1. The Brief
Alton Fork Truck Services, a long-established provider of fork truck hire, sales, and servicing across Yorkshire and Derbyshire, wanted to modernise their IT infrastructure to improve reliability and efficiency. Their critical systems – including email, VoIP, and file storage – were hosted through a third-party arrangement with a sister company, making them complex to manage and prone to disruption.
Frequent unplanned downtime was impacting day-to-day operations, prompting the need for a more reliable, streamlined solution. Alton required dedicated systems that would reduce risk, improve productivity, and support flexible working, while avoiding the high costs and limitations associated with traditional on-site infrastructure.
2. The Business
Alton Fork Truck Services has been hiring, servicing, and selling fork trucks across Yorkshire and Derbyshire for over 25 years. Alongside their truck fleet, they offer lifting equipment ranging from order pickers to manual pump trucks.
3. The Challenge
Alton’s critical systems, including email, VoIP, and file storage, were hosted by their sister company. This arrangement was complex and difficult to manage. Unplanned downtime frequently interrupted business operations. So, Alton decided it was time to move to dedicated, reliable systems.
Working with VeryPC has been a pleasure, they are always friendly and helpful, genuinely caring about our success. With this recent project, VeryPC has helped streamline our operations and improve overall efficiency, saving us money and allowing us to focus on what we do best.
Kate Willson
Office Manager
4. Our Solution
We recommended moving entirely to the cloud, avoiding expensive onsite servers. First, we set up Alton’s own Microsoft 365 tenant and migrated their existing mailboxes, user accounts, and files. The move provided immediate benefits like better identity management, device control, and easier collaboration through Microsoft 365 Business Premium. We also introduced a cloud-hosted phone solution based on 3CX, paired with new Yealink desk phones and costeffective VoIP. This enables Alton’s team to connect seamlessly from desk phones, mobiles, or computer softphones, and built-in security features like encryption ensure communications stay secure and reliable. To make sure Alton got the most out of their new setup, we provided training for all staff.
5. The Results
Migrating to dedicated systems significantly reduced Alton’s downtime risks. They now benefit from secure, modern communication, smooth collaboration, and easy data access, anytime and from anywhere, all without the costs of physical server equipment.