Supporting innovation with the right network

Bringing back live audiences was not an option during lockdown, and for two months silence echoed through the hall. However, in May 2020 Wigmore Trust’s artistic director, John Gilhooly, had the idea to offer the space as a venue for broadcasting BBC Radio 3’s Lunchtime Concerts five times a week. The Lunchtime Concerts were streamed from Wigmore Hall’s website, social media, and on BBC Radio 3 itself. 

It was a ground-breaking move, and Wigmore Hall has since won The Sky Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts during the Pandemic: An Institution, for leading the way in the transmission of live performances during the peak of the pandemic and boosting morale. 

Although successful, the Lunchtime Concerts did create some concern for Wigmore Hall and Director of IT, Richie Warburton. Wigmore Hall’s website had gone from streaming only two or three live broadcasts a month to a regular program of daily streaming embedded on their website and donation collection. In addition to streaming pressures, the network was also accommodating the remote workforce of Wigmore Hall.  Richie was faced with ensuring their network could handle this new influx of traffic and activity.  

Luckily, Wigmore Hall had switched to Backbone Connect’s network a year previous. With Backbone Connect Richie was able to ensure everything ran smoothly without disruption, and the connectivity wasn’t the only thing that impressed him. Throughout the pandemic, he received calls from the team at Backbone Connect, checking in on how things were running, and during these calls, Richie was able to leverage the team’s expertise. 

“During the pandemic, being able to talk about what I was doing to someone at Backbone Connect, who understood what I was talking about, how it was all working, and what the challenges were, was extremely valuable,” explained Richie.  

Choosing an IT Provider with a human-side

Pre-pandemic, as a concert hall and as a charity, Wigmore Hall had unique connectivity needs. When Richie was looking for a new connectivity partner, he knew that he needed a faster internet circuit, but he also wanted a supplier with a human side who understood that theirs is not an ordinary business. As a concert hall and a charity, Wigmore Trust has responsibilities to artists, composers, and the people in its learning and outreach programs.  

The team at Backbone Connect took the time to understand Wigmore Hall, the complexities they faced, and what mattered – the people, the music, and the building, before proposing a solution. “They talked in a rational and reasonable way, in terms that we understood. That is pretty unusual in an IT services supplier quite frankly,” says Richie. 

Based on Wigmore Hall’s needs, Backbone Connect suggested installing two different connections; one for the corporate workstream, which would handle all the internal traffic, and a second for website traffic and broadcasting live streams.  

When the pandemic hit, having the two different lines proved to be transformational, allowing Wigmore Hall to handle the flood of traffic from remote working and live broadcasting. 

Based on Wigmore Hall’s needs, Backbone Connect suggested installing two different connections; one for the corporate workstream, which would handle all the internal traffic, and a second for website traffic and broadcasting live streams.  

When the pandemic hit, having the two different lines proved to be transformational, allowing Wigmore Hall to handle the flood of traffic from remote working and live broadcasting. 

Moving forward together

Backbone Connect is now working with Wigmore Hall on another two projects. One of them seeing the installation of a link between their two buildings to increase storage space and enable Wigmore Hall to move to 4K streaming, allowing a vast amount of traffic to pass through the new line. 

“We were looking for someone who could guide us through the civil engineering aspects of the project, which included digging up the road and getting a duct in place, which we didn’t have any experience with. There are so many moving parts when you’re talking about surveying a duct under a road in central London, and things can get stressful but Backbone Connect really helped guide us through all the different aspects from start to finish, ensuring that it all went smoothly. That kind of experience and expertise is priceless,” says Richie. “When you have a good supplier, they are like an ear, and you talk to them to learn about new products and services, and how things actually work,” he further explains. 

Throughout it all, what Richie values the most is Backbone Connect’s consistency: “My account manager hasn’t changed. I’m still dealing with the same person at Backbone Connect after three years, and that’s extraordinary.”