The Isle of Wight Council has always been committed to making the Island an inspiring place in which to grow up, work, live, and visit. As an innovative, forward-thinking, and dynamic council, they sought to equip their front-line staff with secure and trustworthy smartphones, so they could better serve their communities and transform the way they work, against a backdrop of the corona virus pandemic.
After looking in the market for new mobile vendors, Roger Brown, Strategic Manager for ICT and Digital Services at the Isle of Wight Council, says the choice was obvious.
“Working with HMD Global was a breath of fresh air,” he recalls. “I can’t praise the Enterprise team enough.”
In HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, Mr Brown found a solution that would provide leading-edge security, seamless deployment in bulk, and long-lasting value, giving him the enhanced mobile telephony and peace of mind, he needed.
“One of the big differences in working with HMD Global is they supported us in enrolling using Android’s Zero-Touch Portal,” says Mr Brown.
That way, Mr Brown and his IT teams could deploy hundreds of company-owned devices at once. Their staff just needed to power on to get started, knowing that all the apps and configuring they needed would be ready for them.
“Not all manufacturers provide this service, but it was a must for us. The speed and simplicity of enrollment, the seamless integration with Microsoft Intune, and the ease of use for the customer have been a gamechanger” he explains.
The ability to provision work-managed devices in bulk came in handy during the height of the 2020 summer months. When holiday makers were able to return to the Isle of Wight’s sandy beaches as lock-down restrictions eased, Mr Brown’s team acted fast to keep people safe.
In a matter of days, the council needed to muster a new team of 22 beach ambassadors. Patrolling the main tourist resorts at the height of the summer holidays, the ambassadors were on hand to offer people advice and guidance on how to stay Covid safe while still enjoying the sun,
sea and sand. Ambassadors were also signposting people to key services as well as monitoring and reporting incidents of littering, graffiti, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour.
As part of HMD Global’s portfolio of Nokia smartphones, the Nokia 5.3 was central to this initiative’s success.
“Since it was so easy to configure the new devices and train staff on them, we were able to deploy the whole team in a day and they could report live from site any issues they spotted,” Mr Brown remembers.
As part of his role as Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO), Mr Brown is responsible for optimising information handling processing procedures and security protocol within the council. Maintaining a high level of security and manageability of devices was therefore
“Essential in enabling enhanced methods of communication and transformational working practices.”
The guaranteed security patches, forced encryption, enhanced login security, and the Bluetooth enabled smart lock capabilities provide the council with “exactly the level of control and security
we were looking for.” The Social Care and Children’s Services teams were the first to get their hands on the Nokia 5.3.
“They had been asking for a smartphone because when they communicated with parents and children, they needed a device that spoke in their language,” Mr Brown says. “Since these conversations can be sensitive, the ability to encrypt and secure all information on a centrally managed device was critical to providing that solution.”
In HMD Global, Mr Brown saw a partner that was just as committed to mobile and cybersecurity.
“Delivering secure, reliable and dependable experiences to our customers is at the heart of everything we do at HMD Global,” explains Ben Stephens, HMD Global Enterprise Manager.
The use of Android One on the Nokia 5.3 also helped seal the deal. Mr Brown particularly appreciates the selection and cleanness of this software, which lets his staff enjoy a pure, secure and up-to-date software experience with a streamlined interface and no bloatware.
“With Android One, we’ve got the confidence that these devices are going to maintain an appropriate level of security across their lifetime. We’ve been using the devices for four months and have seen those promised updates” he confirms.
With HMD Global, the Isle of Wight Council has found the reliability and dependable support they were seeking, enabling them to deploy phones they could count on – in volume, and at speed.
“Trust was established very quickly because HMD Global’s Enterprise team delivered on everything they guaranteed,” says Mr Brown. “HMD Global were incredibly proactive, and we were never left hanging around. Everything was provided on time. In fact, it was mostly ahead of time.”
Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, HMD Global Oy (“HMD”) is the home of Nokia phones and HMD Services. HMD designs and markets a range of smartphones and feature phones and an expanding portfolio of innovative service offerings. With an ongoing commitment to security, durability, reliability, and quality across its range, HMD is the proud exclusive licensee of the Nokia brand for phones, tablets and accessories. Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. For further information, see www.hmdglobal.com
The Isle of Wight Council is a unitary authority covering the Isle of Wight near the South coast of England. It is currently made up of 40 seats. Since the 2017 election, the Conservatives have held a majority of 25 and appointed Cllr Dave Stewart as leader of the council.