Moorabool Shire Council

The Problem

Moorabool Shire Council is dedicated to connecting itself to the community by using effective communication platforms, the council is also looking at a way of reducing costs of travel between its main offices which are 30km apart as well as providing a more unified and efficient method in which staff contact and engage with each other and the community. The council was also located in an NBN connected area and was eligible for Federal Government funding to promote the use of high-speed broadband via the NBN. The funding would allow the council to invest in video conferencing facilities to enable customers to engage with council services remotely as well as reduce the amount of travel time for council officers travelling between Ballan and Bacchus Marsh with the added challenge of having a solution in place by June 2014.

The Solution

The Moorabool Shire Council went to tender for a new Unified Communications and Collaboration solution, stipulating that the successful tenderer had to offer a Microsoft Lync solution, In addition, the council asked vendors to propose the new Lync Room System (LRS) video conferencing solution for their 3 council offices. The council had seen Lync previously and they felt Lync was the most optimal solution to meet their requirements.

IComm were awarded the tender and in a period of about 4 months a full enterprise voice Lync solution was designed and deployed for the Moorabool Shire Council. The solution offered the following features: IM / Presence / Enterprise Voice / Collaboration / Desktop Sharing / Audio Conferencing and most importantly Video Conferencing at the desktop and 3 boardrooms.

Results & Benefits

The result was the successful deployment of a full Lync solution as well as 3 Lync Room Systems at the 3 Council offices, highlighted by a dual touch screen video conferencing solution at the Council Chambers. All staff were trained by IComm as part of the solution and the take up of Lync by the staff has been amazing. Futhermore, Council’s Customer Services staff are now inviting and conducting video calls with customers throughout the shire. Manager of Information Services at Council, Chris Parkinson stated, “The use of instant messaging and presence alone has helped staff communicate more efficiently. I’ve been ‘blown away’ by the power of Lync and we have realised some amazing benefits in just a short time”.