New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Deploys IP Telephony Solution from CSC, Nortel Networks  (email this article)

SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 2004--Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC - News) has teamed up with Nortel Networks (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) (NYSE:NT - News; TSX:NT - News) to deliver the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries (DPI) an AUS$1 million communications upgrade in metropolitan and regional NSW. This deployment is one of the first large IP (Internet Protocol) telephony implementations to go into the NSW Government.

The communications upgrade covers the relocation of DPI's Mineral Resources head office from St. Leonards in Sydney to Maitland near the Hunter Valley and includes communication links between the remaining 14 metropolitan and regional offices and a central server hosting facility in Redfern.

DPI was formed on July 1, 2004 with the amalgamation of Mineral Resources, NSW Agriculture, NSW Fisheries and State Forests of NSW.

Mike Webster, manager of ITS, Department of Primary Industries, Mineral Resources, said that the major shift was initiated by the intended move of the Mineral's head office from Sydney to Maitland. This move prompted a re-think of the way in which services were delivered to the client base and the opportunity for Mineral's staff to access their information sources including telephony. The subsequent amalgamation of four departments further illustrated the benefits that could accrue from flexible networking.

"The amalgamation and relocation created the need for a complete upgrade of our network and communications infrastructure, prompted by a business process improvement and software engineering project that resulted in DPI - Minerals standardising on browser-based business applications," Webster said.

CSC, a member of Nortel Networks Global Solutions Partner program, won a tender to design and install a telephony and data network using proven, highly-reliable equipment from Nortel Networks.

"There were numerous benefits for the DPI in deploying IP telephony instead of a traditional communications system," said Iain McGregor, director, CSC Network Engineering Services. "The collective experience of CSC and Nortel Networks in voice, data and converged networks was key to delivering the DPI's required solution. Along with that, we understand the design issues involved in developing a solution that is hardened against failure."

Webster said the DPI also favoured the proposal from CSC and Nortel Networks because of the strong relationship between the two global organisations. "The opportunity to have a cohesive end-to-end integration was the most impressive selling point," he said.

The solution was designed by CSC and developed with multiple layers of redundancy to meet the service availability levels required by the DPI. By using Nortel Networks voice over IP (VoIP) handsets connected to a wide area network (WAN) made up of intelligent IP-enabled communications servers, the design enables DPI staff to move between branches and offices and have their telephone profiles move with them. The same infrastructure also supports the use of laptop-based 'soft phones' that fully duplicate physical handsets when laptops are connected to the network.

The IP telephony solution includes Nortel Networks core and edge switch products, virtual private networking (VPN) switches, and IP telephony equipment including handsets.

"Essentially, the network represents a completely converged solution that brings together the benefits of voice and multimedia communications over a robust, fault-tolerant data network," said Steve Wood, president, Nortel Networks Australia and New Zealand. "For government departments like the DPI, a converged network not only frees up the channels of communications between staff and the public, but more importantly reduces operating expenditures at a time when capital spending and return on investment are paramount to continued investment in information technology."

The DPI also needed to connect its central and regional servers over a high-speed communications line. The department hosts its central servers at the AC3 data centre in Redfern, which connects the branch network to the Internet.

"In effect we've set up a centralised voice system," Webster said. "Nortel Networks Contivity switches at each regional site give us secure access to these locations and connect Succession boxes at each of the branches to the central system in Maitland. The system is fully redundant to the extent that if the head office fails, the regional offices can still talk to each other over the IP WAN."

"The Baystack switches provide 10/100 connectivity to the network edge and connect and power the IP handsets for branch staff, while the 5510 switches provide high-end users with gigabit access to the network," Webster said. "This not only gives us the flexibility of remote access and work-from-anywhere roaming, but has broken down the boundaries of how we do business with advanced features such as CallPilot unified messaging that integrates voice, fax and video with e-mail.

"Over time, running our communications and business services over a converged IP-enabled network will help us lower operating costs and accelerate service delivery, especially now that improved broadband availability in rural and regional areas and lower pricing have brought IP communications services to mainstream Australia," Webster said.

About CSC
Founded in 1959, Computer Sciences Corporation is a leading global IT services company. CSC's mission is to provide customers in industry and government with solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and enable them to profit from the advanced use of technology.

With approximately 90,000 employees, CSC provides innovative solutions for customers around the world by applying leading technologies and CSC's own advanced capabilities. These include systems design and integration; IT and business process outsourcing; applications software development; Web and application hosting; and management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., CSC reported revenue of US$14.9 billion for the 12 months ended July 2, 2004. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.csc.com.

About Nortel Networks

As a global innovation leader, Nortel Networks enriches consumer and business communications worldwide by offering converged multimedia networks that eliminate the boundaries among voice, data and video. These networks use innovative packet, wireless, voice and optical technologies and are underpinned by high standards of security and reliability. For both carriers and enterprises, these networks help to drive increased profitability and productivity by reducing costs and enabling new business and consumer services opportunities. Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel Networks on the Web at www.nortelnetworks.com.

Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other things: the outcome of Nortel Networks independent review and planned restatement or revisions of its previously announced or filed financial results; the impact of the management changes announced on April 28, 2004 and August 19, 2004; the impact of the inability to meet Nortel Networks filing obligations on support facilities and public debt obligations; the sufficiency of Nortel Networks restructuring activities, including the potential for higher actual costs to be incurred in connection with restructuring actions compared to the estimated costs of such actions; continued reductions in spending by Nortel Networks customers; fluctuations in Nortel Networks operating results and general industry, economic and market conditions and growth rates; the communication by Nortel Networks auditors of the existence of material weaknesses in internal controls; Nortel Networks ability to recruit and retain qualified employees; fluctuations in Nortel Networks cash flow, level of outstanding debt and current debt ratings; the use of cash collateral to support Nortel Networks normal course business activities; the dependence on Nortel Networks subsidiaries for funding; the impact of Nortel Networks defined benefit plans and deferred tax assets on results of operations and Nortel Networks cash flows; Nortel Networks dependence on new product development and its ability to predict market demand for particular products; Nortel Networks ability to integrate the operations and technologies of acquired businesses in an effective manner; the impact of rapid technological and market change; the impact of price and product competition; barriers to international growth and global economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets and including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of rationalization in the telecommunications industry; changes in regulation of the Internet; the impact of the credit risks of Nortel Networks customers and the impact of customer financing and commitments; stock market volatility generally and as a result of acceleration of the settlement date or early settlement of Nortel Networks purchase contracts; the impact of Nortel Networks supply and outsourcing contracts that contain delivery and installation provisions, which, if not met, could result in the payment of substantial penalties or liquidated damages; the future success of Nortel Networks strategic alliances; and the adverse resolution of litigation, investigations, intellectual property disputes and similar matters.

For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see the most recent Form 10-Q/A and Form 10-K/A filed by Nortel Networks with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel Networks disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Nortel Networks, the Nortel Networks logo, the Globemark, Business Without Boundaries, Succession, Contivity, Passport, BayStack and CallPilot are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

Use of the terms "partner" and "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between Nortel Networks and any other party.