The Aspinall Foundation

Company:

Aspinall Foundation

Location:

Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve, Kent & Howletts Wild Animal Park, Kent

Industry:

Visitor Attractions / Leisure

Workforce:

250+ employees

Date:

Oct 2009

Service(s):

Network Infrastructure, Connectivity & Managed I.T.

Background: The Aspinall Foundation is an internationally renowned animal conservation charity who are world leaders in the breeding and protection of endangered animals. They have two visitor parks in Kent covering 800 acres each, and together they attract 1000’s visitors per year. Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve has expanded dramatically, and they now boast over 300 beds across a vast array of accommodation options. With this, has come the need for increased I.T. Services, from the provision of Wi-Fi to hotel room ‘Welcome’ screens, and the necessity to take payments from the various shops and restaurants in the parks.

Foundation: When Red Dragon IT first worked with The Aspinall Foundation, their in-house I.T. staff lacked a broad range of experience to deal with the emerging problems faced by the owners. With RDIT’s broad range of knowledge, obtained from working with a high number of clients from varying sectors, we were able to problem solve and modernise their IT infrastructure with new evolving technologies.

Outcome: In 2009, the management were experiencing problems with the network and loosing connectivity between the server and the payment tills, meaning the staff were unable to take payments of register memberships. RDIT implemented a tiered approach to establish a secure and stable network, by using existing hardware where possible (recycling) and using a methodical approach to cost purchasing new updated hardware. Once stable, RDIT could build on their infrastructure, looking at longevity, future proofing and business growth.

Managed IT & Other Services: Red Dragon I.T. have supported The Aspinall Foundation with ‘Managed IT Support’ and a number of other services:

fibre optic backbone/network to key locations around the park to enable further network branches with multiple Wi-Fi access points. Welcome screens in bedrooms and graphic design.
Digital screens around the park for advertising purposes and the work of the Aspinall Foundation.
Also introduction of the phone system 3CX and utilise the technology to security entry gates and emergency phones boxes