NGC NETWORK SERVICES LIMITED

Gamma - Resilient SIP Trunking

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 fail-over, flexible SIP channels and inbound call control. NGC Wakefield West Yorkshire.

Features

• 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
• Business Continuity as standard– Active/Standby, Loadshare or Resilient mesh

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

£4.50 a user 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 andrew.linley@ngcnetworks.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

727458208635982

Contact

Andrew Linley
01133900052
andrew.linley@ngcnetworks.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: As a VoIP service calls to 999 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.; Horizon does not support the following:; ISDN data calls; IP handsets that have not been supplied by us; The call recording service on Horizon is not currently PCI or FSA compliant.; We do not support some fax and franking machines used with an ATA
• System requirements:
  • A Horizon compatible data network (Confirm with NGC)
  • Appropriately sized data access

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: One of our service desk agents will take the details of your fault as well as your contact information and raise a case within our incident management system. You will then receive an email with a unique reference number which can be used to track your fault should you need to call us for any updates.; ; Support hours:; Email (Mon-Fri 09:00-17:30 excl. UK bank holidays); Phone 0344 980 0344 (Available 24/7/365); ; Target response time:; Severity 0 - 2 hours; Severity 1 - 6 hours; Severity 2 - 24 hours; Severity 3 - 72 hours
• 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: Our service desk agents will detail your fault and raise a case within our incident management system. You will then receive an email with a unique reference number which can be used to track your fault should you need to call us for any updates.; ; Standard SLA; P1 - MAJOR SERVICE OUTAGE; Total Loss of Service, related business areas are completely affected and unable to operate ; Target Response Time: 2 hours ; Target Resolution Time: 6 hours; ; P2 - SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS IMPACT; A substantial part of the service is not working or at severe risk of not working; The customers' business is significantly affected ; Target Response Time: 6 hours ; Target Resolution Time: 12 hours; ; P3 PARTIAL BUSINESS IMPACT; • Part of the customers’ service is interrupted or compromised; • Services may be working, but performance is degraded and having an impact on customer business operations ; Target Response Time: 24 hours ; Target Resolution Time: 3 days*; ; P4 MINOR BUSINESS IMPACT or CHANGE REQUEST; • There is a problem with the customer equipment which is non-critical in nature; • There is no material impact to the customers’ business ; Target Response Time: 72 hours ; Target Resolution Time: 5 days*; *these are working days
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We offer extensive and tailored user training for Horizon and provide comprehensive user acceptance and handover documentation. We also supply a customer support manual for all contact points and escalations. We provide comprehensive administrator and user training for the Horizon product set. 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. The on site training is usually provided by the installers of the system..
• 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 the 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
• 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 (see pricing sheet) that can be added as an option to Horizon. Upon successful download from the relevant app store onto the desktop the user is able to log in to access a subset of Horizon functionality.; The mobile soft client app allows a user to make and receive calls on a mobile device as well as accessing key settings for their service. It provides all the same functionality as the desktop soft client with the exception of Click to Call.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Description of service interface: Horizon provides a secure web portal - a simple, easy to use management system that allows the following tasks to be undertaken:; • Site Management–control site numbers & schedules, music on hold, & call barring; • User Management–create/edit users & assign devices, telephone numbers, set call barring & optional services; • Group Management–manage IVR, ACDs & hunt groups; • Call Recording Management–call recording & manage storage; • Security–manage username & passwords including softclients; Statistical information across the estate for inbound & outbound calls can also be accessed.; Individual users also have access to a portal to manage their settings.
• Accessibility standards: None or don’t know
• Description of accessibility: Standard web-browser/app access with standard accessibility options associated with those web-browsers/apps.
• Accessibility testing: None
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: There is an extensive list of customisable features and functions on Horizon (available on request).; The service offers a range of clever features and an emphasis on control and administration through the web. For administrators, you can quickly configure the system according to your organisation’s changing requirements whilst individual users can manage their calls easily and effectively.; Users can implement a wide range of features via the web portal either at a company, site, or user level giving full and easy control of; an entire telephony environment even over multiple sites.

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 Horizon 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: The Horizon 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

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
• 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:
  • PDF
  • Excel
• 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: Horizon 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 Service availability for Horizon is:; Horizon Graphical User Interface (GUI) is 99.9%; Horizon user subscriptions is 99.5%; Horizon Auto Attendant, Call Recording, and Unified Messaging subscriptions - 99%; Mean Average PESQ Score target of 4.1 for G711 and 3.7 for G729.; Not included:; - Outages which are deemed by us to be the result of matters outside of direct control; - Planned or emergency maintenance; - User error; Notes:Core functions are Gamma Switching infrastructure, transmission equipment and; core network, the service that supports call routing and termination.; 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; 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: 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: Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Ltd
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 30/01/2020
• 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: No
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: NICC ND 1643

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: Organisational measures (ICO Data Controller No. Z3112257): Our ISMS covers all areas within NGC Networks’ software with overall accountability being held by the Managing Director, supported by the Senior Leadership Team. Local Security responsibilities are assigned at both a company and departmental level. The purpose of the ISMS is to protect information assets from threats, whether internal or external, deliberate and accidental. Ensures: Clear risk-based decisions Information protected against unauthorised access Information confidentiality Information integrity Regulatory and legislative requirements met Business Continuity Management (including testing) ISMS training available to staff ISMS breaches (actual-suspected) effectively managed
• Information security policies and processes: Organizational Measures (ISO27001 aligned and Cyber Essential accreditation soon) Classification-Handling: Information classification used to categorise based on assessment of impact if information were disclosed to unauthorised person, lost or destroyed. Ensures assets receive appropriate protection Scope: Applies to all NGC Networks’ Software personnel, subtractors & TPs. A hoc risk assessments conducted in accordance with the Risk Control process to supplement policy processes. - Collection - Processing - Data Storage, Transit & Access - Retention-Disposal Data Disposal - Electronic data will be disposed of securely in accordance with data classification - Software ensures all suppliers provide evidence of destruction Technical Measures NGC Networks operates a “best practice” framework topology regarding footprint and security systems application. Technical measures include web-based security applications as well as a comprehensive monitoring of environments – Live, Development/Test. Technologies highlights: Watchguard Firebox firewalls (Total Security Suite). IPS, DDOS, Gateway Antivirus, Application Proxies, Policy-based-access, SSL VPN, Web Blocker Watchguard EDPR. Advanced Threat Hunting, APTs, zero-day malware, ransomware, phishing, rootkits, in-memory exploits and malware-less attacks + IDS, firewall, device control, and URL & content filtering capabilities Watchguard Mobile SSL VPN Client. AES-GCM (256 bit) encryption Acronis Cyber Protect Backup. Server backups and DRaaS held in secure data centre.

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 utilises 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 utilises GPG 13 guidance. Gamma have 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: Gamma has an Incident Management process which has numerous pre-defined sub groups of staff designated for particular products or scenarios. It can be initiated by any member of staff and is managed by the 24/7 Network Operations Centre (NOC). Any incident is reported by the customer to the Service Desk, it is recorded in a customer relationship management tool (CRM) and an Incident report is produced after root cause analysis has taken place. Any Incident reports are made available to end users via pdf.

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)

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  NGC takes a scope 1, 2 and 3 approach to managing and measuring CO2e reduction. By looking to our whole value chain (suppliers, clients, our own operations) we can maximise the impact we have way beyond our own scope 1 and 2 operational levels.; Examples from our own operations:; • We are installing EV chargers to encourage Evs; • We recycle; • We partner with Ecologi and 'plant trees'; • We will plant a tree for every subscription we get from the G cloud framework; ; Examples from our value chain (scope 3); NGC has always supported our own staff and those of our client organisations with cutting-edge technology and, vitally, a supporting culture to allow them the flexibility they need to deliver results while eliminating unnecessary CO2e by:; ● Supporting remote working; ● Reducing the need for F2F meetings; ● Eliminating the need for cost on-site hardware held by each individual client; ● Moving clients to cloud offerings that offer much higher ESG standards as part of their core offering
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  NGC takes a value chain approach to measuring social value in the performance of a contract. Working in a high-tech, high-growth sector we are a light touch organisation in terms of physical footprint, while creating a highly resilient organisation that’s a vital stakeholder in the community, especially through Covid-19. We support our own staff with cutting-edge technology and, vitally, a supporting culture to allow them the flexibility they need to deliver results while: ; • Eliminating unnecessary CO2e ; • Supporting remote working for wellbeing, mobility and/or Covid resilience with top-tier tech, culture and processes ; • Exposing our staff to world-class client projects and cutting-edge skills acquisition for the global marketplace ; • Building up a talent pool of rare skills in Yorkshire and the North of England area thus bringing lasting value that endures many years past staff tenure with us. ; ; We employ 42 people in Yorkshire and the North of England area and have plans for expansion that G-Cloud contracts would support and expedite. - We employ locally, using local recruitment companies and we often employ staff who are not trained in telecoms to train in-house. ; - We provide send staff on industry specific supplier training. ; - We are in discussions with local colleges and LEP regarding apprenticeships/ sourcing candidates from these education institutes. Beyond simply our own ESG footprint we have an impact that is disproportionate for our size on the social value our clients deliver to the world. ; ; Almost all of our work with clients is aimed at creating resilient organisations that are more efficient and ready for the digital age. Our work with Schools has been particularly relevant to resilience and recovery during Covid as we provide the vital infrastructure that facilitates online learning and community support platforms.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  NGC is committed to tackling economic inequality. We seek to treat, and pay, everyone fairly and consistently, creating a workplace and business environment that is open, transparent and trusted.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  Equality practices; We have a range of policy documents - and practices that flow from them - designed to remove social, cultural and economic barriers to Equity in the workplace. ; They include: ; • Equal opportunities; • Whistle blowing; • Bribery; • Anti-money laundering; Beyond legislative compliance, however, we also encourage ‘CLEARR vision’ (collaboration, leadership, excellence, agility, respect and responsibility) to underpin our culture and how we do business. These values are embedded throughout our business and set parameters for how we expect people to behave with colleagues, clients and the world at large. We seek to treat everyone fairly and consistently, creating a workplace and business environment that is open, transparent and trusted. ; Workplace practices and what we do for clients:; We support our own staff with cutting-edge technology and, vitally, a supporting culture to allow them the flexibility they need to deliver results while:; • Eliminating unnecessary CO2e ; • Supporting remote working for wellbeing, mobility and/or Covid resilience with top-tier tech, culture and processes ; • Exposing our staff to world-class client projects and cutting-edge skills acquisition for the global marketplace ; • Building up a talent pool of rare skills in Yorkshire and the North of England area thus bringing lasting value that endures many years past staff tenure with us. ; ; Remote and hybrid working ensures Equality in practice for many client organisations, too. We also help facilitate businesses to allow their staff to work from home via the infrastructure and functionality we deliver:; • to reduce the need for arduous and repetitive work – feeds into wellbeing ; • To facilitate different ways of working within organisations, e.g. schools – feeds into neurodiversity and accessibility; • To reduce the need for F2F meetings – feeds into decarbonisation, resilience, recovery, back to work for people with parenting, mobility &other vulnerable groups
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  NGC is committed:; • To developing a healthy, motivated workforce who are able to deliver a high-standard of support to our customers ; • To help ensure that our organisation promotes the health and wellbeing of all staff members, recognising the impact work can have on employees’ stress levels, mental and physical health; • Develop and maintain a positive health and safety culture through regular communication and consultation with staff; • To recognise that excessive hours of work can be detrimental to staff health and effectiveness and to agree on flexible working practices where possible without affecting customer support levels; • To communicate the importance of a work-life balance to all staff, and to ensure that all policy updates are communicated regularly; • To encourage staff as individuals to accept responsibility for their own mental, physical and emotional wellbeing; • To comply with all statutory requirements; • To respond sensitively to external pressures which affect the lives of staff members; • To provide staff with training to deal positively with stressful incidents and provide them with a sense of confidence to deal with emergencies via training; • To improve staff development, co-operation and teamwork by creating effective leaders; • To make staff members aware of the channels which can be used to manage and deal with stress or work-related health and wellbeing issues

Pricing

• Price: £4.50 a user a month
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: 30 day free trial available.; ; Set up not included, please contact NGC if required.

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 andrew.linley@ngcnetworks.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.