Slow personal broadband connections delayed system access and technical support. Our HomeWorker service provides secure remote access to the PSBA network and has reduced login times from more than 20 minutes to under two minutes.
The Challenge
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board serves 678,000 people across North Wales and employs more than 17,000 staff. Many staff members live in rural locations where personal broadband speeds are limited. Slow home broadband made it difficult for staff to access NHS systems when providing out-of-hours technical support.
In some cases, logging into systems could take more than 20 minutes, delaying responses to technical issues. These delays could affect how quickly systems could be restored and therefore impact operational efficiency.
The Solution
We implemented our HomeWorker service to provide secure connectivity to the PSBA network from staff members’ homes. The service offers a dedicated connection rather than relying on personal broadband networks. This allows staff to access systems more quickly and reliably when working remotely.
Login times have reduced from more than 20 minutes to less than two minutes. Faster access enables staff to respond more quickly to operational issues and provide technical support outside normal working hours.
Sector: Education
Problem: Security and Reliability
Solution: Public Access Wi-Fi Service
Outcome: Strengthened Security
Outcomes and benefits
Login times reduced from more than 20 minutes to less than two minutes
Faster response times for technical support
Improved staff productivity
Improved work-life balance for staff
Iain Platt
Previously, I couldn’t provide instant support out of hours with an internet speed of 4 Mpbs. Most of the time, if I had to do anything major, it delayed the fault resolution by 30 to 35 minutes, and this could ultimately have a direct impact on patient care. We recently had three hospitals that were impacted significantly due to telephony issues, as their staff were having to answer the phones rather than dealing with patient care, this took over 1 hour to resolve due to poor broadband speeds, it used to take over 20 minutes just to login. But now, these times have reduced significantly with the HomeWorker service, login times are now less than 2 minutes.
Network Architect,
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
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