Michael Deayton and Peter Kurtz

Unified collaboration tools – can they make business sense?

This paper will outline the work that Griffith’s Information & Communication Technology Department is carrying out to deliver seamless Unified Collaboration technologies across the University’s five campuses inline with the business objectives of the University. The UC infrastructure is being delivered via the IP Telephony and the Video Conferencing projects. The Unified Collaboration program oversees both projects with the added responsibility of providing the UC tools to the University community.

The IP Telephony project is replacing traditional PABX infrastructure with IP Tel infrastructure that aims to introduce productivity gains, cost reductions in providing the University’s Telephone service particularly for capital works initiatives - new buildings and to introduce new functionality such as portable handsets, making video calls on and off campus.

The Video Conferencing project is in the final stages of deploying to Griffith University staff High Definition Video from videoconference rooms to videophones, mobile devices and external collaborators. The main business objective to reduce travel and operating costs by making rooms so easy to use by leveraging the Cisco VC Technology and the AARNET Unified Communications Exchange to connect with Griffith University endpoints for adhoc and scheduled conferences.

The Unified Collaboration project is a very customer focussed project that brings both of the above projects together, along with some additional elements. The project aims to raise awareness of what Unified Collaboration is and to consult with our staff to understand their requirements. The project team assists staff in making the appropriate technological choices for their needs, (from the tools available in our collaboration ‘tool box’) and assists with the implementation and training of those tools.

Michael Deayton's Biography
Michael Deayton is a Senior Project Manager in the Project Management Office of Griffith University. In this role he is responsible for introducing significant change to the University through projects. He has project managed several large projects in the Messaging & Collaboration space in recent years including migrating both staff (8000) and students (45,000+) from their old email systems to Google Apps. Michael has a Bachelor of Information Technology (Swinburne) and a Masters in Business Administration (Griffith) majoring in Financial Planning and has over 17 years of IT experience in both the public and private sectors.

Peter Kurtz's Biography
Peter Kurtz is the Manager of the Network and Communication services team at Griffith University. In this role he is responsible for the University’s network infrastructure, telephone and mobile services across five campuses spanning three cities between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Peter has an Associate Diploma in Electrical Engineering (QUT) and a Bachelor of Information Technology (QUT) majoring in Data Communications and has over 21 years experience in electronic communications including organisations such as Queensland University of Technology and Queensland Performing Arts Centre.