BT has won a three-year deal with Hertfordshire County Council to set up a converged network for the local authority.
The contract will see BT consolidate all the council's communications services and marks another stage in the authority's progress towards full network convergence.
The terms of the deal are undisclosed but will see the telecoms company pull the council's existing contracts together. The council hopes that the new network will result in improved services levels and a single point of contact for all service related problems.
The council will deploy BT's Assured Service Extra service as part of their long term strategic plan to migrate existing voice and data networks to a converged network infrastructure. It is hoped that this will bring about cost savings, and enable the council to roll-out new technology services that will benefit public services and employees alike.
John Alleyne of Hertfordshire County Council said the council recognised the long term benefit of moving to a converged network as it will give "greater mobility and flexibility for our staff, improved customer communications through our contact centre, and vital efficiency savings too."
"This is clearly an ambitious transition plan and we welcome the phased approach that BT is offering," he added.
Mark Quartermaine, managing director of Government Services at BT said that local government is investing heavily in new technology to improve efficiency and to drive up the quality of services that they offer.
"The key to maximising this investment is to take a long-term view of what it is designed to achieve," said Quartermaine. "This is exactly what Hertfordshire County Council is doing - and by putting the building blocks in place now, it will reap the full benefits of convergence in the future."
