Support/Maintenance for the voice platform and core switches

There are approximately 90 schools and 50 corporate sites, including hybrid locations that support more than one type of customer. In addition, the network also provides connectivity for corporate clients based within non-council establishments including homeworkers (private residencies), health care trust and GM Police concerns.

The infrastructure utilises a number of different suppliers and technologies to interconnect sites; the majority are based on a layer 2 service that is overlaid with a layer 3 OSPF network utilising Alcatel 6200, 6400, 6800 and 6900 series switches for the customer premise equipment. Each site is evaluated independently to ensure the best solution is chosen to meet the needs of service.

Currently corporate sites support bandwidth levels between 10mbps and 1gbps, primary schools support bandwidth levels between 10mbps and 50mbps and secondary schools currently support bandwidth levels of 100mbps. An ADSL solution based on an MPLS layer 3 VPN provides connectivity to the network of speeds up to 24mbps for a small number of homeworkers. The range of services that can be supplied to each of these sites includes internet connectivity, voice, CCTV, Wi-Fi, back up, proxy and security facilities.