P3
A Seamless Communications Upgrade for a Nationwide Charity
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About P3
P3 are a charity and social enterprise made up of passionate people who care about people. They run a variety of services all across the UK that aim to give everyone the chance to be part of the community they live in and feel connected to society. P3 think that everyone is unique and with support and confidence can unlock their inner potential opening up a world of possibilities.
Client Challenge
Like many organisations, P3 had been operating with a BT OnePhone solution and a direct BT relationship that had gradually become inefficient and outdated. While the original concept suited the business, the deployment presented multiple issues, many of which were never fully resolved. BT ultimately had to implement a GSM desk phone workaround, highlighting ongoing shortcomings in the solution.
Day‑to‑day support from BT fell far short of expectations. Routine interactions – whether for support tickets, adds, moves, changes, or even ordering new lines and equipment – were consistently frustrating. Billing was complex, unclear, and often misaligned with the original commercial proposition. The relationship became difficult and expensive, and the technology was no longer fit for purpose. It became clear that P3 needed to reassess their communications strategy and explore the market for alternatives.
P3’s Objectives for 2021
P3 set out to find a solution (either from BT or a new provider) that could overcome all existing challenges and deliver a commercially competitive offering suitable for the next 24 months and beyond. Their focus was on reducing supplier complexity, improving service quality, and implementing a solution capable of evolving as the business grows.
Supplier Requirements
- P3 needed a partner capable of providing:
- Proactive account management built on partnership and trust
- Simple, well‑defined processes for adds, moves, and changes
- Clear, accurate billing and easy‑to‑understand reporting
- A transparent escalation process
- Regular account reviews focused on optimisation—not upselling
- Insight into future technologies relevant to P3’s strategy
Solution Requirements
- P3 needed a fully modernised mobile and cloud telephony solution that would:
- Support a dynamic workforce across multiple locations—including home workers
- Be robust, scalable, feature‑rich, and easy to administer
- Offer seamless user experience across multiple platforms
- Be secure, fully integrated with existing IT infrastructure, and simple to manage
- Provide multi‑network mobile coverage with sufficient data for current and future needs
- Support mainly iOS devices with some Android capability
- Be commercially flexible, fully managed, and able to evolve without penalty
- Include a straightforward, fully managed MDM solution aligned to P3’s IT strategy
P3’s core challenge was finding a single provider capable of delivering all of this, while consolidating the supply chain, improving service quality, and ensuring long‑term commercial value.
What We Did
Digital Origin was invited to a discovery meeting in mid‑summer 2020. Although the initial brief focused on replacing P3’s telephone system, it quickly became clear that P3 needed a far broader, more strategic solution to meet its communications and technical objectives. A series of exploratory workshops, stakeholder sessions, and commercial planning meetings followed, many held remotely during lockdown. From these sessions, Digital Origin developed a tailored proposal that was refined into a final offer.
From an initial shortlist of six providers, Digital Origin progressed to the final two. While the P3 team strongly favoured Digital Origin’s approach, the competing bidder presented a dramatically cheaper headline price that initially influenced the decision. However, drawing on experience, Digital Origin recognised the offer was likely misleading. Within 24 hours, this concern was raised with P3’s senior team, and a joint review of the competitor’s contract revealed numerous hidden clauses and long‑term costs. The solution would ultimately have been less suitable and more expensive than Digital Origin’s. Thanks to this transparent collaboration, P3 reversed its decision, allowing Digital Origin to secure the partnership.
A Bespoke CaaS Solution
Together, P3 and Digital Origin designed a tailored Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) model, delivering:
- One bill
- One agreement
- One support number
- Best‑of‑breed vendor technologies
- Complete flexibility and scalability
- A fully managed service
The solution met all technical requirements, exceeded service expectations, and delivered significant cost savings across an estate approaching 800 users.
Hosted / Cloud Telephony (8×8)
With over 35 UK locations, plus home and remote workers, P3 needed a scalable telephony platform. Digital Origin delivered:
A fully managed rollout of the 8×8 cloud telephony solution
- New hardware deployment across multiple locations
- Administrator training and access to the 8×8 self‑service portal
- Full support from Digital Origin and seamless multi‑device use
Mobile Services
Given P3’s geographical spread, a multi‑network solution was essential. Digital Origin designed a flexible, cost‑efficient mobile estate:
- Majority O2 coverage with multi‑network options
- Fully flexible 30‑day SIM terms
- Ability to rapidly scale for project work
- A transparent commercial model with no minimum holding, no minimum spend, and no hidden caveats
For mobile device management, MaaS360 was selected as the best fit after evaluating several tier‑one providers.
Flawless Delivery During Lockdown
Despite Covid‑19 restrictions, Digital Origin delivered the project without disruption:
- Cloud telephony deployed to 35+ sites
- Mobile SIMs and hardware delivered to 600+ individual addresses
- Seamless go‑live with no operational issues
The Outcome
P3 and Digital Origin are now firmly established on their CaaS journey. P3 has already benefited from simplified supplier management, reduced waste, stronger support, and a scalable communications platform that will evolve with the business. The partnership is delivering long‑term commercial value and a modern, reliable technology foundation for the future.
