From Ian’s desk

At Uecomm we’ve had a strong start to the year. Our sales team had one of their best quarters on record, welcoming more than 50 new customers to our network, and securing contract renewals for a number of long term and loyal Uecomm customers. It was a great effort by the team and in this difficult economic environment environment the result reinforces the value enterprise customers can see in Ethernet VPN services.

Healthcare IT is of continuing importance in our community, as healthcare organisations seek ways to increase patient care while reducing IT expenditure to ensure the continued investment in staff and facilities.

Haematology & Oncology Clinics of Australasia (HOCA) signed with Uecomm last year and has used its increased network performance to meet its voice and data requirements and future-proof the network for ongoing growth.

The relationship with HOCA also saw Uecomm undertake a strategic fibre build arrangement that involved sharing the build costs to connect to HOCA’s Chermside site in Brisbane.  It was our agreement of the strategic build which demonstrated to HOCA our customer service and flexibility to meet the needs of our customers.

We’re also pleased to announce our recent success in the Australian Business Awards which saw our Ethernet VPN awarded as Best Value Product.  Uecomm was one of 67 businesses selected from a field of 928 entrants across various industries to receive this prestigious award.

Personally, I recently returned from a 19-day cycling trip in Vietnam. The 2000km journey, which started in Hanoi, saw my travelling companions and I cross the country with pedal power. It’s a great way to travel, ensuring a full cultural experience by cycling off the beaten track and enjoying each town’s diverse sights and sounds, and more importantly, the people. I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Wavelength, until next time

Regards

Ian Noble
Acting CEO and Director of Technology

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Uecomm Ethernet VPN Wins Best Value Product

Uecomm has been recognised at the annual Australian Business Awards, winning Best Value Product for its Ethernet VPN service.

The Australian Business Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries.

A spokesperson for the Australian Business Awards said, “The 2009 Awards attracted a very high standard of entries from the Australian business community in times of great change. This year’s winners displayed exceptional performance and leadership in their respective industries, and are role models for any organisation striving for business and product excellence.”
 
Uecomm’s Ethernet VPN was recognised at the Australian Business Awards for providing cost-effective data services for business.  The Ethernet VPN service provides a flexible, scalable, resilient and cost-effective broadband data service that allows customers to easily and effectively link their business sites and share information.   By combining voice, fax, data and multimedia traffic onto a single multi-purpose network, businesses can enjoy lower total cost of ownership of the network, enhanced productivity, simplified network management, reduced infrastructure costs, and the ability to implement a host of new and powerful applications requiring high bandwidth availability.

Ian Noble, Acting CEO and Director of Technology, Uecomm, said the award was testament to the business benefits of Ethernet VPN and its continued attractiveness to Australian enterprise.

“More than ever, today's businesses need the power to communicate efficiently. They are constantly seeking new ways to improve productivity, customer service levels and deliver controlled and managed growth, while at the same time reducing cost and increasing profitability.” he said.

Noble also says new technology applications now being used by business to increase productivity and reduce costs such as video conferencing and VoIP create additional demands on a business’ network due to their high-bandwidth requirements.

“This means that for many businesses, a secure, high-speed data service that can support voice, data and video is a necessity rather than a luxury. Designing, implementing and managing a data network ‘in-house’ can be complex, time consuming and costly, so many businesses turn to a trusted provider to provide these functions at a reduced business cost.” Noble said.

Many of Uecomm’s business customers are mid to large Australian companies with high-speed or complex data requirements including those in Banking and Finance, New Media, Government, Healthcare, Education and Transport and Logistics.

Uecomm’s commitment to the development of the Metro Ethernet market in Australia saw it become the foundation Australian service provider member of the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) and the first Australian service provider to attain certification for both MEF 9 and MEF 14 global Ethernet standards.

MEF certification provides Australian businesses with the assurance of independent international standards, removing confusion arising from proprietary service names and overlapping options provided by service providers.

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Uecomm WAN right prescription for HOCA

Haematology & Oncology Clinics of Australasia (HOCA) provides comprehensive day hospital services for people with cancer, haematological diseases and related disorders. Almost 20 Specialist Doctors who work at the hospitals also work in its four clinics in Queensland.

For HOCA, instant access to its patient management system is critical for consulting staff across all sites to effectively treat patients.  As such, HOCA required a resilient and robust Ethernet network to meet its voice and data requirements while providing the scalability to support the network for ongoing growth.

Uecomm was chosen to deliver a layer 2 Ethernet network connecting HOCA’s five locations across Queensland, delivering service speeds from 2Mbps to 10Mbps.  Uecomm also supplies internet services to all sites, increasing the business’ capacity and allowing HOCA to trial VoIP services at its Chermside clinic.

HOCA has signed a 60 month contract with Uecomm which included a strategic fibre build arrangement that involved sharing the build costs to connect the Chermside site. Two other customers are now seeking connection at the same site.

Jason Walker, IT manager for HOCA believes the adoption of a layer 2 Ethernet network has allowed HOCA to become more efficient in its business.

“We deal with various patients across our sites and required a centralised network that would allow for the instantaneous transfer of patient records to our patient management system."

“Uecomm’s solution has provided a robust network with the scalability to support our network as we continue to grow and add new clinics to our business."

“Further, our new network has paved the way for trial of VoIP at our Chermside clinic, which is already saving the business over $1000 per month on our phone bill.” he said.

For HOCA, one of the driving factors to implement a Uecomm solution was that Uecomm has superior fibre access across Brisbane as well as its flexibility to build to new sites as required by customers.

“Access to fibre in the locations we required was not well met by many service providers.  Uecomm was the only service provider that could provide fibre to all our sites, that was important to us.” he said.

“The proactive monitoring provided by the NOC as well as service support for reactive issues delivers us with peace of mind that our network is secure and operating at its optimum at all times.” Mr Walker added.

“Whenever we require support, Uecomm responds very quickly and the network engineers speak in real terms which means we can solve any issues quickly and with minimum disruption to our business.” Mr Walker concluded.

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MEF Webcast Pilot launch

In June, the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) held its first webcast – an educational tool communicating the business benefits of Ethernet and its application as a superior WAN technology for the Australian business community.

With continued pressure placed on IT executives to reduce their operating costs while increasing efficiency, trusted LAN technology Ethernet, has proven its efficacy in providing a cost-effective networking option for Australian business that is not only fast, scalable and simple to administer, but which also hands control back to the business.

It’s business benefits like these which has seen Ethernet services dramatically overhaul the world of business communications and it is now widely recognised as the new communications service of choice for metro, national and international WAN connectivity.

As the global organisation at the forefront of Carrier-Ethernet development, the MEF’s webcast showcased how Ethernet services are enabling both traditional and cutting-edge IT application deployments across numerous vertical markets in all parts of the world.

Uecomm’s Head of Engineering, Marc Teichtahl and Senior Product Manager Chris Day, represented Uecomm, joining key international MEF representatives as they provided a global snapshot of why businesses are adopting Ethernet, outlined what IT professionals need to know about Ethernet Services to integrate into their businesses, and presented real-life scenarios for metro, national and international  deployments.

We’ll keep you posted on dates of future MEF webcasts as they become available.

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