Canterbury Oast Trust - Orbital Net
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Canterbury Oast Trust

Canterbury Oast Trust

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Introduction

Canterbury Oast Trust is a Kent-based charity that supports adults with learning disabilities and autism to live fulfilling, independent lives. Through residential care, supported living, day services and training programmes, the Trust supports more than 150 people across 14 locations throughout Kent.

Founded in 1985, Canterbury Oast Trust has spent four decades creating opportunities for people to develop life skills, gain meaningful work experience and become active members of their local communities. From community homes to the South of England Rare Breeds Centre and educational facilities, technology plays an important role in keeping staff connected and ensuring residents receive the support they need every day

Canterbury Oast Trust

Preparing for the future

Canterbury Oast Trust had two key objectives:

  • Phase One: Deliver reliable internet connectivity and digital telephony to a newly acquired site, ensuring services were operational from day one.
  • Phase Two: Upgrade the Trust’s remaining sites to modern digital telephony ahead of the UK’s Digital Switchover, replacing ageing copper-based services with a digital solution.

Research & Development

Previous Connectivity Setup And Issues

The Trust’s sites were connected using a mixture of legacy technologies, including traditional copper telephone lines and SoGEA broadband services.

While these services had supported the organisation for many years, they were becoming increasingly unsuitable for COT. With the Digital Switchover approaching, they needed a more reliable, resilient and scalable solution that would continue supporting both staff and residents after the switchover.

Learn more about how the switchover may affect Care providers HERE.

Why Were They Looking To Change Providers

One of the biggest priorities was ensuring the Trust’s critical services remained operational throughout the migration, and they needed a provider they could trust to achieve this.

Many of the sites relied on lifeline systems that support residents and provide reassurance to both staff and families. These services needed to be carefully transitioned from the ageing copper network onto a modern digital infrastructure without causing disruption.

The Trust wanted a technology partner that could not only deliver the connectivity but also understand the importance of maintaining essential services within a care environment.

Why They Chose Orbital Net

Canterbury Oast Trust chose Orbital Net because of our experience supporting organisations with multiple sites and our ability to provide tailored solutions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

As a Kent-based provider, our local engineering team worked closely with the Trust to understand the requirements of each location and recommend the most suitable connectivity and telephony solution.

Howard Clark, Director of Commercial Operations at Canterbury Oast Trust explained: “We needed a communications partner who understood the complexity of working across multiple care and support sites, where reliability is essential and disruption has to be kept to an absolute minimum. Orbital Net took the time to understand our requirements and provided a tailored, future-ready solution that gives us confidence in the resilience of our connectivity and telephony as we prepare for the digital switchover.”

Our responsive customer support, flexible approach and expertise in helping organisations prepare for the Digital Switchover gave the Trust confidence that the project would be delivered successfully with minimal disruption.

The Solution

Reliable Connectivity For The People Who Matter Most

Rather than delivering the same solution to every location, Orbital Net designed a connectivity and communications solution tailored to the individual requirements of each Canterbury Oast Trust site.

Following a full review of the Trust’s estate, we recommended a combination of connectivity technologies to ensure each location received the right balance of speed, resilience and value.

We provided:

  • A Dedicated Leased Line with OrbSat satellite backup at Boldshaves Oast, delivering an additional layer of resilience to help keep essential services online should the primary connection ever be interrupted.
  • Full Fibre (FTTP) broadband for locations where a high-performance shared connection was available, and the most suitable option.
  • A modern 3CX VoIP telephone system across all sites, replacing ageing copper telephone lines with a flexible digital platform ahead of the UK’s Digital Switchover.

The migration was carefully planned to minimise disruption, particularly where critical systems and lifeline services were involved. Working closely with Canterbury Oast Trust, our team coordinated the migration to ensure services remained up and running throughout the project.

The new 3CX platform also provides greater flexibility for the Trust, enabling staff to manage calls more efficiently, add new users and locations with ease, and support future growth as the organisation continues to expand.

By combining more reliable connectivity, resilient backup services and a digital phone system, Orbital Net delivered a solution that supports the Trust’s current requirements while providing the flexibility to meet any changing needs.

Technology That Keeps Care Moving

The Result

Technology That Keeps Care Moving

Canterbury Oast Trust now benefits from a modern communications infrastructure designed to support both its staff and residents.

The new solution has delivered:

  • Faster and more reliable internet connectivity across multiple sites.
  • A consistent digital telephone system that’s easier to manage.
  • Improved resilience through backup connectivity for critical services.
  • A future-ready network prepared for the UK’s Digital Switchover.
  • A scalable solution that can grow alongside the Trust.

By partnering with Orbital Net, Canterbury Oast Trust has simplified the management of its connectivity and telephony while creating a secure, reliable foundation that supports its services today and moving forward.

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