ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 CITY OF GREATER GEELONG

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Objective
To promote the development of a network
of telecommunications to maximise liveability
and prosperity.
Highlights
The rollout of Pocket PCs to over 300 home carers has
allowed the Aged and Disability team to improve the
delivery of their services, by increasing scheduling
efficiency and reducing administration tasks. The Team
Leaders can now review and evaluate the demands on
their teams and therefore provide better Customer Service
to clients. The reduction in administration tasks within
the office has allowed more time to be spent on
improving carers' schedules. The systems also provide
better quality of information upon which planning can be
done. Significant time savings have been made in several
departments due to streamlining of information flowing
between them.
Council’s PABX (internal telephone system) was replaced
with the Voice Over Internet Protocol communication
system during the year. The replacement of the ageing
system will be extremely beneficial with improvements to
communications across all areas of Council. The
conversion from three digit extensions to four digit will
take place in 2008-2009.
Achievements
A Community Directory was developed and launched for
internal use on Council’s Intranet. It has been regularly
used by Council staff with approximately 8,000 hits each
month. Community Directory will provide residents and
the general public access to a listing and contact details
of a range of groups, associations, services, clubs and
organisations within the City of Greater Geelong.
The directory will be launched onto the Geelong Australia
website in September 2008.
During the year the online community profiling and
population forecasting website (hosted by ID Consulting)
received an upgrade to include data from the 2006
Census and our own urban development strategies, up to
2031. The website provides data in simple, clear tables
and charts with concise factual commentary. Information
can be found on drivers of population change in Greater
Geelong and its suburbs and changes in population,
dwellings, age structures and households.
Future Directions
The City will implement a new range of online services
and a dramatically improved council website in late
2008. Council is seeking to conform to best practice web
standards with a simple customer interface that enables
efficiency improvements for our customers.
Enhancements include increases in online payment
facilities and transactions, greater availability of online
forms, enhanced search capabilities and an easily
accessible A-Z list of council services.
The City is embarking on the development of 3D visual
capability for use in community, engineering, strategic
and statutory planning. The project will produce a limited
3D capacity across all residential areas allowing for area,
height and distance analysis, and a fully rendered 3D
model of a five km 2 area surrounding Central Geelong and
the Western Wedge precinct. This model will be a vital
communication tool for future development in the CBD
area.
Challenges
There is a need to improve the Information
Communication Technology (ICT) capability, education
and ability of businesses across the region. The G21
Telecommunications Needs Assessment has commenced
to tackle this issue by developing initiatives to market and
promote ICT use and systems within both the business
and community sectors of the G21 region.
A comprehensive and extensive telecommunications
environment exists in the Geelong region with
a significant number of facilities-based licensed
communications carriers competing for business. Council
will continue to work closely with telecommunication
carriers to ensure that local businesses enjoy the latest
technology available at the most competitive rates.
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