Toll Networks New Zealand (MIS100 2012)

Transport and logistics company Toll Networks New Zealand rebuilt its ICT infrastructure when it sold its rail and ferry business to the government in 2008. The sale included the company’s shared information services group, and this prompted Toll to hire TelstraClear to take charge of its desktop, security and datacentre services, WAN and IP telephony. The IT team now provides applications analysis and project management services.

 The outsourcing arrangement fits Toll’s continued growth through acquisition. “The focus is on making sure our infrastructure is right sized and allows future growth,” says Allister Lowe, group IT manager New Zealand. “Whenever something of significance comes in like an acquisition or a project, we are able to pull out additional resource from all of our suppliers.”

Lowe says the team is involved in a range of “interesting projects”, which includes “revenue protection” initiatives. One of these is the installation of overhead scanners for their freight business. The scanners electronically calculate the size and weight of the parcel and compare these to the declared weight. The difference will be shouldered by the customer. Toll is also looking to refresh its website so customers can create consignment notes and track their parcels through a variety of devices, including tablet PCs. A time and attendance system is being trialled where workers’ fingerprints will be scanned every time they come to the site and register their attendance. The scanners will feed the data into the payroll system. Unified communications is another key project, and the group is checking out videoconferencing systems to be used on desktops and laptops. Lowe says this will improve collaboration and communication across the different business units.