Wave9_Lee

Hi Nicholab, Appreciate you would want an impartial chat ref Sophos, but if you want a chat with one of our senior techs ref features and a demo etc, then I'd be more than happy to arrange this. I'm sure you'll get a few 'user' volunteers along shortly otherwise : ) cheers Lee

Hi Nicholab, Appreciate you would want an impartial chat ref Sophos, but if you want a chat with one of our senior techs ref features and a demo etc, then I'd be more than happy to arrange this. I'm sure you'll get a few 'user' volunteers along shortly otherwise : ) cheers Lee

Hi JJames, if you'd like a price or a demo/info, please DM me your details, I'd be happy to help. thanks Lee

Hi Nathan, the first band is 1,000 FTE I think. Good old MS!

Hi Simcfc, I'd be happy to provide a quote and some options for you. If you'd like a demo, or a chat with one of our technical team, no problem. DM me your details if you'd like a quote. kind regards Lee

Hi there, Happy to provide budgetary pricing. If you can dm me your contact details I'll have it for you today, Cheers Lee

Using your existing broadband connection for telephony does generally save money and make sense (we do it often), but i would also suggest that it ties you into that provider. You can't move your broadband to someone else without impacting your phone service, especially if the contracts aren't co-terminus. It's also worth considering whether the school is likely to federate or become part of a MAT as it would be nice to have the option to have the same service on multiple sites, which might not be possible with an 'on-net' solution. I'm not going to comment on a competitors service, but if you would like an alternative quote to see what else is available, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Hi Nathan, partly depends on how your MAT is structured and what your plans are (i.e. where are the individual schools at with MS), but in principle if you licence as a MAT you would streamline your admin/billing/management etc, and if your staff work in several schools, then you would reduce duplicate FTE count. cheers

Meraki MDM is good, not free any longer, but it's still good value. Let me know if you need a quote/demo, regards Lee

Hi Kevin, If you can PM me your contact details, I'd be happy to provide you with a benchmark price, Kind regards Lee

A few of our customer use Go Guardian and seem happy with it.

Hi there, we include configuration and ongoing changes/management in our charges for Sophos UTM. Many of our customers take the service and gradually take on more of their own changes, with our support over the early months. To be fair, it's a very user friendly interface. If you're looking for a demo/walkthrough, I'd be happy to arrange this, cheers Lee

Not sure if these help? How to configure local login on a cisco switch (and stop radius auth) Catalyst 2960-XR Switch Security Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.0(2)EX1 - Configuring Local Authentication and Authorization [Cisco Catalyst 2960-XR Series Switches] - Cisco configure CNA to talk to a device Getting Started with Cisco Network Assistant - Installing, Launching, and Connecting Network Assistant [Cisco Network Assistant] - Cisco CNA uses HTTP 80 unless configured otherwise so this will need the local access granting on the switch https://supportforums.cisco.com/document/17691/how-configure-http-access-router-using-local-authentication

No problem Can i object to the use of the phrase 'tie schools into' : ) You can have a single year contract or multiples - We find that a 3 year term offers the best value in terms of pricing and a sensible commitment period.

I'm not sure what they mean. There are generally 2 main ways of providing IP voice. Using a broadband line that has traffic prioritisation for voice which is usually delivered alongside a hosted telephony service or a SIP trunk, which is effectively a dedicated voice channel that terminates on your providers voice network for breakout into the wider telephone network. This is normally sold alongside an on-premise PBX. The 1st method is generally a single provider solution for both the hosted telephony and broadband. As has been mentioned on other threads, many ISPs won't support third party SIP or voice traffic, and the only way to ensure voice quality is to have a direct peer and QOS throughout the network. The 2nd method allows you to obtain a PBX (sometimes free-ish) and plug SIP trunks from a different provider into it. You can of course go a 3rd route and use Skype or free internet voip services, but you won't necessarily get assured quality and you will still need a subscription and billing arrangement for off-net calls etc. hope that helps

"SIP trunks offer "unlimited and inclusive" calls to local, national and mobile numbers" We're a Gamma reseller, and offer this service too. You can go direct, but we find that we are often cheaper, and provide a more responsive service. We can also overlay filtered broadband too, which can generate additional savings.. cheers Lee

+1 for Sophos. @Achandler, in my experience contact with vendors direct is almost always disappointing (no matter how good the product) They're too big, too busy or simply not geared up to deal with individual end-users. that's why resellers were invented @TronXP, if you'd like some info and pricing for Sophos options, I'd be happy to help.

Our technician will bring some when he comes : )

Hi Burgemaster - PM'd you

Just a quick note ref redundancy. We offer an 8 hour SLA on hardware replacement and can also provide resilient utm option for a great price if uptime is a priority, Thanks for the kind words sparkeh

Hi Burgemaster, We can provide a managed UTM for firewall, AV and webfiltering, so you can replace your Cisco firewalls. We can load balance across dual WAN links if required too. If you want to have a chat about options/prices etc, drop me a PM with your details and we can set something up - I'm available through Christmas or after if it suits. cheers Lee

You could consider SOPHOS, I believe it does all Fortigate does and more for less. And yes we are a Sophos partner. You could replace your firewall now and add web filtering module at a later date to line up with your Bloxx contract end date. If you would like a demo or a chat, please let me know. cheers Lee

Hi Jonny, We tend to provide web gateway as part of a holistic UTM managed service. Ref Web, features are great, yes compliant with IWF and Prevent. Reporting is as configurable as you need. You can control applications. Ref technical support, I guess that depends on how and where you buy it. You can buy SOPHOS support as an extra, but our customers don't need to. If you've no experience of one before, it might be worth ensuring that your vendor is willing to configure and install the appliance, rather than just a kit sale.

Hi Davit - how come you are off Draytek? I have this at home and we use it for some specific solutions, no issues so far.

Hi Jayswarve Without knowing more about your specific requirements, particularly around real-time coms, it's difficult to say, but for your main Microsoft application suite and device count my initial thoughts lean towards an Internet Facing service and a Site to Site VPN architecture. We can provide MPLS, Azure Express Route or filtered secure Internet with a meshed VPN solution, and have done for many schools and MATs. Happy to provide advice and info around federating your MS environment too. If you would like a discussion or some outline budgetary solution/pricing, please feel free to contact me, regards Lee