Teach First, the registered charity working to tackle educational inequality in England and Wales, has consolidated its network of UK offices by deploying an innovative and bespoke unified communications (UC) solution from VIA. More than 650 employees across nine locations are now able to communicate more effectively and efficiently by using VIA Voice.

1. VIA - Voice
Multi-site Case Study
Customer: Teach First
Website: www.teachfirst.org.uk
Customer Size: 650
Country or Region: United Kingdom
Industry: Charity/Education
Partner: VIA
Website: www.joinvia.com
Customer Profile
Teach First is a registered charity working
to tackle educational inequality in
England and Wales. The organisation
trains and supports committed
individuals to become inspirational
classroom leaders in low-income
communities. As well as promoting
leadership development, the charity also
champions innovation across education.
MSFT Software and Services
 Microsoft Office
− Hosted Skype for Business (VIA)
 Office 365
− Applications
− Exchange
Executive Summary
Teach First consolidated its network of UK offices by deploying an
innovative and bespoke unified communications (UC) solution
from VIA. The project also saves the charity £20,000 per year in
direct costs.
Challenge
After taking the decision to relocate its headquarters from London’s
South Bank to North Greenwich, Teach First sought a cloud-based
solution that could be tailored to fit its exact requirements. The platform
not only needed to boost workforce connectivity within its London office,
but would also allow the charity to benefit from a truly joined-up
approach to communications across its eight additional UK offices,
including Nottingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham. Being
dedicated users of Office 365, Teach First also needed a UC platform that
integrated seamlessly with the Microsoft suite of applications.
Solution
Teach First contacted VIA to explore
the possibility of replacing a number
of different conventional phone
systems across multiple locations with
a single cohesive solution. Following
initial discussions, the charity
conducted a site visit of Redbridge
College, who have used VIA Voice with
a bespoke call routing solution since
early 2015. This prompted Teach First
to carry out a month-long trial at its
office in Birmingham, before rolling
out VIA Voice across each of its nine
locations.
VIA Voice, which incorporates Skype
for Business, operates over the
Internet and replaces the need to have
a traditional phone network. This
helps the workforce to stay
continuously connected and reachable
even when working remotely. All users
have ‘dial in and out conferencing’ and
Direct Dial In (DDI) numbers, whilst
VIA’s advanced call routing application
ensures callers are always directed to
the most suitable department.
Teach First now saves approximately
£20,000 per annum on direct costs,
including service charges, maintaining
equipment and call costs. The charity
also makes significant indirect cost
savings due to efficiency gains
triggered by hot desking, the ability for
staff to communicate better when
working remotely, reduced travel,
enhanced video conferencing, and
greater overall workforce
collaboration.
Employees use Jabra Evolve 65
headsets whilst the organisation also
installed 40 Polycom Trio 8800s, the
certified Skype for Business
conference phone, for its meeting
rooms and open office areas.
Testimonial
Mark Sutton, IT Director at Teach First,
said: “We required a solution that
would allow us to modernise our
telephony infrastructure, whilst
benefitting from a joined-up approach
to communications across our nine
offices - and VIA Voice certainly fits the
bill. We have already noticed that
employee communications have
improved, especially between
different offices. These efficiency gains
will lead to both direct and indirect
cost savings, allowing us to focus on
our vision of a day when no child’s
educational success is limited by their
socio-economic background.”