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Canadian Municipalities Enhance Public Services, Reduce Costs with Cisco II Communications
Source: Cisco Systems - Posted April 14th, 2005 9:15 AM EDT
Canadian municipal governments are emerging as aggressive adopters of integrated voice, video and data networks as they strive to reduce costs, drive internal efficiency and deliver new services to citizens. According to Cisco Systems®, 17 Canadian municipalities across the country have deployed Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) Communications, including the City of Penticton, the City of Boisbriand and the City of Mississauga.
"Municipal governments are under pressure to improve community services while controlling, or even reducing, budgets," said Brantz Myers, director of enterprise marketing at Cisco Systems Canada. "Cisco IP Communications systems are enabling Canadian municipalities to become more efficient and responsive in meeting the needs of the communities they serve, while reducing the total cost of network ownership."
City of Penticton, British Columbia
Nestled in British Columbia's beautiful Okanagan Valley, known for its wineries and fruit orchards, the City of Penticton is proving that bigger isn't always better. With a population of 33,000, Pentiction is constantly looking for ways to improve city services on its limited budget. An integrated voice, video and data network from Cisco is allowing Pentiction to deliver services more effectively and efficiently to city residents and visitors to the region.
In November 2003, Boardwalk Communications, a Cisco Partner headquartered in Victoria, installed a Cisco IP Communications system, unifying all municipal facilities onto a single communications infrastructure. According to Wayne Klamut, the City's information technology manager, the network - which features 150 Cisco IP phones, Cisco UnityTM unified messaging and wireless access - has delivered significant benefits.
"Our IP Communications system is saving us $48,000 annually in local, building-to-building telecommunications costs. And that doesn't even take into account our savings resulting from adds, moves and changes," he explained. "Just as importantly the network is providing the communications foundation to improve the services we can deliver to the community."
For instance, unified messaging - which allows users to access voice-mail along with e-mail through Microsoft Outlook - is making it easier and more efficient for employees to manage their messages, which helps increase the responsiveness of city services personnel. In addition, mobile staff members are equipped with wireless IP phones, allowing them to receive calls even when away from their desks. This reduces the number of missed calls and again increases customer service levels.
City of Boisbriand, Quebec
Boisbriand is a young, up-and-coming city located north of Montréal, Quebec. Its population of 28,000 averages just 30 years of age. With young families moving in and businesses discovering its eight industrial parks, the city is growing quickly. Proud to be the province's first "paper-free municipality" and crowned "City of the Year" by the Quebec Chamber of Commerce in 2002, Boisbriand takes pride in its tradition of innovation. Recently, the municipality installed Cisco IP Communications throughout its entire organization to improve its communications capabilities.
The data network had been showing signs of weakness for some time, and the traditional phone system, a private branch exchange (PBX) installed in 1990, had reached its capacity. In addition, the phone systems at other municipal facilities were proving to be costly and unreliable.
By optimizing the use of its fiber optic network, the City dramatically boosted its network capacity from 10 to 100 megabits (MB). It then integrated its separate voice and data networks into a single Cisco IP communications system that links seven municipal buildings, from city hall and the library, to public works and the fire department. The converged voice, video and data network now features 130 Cisco IP phones and Cisco Unity unified messaging.
"Updating our network met a real need. It allowed us to give our employees effective tools to boost productivity and better serve the community," explained Mayor Robert Poirier. "Using a single telephony system makes it easier to link buildings and communicate more effectively. Unified messaging also lets us centralize and better manage in-house and external email and telephone communications. Lastly, with the network's speed and performance, we can better manage our growth and more effectively meet our residents' needs," he concluded.
City of Mississauga, Ontario
With ambitious cost reduction goals, Canada's sixth largest city is on track to save its taxpayers over $700,000 annually with its converged Cisco IP Communications system. The City of Mississauga's $3.3 million network is managed by TELUS, a Gold Certified Cisco Partner, and now features 2,300 Cisco IP phones in more than 65 municipal buildings throughout the city.
According to the City, converging its voice and data networks has lowered its total cost of ownership by eliminating redundant infrastructure, centralizing administration and simplifying maintenance. It has also enabled a series of new services including enhanced 911 emergency calling, city-wide four-digit dialing and online employee directories.
"Our IP implementation has been a huge success from an operational point of view," said Jack Lawrence, director of information technology. "It has allowed us to be even more innovative than we thought we could be, and we are definitely on track to achieve, and surpass, our cost savings goals."
According to Norm Baxter, the City's IP project manager, the system's performance and reliability are excellent and more robust than traditional telecommunications service. The City's staff now has complete comfort and confidence in the user-friendly system, is self-sufficient in terms of management and can resolve issues quickly and easily.
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