Information, Communication and Technology
Effective communication is a vital part of CareSouth’s everyday work practice. Our Information Technology team are constantly improving the ways in which staff communicate, capture and share information, not only with each other but with the clients we support.
Our IT experts are using more sophisticated technology such as virtual private network (VPN) links to help staff and clients stay connected across our wide geographic footprint. CareSouth VPNs link our offices in Berkeley, Nowra, Goulburn, Griffith and Deakin in the ACT. A Deniliquin site is expected to be up and running next year when the NBN is installed. CareSouth’s VPN allows employees to securely connect to geographically diverse locations across the organisation, creating one cohesive network. Staff can also access servers and the intranet remotely.
The IT team maintains 168 computers across all of our CareSouth offices and these are supported by 22 core servers that manage various aspects of our network such as user logons, email, data collection, printing services and remote access.
CareSouth’s IT department manages over 600 user accounts and mailboxes on the organisation’s network and more than 2TB of data – the equivalent of 447,000 files – is stored on our main server.
Our Out-of-Home Care team use 71% of the data storage space on our shared network, followed by Disability Services (13%) and Brighter Futures (9.5%). Each month our IT team respond to 1000 requests for help from staff across the organisation.
CareSouth’s Intranet was launched in June to provide a quick link to information and resources for staff to support their clients more efficiently. The Intranet streamlines processes such as booking pool cars for home visits and transport, submitting IT Help Desk requests, accessing a CareSouth Events Calendar, and viewing internal social media posts, positive news stories and blogs about the business.