs to have the infrastructure in place to support operations straight away. The solution we have deployed has the ability to scale at a moment’s notice so ULG can rely on having the technology they need, when and where they need it.”

6DG has also leveraged its co-location services for ULG. United House was already using 6DG’s converged datacentre in Greenwich to backup its head office operations. However, the service ultimately needed to be extended to support the whole Group. In preparation for the merger, United House’s head office server infrastructure was decommissioned for migration to a co-location environment at 6DG’s Studley datacentre.

Williams commented: “We selected the quiet period between Christmas and New Year for the migration. Two tonnes of equipment was moved at this time to create a triangular network connection from ULG’s head office in Swanley to our Greenwich and Studley datacentres. The migration was successfully deployed with minimal downtime and has resulted in increased DR capabilities for the new group.”

Greg Morley, Head of IT, ULG said: “6DG has taken the time to understand our industry-specific requirements and recognised that downtime is simply not an option; the team at 6DG has developed a solution that is perfectly aligned to the way we work. With flexibility, scalability and security, our unified voice solutions, underpinned by the 6DG network, will ensure our communications are always running effectively. We are pleased to have 6DG by our side as we embark on the next steps of our journey as ULG. ”