Footy Club Switches to Single Business Communications Solution

Michael Whiting relishes a challenge. As the Chief Financial Officer for one of Australia's most remote professional sporting teams he's had a lot on his plate.

With a vast nationwide supporter base and regular interstate NRL games, Michael and the team at the Toyota North Queensland Cowboys rugby league club were trying to build a following, respond to supporters wanting club and player information, sell tickets and manage a burgeoning professional organisation.

For Michael, while the passionate fan base was vital to the club, their internal operations, players, coaching staff and suppliers are constantly at the heart of the day to day running of a national business.

Key to expanding the club and reaching out to a growing band of supporters was the introduction of a converged, state-of-the-art communications system and the removal of a PABX unit that had seen better days.

Better communication improves team work outcomes

The rugby league club chose a Telstra solution, including Telstra Turbo cards for mobile broadband, mobiles connected to the Telstra Next G™ network, Telstra IP Telephony for fixed voice calls, and a network of routers for connecting new touch-screen ticket kiosks to head office systems.

"Selling tickets is now a much easier process and delivers a better customer experience," Michael said.

"The Cowboys team can monitor and predict call load, management can easily staff to meet demands and add additional answer points, should demand peak. This all means the customer enjoys a much better calling experience."

“Our mobile staff are contactable and connected to the mobile internet and email. The players benefit too. With Telstra Turbo Cards utilizing the Next G™ network, their coaches can download stats and footage – mid-game – to help with their battle plans."

"And we’re also very happy to be dealing with just one provider."

Growing business demands connected

Like the Toyota North Queensland Cowboys, managing expansion problems also confronted Balmain Corporation, a residential and commercial mortgage provider. Boasting 400% growth over the past five years and currently turning over $4 billion, their staff numbers climbed from 60 to over 400 in three years.

Balmain CEO Andrew Griffin explained Balmain's key challenges: "Our original network solution was not able to keep up with the company's growth. We couldn't provide services to remote sites or easily set up new sites."

Again, Telstra's single solution vendor capabilities paid off.

As Telstra Business Executive Director, Brian Harcourt says: "Smart convergence is the name of the game if you're a growing business with multiple sites, staff and clients spread over different locations. This is really what good business management of resources is all about. We call it Next Dimension Working™.

"It's about flexibility. A sales rep on the road, or a plant manager moving around a factory. They could be using a laptop, mobile phone or handheld device to help complete projects on time, respond to customers faster or access important business information."

For more information and online demonstrations, visit www.telstra.com/business.