CANBERRA, Australia, February 27, 2009 – The Australian Federal Government is driving global innovation by working with Telstra to deploy a Cisco TelePresenceTM system across more than 20 government offices. The network, the largest government deployment of Cisco TelePresence, will span thousands of kilometres and reach across all Australian states and territories. It will help the Federal government reduce the cost of travel, improve productivity and lower the impact of carbon emissions.
Cisco TelePresence creates an "in-person" virtual experience over a converged network, delivering real-time face-to-face interactions between people and places, using advanced visual, audio, and collaboration technologies. Cisco TelePresence combines high definition audio quality, interactive technologies and a specially-designed environment to approximate the feeling of actually being in the same room as participants in separate locations.
Telstra, a Cisco TelePresence Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) partner, will work with the Federal department of Finance to deploy 23 Cisco TelePresence units, including 13 three-screen Cisco TelePresence System 3000s and 10 single screen Cisco TelePresence System 1000s, linking seven Commonwealth government offices, Prime Ministerial and Cabinet offices, Parliament House and the offices of Premiers and Chief Minister agencies in every state and territory. Four sites will be commissioned by June 2009, with the balance deployed by the end of 2009.
The Cisco TelePresence solution will provide the Federal Government with highly secure, life-size high-definition video facilities connecting the governments around Australia. The system will be used for inter-jurisdictional meetings, including Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and Ministerial Council meetings. The solution runs on the Telstra Next IPTM network and is supported by Telstra's Next Generation Services (NGS) division, providing complete management of the Cisco TelePresence solution from installation, network and services.
Telstra Enterprise & Government Group Managing Director David Thodey said the Federal Government's introduction of Cisco TelePresence was set to deliver extraordinary benefits to the public sector.
"Telstra's corporate clients are already seeing productivity gains from the unique, immersive experience where they can collaborate over documents or physical items without having to travel," Mr Thodey said. "It's really transforming the way Telstra and our customers are doing business and we look forward to seeing the positive impact the technology will have on the Federal Government."
Les Williamson, vice president, Cisco Australia and New Zealand said; "The Federal government is displaying foresight and leadership by implementing this system, as it sets an example in terms of enhanced collaboration, increased productivity and efficiency and a decreased impact on the environment. These are benefits that can be enjoyed by the public and private sector alike."
The deployment of Cisco TelePresence at the Federal government follows similar deployments at Telstra, The ANZ bank and several hundred system rollouts at Cisco customers around the world.
Cisco itself is a major user of TelePresence, with more than 360 rooms deployed worldwide to help reduce the impact of Cisco travel on the environment and improve productivity. Telstra also continues to deploy TelePresence throughout its own corporate office locations, with recent editions in Wellington and Auckland and plans to roll out to APAC international offices in 2009. The benefits of TelePresence and other Unified Collaboration & ICT solutions were recently identified by Telstra's recent research into the productivity improvements that come from ICT investment. This research can be downloaded from www.telstraenterprise.com
