PULSAR GROUP PLC

Vuelio PR, Media, Stakeholder and Political Services

Vuelio is a communications software & intelligence platform, used by over 500 public sector organisations. We help you to manage media monitoring, coverage analysis, journalist contacts, press office, press enquiries, lines-to-take, news distribution, publishing, stakeholder engagement, internal comms, political monitoring and political contacts - all in one place.

Features

• Media & political monitoring across print, broadcast, online and social
• In-house researched journalist, blogger and political contacts database
• Integrated press release distribution, tracking and publishing service
• Centralised press enquiry, response and lines-to-take management
• Stakeholder relationship management
• Communications planning and strategy module
• Vuelio Canvas - interactive coverage wall for news and content
• Real-time analytics dashboards and exportable reports
• Online Newsroom and Media Centre services
• Journalist Enquiry Service - media opportunities delivered to your inbox

Benefits

• Convenience of a centralised platform to manage all communications activities
• Communicate without silos; relate your team’s activities to outcomes
• Cost efficiencies procuring multiple services through one supplier
• Client driven advancements to navigate a rapidly changing communications landscape
• Real-time data visualisations for insights into organisational activity
• Regular technology innovation to deliver new features to Vuelio users
• Smart automation of processes to save time, better demonstrate effectiveness
• Expert media and political intelligence to inform communications strategies
• A network of influencers to connect communicators with their audiences
• Multi-platform, mobile optimised access to manage communications on the move

£1,000 a unit

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

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 gcloud@accessintelligence.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

567441902631142

Contact

Rob Hill (Pulsar) or Oliver Grant (Vuelio)
0203 426 4070
gcloud@accessintelligence.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: There are no service constraints that will affect Vuelio users
• System requirements:
  • A supported browser
  • Web access

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: An instant automated response is provided with a support ticket reference number. Further response is provided depending on the severity of the issue, with the following maximum response times:; ; 1) A live production system is down - within 1 working hour; 2) Suspected high impact condition associated with the application - within 4 working hours; 3) Intermittent or low impact condition - Within 3 working days; 4) Question concerning the application or its usage - Within 5 working days
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web chat accessibility testing: Our in-app support chat has been tested and developed for WCAG standards. Elements are clickable by keyboard, we support screen readers and have optimised colour contrast.
• Onsite support: Onsite support
• Support levels: Our standard support inclusive within all subscriptions includes:; ; - Telephone, live chat and email support from 08:00 - 18:00 on working days; - Web-based or onsite training and access to training materials; - A professional services consultant to manage the on-boarding process; - A dedicated account manager; ; - Emergency out-of-hours support available depending on which services are being purchased.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: All users are provided with an account manager, a professional serivces consultant to assist with on-boarding, online training, access to training materials and onsite training if required.
• Service documentation: No
• End-of-contract data extraction: At no additional charge, all user content will be exported to a .CSV file and securely returned to the user.
• End-of-contract process: Within one week of notice, user-owned content will be securely returned at no cost via Excel / .csv format.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Vuelio offers a mobile app for Android and IoS. The application offers mobile optimised functionality, allowing management of communications activities on the move.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Vuelio is a dynamic and customisable system to cater for a diverse range of requirements. Customisable elements of the solution include:; ; - Labelling throughout the product; - Organisation specific categories, drop-down menus and tags; - Field visibility; - Email distribution templates; - News alerts; - User permissions; - Analytics and reporting; - Modules; ; Vuelio users can customise the above to:; ; - Reflect their specific organisational terminology; - Produce customised analytics based on relevant metrics; - Access a customised searching facility; - Produce branded and application specific email communications; - Ensure appropriate access rights for each licence/ user; - Access only relevant Vuelio functionality; ; Typically, customisation is provided by Vuelio's professional services and support function to save the users' time, however some elements can be configured by the user if required.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Our software runs in Microsoft Azure, a scalable hosting environment, which we monitor to ensure a performant service for all clients.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Vuelio can provide a wide-range of metrics including:; - Login requests; - Successful logins; - Failed logins; - IP address of login; - User activity through live dashboards and exportable reports; - Page load time; - Service availability/ uptime on request
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Security Clearance (SC)

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: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: We rely on features of the Azure platform described here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/azure-security-encryption-atrest
• 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: Users can export their data in a diverse range of formats from the system, including:; ; - Exporting analytics to Word, PDF and Excel; - Sharing via email; - Exporting lists to Excel or .CSV; - Options to export/ transfer/ publish via XML or RSS; - Exporting contact details as vCards; - Sharing calendar details as .ICS files; - Publishing to social media
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

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: Our resolution times are as follows:; 1) A live production system is down - within 4 working hours; 2) Suspected high impact condition associated with the application within - 8 working hours; 3) Intermittent or low impact condition - Within 10 working days; ; The service will achieve at least 99.5% uptime. For each hour of service unavailability, excluding planned maintenance, we will credit an amount equal to one day’s pro-rata monthly costs for each hour.
• Approach to resilience: All Vuelio applications are deployed to a cloud environment with resilience and redundancy as a specific design criteria.; ; All data is backed up, or replicated, so that recovery is possible in the case of any failures.
• Outage reporting: Any service outages will be reported via email through our support and account management function.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: All user accounts can be provided with appropriate levels of access to management interfaces with a customisable set of user permissions.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: CFA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 21st July 2023
• 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: No

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: As part of our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation we have in place a full Information Security Management System covering the range of procedures and policies. Policies are followed through with regular audits, with responsibility lying with our Chief Technical Officer and ultimately our CEO.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: All system changes are subject to our formal Change Control Procedure.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Annual penetration tests, developer training, peer-code review. We apply regular infrastructure patching. We subscribe to appropriate internet news groups for the applications and technology we use.
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: As part of our infrastructure service, we have effective monitoring and alerting tools deployed to provide early warning of malicious threats.
• Incident management type: Undisclosed
• Incident management approach: We have defined a robust Incident Management process, key stages including Detect, Respond, Recover, Learn and Improve. User reports incidents to support team via email on telephone, creating a support ticket. We will provide an in-depth analysis of incidents on request.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Our group is working to produce a net zero transition by reducing our carbon emissions, coupled with the offsetting of any that we’re unable to eliminate completely from our operations. As an interim solution while we work towards our net zero plan, the group is looking for credible, impactful carbon offsetting projects to support.; ; Our products are software and insights so to minimise emissions resulting from cloud computing/storage the key approach we have taken is to use suppliers who have made commitments to going carbon neutral.; ; Our London Office is in a shared building with effective provision for recycling and we provide bins in the office for recyclable waste such as paper, plastic and tins as well as separate bins for class and cardboard. Our landlord has advised us that part of the energy that feeds the building is supplied as green energy and we are encouraging them to be more specific and make ongoing improvements.; ; Although we see the value of meeting clients face to face, we manage the booking of business travel strictly in order to avoid any unnecessary journeys. We have no company cars. Prior to Covid lockdowns we had started trials of partial homeworking and early starts in certain teams in support of work-life balance and reduced commuting and we now have formalised hybrid working as part of our carbon reduction initiatives. We offer a cycle to work scheme and showers in the office, encouraging employees to replace their usual modes of transport to work with cycling.; ; Our full environmental policies are available on request.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Prior to Covid lockdowns we had started trials of partial homeworking and early starts in certain teams in support of work-life balance and reduced commuting and we now have formalised hybrid working, to support a sustainable Covid recovery plan for our staff.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Our group ensures that staff regardless of economic background have opportunities to succeed and progress within the business, including offering professional training and qualifications for our employees. ; ; We carefully select suppliers in accordance with our Supply Chain policies and will actively work with businesses of all sizes, from start-ups and SMEs through to large companies. We only contract with businesses that share our social values and approach to key requirements of our business, such as information security.

  Equal opportunity

  Vuelio and our group is fully committed to developing positive policies to ensure no-one is discriminated or victimised in any way and are afforded equal opportunities in recruitment, selection, promotion and training, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership status, age, disability, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, religion or belief, race, creed, colour, ethnic and national origins. ; ; We know that innovation thrives in teams where diverse points of view come together to solve hard problems. As such, we explicitly seek individuals who will bring diverse life experience, diverse educational background, diverse culture, and diverse work experience. ; ; We ensure:; ; • Commission under the Equality Act 2010 are communicated and understood by all employees during induction, training programmes and are readily available for reference thereafter ; • Ensuring that the company’s policies and procedures are under constant review to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and best practice ; • Ensuring that sources of recruitment are as broadly based as practical, and all relevant media and job adverts are free from any bias or discriminatory comment. Where necessary issuing formal instructions to ensure recruitment, selection, training and promotion policies are known by managers/supervisors ; • That opportunities for promotion, training and career development are free from any form of discrimination or victimisation ; • Ensuring that positive action is only used in circumstances prescribed under the Equality Act 2010 ; • That pre-employment health questions will only be asked in compliance with the guidelines provided in the Equality Act 2010 ; • Having an open door policy whereby all comments and suggestions are welcomed in respect of both the company’s equal opportunities policy and any other policy or practice within the business ; • Promoting equal pay

  Wellbeing

  We run various initiatives to ensure the wellbeing of our staff, as well as promoting diversity and inclusion. ; ; Access Intelligence Women in Work Group: an internal company network dedicated to promoting the interests of people identifying as women, through discussion, awareness, collaboration, and external thought leadership. A group who shares material for suggested reading and hosts events around the key topics in relation to women in work. ; ; The LGBTQ+ Network: a supportive and safe space for LGBTQ+ staff members to join and chat with fellow colleagues, and also welcomes allies of the community. Monthly meetings are held, and events and talks are hosted to promote the network and provide support to the community. ; ; Men’s Mental Health Group: a supportive group which hosts events, and talks to raise awareness of men’s mental health and to create a safe space for men within the group to share everyday issues they are dealing with and get support and advice from their peers.

Pricing

• Price: £1,000 a unit
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: All trials are bespoke, depending on requirements.

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

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 gcloud@accessintelligence.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.