During the BETT Show 2006, a deputation from Durham County Council saw that AVCO were exhibiting and duly visited the stand. AVCO has had prior contact with Information and Technical Support Service (ITSS), supporting Durham Schools since 1995 though they have been using an in house program for file transfer since the late 1980s.

By 2006 however, due to the more challenging amounts and nature of transfer data required to be collected they saw a need to look for a credible, well-supported solution from a specialised third party.

Following further discussions, AVCO demonstrated its AnyComms product to ITSS, using reference sites in North Yorkshire County Council and Birmingham City Council and offered them a free pilot of AnyComms, with no obligation, across a selection of schools to prove successful connectivity and ease of use as a simple solution for a complex problem.

AnyComms is a robust application designed for the rapid, secure and efficient transfer of electronic data between many users across multiple sites. It is particularly suited to the managed, and frequent, exchange of files between a central system and any number of external, fixed locations. AnyComms is installed in nearly fifteen thousand sites and used in half of England’s LAs.

The pilot period started in March 2006 and ITSS were delighted with AVCO’s technical support and, in May this year they decided to purchase AnyComms licences, including technical support, for file transfers between the LA and over three hundred schools.

"The AVCO, AnyComms solution has provided us with a seamless transition to a fully supported product which can be adapted to meet our growing needs. The technical support and response times have been exceptional. Any problems we encountered were dealt with quickly and professionally."

- Barbara Brown, Systems Operations Manager
Information and Technical Support Service, Children and Young Peoples Service.

For more information as to what services Durham County Council offer, please visit their website here.