Sector: Accountancy
Curtis, Bowden & Thomas Accountants provide trusted advice to business and individuals across South Wales. Working from two offices situated in Tonypany and Bridgend, they were struggling with outdated IT and Telecoms technology. The employee productivity levels were being hindered by performance and capability problems. They wanted us to advise on, and implement a cloud telephony system that would reduce costs and improve employee productivity levels.
IT and cyber security challenges in the accountancy sector
The accountancy sector faces significant cybersecurity and IT challenges, including phishing, ransomware and AI-enhanced threats that target sensitive financial data.
- Cloud vulnerabilities
- Insider risks from remote work
- Outdated systems further expose firms to breaches
Compliance with regulations like UK-GDPR, NIS2 and DORA is critical, yet many firms lack formal security plans and secure third-party risk management. Best practices such as zero-trust architecture, AI-driven threat detection, staff training, and cyber insurance are increasingly vital to protect data and maintain regulatory compliance.
Proposals and recommendations
With a full network and security audit at CBT, we suggested that they move to the CSG 360 Managed Support Programme to monitor, maintain and support the systems. We also recommended that they remove the legacy telephone system and introduce Polycom VX11 handsets and move to the CSG Cloud Platform. CSG understood the requirements for providing adaptable managed services, that would support both IT and voice systems. There was also no IT expertise onsite, so we offered to provide network administration and support via our helpdesks.
Cloud telephony
Curtis Bowden Accountants significantly improved their operations by migrating to a cloud-based telephony system. This move improved flexibility and productivity across their Bridgend and Tonypandy offices, allowing staff to work more efficiently with modern Polycom handsets and a hosted IP telephony solution.
The transition reduced telecom costs, improved business continuity and eliminated the limitations of outdated infrastructure. As the UK approaches the BT landline switch-off deadline of January 2027, businesses are urged to migrate to digital alternatives like VoIP by December 2025 to avoid service disruptions and reliance on increasingly fragile PSTN infrastructure.
The onboarding
Following discussions and approval from CBT, CSG installed Polycom VX11 handsets across two sites in Tonypandy and Bridgend, migrated them to the cloud platform to provide a more flexible telephone system for the organisation, provided adaptable managed services that would support both the IT and voice systems and we set up network administration and support via our helpdesks.
Measuring results
Better performing equipment and faster infrastructure means that staff and directors can now work more efficiently. Total costs have been reduced as a result of lower hardware provisioning bills and power usage has been reduced across the company. CBT benefit from increased telephony performance and business continuity, reduced risk thanks to reliable equipment and implementation of a Hosted IP Telephony solution. All of this has saved the business 38% on their telecoms spend.
What CBT said
“Our experience with CSG has been very seamless and effortless. We are extremely happy with the service. We would recommend CSG based on price and on the fact that they are very approachable and friendly. CSG always have a solution to any query, which we really appreciate! CSG’s engineers on the phones are always very helpful and explain things without being too technical. They definitely speak in a way that is easy to understand” – Michelle Brown, CBT
