xs

sm

md

lg

xl

Focus Group

CeramTec

CeramTec’s ageing technology is a thing of the past thanks to our resilient, dual-site network and telephony solution.

Focus Group

About CeramTec

Location: Southampton and Wrexham | Number of users: 107

With employees, production sites and subsidiaries in Europe, America and Asia, CeramTec is an international manufacturer and supplier of technical ceramics.

Employing more than 3,500 employees worldwide, CeramTec holds a leading position in the manufacture of advanced ceramics and strives to manufacture and market high-quality products in the most cost-effective, sustainable, safe and eco-friendly way.

Ceramtec Logo

The challenge

Regarding their UK sites in Southampton and Wrexham, CeramTec had been using an ageing telephone system that was at serious risk of failing, and was already causing some issues.

To solve this issue, the business wanted a replacement VoIP solution with superior functionality that could also link to their second factory site in Wrexham.

The nature of both sites meant CeramTec used a lot of wireless handsets on the factory floors, with staff constantly moving around but needing to remain available for calls. That's where we came in.

Ceramtec 1

The solution

Ceramtec 2

We were selected to deploy CeramTec’s brand-new solution, which comprised two on-premise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise OXO Connect telephone systems.

OXO Connect was a perfect choice, as it offers all the functionality the business needs in terms of call forwarding, hunt groups, voicemail and receptionist consoles, whilst also offering an efficient wireless handset solution.

Now, CeramTec's Southampton site uses 11 desk handsets and 30+ DECT handsets, with full site coverage care, of the 13 base stations we installed around the building. Additionally, the Wrexham factory uses 70 DECT handsets and 30 base stations.

Following this deployment, we then replaced their outdated IT infrastructure, including their local area network, Wi-Fi and firewalls. To connect the two sites, we took advantage of secured, reliable and flexible SD-WAN technology. We deployed two internet leased lines into both sites from different carriers. Extra resilience was built into the core of the solution too, with a pair of cabinets mirrored at both sites. We used switches from Cisco Meraki to support a secure, single-vendor solution that included the SD-WAN software and Wi-Fi hardware.

The Cisco Meraki MX100 appliance was key in supplying cyber security to the business. It includes an intrusion detection system (IDS), intrusion prevention system (IPS), content filtering, web search filtering, anti-malware, geo-IP-based firewalling, and IPsec VPN connectivity. Layer 7 fingerprinting technology lets CeramTec’s administrators identify unwanted content and applications, and prevents recreational apps, like BitTorrent, from wasting precious bandwidth.

On top of that, the SD-WAN automatically manages CeramTec’s traffic flow, ensuring the standby connections are utilised to maximise speed, especially for real-time applications such as telephony. We used the site-to-site connectivity to enable an overflow of calls at busy times and allow for easy transfers and free calls between the two sites.

The results

OXO Connect gave CeramTec a robust replacement solution for both sites, supported at manufacturer level. This was crucial, as manufacturer support means there will be parts available if a fault arises. There would have been little hope of a fix if their former solution had broken down!

This is a true business-class wireless solution, offering complete roaming mobility to CeramTec’s staff. Teams can now use their DECT handsets as if they are desk-based phones, with full ability to access the corporate directory to forward calls.

With one system at each site, CeramTec enjoys true resilience; if one system suffers a fault, the other site can still receive calls. Ultimately, the UK arm of CeramTec will always be available!

The entire wired and wireless IT network can be managed at cloud level and is easy to deploy, with the centralised management interface giving administrators deep visibility into the network and how it is used.

Overall, CeramTec now benefits from an up-to-date, fully supported, resilient network and telephony solution that links their two sites while giving their mobile employees the freedom to roam.

“Great, professional presales, installation and post-sales service. We now have a future-proof telephone system.”

Chris Royl, Facilities Manager

CeramTec

Ceramtec 3

Download this customer story

Download customer story

More customers stories

Kingsbury logo over image of machinery

Kingsbury Machine Tools

Kingsbury now enjoys a fast and robust LAN and Wi-Fi network with a robust security infrastructure.

Suez Tile

Suez

Suez turned to Focus Group to implement a next gen infrastructure to pack a powerful punch across a broad network of sites.

Coty Tile

Coty

Focus Group has been working with Coty for over a decade now, to deliver essential business technology, as its Cisco partner of choice.

Switch to Focus Group by calling 0330 024 2000

Contact us