Telstra Partners with Infosys to Build an Emergency Alert System
"It's not every day you do an IT project that has a real potential for saving lives..."
Sam McManus, General Manager - Operational Support Systems Solution Centre, Telstra
The 2009 "Black Saturday" bushfires were the worst in Australia's history, costing 173 lives, over 2000 homes and over $4 billion in damages. One lesson learned: the Victorian government wanted a system that could warn residents of a future emergency - quickly. The government commissioned Telstra, the country's largest telco, to build that system.
Choosing a partner
Sam McManus, Telstra's General Manager - Operational Support Systems Solution Centre, explains how they approached this critical project…
"The project was very complex, had very tight timeframes and was a vitally important project. We had to have 100% predictability. It's not every day you do an IT project that has a real potential for saving lives. We needed someone we could trust and rely on. After a strong track record of successful collaboration, we chose Infosys."
Developing a solution
"Infosys designed and developed the application and integrated it into our IT solutions, meeting government's timeframes and quality deliverables. The performance of the Infosys team was outstanding. Their focus, resourcefulness and flexibility really made a difference and provided us a quality outcome."
The outcome: building safer communities
"Since its inception, the system has rolled out over seven million messages, not only for bushfires, but also cyclones, floods and missing persons - all over Australia.
Our client actually won the National Safer Communities Award recognizing the impact of this solution."
