The Victorian Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) has announced it is running a Core Network Services project aimed at integrating four of the organisation’s major sites.
The Core Network connects all the organisation’s emergency call-taking and dispatch centres, a training facility and a central support office and allows for the secure transfer of data between centres and synchronisation of its computer aided dispatch databases.
In ESTA documents, the organsiation said its sites were currently connected via a fully redundant VPN utilising Telstra’s IP Core Optical Fibre infrastructure.
While moving to the VPN in late 2005 had delivered a dramatic improvement in network reliability and ability to centrally monitor and manage the network, it had also brought an increasing demand on the resources provided by the network to facilitate new customer services and changes to the way ESTA delivers its core mission critical business services.
“Since commissioning the current Core Network… there has been significant growth in the complexity and volume of traffic across the ESTA network. This, combined with increased reliance on the network to provide mission critical services, has identified a need to change the network services delivery model.”
The ESTA said that having commissioned and completed an external review of its Core Network, its focus was now on procuring a fully managed network service sourced from a single vendor, complete with the ability to access professional services in respect of changes to its Core Network as required.
The ESTA is the statutory authority responsible for delivering Emergency Triple Zero (000) call taking and dispatch services to the Victorian Public on behalf of the Emergency Service Organisations.