Low TCO sees Telstra stick with Toughbook

Stephen Withers
Monday, 26 September 2011 11:59

IT Industry - Deals

Telstra is staying with the Panasonic Toughbook when it comes to refreshing its fleet of notebooks used by field technicians.

Telstra is replacing the Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 rugged notebooks that it deployed in 2008 to field technicians with over 3000 CF-19 Mk5s. The telco has also issued approximately 400 semi-rugged Toughbook CF-53s to service delivery staff.

Features of the Mk5 include a larger backlit keyboard, brighter antiglare screen, GPS, fingerprint reader, faster connectivity and enhanced performance.

Telstra's initial adoption of the Toughbook back in 2004 kicked off an improvement in the annual repair rate that is now just 3.7%, and the company expects further improvements with the new models.

"After several years of rigorous testing and monitoring, we are confident that we can rely on Panasonic Toughbook to provide not only rugged features but also exceptional connectivity, screen visibility and battery life to complement the complex technical equipment and applications required out in the field," said Ken Gray, service design solutions manager at Telstra Operations.

He added that the company is seeing a continuing fall in the total cost of ownership of the Toughbook fleet as a result of very low repair rates.

"Australia has some very unique and challenging geographical conditions, so rugged mobility is crucial in allowing our team to provide a reliable and effective service," said Mr Gray. "Our field based technicians need equipment that can survive exposure to a variety of environmental contingencies such as heat, ambient temperature, dust, humidity, moisture and rugged wear and tear."