Community Transport is a charity that brings people and opportunities together to help transform lives and build better communities.
The organisation consists of three divisions; CT passenger, a transport service for the education, health and third sectors; CT Furniture, a service selling used furniture and assisting low-income families in furnishing their homes; and CT Training, which delivers transport-related training.
Founded in 1966, the charity serves the people of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
THE CHALLENGE.
As Community Transport was growing — it now has over 115 employees — a managed IT service provider was required to come on board to help develop a long-term infrastructure strategy while also providing ongoing support day-to-day, to aid operational continuity.
With sites based over a large geographical area – including the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the Northeast — with some having poor internet connectivity, the charity required a system that would be appropriate for all locations. Some also required special access for drivers and members of the public, which had to be both easy to use and separate from the main network to protect its integrity.
Further to this, Community Transport uses a range of softwares from various suppliers so the IT support provision would be required to manage third-party application updates and present changes to staff.
THE SOLUTION.
Central provides first, second, and third-line support to Community Transport – and is the primary port of call to any member of the team experiencing IT issues.
Our team of experts also continues to help the charity remain ahead of the curve when it comes to its IT infrastructure – maintaining Microsoft 365 systems to manage email and video calling.
Community Transport’s IT environment is hosted on Central’s private cloud, with a tier-3 datacentre provided by UK Fast. At the time of its inception in 2008, it was cutting-edge – and the team has been updating and maintain this secure cloud solution for over a decade.
Engineers also updated the charity’s office locations’ connectivity, to help provide faster speed internet and improve the experience of staff members, as well as to feed into new technologies and applications that are constantly evolving and updating.
A kiosk system was also introduced to the Northeast sites for public access, and to assist some of the driving staff that do not have access to the main system to enable them to access HR information.
THE OUTCOME.
Through Central’s solutions, Community Transport has been able to maintain operational stability – even during times of crisis. An example of this is that Central engineers migrated the Community Transport’s email provision to Office 365 18 months before the pandemic – ensuring ease of access and enabling the team to work from home with minimal change.
Central offers a personalised service and maintains a strong ongoing relationship with Community Transport thanks to its integrated understanding of the complex needs of the organisation – enabling to offer sound advice, and implement relevant updates and changes to keep operations running smoothly, now and in the future.
“The team at Central are fantastic – they feel like an extension of our team. We’ve worked together since 2008, and therefore have now come to rely on their expertise and experience when it comes to our IT provision. The engineers make our lives easier, and you can rely on them to deliver on any project.”
– Jo Beaumont, chief executive, Community Transport
