McKenzie Aged Care takes communications to the cloud
McKenzie Aged Care has adopted a new cloud-based ICT platform.
McKenzie Aged Care has adopted a new cloud-based information and communications technology platform.
The privately-owned aged care and retirement provider wanted to reduce its reliance on face-to-face meetings and email and instead create virtual spaces where teams can collaborate, coordinate and communicate, and centrally store documentation.
In order for that to be realised, McKenzie Aged Care selected online conferencing company Webex by Cisco.
“We were looking for a video conferencing platform that was stable, reliable and secure, and something that we could leverage with our existing investment in our telephony platform, and that was Webex by Cisco,” said McKenzie Aged Care general manager information and communications technology Peter Corrigan. “It’s really extended our telephony system to become a true unified communications platform.”
The need for a cloud-based ICT system became acute at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when McKenzie Aged Care identified an urgent requirement to coordinate with stakeholders on crisis calls, liaise with government health officials, and to determine COVID-safe protocols for its sites.
McKenzie Aged Care employs over 2,200 staff in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Its ICT solution has improved the ability for staff to meet flexibly and to be contactable over video. Workers can now initiate or join online meetings with colleagues from any corporate-issue device.
The platform has enabled vital activities to remain on track in a challenging operating environment, said McKenzie’s project management office manager Sandy Foote.
“During the pandemic, our portfolio of projects could have come to a grinding halt. Using Webex by Cisco enabled us to forge on,” said Ms Foote. “It enabled us to communicate across the business quickly and to make better decisions together as a team.”
By using its new ICT system, McKenzie Aged Care expects to permanently cut its travel budget by two-thirds as more meetings will be conducted remotely.
The ICT platform is also being used for remote recruitment and onboarding, and to record e-learning content that is used to train McKenzie staff on upcoming system changes.
Comment on the story below. Follow Australian Ageing Agenda on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook, sign up to our twice-weekly newsletter and subscribe to our premium content or AAA magazine for the complete aged care picture.