Lloyds TSB

In 2005 Lloyds TSB made the decision to upgrade their existing Voice and Data network. It was decided that a VOIP system would be installed which would enable Lloyds TSB to make substantial savings on yearly telephone expenses. With a group as extensive as Lloyds TSB consisting of 3500+ sites which included branches, call centres and head offices, it was decided to divide the project between several different companies. Sonet was initially responsible for the Scotland and the North of England, which comprised of over 1200 locations. This was increased by a further 800 branches to include the London, South England and the Midlands.

Stage 1 of the project was to take a detailed on-site survey of every branch. This was to determine the number of workstations, printers and ATM's that were going to upgraded. This process lasted over 12 months and once all the information was examined and confirmed the decision was given to proceed with the transformation of branches.

Stage 2 involved the removal of the old Cisco switches and routers, which were replaced with up to date models to allow for the extra network usage that is inherent in VOIP. The transformation process involved the backing up of all workstations and the server to preserve all essential information. When the branch had closed the new network equipment was installed and connectivity to the newly managed IBM network was proven. Only when this had been achieved could the workstations, printers and ATM's be re-booted and thoroughly tested. If there were any problems on the transformation night the site would have to be rolled back to its original state to ensure it was operational the next working day. During this stage of the project Sonets workforce included over 50 engineers and 20 porters to cope with the demanding schedule.

Stage 3 is ongoing and is the process of removing the old BT landline handsets and replacing them with new VOIP handsets, which will operate over the new IBM Data Network.

• Set-up and installation of infrastructure to support the installation of 
  25,000 VOIP telephones across the Lloyds TSB estate.
• Site surveys across 3500 branches/offices.
• Installation and upgrade of WAN/LAN infrastructure.
• Configuration and installation of Cisco hardware.

 Phase 2 involves the physical logistics/stock management and installation of voice over IP (VOIP) telephones, with a requirement to deploy over 25,000 units.

  Zurich

In 2005 Sonet undertook the task of replacing the outdated Cat5 cabling with new Cat5e, in the Belfast Head Office. As the business was still operational all work had to be carried out at weekends to avoid disruption for both customers and staff. Over the course of 4 weeks Sonet had installed a new cabling network while leaving the existing infrastructure intact. By leaving the original cabling in place, Sonet was then able to seamlessly transfer users onto the newly installed, upgraded system with no loss of working hours.