Situation

• Only 500 of approximately 5,000 Parks Canada Agency employees are based in the National Capital Region
• A study found many executives spent considerable time and money travelling to meetings
• Conflicting schedules made in-person attendance at some meetings difficult, especially when travel was involved
• The Agency had already deployed a managed IP network with a Quality of Service infrastructure capable of supporting video conferencing

Approach

• The Agency’s HR team asked its CIO to assess video conferencing
• TELUS worked with Parks Canada to define the trial and measure the potential business benefits
• The trial proved that meetings could be held at a fraction of the cost, complexity and stress

Business Benefits

• Travel costs have been dramatically reduced
• Employees enjoy a better quality of life and less time away from home
• The Agency is better able to respond to emergencies and issues
• Senior management can quickly and effectively respond to policy and organizational changes
• New studies are underway to determine whether video technologies can be used to reach Canadian’s outside the Agency 

Solution Details

In 2004, Parks Canada’s Human Resources Office decided to look at the way the Agency brought its executives together to conduct business. The study found that many executives from across the country spend considerable time and money traveling to and from meetings.

While meetings are essential for effectively managing programs, and travel to meeting locations was common, there were times when conflicting schedules made in-person attendance difficult and stressful.  Employees had to choose which meetings to attend and how much time to be away from home base and family.

Parks Canada’s Human Resources team asked the Agency’s Chief Information Office to assess video conferencing. The Agency was interested in understanding whether it would reduce travel time and cost, while still providing an environment supportive of effective information sharing and decision-making. Parks Canada decided to hold a series of executive meetings using public and private video conferencing facilities, to enable potential users to assess its benefits.

TELUS worked with Parks Canada staff to define the trial and the measured output requirements that would determine the effectiveness and business benefits.

The Agency had already deployed a managed IP Network with TELUS, through an existing Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) Managed Network Service contract. This national network provided a highly reliable Quality of Service based network infrastructure over which the Enterprise-wide video conferencing application could operate. This eliminated the need to install a duplicate and expensive, single-function ISDN network and provided additional return on the IP network investment.

The video conferencing trial proved that business objectives of meetings could be effectively accomplished at a fraction of the cost, complexity and stress. The ability to easily share files and presentations and still be cognizant of important body language clues contributed to Parks Canada’s decision to move forward with a Phase 1 project linking 10 regional offices with a managed IP video conferencing solution which enabled:

• Decreased travel costs and time away from the office
• Better quality of life and reduced stress on employees through decreasing their time away from home
• Greater responsiveness to emergencies and issues
• Quick and effective responses by senior management to policy and other organizational changes

Through the PWGSC Video Conferencing NMSO with TELUS, Parks Canada purchased a comprehensive video conferencing system, including:

video/audio bridge, dual screen video codecs in roll-about carts and a range of scheduling and support services. Key elements of the service included Web-based scheduling, automatic conference launch and Meet and Greet Hosting capabilities which helped make it simple for users to book and conduct conferences.  This level of system management permitted the introduction of video conferencing with minimal redeployment of CIO staff time.

A Project Team of Parks Canada staff and TELUS technical representatives collaborated to design, build, implement, test, and launch the new service.

In the first few months, with limited roll-out and training, Parks Canada averaged four, two-hour conferences per week.  This volume is expected to grow significantly as the service is promoted within the Agency, users are trained and facilities are extended to additional sites.

“Given that Parks Canada’s employees and executives are located all across the country – only 500 of our 5,000 employees work in the National Capital Region – video conferencing is really helping us to reduce costs and enhance the work-life balance of our executives,” said Andrew Campbell, Chief Information Officer. “We will still hold face-to-face meetings, where our executives have opportunities to discuss issues and ideas informally during meals and coffee breaks, and to develop stronger working relationships, but we see significant value in finding the right balance for our organization between on-site and video conference meetings.”

Parks Canada will expand the service to additional users and applications to provide advanced capabilities in the areas of training, executive communications, video streaming, and Web conferencing integration. A very exciting new project has also emerged. Feasibility studies are now underway to determine whether video technologies can be cost-effectively used to support a larger effort by Parks Canada to move outside the boundaries of its national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas to reach the growing number of Canadians who live in the country’s cities.