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The Challenge
Lawlors Property Services is a privately owned independent estate agency providing a high standard of service in all aspects of residential sales and lettings.
Since the opening of Lawlors first branch in 1989 and through the most difficult trading circumstances in recent history, Lawlors has confidently conducted successful negotiations on millions of pounds worth of the areas finest properties.
Lawlors currently has three branches in Loughton, Chigwell and Woodford.
Lawlors use a bespoke software program called propertypro that allows Properties to be matched to meet exact customer requirements by using any combination of up to 27 different search criteria at any branch.
Lawlors previously had 3 desktops acting as servers one at each branch running a peer to peer network. The VPN feature in Windows XP Pro running on the desktops were being utilized to transfer data to and from sites.
Lawlors were experiencing stability issues with there pc hardware and software running across the whole organisation.
The Solution
The first step for Netstar was to evaluate all current hardware and software they had running in there 3 branches, this was done by one of Netstar’s LAN Audits. This comprehensive audit was the perfect way for us to gather all the information required to enable us to offer Lawlors the best recommendations and options for their I.T. system.
Our first step was to introduce Dell Poweredge servers into each branch; this ensured that we had a robust server platform to work on. All servers were running Windows Server 2003 with the exception of Loughton where we installed Microsoft’s small business server 2003.
Our next step was to replace the generic desktop hardware that Lawlors had, we again decided to use Dell desktops by using branded hardware the stability issues were a thing of the past. Lawlors decided to opt for Flat Panel Monitors to increase space available on users desks.
Security was the next issue that needed addressing. We implemented Watchguard Firewalls at each office as well as Sophos Antivirus. Designed for small business in mind Watchguard Firebox Firewalls are high-performance security devices. Firebox was the obvious solution for, hacker and attack prevention, and strong security. In addition to dynamic stateful packet filtering, Firebox appliances provide network address translation (NAT), Web content filtering and dynamic live security updates every day.
We then created Virtual Private Networks between all three sites using Routing and remote access module in Windows 2003 Server. The VPN enabled the bespoke software to replicate between sites and also allow users at other branches to connect to the Exchange server at the Loughton Branch.
Lawlors again like many of our other clients opted for one of our support contracts which entitles them to telephone, remote and on-site support. The contract they chose includes pro-active monitoring. A predictive analysis tool sends performance data to us constantly, so that as soon as there is a problem we are alerted immediately so that we can respond immediately.
Testimonial
We are pleased to acknowledge the effort and support that Netstar has given to our company since they were appointed to over see the introduction of a new network at our offices. We have no hesitation in recommending Netstar to your company as we have no doubt they will offer you the same high standard of service that we have enjoyed.
James Lawlor F.N.A.E.A, Director
Lawlors website www.lawlors.co.uk
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