Age UK Westminster is a local charity dedicated to supporting older people across the Westminster area. They provide advice, social activities, wellbeing programmes and practical assistance to help older residents remain independent and connected. Staff and volunteers work across community centres, partner locations and remotely, so dependable communication is vital for coordinating services and responding to the needs of older people quickly and effectively.
Age UK Westminster had been operating with legacy systems that no longer aligned with the way the charity needed to work. Their existing phone setup was based on older technology that offered limited flexibility and did not fully support modern working practices. As more services moved online and staff increasingly combined office based and remote working, the constraints of the legacy system became more apparent. Managing calls, supporting outreach work and maintaining clear communication with clients, volunteers and partner organisations required a more adaptable approach. The charity needed a solution that would provide reliable telephony, support remote access and be straightforward for users to operate, while remaining cost effective and easy to manage.
We recommended the installation of the Elevate VOIP solution to replace the legacy phone systems and provide a modern, flexible communication platform. Elevate offered a cloud based telephony service that could be accessed from desk phones, laptops and mobile devices, supporting staff whether they were in the office, at community venues or working remotely.
Working closely with Age UK Westminster, we mapped out their call flows, key service lines and team structures. Based on this, we configured Elevate to route calls efficiently to advice teams, service coordinators and administration staff, ensuring older people and partner organisations could reach the right person quickly. The system was set up to provide a consistent user experience regardless of location, allowing staff to use the same business numbers and features whether they were onsite or offsite.
We provided onboarding and training to ensure the system was easy for staff and volunteers to adopt. Features such as voicemail to email, softphones and simple call transfer were introduced in a way that supported existing processes rather than complicating them. The result was a much better system for users, allowing phones to be used both remotely and onsite with no issues, supported by a modern and reliable platform.
The introduction of Elevate delivered clear improvements to communication across Age UK Westminster. Staff can now handle calls consistently whether they are in the office, at an outreach location or working from home, ensuring older people receive timely support and information. The system’s flexibility has made it easier to coordinate services, manage busy periods and maintain contact with volunteers and partners.
User feedback highlighted that the new phone system is more intuitive and convenient, with clearer call quality and simpler call handling. Administrators gained better visibility and control over the telephony environment, making changes easier as services and teams evolve. The new VOIP solution has provided a robust foundation for the charity’s communications, supporting both current needs and future development of services for older residents in Westminster.
- Modern VOIP platform replacing legacy phone systems
- Consistent telephony experience for onsite and remote staff
- Improved call quality and reliability
- Better routing of calls to service teams and coordinators
- Easier administration and management of users and numbers
- Flexible solution that supports evolving services and working patterns
