BEAM UP LTD

Beam Talk

Beam Talk, created by Beam, is a specialist AI-powered virtual assistant designed for social care services. It works over phone or web chat, manages inbound contact from residents or clients, collecting or sharing info as needed, and triaging effectively, reducing the pressures on front door teams and contact centres.

Features

• Natural voice agent, customised tone and accent, 30+ languages
• Integrates with organisation phone lines and website chat bots
• Informed by customer policy and process information
• Gathers information and supports triage and smart escalation
• Produces a structured summary for each chat/call
• Works 24/7 over phone calls and web chat
• Retains a recording and summary of the conversation
• SMS summary of conversation to callers who consent

Benefits

• Consistent, quality advice to customers tailored to local services
• Customers get the care or support they need more quickly
• No missed calls or calls waiting in queues
• Human expertise and resource used effectively for calls
• Detailed data capture from every call
• Uses AI to triage calls, highest priority surfaced first

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 bids@beam.org. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

704915919235753

Contact

Sebastian Barker
0203 819 3509
bids@beam.org

About your service

• Service categories:

  Applications

  Production and operations

  • Other operations

  Service industry and public sector operations

  • Healthcare
  • Education
  • Public Order and Safety
  • Police
  • Social Security Administration
  • Adult Social Care
  • Children's Social Care
  • Other
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: N/A
• System requirements:
  • Microphone (phone)
  • Internet access (webchat)

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Users have access to email and telephone support from the Beam Service Desk, available 9am-5pm UK time, Monday to Friday. Beam will respond to all support tickets within 48 hours during the week.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: No
• Web chat support: Yes
• Web chat support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Web chat accessibility testing: N/a
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: The buyer will get a dedicated Beam Account Manager who owns and manages the account, available for queries via email and phone, as well as in person and virtual meetings. During mobilisation, the Account Manager will work closely with the buyer project team to provide change management support to the wider organisation. The Account Manager will work alongside Beam technical teams to customise the product and adapt workflows. Support is provided at no extra cost.
• Support available to third parties: No
• AI chatbot: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Beam takes an agile approach to each implementation, continuously monitoring, testing and reviewing the approach, taking on customer feedback during the 4-stage implementation. Beam provides a 4-stage implementation process for Beam Talk over an 8-12 week period: ; ; 1. Discovery: this stage focuses on information gathering to inform the first iteration of the build and customisation of Beam Talk.; ; 2. Training and Internal Testing: this stage focuses on testing v1 of the tool, training customer users on how to use and manage the tool, and identifying changes required. Once the customer is happy with the tool, it can be moved to live testing. ; ; 3. Testing: this stage comprises both a time-limited (1-2 week) live test of the tool and a 4-week live test. During this stage, customers continue to review and assess the design and build, and Beam will make additional customisations or changes as required within 1 working day. Regular meetings take place between Beam and customer teams to review usage and feedback. ; ; 4. Evaluation: Beam works closely with the customer to evaluate and collate results of the test, shared with customers in a formal report.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats:
  • Word
  • CSV
• End-of-contract data extraction: Magic Notes includes a self-service option to export all written data to PDF or CSV and download audio recordings and reports. This can be used at any time. At contract conclusion the dedicated Account Manager will support the client to ensure that all data remaining in the platform has been extracted by the client.
• End-of-contract process: Beam will agree a 4 week exit plan with customers concluding their use of the service. The Account Manager will support the customer to ensure all retained data has been extracted from the platform. The Account Manager will share a data deletion plan for removing all customer data from Beam servers in line with GDPR requirements. This is provided at no additional cost.
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Other
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The user experience is different between phone call (customers have verbal communication with Beam Talk, and web chat (customers have a written communication with Beam Talk).; ; Beam Talk has different implementation formats between mobile and desktop versions, detailed in the Service Definition.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Description of service interface: Beam Talk is accessed by customers (organisations) through magicnotes.ai. ; ; People using services access Beam Talk through the organisation website or phone line/contact centre
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Accessibility testing: N/a
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Beam works closely with customers during implementation to develop the data library and customise the natural voice. Other customisations include response style, phone call and web chat transfer, escalations, priority classification, tone and speed of voice.; ; Changes to the service and customisations are requested through Magic Notes or the Beam Account Manager, and provided at no additional cost. There is no limit to the number of customisations or changes available to customers.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: N/a

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: N/a
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request
• Resource tagging: No
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

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: Yes
• 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 CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: All data is encrypted using AES-256 for data at rest and TLS 1.2 or 1.3 for data in transit.
• Data sanitisation process: No
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Outputs (summaries, transcripts and reports) are copied and pasted by the user from Beam Talk (via Magic Notes) into their internal case management tools or other file storage. Audio files are downloaded on demand via a 'download' button. Aggregated or written data can be exported to CSV or PDF by system administrators.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats:
  • PDF
  • MP3
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: Beam Talk does not accept data imports

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: 99.5% of the total minutes in each calendar month
• Approach to resilience: Our service is designed with resilience at its core, employing a multi-tiered strategy to ensure high availability and durability of data and applications. ; ; At the infrastructure level, our data centers are strategically distributed across various geographical locations, part of a global network that mitigates risks associated with physical disasters and local outages. ; ; Each data center operates with redundancy in critical systems, including power, networking, and cooling, ensuring that any single point of failure is addressed promptly without impacting service continuity. In the cloud, our services leverage Google Cloud’s scalable and fault-tolerant services, such as Auto Scaling, to dynamically adjust resources based on demand, and Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) for managing databases with automatic backup, recovery, and failover capabilities. ; ; Data replication across multiple Availability Zones ensures that our applications remain available and data intact, even if one zone experiences an outage. This architecture, combining physical data center resilience with cloud-based redundancies, forms the backbone of our service's resilience, designed to offer seamless and uninterrupted access to our users under a wide array of conditions.
• Outage reporting: Outages are reported through Beam's Account Managers

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: We implement stringent access restrictions on management interfaces and support channels through role-based access control (RBAC), ensuring that only authorised personnel have access based on their job function. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is available for all access, providing an additional security layer. We can facilitate regular access reviews to ensure compliance with the principle of least privilege. Furthermore, all access is logged and monitored for suspicious activities, with real-time alerts in place to detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts. This comprehensive approach ensures that sensitive management interfaces and support channels remain secure and accessible only to those with legitimate need.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)

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 contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Our Legal and Compliance Lead handles data protection contractual obligations,certifications and audits including cyber essentials and ISO27001, and internal processes such as supplier management and training. Our IT team manages corporate devices, security configuration, and identity management. All Beam staff are trained in GDPR principles and information security practices. Policies are reviewed every year. Compliance is enforced through employment T&Cs, mandatory training and disciplinary procedures in case of any breaches.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Updates are managed via segregation of development, temporary pull request environments and feature flags on the production environment to ensure quality assurance and security testing before any new feature or product goes live. Security testing for new features includes static code analysis, GDPR compliance, and data leakage vulnerabilities.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Our vulnerability management process involves continuous monitoring and assessment of potential threats, utilising sources like CVE databases, security advisories, and industry forums. Upon identifying vulnerabilities, we prioritize them based on severity and potential impact on our services. Critical patches are deployed within 24 hours, while less critical updates follow a scheduled maintenance window. We leverage automated tools for scanning and assessment, ensuring swift identification and mitigation. This process is integral to maintaining the security and integrity of our services, ensuring they remain resilient against emerging threats.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We use: Audit log alerting to understand malicious behaviour; WAF firewall rules to alert us of any ongoing attacks; A completely closed off internal network with little access by employees to ensure that we have a very small attack surface; ; This, in addition to alerting on suspicious account behaviour, ensures we have the right checks in place to mitigate attacks that may take place.; ; We use Microsoft Sentinel as our SIEM, allowing us to centralise our log and event data from endpoints, identity, network, and cloud. Incidents are correlated across systems exposing advanced threats faster and automating our responses.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Our incident management processes include predefined protocols for common events, ensuring swift and efficient response to incidents. Users report incidents through a dedicated support channel, accessible via our website or directly within our applications. Upon receiving a report, our incident response team evaluates the situation, initiates the appropriate response procedure, and communicates updates to affected parties. Post-incident, we provide comprehensive reports detailing the incident's nature, impact, actions taken, and measures implemented to prevent recurrence. This approach enables us to manage incidents effectively, maintain transparency with our users, and continuously improve our security posture.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

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 v4.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 2%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 2%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 5%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 5%
• Over £5,000,001: 5%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: British Assessment Bureau
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Friday 8 November 2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: The provision of services and software in the welfare sector, including the associated people, processes and technology globally. This scope is inclusive of our service and software offerings in the business. All of our G-Cloud application is covered by this.
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): No
• CSA STAR certification: Yes
• CSA STAR accreditation date: Monday 20 October 2025
• CSA STAR certification level: Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
• What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover: N/A - all parts of our service are covered
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: No
• Cyber Essentials Alternative: None of the criteria
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 470357a6-4008-4dfb-9eb0-522c83a45c2d
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Delivery of training schemes and programmes to address any identified skills gaps and under-representation in the workforce for the contract (e.g. prison leavers, care leavers, kinship carers, disabled people)
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

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 bids@beam.org. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.