The Region of Durham lies immediately to the east of the City of Toronto and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. Home to more than 500,000 people, it is governed at the local level by eight area municipalities, and regionally by the Regional Council of Durham.

When the Region began planning its new 300,000 square foot municipal administrative facility in Whitby, significant allowances were provided for audio visual systems throughout the building. These included systems for the 5,000 square foot council chambers, 20,000 square foot Provincial court facility and the building’s many meeting rooms.

Price plus experience

The Design-Builder of the project hired a consultant to help them and a team of Regional staff draw up a Request for Proposals. From the responses submitted, the proposal from TELUS Collaboration Solutions was recommended and approved for implementation. “They were the best fit based on price, compliance and the experience they had in the field,” says Ron Blakey, the Region’s Manager, Administration & Strategic Planning, Corporate Information Services.

In the council chamber, TELUS installed a delegate microphone system to ensure all speeches and questions can be heard clearly. There are two video projectors, with screens on either side of the Regional Chairperson and Clerk. These are used for Microsoft® PowerPoint and video presentations, and can also display two different sources if required. This equipment is all controlled by a switching system and digital processor. In addition, a video camera allows for council meetings to be broadcast over the Region’s in-building cable system. An employee from the Region’s IT department manages these systems for each meeting. “The level of control is fabulous,” says Blakey.

A 100-seat committee room also has a video camera, allowing other staff members to monitor meetings over the building’s built-in narrowcasting system. “Previously, if you had to be in a committee meeting, it meant travel,” says Blakey. “Now, our staff can watch meetings on the in-building camera feed. There’s definitely a productivity gain.” However, employees still have to leave their desks to watch on a TV monitor, which is why Blakey is currently considering switching these feeds to IP. This will allow his department to stream them to computer desktops throughout the building and possibly over the Internet in the future.

Set up perfectly for presentations

Smaller meeting rooms accommodate between 20 to 25 and 45 to 50 people. The Region has a videoconferencing system, and all meeting rooms are equipped to use Polycom teleconferencing equipment, as well as video projection and audio systems, drop screens and lighting, all easily controlled by touch screens. “People use the projection systems mainly for Microsoft PowerPoint presentations,” says Blakey. “In the past, most departments had their own portable projectors. But if two people needed a projector at the same time, one of them would have to go borrowing. Now, to say that everyone who uses the equipment is impressed would not be overstating.”

In the courtroom area, the three larger rooms are equipped with court recording systems, as well as audio systems to ensure proceedings can be heard by everyone, while the two smaller rooms have full recording systems. To keep people informed while they wait outside, all courtrooms also have paging microphones connected to a public address staging system, with ceiling speakers in the facility’s hallways.

The Regional Emergency Operations Centre is also housed in the new building and, in the event of an emergency, is staffed by senior personnel from Regional Departments, the Durham Regional Police Service and other designated community partners. TELUS equipped this room with a dual video projection system, an audio system and a custom interface. Interactive mapping on one display can allow personnel to view an affected area, while the other display remains available for response planning, media monitoring or any other multimedia need. “With two nuclear stations in Durham, we have an extensive emergency plan” explains Blakey. “The functionality of the room improves the effectiveness of the people making decisions.”

From design to implementation to day-to-day maintenance support, Blakey has been impressed. “The TELUS project manager was very good at what he did and was very easy to work with. We’re very pleased with the overall experience, and we will continue to work with TELUS and consider them for future projects.”

Situation

• Staff members of Ontario’s Durham Region were housed in several buildings, with few meeting rooms of any significant size
• The Region embarked on construction of new 300,000 square foot area municipal offices
• The new building needed significant audio visual capabilities built into the council chamber, meeting rooms, Provincial Offences courts and the hallways outside the courts

Approach

• The contract with the Design-Builder included allowances for audio visual systems and equipment
• The Design-Builder hired a consultant to work with both them and the Region’s own resources in drafting a Request for Proposals
• The RFP described functional requirements and called for detailed recommendations
• Based on price, compliance and experience in the field, TELUS Collaboration Solutions was chosen as the best fit

Business Benefits

• Council and Committee meetings can be broadcast live on the in-building cable system
• Council and Committee meetings can be monitored by staff members, with no need to travel
• There is no longer a need for each department to either borrow or own and maintain its own equipment
• Set-up time in meeting rooms is negligible as all equipment is already installed and calibrated
• Non-technical end users have been impressed by the ease of use of all systems, thanks to touch screen controls