Civica UK Limited

Gamma SIP Trunks - Resilient SIP Trunking from Civica

Civica via our partner Gamma is the UK's leading IP telephony/VoIP service, utilising SIP protocol. This provides quality inbound and outbound voice calls. Gamma SIP, compatible with the majority of iPABX/SBCs (including Microsoft Teams/Skype and Cisco), delivers enhanced cloud features including; automatic failover, flexible SIP channels and inbound call control.

Features

  • Choose the number you present
  • Keep your existing telephone numbers
  • Built-in Business Continuity as standard
  • Protect yourself from Fraud with in-built tools
  • It'll work with your existing IP telephony system or SBC
  • Inclusive call minutes to 01,02, 03 and 07 numbers
  • Optional inbound call control on your telephone numbers
  • Carrier-grade core network
  • Ability to increase call capacity quickly and easily
  • Optional PCI compliant payment handling service

Benefits

  • Full control of outbound call presentation regardless of location
  • Keep numbers important to your business regardless of any relocation
  • Protect from on-site failures with network divert on DDI basis
  • Guard against fraudulent calls
  • Vast choice of compatible IP Telephony systems
  • Value for money and reduce bill shock
  • Improved resilience across the entire estate
  • Simplified architecture using data infrastructure
  • Pay for channels you need, when you need them
  • Achieve PCI compliance cost effectively

Pricing

£5.00 a licence

  • 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 g-cloud@civica.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

3 5 2 2 3 4 1 8 8 2 3 8 6 1 4

Contact

Civica UK Limited Civica UK Limited
Telephone: +44 (0) 3333 214 914
Email: g-cloud@civica.co.uk

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
What software services is the service an extension to
Gamma's Inbound Service
Cloud based or hosted iPBXs
Session Border Controllers
Cloud deployment model
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
Service constraints
As a VoIP service, calls to 999 via SIP trunks may not be possible, during a service outage where the customer loses total connectivity for example, owing to a power outage or the failure of all data access.
In such circumstances the customer should use their PSTN line or mobile to make the emergency call.
System requirements
  • Conformance tested PABX (Confirm with Gamma)
  • Compatible Session Border Controller (Confirm with Gamma)
  • Appropriately sized data access
  • IP Address Authentication
  • Sufficient SIP Licences on PABX

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
"Level 1: response within 2 working hours; resolution within 1 working day
Level 2: response within 2 working hours; resolution within 5 working days
Level 3: response within 2 working hours; resolution within 30 working days
Level 4: response within 2 working hours; resolution within 60 working days
Level 5: target response & resolution to be mutually agreed.
"
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
None or don’t know
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Comprehensive support is offered as standard including incident & problem management, software fixes, updates & ongoing support. Services are managed in line with ITIL-based policy, including response times, defect resolution, updates & change controls. The standard offering includes:

-Portal: available 24x7x365 for logging & tracking requests & incidents, providing self-diagnosis tools & FAQs
-Telephone: The Service Centre can be contacted directly during support hours
-Email: requests/incidents are logged 24x7x365 and actioned during support hours.

A full help desk service is provided during business hours. Standard support services are 08:00-18:00, Monday to Friday for functional issues, with the exception of public holidays. Service levels will be agreed as part of the pre-contract process.

Each customer will be assigned an account manager
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Our SIP trunking product does not require specific user training, although we do provide comprehensive user acceptance and handover documentation. We also supply a customer support manual for all contact points and escalations. For an optional bolt on, SIP Trunk Call Manager, we provide comprehensive admin and user training for the web portal and App. This is offered via our tutorial videos, onsite training (additional cost), webinar online training, user documentation and a full help section on the web portal.
We also provide online and webinar training for our web-based billing and reporting tool.
A named Major Account Manager and Customer Development Manager will also be assigned to your account to support you.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
Other documentation formats
  • .mpg
  • .doc
End-of-contract data extraction
Our Customer Portal is a secure online space giving customers complete visibility of the assets that we manage for them. We offer a complete view of their estate, including telephone numbers (CLIs), the product related to that number and its geographical location. All invoices are in one place and kept for 12 months for historical billing information on the services you have taken.
This information can be easily downloaded for extraction into excel.
End-of-contract process
At the end of the contract the customer moves onto a rolling 30 day contract on our standard rates. Through our online billing and reporting portal, customer can get their asset list, including numbers that can be ported away and details of the services they currently take with us. This will be provided at no additional cost. It is up to the new provider to port the numbers away.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
Application to install
Yes
Compatible operating systems
  • Android
  • IOS
  • MacOS
  • Windows
  • Windows Phone
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
We have a bolt on App that can be added as an option to SIP Trunk Call Manager. Upon successful download from the relevant app store, the user is able to log in to access a subset of SIP Trunk Call Manager Functionality as available at: www.siptrunkcallmanager.co.uk. The user has access to edit
components of call routing for numbers provisioned on this service and in accordance with their user permissions.
Functionality includes ability to route calls to an alternative destination number/voicemail/divert calls/invoke
pre-configured call plan. Key reporting statistics are also available including Performance graphs and call history.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
Description of service interface
We have an optional bolt on - SIP Trunk Call Manager. Portal-based, the user is able to log in and has access to edit components of call routing for numbers provisioned on this service and in accordance with their user permissions.
Functionality includes ability to route calls to an alternative destination number/voicemail/divert calls/invoke
pre-configured call plan. Key reporting statistics are also available including Performance graphs and call history.
Accessibility standards
None or don’t know
Description of accessibility
Standard web-browser access with standard accessibility options associated with those web-browsers.
Accessibility testing
Standard web-browser access with standard accessibility options associated with those web-browsers
API
No
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
The design of the SIP service can be configured and customised for various designs (Active / Standby, Loadshare, Resilient+, Enhanced). Customer confirms design option during project kick off and then built by Gamma.
The number of concurrent call channels required (subject to minimum number) can be customised subject to sufficient data bandwidth being available.
Whether existing customer DDI numbers are ported from other services. Determined by administrators.
Whether new DDI numbers are required for the service. These can be added by administrators of the service.
If individual call control is required per DDI this can be achieved through a web based customer portal using SIP Trunk Call Manager.
Where the option is taken, customer administrators can manage SIP Trunk Call Manager, a feature-rich, centralised inbound call management service via an easy-to-use web portal and App. The following are customisable:

Call Queuing Day
Time of Day Routing
Hunt Group
Voice Mail
Date Routing
Increased resilience
Announcement
Auto attendant
Set user access individually
Divert (on busy, on no reply, on failure)
Access to full call statistics
Advanced Statistics

Scaling

Independence of resources
We undertake a monthly Capacity Planning Forum whereby the utilisation of every network component is reviewed against planning rules and sales forecast to ensure that we have sufficient capacity and overhead to manage our customer's requirements. Additionally there is weekly planning review on capacity management adjustments.
Each SIP customer's resource requirements are taken into account and sufficient network is allocated to them. We also manage our network to spread traffic during very busy periods.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Gamma SIP Trunk Call Manager service provides a range of on line call reporting on a per number basis. Full summary reports are provided; how many calls are getting through, where are my customers located, what are my call trends, when are my busy times. Detailed call analysis is available via the advanced statistics package.
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

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

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Staff screening not performed
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)
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 once a year
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
Encryption of all physical media
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
Equipment disposal approach
A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
Our Web Portal allows users access to their associated number ranges. Typically users will extract their applicable data in Excel or CVS format.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • Excel
  • PDF
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
Excel

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
Private network or public sector network
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
SIP trunk service availability is calculated as:
Total number of minutes in the measurement period – Unplanned Downtime x 100 / Total number of minutes in the measurement period
Note: If a Service is partially available then the Unplanned Downtime shall be calculated in equal proportion i.e. if a service is 50% available then the unplanned downtime will be calculated as 50% x elapsed period of the incident.
Availability Measurement Period: 1 Calendar month
Target availability for SIP Trunk Endpoint Resilient Build:
Core service: 99.99%
Non-Core Services: 99.50%
Not included:
- Outages which are deemed by us to be the result of matters outside of its direct control
- Planned or emergency maintenance works
- User error
Notes:
(1) Core functions are defined as Gamma Switching infrastructure, transmission equipment and
core network, the service that supports call routing and termination.
(2) Non-Core functions include Gamma Support Systems, access to any relevant portals and feature based services such as Call Plans, Call diverts, Auto Attendant, Call Recording, and Unified Messaging
(3) A Resilient build SIP Trunking means a Gamma approved
configuration such as dual Session Border Controllers offering geographic diversity.
PESQ score target for G711 is 4.1 and G729 is 3.7
Approach to resilience
We hold ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management accreditation. As this information is sensitive, further specific information is available on request.
Outage reporting
A public network status dashboard -
Email alerts -
Portal alerts -
Text messages to opted in mobile numbers -
Service desk verbal communication -

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Relevant only to SIP Trunk call manager services. Customer administrators can set permissions for other users to give them access to certain areas of the portal. They are able to restrict access to certain areas of the management and support interfaces.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
Username or password

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
At least 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
How long system logs are stored for
At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
ISOQAR
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
06/12/2017
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
N/A
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • Cyber Essentials Plus
  • 2 ISO 22301
  • 3 NICC ND 1643

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
Cyber Essentials Plus
Information security policies and processes
Gamma has deployed an Information Security Management System Manual (ISMS) which meets and is certified to ISO 27001:2013 and Cyber Essentials. It is supported by numerous policies and processes including but not limited to the following:

Information Security Policy -
Information Security Incident Policy -
Acceptable use policy -
Access Control Procedure -
Backup Plan -
Business Continuity Plan -
Confidential Data Policy -
Data Protection Policy -

The Reporting structure is from employees or customers to the Information Security Manager to the Information security Forum which is attended by several Directors and heads of departments. The Information Security Forum meets monthly to review all security incidents and events and corrective actions are agreed and tracked at this forum.

To raise awareness Gamma use a computer based training platform for Security Awareness which is repeated annually. Line Managers have a responsibility to ensure their staff are aware of and follow these policies.

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
Change Control Process covers changes made to operational systems, to mitigate the risks and impacts that any change has and ensures good communication at all stages.
Change Management ensures changes to core infrastructure and services are performed and implemented correctly.
Best practice guidance, aligned to ITIL (OGC), recommends that the starting point for any change should be a review of generic questions or the ‘seven Rs’.
A risk and impact assessment is carried out for each change this involves detailing the assets under change.
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) has a representative from each impacted business area.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
We use failure mode effects analysis process, conducting regular, systematic assessments of vulnerabilities to determine the necessity of safeguards, countermeasures and controls, monitoring for changes to maintain an acceptable level of risk. Includes identifying key information assets and subjecting them to specific risk assessments, assessing exposure to a list of common threats and vulnerabilities, maintaining risk registers, implementing technical, policy, business continuity and management initiatives;
Each patch is assessed and deployed accordingly:
High - Urgently.
Medium - ASAP.
Low - as time permits.
Gamma utilise many Vendor sources and industry RSS feeds, CERT, Ubuntu and Debian. Member of CiSP.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Gamma utilise GPG 13 guidance. Gamma has built a Security Information & Event Management Solution (SIEM) to identify potential compromises. If a compromise is found it is investigated. A Security Incident is raised to track the investigation, root cause and solutions if required to rectify or improve the situation. We respond to incidents as close to real time as practicable.
Incident management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Incident management approach
Civica have developed an Incident Management process (PRM07) under ISO 20000 standards which details both the Incident and Service Request Management processes.
The Civica Service Desk manages end user Service Requests, Incidents and Requests for Change (RFCs) which can be logged by e-mail, telephone and web portal.
Monthly customer reports will detail incident information.

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
Yes
Connected networks
  • Joint Academic Network (JANET)
  • Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

Civica’s Environment and Social Governance team provides clear focus for the ongoing development and implementation of our environmental policy, which is supported by our ISO 14001 environmental standard. We are committed to working with our staff, customers, suppliers and partners to recognise and reduce the impact we all have on the environment. This goes hand-in-hand with optimising our services to support environmental and community initiatives.

Through the delivery our services, we support fighting climate change by:
- Helping employees improve their own environmental footprint at work. Initiatives include: environmental policy training; Single use plastic reduction; electric vehicle salary sacrifice; cycle to work scheme; solar panel and LED lighting installation; tree planting scheme, offsetting carbon emissions. We also encourage and advise employees on positive activity at home and in their personal lives.
- Working with suppliers to deliver environmentally sound processes and incorporate sustainable criteria into product/service specifications.
- Operating socially responsible purchasing, considering sustainable procurement, environmental and social effects and reduced consumption.
- Selecting suppliers, goods and services that demonstrate environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and ethically sound standards.
- Leading by example/raising awareness with customers via activities such as: reducing our single use plastic consumption by 70% within the next 5 years; prioritising use of green energy in our facilities; promoting recycling through our ‘Zero to Landfill’ and ‘Zero Print’ schemes; working towards carbon neutrality with workforces and facilities to reduce carbon consumption over the next 10-years.
- Working with customers to develop innovative software-based services that reduce property/power requirements.
- Meeting/exceeding environmental legislation through ISO audits.

We have a Carbon Reduction Plan in place and a commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2040 at the latest. We are reviewing our energy mix and the materials we use, and working with partners to plant a Civica Forest.
Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 recovery

In the spring of 2020, Civica were an early signatory to the C-19 Business Pledge. We focused on safeguarding our people and communities and ensuring the successful ongoing provision of our business-critical software and services.

Supporting customers: Alongside business as usual for our customers, we have worked hard to support the national and local level response through practical, innovative and updated software capability. We have delivered a range of new capabilities quickly, such as those listed below, and continue to provide system advice, configuration and data insights to ensure effective action.
- COVID-19 App (the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland) was developed and launched with the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and helped reduce the pressure on the 111 helpline.
- Developed local track and trace solution for London Borough of Redbridge, enabling it to support localised contact tracing/escalations.
- Community Helper software - built on the iCasework platform to help local authorities co-ordinate rapid support for vulnerable people while minimising safeguarding risks.
- Our Trac e-recruitment software was used to help NHS recruiters get the right candidates into posts quickly and fast-track DBS checks.
- Supporting social housing tenants - assisted teams to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants.
- Supporting Revenues and Benefits teams - software solutions for the two largest UK government measures, Business Rates Grant fund and the Council Tax Hardship fund.

Supporting employees: We proactively provide guidance and support for our people, from keeping remote workers engaged, to our mental health champions and free-to-access Employee Assistance programme. We have adopted a blended working model enabling colleagues to work safely and flexibly at various locations and hub offices, enhanced how we communicate, and continue to look for new ways to share ideas and inspiration.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

Create opportunities for entrepreneurship and help organisations to grow:
Civica is committed to working with its customers to deliver value into the community by supporting young people, developing skills and mentoring businesses to attract inward investment and growth that brings with it employment and skills.

We support innovation through our NorthStar innovation lab, a company-wide initiative focused on enhanced client outcomes by applying fresh ideas on data, automation and new technologies. We work with our customers to co-create public services that are fit for today and for the future. Our Civica NorthStar innovation lab creates physical and virtual opportunities for us to jointly explore trends and technologies.

Create employment and training opportunities:
Civica is a member of the 5% Club, and aims to have 5% of its UK work force as either apprentices, graduates or work experience students by the end of 2025. We employ apprentices and graduates into a number of different disciplines and locations, with a focus on ensuring they are long term employees of Civica.

Support educational attainment:
Learning and development is at the core of the Civica Quality Management Framework. We believe in investing in our people and are proud of our Investors in People Gold accreditation and in being a top rated Glassdoor Employer.

We run our own Civica Academy for employee development and skills enhancement, which delivered over 220,000 hours of training during 2021. We provide our own apprenticeship programme (team leader level 3) for our aspiring and current managers that are considered stars of the future.

We are working on building some new apprenticeship standards such as the UX degree apprenticeship. This will benefit not only Civica’s Digital Team but all companies and customers that need UX talent.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

Civica is a 2022 Financial Times Diversity Leader and is ‘Gold’ Investors in People accredited, demonstrating our commitment to promoting equal opportunity by tackling inequality in employment, skills and pay in our workforce. We proactively implement equal opportunities for employment and personal development among diverse groups and local areas, and ensure rights for all staff are always protected. This is led by our Group Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) team, championed by our CEO who is also our Chief Diversity Sponsor. The strategy and policy manages:
- Interview training, focusing on unconscious bias/equal opportunity.
- Anonymising CVs and ensuring interview panels represent minority groups.
- Using a decoder to ensure job advertisements use gender and culturally neutral language.
- Attracting/recruiting from minority backgrounds/disadvantaged groups across the organisation, especially into under-represented areas.
- Advertising vacancies in a wide variety of places and diversity/disability portals (including; BME jobs, Disability jobs and LGBT job sites), to increase gender diversity and ethnicity.
- Company-wide Diversity & Inclusion network, including affinity groups relating to under-represented groups.
- Mandatory Diversity & Inclusion training for all staff.
- Pay equity reviews addressing inequality and UK gender pay gap.
- Flexible Working to encourage higher uptake for women, working parents and disabled groups.
- Partner with a social innovator company to help recruit and support employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We gather and analyse data on our performance from regular surveys such as ENPS, IIP, Pulse survey, employee engagement surveys.

Our D&I team monitor the take-up, use and effectiveness of our measures, such as the number of new recruits from minority backgrounds, women, parents and diverse groups, and provide statistics for our Annual Review on performance against targets. For example, we report on the number of people attending training sessions and the split of male to female attendees.
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Civica actively promote a mentally healthy workplace and workforce through our 40+ Mental Health Champions (MHC) and our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy, encouraging a flexible and realistic work/life balance. We integrate mental health and general wellbeing in all that we do from recruitment and ‘First Impressions’ to appraisals and strategic management.

Our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy and programme for all employees provide a foundation to support both the mental and physical health of our staff. Examples include:
- Employee Assistance Programme and online Wellbeing Hub, which provides 24/7 access to websites, e-mail, phone and face-to-face counselling on all personal issues.
- Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace App providing external mental health consultancy.
- Mental Health Champions who support colleagues’ wellbeing in the workplace.
- RedArc Personal nurse service.
- Management Coaching - managers are trained in GROW (Goals, Reality, Options and Will) and in being Health and Wellbeing Advisors, supporting employees with mental/physical health needs.
- Health assessments/advice aimed at improving physical health.
- Cycle to Work scheme to aid physical and mental health.
- Weekly fruit drop for offices, encouraging a healthier diet.
- We provide free eye tests for all VDU users, encourage staff to take advantage of NHS flu vaccinations services, and support people wishing to use the NHS Stop Smoking Service.

We also support our customers’ and communities’ physical and mental wellbeing through: Employee ‘Donate-a-Day’ to local charities; Local events organised through “Charity Champions”; Directors providing guidance to local community health and wellbeing projects; Supporting social housing tenants to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants.

Suppliers/subcontractors are subject to Civica’s Sub-contractor Selection Process as defined in our ISO9001 Quality Management System, which includes criteria for assessing health and wellbeing policies and their promotion.

Pricing

Price
£5.00 a licence
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
We can provide free SIP channel rental for a maximum period of 3 months. Customer pays for any calls they make.
We can also provide a general demo account for SIP Trunk Call Manager

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 g-cloud@civica.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.