The buildings that house the plants – as well as those for laboratories, lecture rooms, a potting shed, offices and a shop – all require attention too. A survey of the communication requirements of these buildings led the Garden to commission ACCL to identify and remove any redundant communication cabling to the front and rear, internally and externally.
Dawn Kemp, the Garden’s General Manager, was impressed with ACCL from the start.
“It was very reassuring to have such detailed plans and method statements supplied well in advance of start of work and even before we had accepted their quote.”
Once the initial work had been completed, ACCL were charged with creating a link between the laboratory and classroom area and the potting shed back to the main building, all via fibre optic cable. This work was required to accommodate a new VoIP PBX system.
Of course, this work needed to be done with no disruption to the day-to-day activities of the Garden. But this wasn’t a problem, according to Dawn Kemp:
“They were very good at fitting around the needs of the day-to-day work of the Garden and buildings, and were very considerate of other users and staff. They really listened to what we needed and cared about our organisation. They also helped us understand the options open to us in terms of what could and couldn’t be done. They were very flexible and reactive to any situation.”
ACCL installed new Cat5e outlets in the main buildings, as well as the out-buildings, whilst 90% of the redundant cabling was removed both internally and externally. Not only did all this work improve the communication capability of the buildings, it also improved the overall appearance of them. For the installation of the fibre optic cabling to the classroom/lab access, equipment was used to route the fibre at high level to the rear of the building. This was done because future works to restore the open ceilings prevented any cabling being routed through the building.
A project of this nature doesn’t happen without some problems arising but these were only very minor technical issues which ACCL, according to Dawn Kemp, dealt with quickly and efficiently.
“They were very proactive in dealing with problems, and were happy to adapt if changing circumstances required it and to present solutions where any problems arose.”
Despite these minor problems requiring additional work, ACCL kept to its original price.
Where the Garden demanded additions, these were costed and agreed during the project. And this proactivity even extended to Dawn being given mobile phone numbers for ACCL staff onsite, as well as that of the project manager.
“This was excellent as it gave me reassurance that I could speak to someone immediately if necessary.”
All in all, Dawn Kemp has been very happy with the work and the service provided by ACCL – and has no hesitation in recommending them to others.
“They have been great to work with and took time to help lay people understand what was required and how they were going to provide solutions.”
