Macquarie Telecom, part of Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX: MAQ), today announced it has signed a new deal with Southern Cross Care Western Australia (SCCWA), facilitating improved connectivity for its senior residents and staff, while lowering operational costs.
SCCWA is a leading aged care provider, proudly delivering exceptional care services to over 3,000 ageing West Australians. 2020 has presented considerable challenges for the aged care industry, with the elderly being among the most vulnerable in the face of COVID-19. Visitor restrictions at aged care homes have meant staying connected to loved ones digitally is more relied upon than ever before by residents.
Southern Cross Care WA (SCCWA) was faced with the conflicting challenges of needing to reduce operational costs while upgrading its technology and telecoms network, much of which was becoming obsolete and presenting a risk to its operations. Already a Macquarie customer, it approached the telco to discuss what options would be possible.
The organisation switched its mobile services from a tier one provider to Macquarie, doubling its data allowance while reducing costs by 20 per cent. The improved mobility service has been beneficial to help residents and staff stay connected during coronavirus restrictions:
“In the early stages of the pandemic, visitor restrictions were put in place to protect the safety of our residents,” said Anirban Talukdar (AT), Head of IT, Southern Cross Care WA.
“Macquarie was quickly able to provide tablets with 4G sim cards at residential aged care homes to facilitate video calls between residents and their families. Macquarie also coordinated non-essential staff to work remotely with a combination of Citrix and Microsoft Teams.”
Macquarie worked closely with AT – a telecoms veteran with experience in BT and Vodafone – and his team to rebuild the network. This included replacing SCCWA’s old MPLS telecoms network with SD-WAN. Combined with nbn migration where possible, the organisation estimates this will lead to cost savings of between 20-to-25 per cent.
This has improved internet reliability and doubled speeds from an average of 20-to-50Mbps to 100Mbps in most sites, enabling better access to digital services for staff and residents. For example, in one facility SCCWA has deployed the CareCohort mobile app, which provides staff, allied health providers, GPs, residents and family and friends with important information and collaboration tools.
To manage costs and resilience, Macquarie and SCCWA identified priority 1, 2, and 3 sites, applying varying levels of backup to each. For example, priority 1 sites such as the Central Office at Rivervale – where SCCWA’s primary data centre is located – has two geographically dispersed links and a 4G backup, whereas priority 3 sites have one link and 4G backup.
“Cost savings and value are always important for our industry,” added AT. “The 2016 Federal Government revision to the industry funding model – which essentially gave more choice to customers – has sparked greater demand for digital services in aged care. We hit a crossroads where both were a priority at once.”
SCCWA is now in discussions with Macquarie about leveraging its cloud and data centre services to increase the organisation’s use of automation and further drive its digital transformation.
“Right now, organisations across Australia are overspending on limited telco services at a time when they need value and innovation,” said Luke Clifton, Group Executive, Macquarie Telecom.
“Aged care providers are accustomed to operational and budgetary challenges, but it’s no secret the industry was among the worst affected by the pandemic. Almost overnight, providers needed to reimagine their operations to maintain high quality services, but also implement extensive social distancing and remove work measures to keep staff and clients safe. Southern Cross is a perfect example of how to address these challenges while delivering real benefits.”
