Hertfordshire County Council is pilotingteleconferencingand instant messaging
in a bid to improve communication and efficiency at the
council.
The equipment, supplied by Alcatel-Lucent, is being piloted at
the council headquarters at Hertford County Hall. It will be rolled
out to two other sites in Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead, enabling
inter-site communication. The council aims to introduce video
conferencing between the sites.
The work is part of the council's aim to consolidate a number of
offices and create a more cost effective and
flexible environment.
It has already completed a network upgrade by installing a
Ethernet infrastructure at county hall. Council officers hope the
changes will make working efficiently easier for employees.
Dave Mansfield, network manager of Hertfordshire County Council,
said, "We have over 20,000 employees, many of whom have to spend a
significant amount of time travelling between sites. The roll-out
of collaboration tools will help them make more efficient use of
their time by working remotely if required, and reducing the need
to travel."