“We absolutely, 100%, totally recommend Beaming”
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) financially supports authors if they suffer a loss of income or other difficulties. This work helps around 200 writers every year.
120 plus RLF Writing Fellows work with students in universities across the UK to improve their writing; other Fellows deliver workshops in schools to help pupils express themselves confidently and work with other groups to nurture resilience, engagement and empowerment.
Challenge
The RLF needed to change some of their systems to support the effective running of the organisation. They had suffered from poor service, and looked for who would really understand what they needed. They chose Beaming as their partner to solve these three challenges:
Reliable connectivity.
The RLF needed a fast, reliable internet connection at its HQ. Even though it is in the City of London, the public network connectivity was poor. Most of RLF’s big neighbouring institutions have their own dedicated connections. The RLF suffered frequent issues with speed and outages every couple of months. Each outage took up a lot of staff time and energy to overcome.
“We were having many problems just getting a basic service up and running,” says Dr David Swinburne, the RLF’s Director of Digital, “never mind with getting the speeds we were looking for. It wasted a lot of time and meant we couldn’t get on with essential work.”
Coherent systems.
Previously, RLF Writing Fellows had used systems at their host university for email and booking student appointments. During lockdown, the RLF suddenly needed a simple, coherent way to integrate systems for remote working. – they couldn’t run video calls and set up appointments using 80-plus distinct university systems. Fellows needed to email, store sensitive data, schedule meetings and run video calls in a fully GDPR compliant way, and the RLF wanted a swift solution that would integrate with existing ways of working.
A phone system for hybrid working.
RLF employees have always worked from a wide range of locations and on a wide range of devices. RLF needed a phone system to accommodate that while giving callers a seamless experience.
Solution
Beaming:
- Set up a leased line at the RLF’s London HQ
- Quickly set up a simple, coherent email package that integrated with other apps.
- Provided a phone solution for hybrid working in BeamRing
Results
“We absolutely, 100% recommend Beaming,” says Swinburne, reflecting on the three projects. Why?
Reliability of connection.
At HQ, RLF went from having daily speed issues and significant connectivity failures every other month to 100% reliability.”
Tailored solutions to specific issues.
“We don’t have hugely complex needs, but we do have specific ones,” says Swinburne. “Beaming listened. They didn’t take a cookie-cutter ‘this is what you must have’ approach. They took time to understand our circumstances and talk through possibilities, they didn’t foist a single system on us, but instead understood what would and wouldn’t work for our needs. It made a difficult situation much easier.”
Ease of getting up and running.
“It was very smooth. We felt very included and supported.”
Human expertise.
“They know what they’re doing, they’re responsive and the solutions you get will work for you. Beaming’s people are warm, responsive, flexible, and they act with integrity.
“In all our dealings with them, it’s one human talking to another human being. We get straight on to Beaming if we’ve got technical issues. You’ll probably know the person you’re dealing with and you never feel they’ll push something at you because they want to sell it. They’ll find you the right solution for what you need.”
A partner, not just a provider.
Beaming has become a trusted advisor to the RLF. “We have talked to them about other projects, and they’ve given excellent advice about how we might do it, and whether Beaming are the team for the job. They have been supportive, helpful and straightforward.”
A bespoke service based on understanding.
“Often responses to our briefing documents looking for technical services are superficial, not grasping what we’re talking about, let alone coming up with important questions and adding value. Beaming helps develop a tailored solution that will work for you. And the process of arriving at that has always been very smooth.”
Related products & services
About Beaming
We are an Independent Internet Service Provider for UK businesses. Serious about service with a network built for business; we make sure you stay connected.
From the resilient and secure network we’ve built, to the choice of tailormade products all supplied with expert service, we provide peace of mind that businesses require.
If you would like Beaming to help solves challenges like those experienced by the Royal Literary Fund, please get in touch