Victoria upgrades Triple-0 system in $11m contract

The Victorian Government has awarded NEC Australia a multimillion-dollar telephony solutions and services contract for the state’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA), the agency that provides the link between the community and the state’s emergency service agencies.

NEC Australia will maintain and support the telephony solutions and services, including the state’s Triple Zero platform to enable a robust service with a highly reliable, fault-tolerant platform that ensures continuous emergency services for agencies across the state.

“We rely on the Triple Zero service to save the lives of our loved ones and keep us safe. It needs to be a system which is up to date and well-equipped for the future,” said Minister for Emergency Services Jane Garrett.

“We’re making this investment to ensure that when you dial Triple Zero, you can depend on it. The new system will bring in the latest technology and ensure reliable services now and into the future.”

The seven-year contract covers the agency’s telephones, including SV9500 PABX units and a Genesys call-centre solution.

The project will see NEC Australia manage enhancements of a fully integrated communications solution, including email routing and management, web chat routing, short message service routing, social media routing, mobile applications and agent desktop tools.

ESTA CEO Ken Shymanski said, “This is good for the community; it’s important for risk mitigation and it will make ESTA more flexible and adaptable in responding to changing community needs. Better integration between systems will streamline call-taking operations, reducing the need for manual data transfer, and improve reporting.”

The new system will have the capacity to route calls based on volume and events. It will provide improved integration between different systems and surge management, which is essential during storms or other emergency events. It will also pave the way to incorporate multimedia channels in the future.

The timeline for the implementation of the new system will be determined between ESTA and NEC.

“We are honoured to work with ESTA to contribute to the evolution of Australia’s social infrastructure advancement through technology,” said Tetsuro Akagi, managing director, NEC Australia. “NEC prides ourselves with a long history of working with the Victorian Government to implement technologies that better support the citizens of Victoria.”