ADEPT TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED

Voice for Microsoft Teams

Global PSTN access via 8x8's native voice for Microsoft Teams integration. Increase productivity with a full communications solution, including telephony, voicemail; video, email, conference calls, data sharing, online meetings; call recording, customer analytics, internet fax. Call plans, per user per month: UK local, national and mobile numbers.

Features

  • Unified Communications accessible via desktop application, mobile app, online dashboard
  • Enterprise grade voice communications that keeps Teams collaboration.
  • Collaboration via online meetings, video chat/ video calls/ video conferencing
  • Plugins: Presence, caller ID database match, click-to-dial from application/ web
  • Call recording, call screening, call waiting. Full customer administration suite
  • Auto attendant for customisable automated call connect, transfers, queues, greetings
  • Cloud PBX: telephony with direct dial extension for every user
  • Collaboration: conference call, private internal and external chat groups
  • Unified voicemail management, voicemail-to-email and in-app voicemail

Benefits

  • Unified Communications: enables digital transformation; agile, flexible working, and homeworking
  • Distributed workforces can remotely work as one unified organisation
  • Fosters cultural change: seamless user-controlled movement between phones and softphones
  • Unified Communications: external solutions collaborate as one unified chat room
  • Collaboration: rapidly conference with colleagues; data sharing/ file sharing
  • Unified Communications means lower management overheads: reduced support/maintenance costs
  • Switch between devices, even during calls. Simple and intuitive
  • Reduces costs and complexity, providing excellent value for money
  • Deploy Unified Communications via the web for national connectivity
  • 8x8 has specialist public sector Unified Communications teams

Pricing

£7.00 a user

  • Free trial available

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@adept.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

1 5 8 1 8 1 3 7 9 2 6 7 8 7 7

Contact

ADEPT TECHNOLOGY GROUP LIMITED The Tenders Team
Telephone: 0344 55 77 200
Email: tenders@adept.co.uk

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
8x8 performs planned maintenance periodically at no disruption to the customer. Customer-facing elements of the service, for example portals and softphones, are upgraded at customer convenience. Non-customer-facing elements, for example PBX functionality, are upgraded with full service continuity maintained throughout.
System requirements
  • Personal computer, MacBook or web browser-enabled device
  • A high-speed connection to the Internet
  • IP telephone device
  • Mobile access – download free app; iOS and Android only

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Standard AdEPT SLAs are:
P1 incidents - response within 15 mins,
P2 incidents - response within 30 mins,
P3 incidents - response within 4 hours,
P4/Service Requests - response within 4 hours.

If required, we will escalate issues to 8x8 for resolution support.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
AdEPT's support levels are:
P1 Total Loss of Service - Critical Business Impact - response within 15 mins,
P2 Major Service Degradation - Severe Business Impact - response within 30 mins,
P3 Minor Faults - Inconvenient Business Impact - response within 4 hours,
P4 Service Request - response within 4 hours.

Support at these levels is included in our pricing. An AdEPT Technical Account Manager can be made available.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Our deployment and training teams work together with you to help you start using our service. They provide you the necessary knowledge and training to setup, design, configure, maintain and use the solution efficiently. The deployment team ensures a smooth transition from your old to our new solution, using PMI methodology, in line with PRINCE2 principles. Starting the engagement with the Deployment, Training and Customer Success Teams will work in parallel from the initial Customer Kick-Off meeting. After Go-Live until the transition to our Support teams, the deployment team is ready to help you through issues arising during onboarding. Project lifecycle process and governance is implemented from Day One, until closure. We offer training courses and resources across multiple services. Our courses, along with customer adoption materials, help you get the most from your 8x8 system. Courses are offered open enrolment, via virtual classroom with hands-on exercises and labs, and accompanying user adoption kits. Content includes co-branding, best practices, resource guides, and an eBook with free online videos, tutorials, and starting tips. This approach provides sustainability, and fast onboarding for new users. Other delivery and customisation options are also available.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
Within 24 hours of the expiry of the Contract, data is automatically deleted from 8x8 systems. Customers must utilise the built-in product features which provide data exports, or utilise the APIs that give direct access to raw data and export whichever data elements are required to be retained before the expiry or data will become irrecoverable. If a customer requires data to be made available beyond the end of the contract, additional fees will apply.
End-of-contract process
All data is deleted on contract expiration. Customers are responsible for offloading any data contained on the 8x8 Cloud before expiry utilising the built in tools and APIs of the 8x8 products. After expiry of the contract, data is rendered unrecoverable. If a customer requires data to be made available beyond the end of the contract, additional fees will apply.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
Application to install
Yes
Compatible operating systems
  • Android
  • IOS
  • MacOS
  • Windows
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
Mobile accessibility via a download free app; iOS and Android only.
The application is consistent therefore, looks and works in the same way for the mobile device as the desktop service.
Service interface
No
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
8x8 has a common language (RESTful) and open API policy, where users proficient in URL-based HTTP APIs can inter-operate across 12 8x8 pre-written APIs. These enable multiple functions, for integration, for example with common CRM/ ERP; Service & Support; Productivity and Service & Security applications. Various bespoke functionality features can be achieved with the APIs. Depending on the proficiency of the user, multiple APIs can be used to widen functionality. Changes are made by the simple manipulation of the HTTP codes. The use of APIs must be by proficient users, familiar with these programming techniques.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
Open API (also known as Swagger)
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
No

Scaling

Independence of resources
Systems are scale-out, cloud based. Resources are automatically added as required based on load and utilisation. The 8x8 Architecture team review design and proposed implementation of all new systems before going into operation to challenge assumptions and ensure scale, reliability, availability, security etc. have been considered. A dedicated Quality Assurance team run automated and manual tests against a replica production platform to verify the engineering solution meets 8x8 standards which include load testing.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
A wide variety of online reporting and raw data stats via API are available. Historic reporting includes template based and user configurable data selection, displayable on-screen and exportable in a range of data formats. Live statistics are available on wallboards with configurable statistical measurements that are updated and displayed live. APIs can be utilised to query both live and historic data where a customer wants to utilise the data elsewhere, or potentially make business decisions based on live calling statistics.
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra support
Organisation whose services are being resold
8x8

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2019
Government security clearance
Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
User control over data storage and processing locations
No
Datacentre security standards
Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
Data sanitisation process
No
Equipment disposal approach
A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
A number of online tools exist in the 8x8 applications, as well as low level access to data stores through the APIs.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • Xml
  • Json
  • Pdf
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • Xml
  • Json

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
8x8 enables the delivery of a consistent and reliable end user experience due to a highly available architecture supported by a platform-wide uptime SLA of 99.999%. 8x8’s records and data are basis for all service availability calculations and determinations. 8x8 use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Unplanned Service Interruptions, 24x7, that are reported through one of 8x8’s Customer Support channels.

AdEPT have a robust service credit regime built into our contracts which allows compensation for customers in the event of serious service failure.
Approach to resilience
A dedicated Architecture team review all material changes to service definitions and products, before release, as part of 8x8's New Product Introduction (NPI) process. This review challenges design and implementation, looking for service risks. System components are systematically reviewed and assessed for risk using a "Failure Mode and Effects Analysis" methodology, scoring the risk based on methods of failure detection, whether failover is automated, how long failover takes, severity of impact of the failure, and likelihood of the failure. Where a component or system exceeds an acceptable risk, the proposed system solution is rejected and the engineering are required to refactor the solution, or offer mitigations for concerns. Mitigations may include accelerated detection methods, additional redundancy, reduced recovery times, or may require lower level software changes to survive more readily the failure modes.
Outage reporting
The 8x8 NOC provide management alerts for any customer affecting outage (and any security breach should one occur) and will alert the AdEPT NOC. The management alerts are sent via dedicated messaging channels to responsible individuals around the world, and include an audio conference bridge. The support organisation are included in the management notification group, and have a dissemination process for reporting to customers utilising a web based Support Portal. If more than one customer is affected a Master ticket is created and all customer portals are updated automatically if the Master ticket is updated. Updates are added to the ticket as they occur, consolidated if many changes are occurring, and the update messages state when the next update will be issued, if nothing changes by that time.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
Other
Other user authentication
The 8x8 services is accessed using a Single Sign-on solution that presents authorised users with a panel containing icons for all products and tools, no further authorisation is required to access them
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
All systems are built on the principle of minimum access given. GDPR training is also given to all staff and Policies and Training are given to ensure staff understand how to comply. New starters and staff changing role are given access to systems they require to perform their job role by system owners upon appropriate authorisation.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
Other
Description of management access authentication
The 8x8 services is accessed using a Single Sign-on solution that presents authorised users with a panel containing icons for all products and tools, no further authorisation is required to access them

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
User-defined
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
Less than 1 month
How long system logs are stored for
Less than 1 month

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
SN Registrars Limited
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
12/09/2021
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
The above is for AdEPT and there are no exclusions.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
01/03/2019
CSA STAR certification level
Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
Please note this is an 8x8 certification for this service
PCI certification
Yes
Who accredited the PCI DSS certification
NCC Group Security Services Inc
PCI DSS accreditation date
01/07/2018
What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover
Please note this is an 8x8 certification
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
No
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • FISMA (8x8 certification for this service)
  • HIPAA (8x8 certification for this service)

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • Other
Other security governance standards
As well as ISO27001, AdEPT is Cyber Essentials certified.

8x8 is certified FISMA/NIST 800-53 rev 4, being a superset of FedRAMP and SOC II Types I and II, GLBA and FFIEC. 8x8 is also HIPAA certified (for health information). In the UK, 8x8 additionally has ISO27001 certification and PCI-SAQ-D
Information security policies and processes
AdEPT has a comprehensive internal Information Security Management System and Policy which is regularly reviewed and assessed as part of our ISO 27001 certifications. These documents give insight into our processes regarding the physical security of facilities, Disaster Recovery, Password Requirements, Physical Access, Removable Media, Media Destruction, Environmental Hardening, Patches and Updates, Software Development and Transmission of Data. This is not an exhaustive list of topics.
As well as an internal Information Security Management System and Policy, AdEPT works with its customers to develop tailored Information Security Plans where required.
The AdEPT leadership team ensure that these policies are adhered to and that any changes to these practices are measured and controlled.

The 8x8 SIEM team, who report into the Global Information Security and Compliance Manager, who themselves report into the group CISO, manage the proactive monitoring of information risk bulletins from both government and commercial security organisations, and reactive monitoring of 8x8 systems for security events. This team manage any actions required to be performed by Engineering or Operations teams.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
The asset management system tracks location, support agreements, manufacturers warranties, and EOL dates. Operations process that are "Business As Usual" include disc swaps for both faulty and EOL changes. BAU processes are fixed and tested, and require no further authorisation. Non-BAU changes require operations review and approval. Changes that are software releases must have multiple sign-offs, including Architecture, Operations and Support department.
Vulnerability management type
Supplier-defined controls
Vulnerability management approach
All 8x8 production software goes through security review and testing pre-production, including Penetration Testing using multiple tools. Any security issues found are remedied before release. Additional continuous testing is run against production systems (to cover systems which may remain unchanged for long periods). For these systems, the speed of patch deployment depends on the criticality. SLAs: Critical within 24 hours, High within 7 days, Medium within 30 Days and Low within 90 Days. The SIEM team also review security bulletins from both government and commercial security organisations.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
The 8x8 SIEM team constantly monitors Firewall, Network, IDS and IPS system alerts. In the event that a suspected or actual breach were to take place, escalation to senior management occurs whilst an assessment of the scope of the breach or potential breach is undertaken. AdEPT and affected customer(s) will be notified.
All data customers are processing or storing on 8x8 systems is treated as Sensitive, any suspected data loss is treated as a loss of "sensitive" data, and appropriate actions taken. Any notification processes are operated in parallel to ensuring any breach is blocked, and re-occurrence prevented.
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
The 8x8 24 hour NOC manages all types of incident, including Service and Security incidents, and whether proactively detected or reported by customers. Senior management notification occurs whilst an assessment of the scope of the incident is undertaken. Affected customer(s) are notified through the Support Portal. Any notification processes are operated in parallel to resolving the incident if it is ongoing. The 8x8 Support organisation handles customer facing communications, including initial triage of incident reports and assessment of severity. Security incidents or Service outages result in an RCA process including cross-functional reviews, resulting in a customer facing Incident report.

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

AdEPT is committed to tackling climate change and promoting sustainability. Our Chairman (Ian Fishwick) chairs the the Cabinet Office Industry Working Group looking at the practical implications of asking public sector suppliers to achieve Carbon Net Zero by 2050 a key aim of AdEPT's.

Since 2020 we have been on a journey to carry out our operations in a way which manages and minimises any adverse environmental impacts and to help our clients do the same.

We implemented the UK Government's Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) as soon as it was introduced, monitoring and reporting on our energy use (gas and electricity) and business-related mileage within our annual statutory accounts. We convert this data to total energy value (carbon emissions) per employee so we and our customers can see how we are performing.
For the year ending 31st March 2020 this was 1,591 kgCO2e.
For the year ending 31st March 2021 this had fallen 5% to 1,513 kgCO2e. The fall was despite AdEPT growing in size with increasing numbers of staff.

We aim to follow and promote good sustainability practice. This includes taking into account environmental factors when choosing energy suppliers, avoiding physical travel to meetings where practical and supporting our staff with remote/home working. We also provide recycling facilities within our offices for paper and packaging and encourage recycling of computer supplies and redundant equipment. Wherever possible AdEPT ensures that waste materials are disposed of in an environmentally safe manners and in accordance with regulations.

Within our Environmental, Social and Governance framework published on our website (https://www.adept-technology-group.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AdEPT_ESG_Sep_21.pdf), AdEPT has mapped our social value obligations to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This is accessible to everyone and is updated annually. The framework includes AdEPT's action plan for improving our sustainability, with targets and timings.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

AdEPT has offices in 8 regions across the country including London, Doncaster, Dorking, Tunbridge Wells and Northampton and so we are well aware of the economic disparity that exists within the UK.
Our approach is to use regional engineering expertise for the deployment and support of solutions and services, supporting the retention and development of digital jobs and skills local to our customers and providing both personalisation through local knowledge and efficiency in delivery. In addition, we encourage all vendor partners to assign regional support where possible.
We provide IT solutions and services to 1000s of schools ensuring the next generation have access to the technology they need for learning, no matter they are from. To support the careers and skills development of young people, a number of AdEPT staff also work as governors / mentors for local schools and charities across London, providing digital leadership and training to staff.
AdEPT also supports work placement and education programmes across IT and Telecoms. We are committed to apprenticeships across key support and engineering functions of the group. We aim to offer 5 apprenticeships per year, providing people from all backgrounds with training programmes geared to the progression of their digital career.
In addition, AdEPT have committed to being a Living Wage employer. The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate that is voluntarily paid by businesses. It is higher that the Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage. We have signed up to this because we believe all our staff deserve a wage which meets their everyday needs especially as the cost of living rises.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

AdEPT is committed to promoting a positive attitude to diversity and respecting the human rights of our staff, customers and partners. Our equality and diversity policies must be adhered to by our workforce including within the office, as part of recruitment and when supporting our customers, with decisions based purely on merit, skills and capability.
Our commitments include:

- Operating an equal opportunities policy for all present and potential employees
- Offering all our employees clear and fair terms of employment and provide resources for their continual development
- Maintaining a fair employee remuneration policy and maintaining communication as clearly and openly as possible.

To assess the effectiveness of our policies, we monitor the make-up of the workforce including age, sex, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and disability (all information is provided by staff voluntarily). We annually review how are policies are working in practice, taking action to address any issues.

Within our Environmental, Social and Governance framework published on our website (https://www.adept-technology-group.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AdEPT_ESG_Sep_21.pdf), AdEPT has mapped our social value obligations to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This is accessible to everyone and is updated annually. The framework includes AdEPT's action plan for achieving equality and reducing inequality. These include:
- Implementing a new HR platform to assist in the measurement of equality (including gender, race, disability)
- Producing gender pay gap report and act on the findings (this is now available and published on our website)
- Mapping individuals, and their related gender, to roles to assess differentials
- Reducing inequalities when evaluating/updating policies and working practices.

Individuals with different cultures, perspectives and experiences are at the heart of the way AdEPT works. We are guided by our values and recognise that being a diverse and inclusive employer helps us fulfil our responsibility to make a difference.

Pricing

Price
£7.00 a user
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
8x8 is able to undertake to provide a structured and controlled formal Proof of Concept (POC). This would be on a trial basis which would require further scope, measurement criteria and consideration of potential cost implications to be agreed.
Link to free trial
N/A

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@adept.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.