Select case study:
	Somerset House
	The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

	View of Somerset House by William Daniel, 1805

This was an extremely unpopular and provocative move. It caused a clash with the ruling Privy Council and was the subject of the indictment that led to the Duke's arrest and brief imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1549, although he soon obtained his release and reinstatement, by 1551 Somerset House was virtually complete, having cost over £10,000 to build.

Although he had commissioned one of the most influential buildings of the English Renaissance, the Duke had little opportunity to enjoy Somerset House. That same year, his opponents had him arrested again and tried for the much more serious crime of treason. This time there was no escape. The Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England, was executed on Tower Hill in January 1552.

After a wealth of history, including just surviving the fire of London, Oliver Cromwell lying in state at Somerset House for many weeks after his death, and being used as the quarters for General Fairfax who commanded the Parliamentary Army during the civil war of 1649, Somerset house was rebuilt in 1775.

Somerset House has been home to many great institutions, such as being the General Register Office, Royal Academy of Arts, Principal Probate Office, The Navy Board, The Society of Antiquaries, and from 1789 to today, a department of the Inland Revenue.

Somerset House Today

This magnificent 18th century building is a thriving cultural centre for London and is home to the magnificent collections of the Courtauld Institute Gallery, Gilbert Collection and Hermitage Rooms. Somerset House provides an exciting year-round programme of events for visitors of all ages, which include talks, workshops, concerts with top performers such as Elton John and Pavarotti, and an Ice Rink during the winter. The South Building also boasts a superb restaurant - The Admiralty - and a summer café on the River Terrace offering spectacular views across the Thames.  Somerset House is a non profit making Charity.

Aerial view of Somerset House		Somerset House frontage

New England Telephone Company were commissioned by Somerset House in 2000 to install the telephone system, our initial brief was to install a system which would handle all of their communication requirements.  Because of the tremendous success of Somerset House, the system has trebled in size over the last few years, and now has over 200 extensions.

Cordless Phones

Because of the nature of their business, mobility was very important, Staff and Security Guards needed to be able to roam throughout this vast site and courtyard with cordless telephones.  New England installed a system which had not only digital desk phones, but a fully integrated DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone) cordless solution, base stations were discretely situated, mostly out of sight, in this Grade 1 listed building.  The cordless handsets have all of the features of a digital desk phone, such as being able to see incoming telephone numbers, and because Somerset House Trust answer calls for some of their tenants, seeing which company was being called.  Staff are easily contactable wherever they are, security guards looking after the valuable museum artefacts (some dating back 2500BC) also have access to the cordless phones.

‘The cordless phones work in areas of the building that mobile telephones won’t, we would be lost without them’ says Vikki Sawyer, assistant facilities manager.

Direct Dial Inwards (DDI) & Multi Tenancy Working

Somerset House Trust are Landlords to the various companies, such as the Hermitage Rooms, each of which have the ability to work as completely separate companies, with separate telephone numbers, calls are answered in the correct company name, and directed through to where they should be.

Voicemail & Auto Attendant

Each department, and member of staff have their own voicemail, which allows the caller to either leave a message, contact the operator, or be diverted off site, to a mobile or other number.

Somerset House Trust use the Auto Attendant facility as a booking information line, and to route calls to the companies and departments within the building, by giving the option to ‘press 1 for the Courtald collection etc.’  Calls coming in on the general Somerset House number can be directed to the relevant departments without operator intervention, saving time and manpower, hundreds of call every day are answered by the auto attendant, ‘it helps greatly in our filtering calls’ says Vikki Sawyer.

If a call comes in for the Ice Rink, and is routed through to that department, which is busy or not answering, the telephone system will automatically divert the call off site to a ticketing agency who will take the booking.  The call is supervised by the telephone system, so that if the ticketing agency does not accept, or answer the call (by physically pressing a digit on their telephone system), the call is brought back for Somerset House to answer.

Unified Messaging

Somerset House also use Unified Messaging, which means that any voicemails will appear in Microsoft Outlook Inbox as a telephone message, which can be played back over the PC speakers, or handset.

‘The nature of our job in facilities management means that we are away from our desk a lot of the time, we are more likely to notice an email than a voicemail when we return to our desk, by displaying the telephone message in our Inbox, it prompts us to do something about it, and return the call!’ says Vikki Sawyer.

Call Logging

Because Somerset House Trust provide the telephone system and lines for most of their tenants, they need to be able to re-charge for telephone calls. New England Telephone Company installed call management software which logs every incoming and outgoing call, and produce reports. ‘We rely on call logging to re-charge our tenants, and also use it to see how many incoming calls come in to the Ice Line’ says Vikki Sawyer.

Line Rationalisation, saving money on lines!

Each of the tenants, as well as having telephones, need fax & modem lines, some also need credit card payment (PDQ) lines.  These lines may individually only be used for an hour a day, but each line would normally attract a £170 a year line rental.  Instead of having individual lines, Somerset House faxes, modems, PDQ, and ISDN data lines are extensions of the system.  This means that the devices still have a direct telephone number, but use the system lines when dialling out with 40 of these extensions, Somerset house have saved over £4,000 per year in line rental.

Saving Money On Telephone Calls

Somerset House make a lot of calls, New England Telephone Company have programmed the telephone system to choose a cheaper call provider, which is then billed at a discounted rate to Somerset House on a monthly basis.

New England Telephone Company Support

New England have been supporting Somerset House Trust Telephone System since their grand re-opening in 2000.

As well as including all callout charges and full on site maintenance, we include free unlimited remote programming changes, and monthly on-site visits in which a full system audit is carried out.

‘Somerset House is a fast moving operation, we have a lot of moves and changes which requires a rapid response. We email over these changes to New England knowing that it will be completed that day. Our monthly meetings also ensure that our system records are kept up to date, we get a good response and our relationship works well’  says Vikki Sawyer, assistant facilities manager, Somerset House Trust.

New England Telephone Company would like to thank Somerset House and Vikki Sawyer for their loyalty, and letting us use their business as a case study

Vikki Sawyer
Assistant Facilities Manager,
Somerset House


Click here to visit the Somerset House web site

Goldsmiths Hall, home of the expression "Hallmark" is also home to the London Assay Office where every year about 6 million pieces of jewellery are tested to be awarded this much sought after stamp of approval. This opulent building belies the energy and business activity behind beautiful interior. The needs for efficiency and an up to date I.T. and telecommunications system were as demanding as any other business. The problem for New England was; "How do we integrate this into this magnificent building?" The New England Telephone Company worked closely with their Property Management Company, to ensure that the installation of Category 5e cabling went in on time and without affecting the structure or décor.

The Goldsmiths' Company wanted to improve service levels to its customers. It wanted to find a way of identifying the customer calling in and linking the telephone number to the customer’s details on any outstanding work. Goldsmiths' Hall had adopted digital technology which enabled the telephone system to connect directly to the computer system, thereby providing this information. This system, called Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) enabled The Assay Office to improve response times to customers waiting for results of assay tests.

Another problem to overcome was locating members of staff who are constantly on the move. Fully integrated DECT cordless telephone handsets were chosen. This not only kept people in touch with each other, but also offered additional information such as the calling number or name of the caller as well as access to the internal "Phonebook".

Because of the personal nature of their business, integrated VoiceMail is used mainly for internal purposes. However, messages can be retrieved remotely when required.

An extract from Goldsmiths' Hall web site:

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, more commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company, is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London and received its first royal charter in 1327. The Livery Companies have their origins as trade guilds of the Middle Ages. The word "gild" is Anglo Saxon for payment because early members paid a subscription. Livery first meant an allowance of food and clothing, then a distinctive uniform or badge to distinguish one company from another. The word "worshipful" refers to the practice of the early guilds to gather together for Christian worship.

Founded to regulate the craft or trade of the goldsmith, the Goldsmiths' Company has been responsible since 1300 for hallmarking gold and silver articles. Today the Company continues to carry out this statutory function by operating the London Assay Office and also promotes excellence in the design and craftsmanship of silver and jewellery as part of a wider role in support of its craft and industry.

In mediaeval times, craftsmen of the same trade gathered together to form voluntary associations, with the aim of mutual worship, support, care and protection, in a world where deprivation and death were all too prevalent.

From these early associations evolved more formal organisations known as guilds, with rules and regulations for membership and standards of craftsmanship. Throughout the cities of Western Europe, the guilds took on a practical, social and economic dimension as they grew. In the City of London, they found expression in the City Livery Companies. The most important began life in the 14th century, and secured their authority for regulation through royal charters.

With the periodic ratification of its charters, the Goldsmiths' Company has survived plague, famine, fire and war, sustaining throughout the centuries its prime concern: the maintenance of the standards of precious metals epitomised by the practice of hallmarking.

Adrian Walker
IT Manager,
Goldsmiths' Hall


Click here to visit the Goldsmiths' Hall web site