Innovative new video conference service launches to connect government departments and save costs

Wellington, 26 July 2012 – Asnet Technologies today officially launched VideoNet™ Unite, a new, innovative high-definition video conferencing service that allows government ministries and agencies to connect and collaborate, significantly increasing productivity and saving costs for New Zealand taxpayers.

The cloud-based service, which has already been successfully trialled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), was officially launched at a 3:00pm event at the Rydges Hotel today to an audience of government agency representatives.

Eric Greenop, Managing Director of Asnet Technologies says the service is set to transform the way these government entities operate and interact by creating ‘Virtual Meeting Rooms’, where multiple government agencies can participate by signing in through a simple pin number at their respective locations, thereby enabling the inter-agency video conference.

“Currently, most government departments are unable to independently connect with each other using their existing video conferencing technology. This makes frequent travel and its associated financial and time costs necessary for government departments when required to collaborate on wider government projects,” says Greenop

“VideoNet™ Unite effectively allows these public entities to share infrastructure, delivering internal value and saving money for the taxpayer."

Greenop says that the solution is a great step forward in realising the government’s statedobjectives for reducing costs through effective use of IT.

“This is a great example of a ‘real world’ application of the Department of Internal Affair’s guidance to ministries to seek out Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) options when evaluating future IT requirements. This managed service will effectively rationalise the delivery of ICT infrastructure for the government.”

Greenop says as one of the first agencies to trial and adopt VideoNet™ Unite, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) wanted to embrace video conferencing to connect its overseas offices to its Wellington Headquarters as cost effectively as possible.

At the same time, he says New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) were considering whether to replace its aging infrastructure through capital expense or utilise a managed service. Ultimately, NZTE selected VideoNet™ from Asnet Technologies to provide management, bridging and gateway services.

“As MFAT shares 13 global sites with NZTE, the mutual adoption of VideoNet™ enables MFAT access to this shared footprint for minimal investment. The MFAT head office in Wellington now easily communicates with all NZTE offices globally.”

Greenop says Asnet Technologies is the first company to offer such a video collaboration service in New Zealand, and is inviting all government agencies to participate in a trial of the system for the rest of this year at no cost. He says the aim is to have a significant number of departments fully operational and collaborating with ease, via their own controlled Virtual Meeting Room before 2013.

“Asnet Technologies is New Zealand's largest premier multi-agency managed video service provider, managing over 700 endpoints, from desktop and meeting rooms to fully integrated boardroom solutions.

“Many of these are government agencies which, through VideoNet™ Unite, opens up an opportunity for efficient video and content collaboration between these agencies, connecting everyonefrom government bodies to education.”

“Through our ongoing partnership with Polycom®, a world-leader in open standards for video conferencing technology, we can ensure unparalleled quality and hence customer satisfaction,” says Greenop.

As New Zealand's only Polycom Platinum Partner and Polycom Infrastructure Certified Service Partner, Asnet Technologies remains the industry leader in video conferencing solutions and innovation. They provide a full range of managed services to their clients, who are supported nationally by their highly trained and certified video and network infrastructure engineers.

For more information on Asnet Technologies, please visit www.asnettechnologies.co.nz for company information details on the VideoNet™ solution.

About VideoNet™ Unite:
VideoNet™ is a fully outsourced managed video conferencing service that allows organisations to select from a range of Video Conferencing systems for deployment across their various sites. Asnet Technologies then provides a fully managed service, incorporating Internet and ISDN gateways, global address books, remote and fault management, online video training and helpdesk, call reporting, and recording and streaming services. Asnet Technologies launched VideoNet™ in October 2010 to assist their clients in effective, time-critical collaboration. VideoNet™ Unite is a significant development on the existing service and in managed video conferencing technology overall. The new solution for the first time will allow participating organisations to invite each other into video conferencing sessions for no additional charge.

Background Information:

Government Announces Directions & Priorities for ICT across the State Sector

On 7 October 2010, Internal Affairs Minister the Hon Nathan Guy announced that government had adopted a set of directions and priorities for information and communication technology (ICT) investment across the State services, replacing the e-Government Strategy 2006.

The Department of Internal Affairs' initiatives are referenced in the 'Directions & Priorities' roadmap: http://ict.govt.nz/directions-and-priorities/about-directions-and-priorities

These include:
• Integrated Service Delivery
3.1 Prioritise investment in shared solutions for integrated, multi-channel, service delivery across government
• Cross-government business capability
4.1 Rationalise investment, procurement and delivery of ICT infrastructure and software
• Improve Operational Management
5.1 Improve the effectiveness of legacy system asset management
5.2 Improve ICT cost structures by leveraging operational scale across government
5.3 Engage early with the ICT industry to improve innovation and reduce costs

ENDS

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