Cracking Under the Weight of Cost Pressures

^{Cost Pressures}

Education is facing a funding crunch from every direction. Falling birth rates and student debt fears and fewer international students are shrinking the university applicant pool. Meanwhile, in the independent sector there is a fresh VAT burden on private school fees.
It’s not just tight — it’s unsustainable. Up to 70% of UK universities are spending more than they bring in. And for state schools, funding per pupil has been eroding in real terms for over a decade.
The result? A sector forced to do more with less, while navigating growing expectations, rising costs and fewer students walking through the door

^{The Fix Starts in the Cloud}

Legacy tech doesn’t just slow you down — it costs you. By moving to cloud-based communication and contact centre platforms (UCaaS and CCaaS), education providers can cut costs, streamline services, and ditch the patchwork of outdated contracts.
Whether it’s Microsoft Teams, RingCentral or Cisco — we help you make the move with minimal disruption and maximum value. Flexible opex models replace heavy upfront costs, giving you financial breathing room from day one.
But the real shift? It’s what happens after the migration.
Virtual agents, automation and AI enhance your platform — taking care of routine queries, speeding up response times and freeing your team to focus on what matters most: student support, safeguarding, and success.

Arden University – Unified Communications Transformation

Challenges

Arden University's existing telephony systems were ageing and expensive to maintain—hindering both operational efficiency and student experience. With pressure mounting to streamline communications and reduce spend, a change was needed.

Solution

Migration of 580 users to Microsoft Teams alongside the implementation of Crest—SCC’s automated Teams Phone Management tool—designed to simplify the joiners, movers, leavers process & improve user provisioning.

Benefits

The transformation delivered immediate value by removing legacy telephony costs, generating £4,000 in annual savings through automation and improving service KPIs through faster internal response times. This wasn’t just a tech refresh—it was a strategic shift toward a simpler, smarter communications estate.