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Telstra gives Victorian businesses a vision of the future

Victorian businesses can experience first-hand how futuristic technology solutions will help them better connect with their employees, customers and suppliers at a new purpose-built facility in Melbourne.

Officially opened by Victorian Premier The Hon Ted Baillieu, the $13 million Telstra Experience Centre, located in the company’s Exhibition Street headquarters, features 16 demonstration areas that showcase technologies in action, two user-testing laboratories and two product design areas.

Telstra CEO, David Thodey, said the centre would host more than 40 customer events a week with Victorian businesses interested in seeing the latest communication technology in simulated real-life settings and better understand how it can benefit their organisations.

“The new Telstra Experience Centre combines our networks with the latest products and services to show how technology can help Victorian businesses improve productivity and better connect whether it’s within Melbourne, Victoria, Australia or globally,” Mr Thodey said.

“With business, enterprise and government customers’ demand for video conferencing accelerating, the centre includes an 870 square metre showroom featuring eight different styles and types of video conferencing technology so organisations of all sizes and types can see what the latest technology can do.

“Another feature of the centre is its ability to allow Melbourne citizens to shape Telstra’s future products and solutions and improve the overall customer experience through Telstra’s usability testing facilities in the centre,” Mr Thodey said.

A purpose-built home area and small business inside the centre illustrates how various technology solutions are used at home and at work. Other demonstration areas showcase more than 80 Telstra products and solutions that can help businesses improve productivity and better connect with staff, customers and suppliers.

The Melbourne Telstra Experience Centre will also boast displays of not-yet-launched products and solutions in a state-of-the-art laboratory housing more than 8km of optic fibre cabling in the wall alone. These displays form part of research by the Telstra Chief Technology Office into how future technology will help Australians.

The centre spans 3,055 square metres and is more than twice the size of the company’s original experience centre in Sydney with more than 43km of data cabling in the centre and nearly 900 data points.

The Melbourne Telstra Experience Centre is connected via the Telstra Next IP network to major capital cities for high definition video conferencing and real-time remote solution demonstrations.

Telstra Experience Centres are part of a national customer demonstration program that helps Telstra’s business, enterprise and government sales teams show customers Telstra’s integrated solutions.

Melbourne Telstra Experience Centre

  • The Melbourne Telstra Experience Centre is a twin centre to the Sydney facility opened in November 2007. The TEC Sydney has tripled its customer traffic numbers in 3 years of operations with more than 1000 customer visits last year.
  • Telstra has invested more than $13 million to build the centre which was built in 190 days with a total of 80 construction workers onsite during the build.
  • The centre covers a total of 3,055 square metres, making it Telstra’s largest customer facility showcasing products, video-conferencing technology and innovative customer solutions.
  • The centre houses Australia’s first Micro Tile Media Wall, the largest of its type in the southern hemisphere with a 20 metre wide digital display.
  • The Experience and Collaboration zones cover 2,185 square metres and the 8 video conferencing demonstration rooms covering 870 square metres;
  • More than 40km of cabling in the centre with 897 data points.
  • 8km of fibre optic cabling in the wall of the New Horizon room;
  • More than 80 Telstra product and solutions can be demonstrated;
  • More than 30,000 lines of control code to automate the centre;

Inside the centre

1. Experience Zones:

    • The Experience Labs are three dedicated rooms that can be transformed into any environment to support tailored and interactive demonstrations of Telstra products and solutions using state-of-the-art audio and video technology.
    • The Connected Home is a room showcasing the seamless integration of broadband access, devices, applications and services in the home environment.
    • Digital Business is a real-life small business scenario that demonstrates how Telstra services can connect a shop floor, back office and its mobile workers using the latest digital business technology.
    • Polycom Real Presence provides life-size high definition video conferencing in a board room setting.
    • Cisco TelePresence is immersive high definition video conferencing that can connect to multiple locations for life-like meetings.

2. Collaboration Zone:

    • Two Usability Labs which allow customers to interact with technology, providing Telstra the opportunity to capture expectations and shape Telstra’s future technology.
    • Two Product Design rooms provide a collaborative space to provide project teams the opportunity immerse the project team in product design.

3. Video Showcasing Zone:

    • Eight dedicated high tech video conferencing facilities, providing a customer demonstration area that shows Telstra’s entire capability in this space, from desktop ‘web’ based video conferencing through to fully integrated and customised boardroom and telepresence rooms.

4. Next Horizon Zone:

      • Future technology not yet available and new and innovative solutions on display as part of research by the Telstra Chief Technology Office.

Media contact: Peter Habib: 0417 100 191

Email: media@team.telstra.com

Reference Number: 222/2011