Health ministry adopts instant messaging

Computerworld New Zealand Online

New Zealand’s Ministry of Health (MoH) is about to roll out instant messaging to all staff following a six-month trial.

The ministry has 15 offices around New Zealand and wants a more cost-effective way for staff to keep in touch, according to acting CIO Denis Black.

“The move is in response to an information systems strategic plan, which called for better communication tools and ways to assist in reducing internal e-mails,” says Black in a written statement.

The ministry will use IBM Corp.’s Lotus Sametime, for its security benefits, rather than any of the free instant message applications. As Computerworld Online reported last week, most IM platforms are deployed by end users rather than in a coordinated effort by IT departments. Of those that are deployed formally rather than informally, Sametime claims the lion’s share – 73 percent – of the market, according to Fortune magazine.

Black hopes to save costs on video and phone conferencing by using Sametime’s group messaging capability.

Last year, Lotus’s messaging solutions head, Ken Bisconti, told Computerworld Online that General Electric users conduct about 14,000 “Quick Place” meetings a day using Sametime’s secure chat function feature.

“It lets you know when someone else is online, you can engage in electronic meetings and application sharing as well as data sharing.” Because Sametime runs on Lotus Notes, it ties in with e-mail received by Notes users.

“If you receive an e-mail from someone you can immediately see if they’re online at that time and choose to reply in real time via Sametime.”

MoH’s Black hopes to roll out the IM solution to all ministry employees in the next three to six months.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now