Focus Group

Focus Group SIP Trunking

SIP Trunking directly provided by Focus Group. The SIP service is designed as an ISDN replacement for the PSTN switch-off, compatible with all IP/SIP enabled telephone systems and Session Border Controllers (SBCs). Delivering enhanced cloud features; automatic failover (SIP PING) and flexible SIP channels.

Features

• ISDN replacement SIP technology for PSTN switch-off
• Microsoft Teams integration and compatible with iPBX/SBCs
• Keep existing telephone numbers/DDIs from ISDN to SIP
• Choose the outbound number you present (CLI Presentation
• Instantly scalable channels for peak calling periods
• Active/Standby, Loadshare or Resilient mesh
• Inclusive calls to 01/02/03/07 or PAYU for inbound SIP Trunking
• Optional cloud based inbound call control –SIP Trunk Call Manager
• Optional PCI compliant payments service
• Single Pane administration portal

Benefits

• Full business continuity solution so calls are never lost
• Keep your existing numbers and maintain continuity
• Inclusive SIP calls allowing budget and cost control
• Guard against fraudulent calls to minimise risk and bill shock
• Simplified architecture using SIP and Data infrastructure
• Flex channels and only pay for the SIP Trunking used
• Achieve cost effective PCI compliance for payments
• Environmentally friendly and Carbon Neutral certified solution
• Caller access control (CAC) allows inbound/outbound SIP Trunking call management
• Simple and fast provisioning and transition

£3.00 a unit a month

• Education pricing available
• 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 bid.team@focusgroup.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

722211090400184

Contact

Focus Group
03300242000
bid.team@focusgroup.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: Inbound Service's; Cloud based or hosted iPBXs; Session Border Controllers
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: Focus Group SIP services must be connected to a iPBX or Session Border Controller.
• System requirements:
  • Conformance tested PABX
  • Compatible Session Border Controller
  • 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: Our Service Level Targets are as follows:; ; P1 - Total loss of service at a customer premise/s, or critical service failure = 1 Hour; ; P2 - Partial loss of service to critical systems = 4 Hrs; ; P3 - Partial loss of service = 6 Hours; ; P4 - Configuration changes = by NBD
• 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: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web chat support is accessible: Web chat is available through our infocus customer portal
• Web chat accessibility testing: Web chat testing with assistive technology users is currently being developed, including user testing, where individuals reliant on assistive tools like screen readers or voice recognition software interact with the chat. Their feedback informs iterative improvements with beta testing involving inviting assistive technology users to test chat features before launch, ensuring real-world usability
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Our Service Level target fix times are as follows:; ; P1 - Total loss of service at a customer premise/s, or critical service failure = 8 hours target fix time.; ; P2 - Partial loss of service to critical systems = 8 hours target fix time.; ; P3 - Partial loss of service = 24 hours target fix time.; ; P4 - Configuration changes = by NBD; ; P4 requests for major programming changes may be chargeable.
• 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 Customer Advocate and Customer Executive will also be assigned to your account to support you and a project manager where required.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• 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 there is the option to renew the service for an additional term.; ; If the contract is not being renewed, 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: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Description of service interface: A web-based administration portal that provides access for an administrator to make all moves, adds, and changes in real time as standard.
• Accessibility standards: None or don’t know
• Description of accessibility: The service is accessible via a standard web browser, providing full access to all features and functions expected of a comprehensive business telephony solution. This access allows administrators and users to make any moves, additions, or changes across the telephony estate based on a permission basis.
• Accessibility testing: None
• 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). ; 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 Ap

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The service is a carrier grade with monthly Capacity Planning 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.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: 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:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Gamma Communications PLC

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• 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 CSV format.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

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 G.711 is 4.1 and G.729 is 3.7
• Approach to resilience: Gamma, as our partner, holds ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management accreditation.Further specific information is available on request.
• Outage reporting: Major Service Outages (MSO) are communicated via email alerts to the main account contact email address. We have a virtual MSO team with dedicated responsibilities who react promptly when an MSO occurs. We negotiate bespoke updates from our suppliers to ensure we communicate efficiently to our customers. We proactively try and mitigate the effect of an MSO on SIP Trunks by utilising the unreachable feature providing automatic call diversion.

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 have access to real-time 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: ISO Quality Services Ltd
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 30/06/2023
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Not Applicable
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• 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
• Information security policies and processes: Cyber Essentials

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: A change record has to be created and approved by Board which has to adhere to our Change Management Policy. The change record will only be approved if included there are details of the change being made, impact to the business, a security impact assessment, and a full backout plan. Without any of this information the change will not be accepted.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Gamma as our provider uses failure mode effects analysis process, conducting regular, assessments of vulnerabilities to determine 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 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: We have an Incident Management Process used by our Helpdesk, in which users can raise tickets or call into to report an incident.; ; The Helpdesk will then review the incident, will resolve the issue, and provide a Route Cause Analysis (RCA), and then produce an incident report for the client.; ; All incidents that come in are logged in our Incident Management Log file which can be evaluated over time and historically reviewed.

Secure development

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

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: Yes
• Connected networks:
  • Joint Academic Network (JANET)
  • Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  Fighting climate change

  Fighting climate change

  Our G-Cloud service provision is committed to fighting climate change ; ; Carbon Footprint Reduction: Our infrastructure is designed with energy efficiency in mind, minimising carbon emissions associated with hosting and delivering cloud services. We prioritise data center locations powered by renewable energy sources to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations.; ; Remote Work and Collaboration Tools: By offering robust remote work and collaboration tools, we facilitate telecommuting and virtual meetings, reducing the need for commuting and business travel. This helps decrease greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, a significant contributor to climate change.; ; By aligning with these social value themes outlined in PPN 06/20, our G-Cloud service provision demonstrates a tangible commitment to fighting climate change and promoting environmental sustainability.

Pricing

• Price: £3.00 a unit a month
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Please contact Focus Group as we have various free options available dependent 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 bid.team@focusgroup.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.