Client
City of Gold Coast
Year of Completion
2021
Size of Project
Council Chambers
Location
City of Gold Coast, Australia
City of Gold Coast. The City of Gold Coast is the local government that covers the Gold Coast and area in Queensland, Australia. With a population of over 606,000, it is the second-most populous local government area in Australia after Brisbane. The council maintains a staff of over 2,500.
The City of Gold Coast required a full upgrade of audiovisual technologies within their chambers. The legacy system of the Gold Coast council chambers was unsupportable. This urged them to seek professional advice on a replacement system that could uplift their chambers into a modern-day room and feel proud to have the chamber sessions streamed to the public rather than nervous and frustrated about technology failures, unreliable audio, and an overall poor experience for viewers and users.
The priority and key requirement of this project highlighted the importance of providing a turnkey chambers solution, replacing the existing systems which were aged, and provided inconsistent results.
Working closely with the customer, GPA Australia, Pro AV Solutions deployed a modern, easy-to-use audiovisual solution that enhanced existing workflows and the quality of daily operations for those using the chambers.
The main stakeholder in this project was the customer. They were keen to get a solid solution that was easy for their team and took the stress and pressure off them before sessions so they were the key stakeholder.
The City of Gold Coast chambers was lacking a system that provided a quality product for operators, users, and the public. Given the prominence of the Chambers, this project had to be completed quickly with little to no interruption to the Council chamber’s meetings. The GPA Australia team worked closely with suppliers to lock in the stock ready at hand for deployment. The project was delivered on time and on budget.
To address the lack of a reliable audio-conferencing system, a conferencing solution was introduced to the chambers and enabled counselors to clearly read and view what was being discussed at the time. The solution offered an end-to-end system that did not require third-party operators and made the system a perfect choice for the City of Gold Coast.
The Council’s chamber now also features two large 138-inch full high-definition LED displays, along with four cameras in place to track pre-determined positions depending on who pushes the “Push to talk” button. The displays were chosen due to their premium image quality, construction, and local support.
An extreme wide-angle camera was also placed to capture the ultimate broad-angle view of the room. Each of the delegate units includes a 10” display, with camera and microphone speaker.
And for the first time, the Council has E Ink nameplates and can identify attendees at the meeting in a more elegant, efficient, and cost-effective way compared to the traditional printing solution. Frequent changes to seating arrangements and attendee names are handled seamlessly as the digital technology allows a quick and easy transition, even while the meeting is in progress. This has improved efficiencies for the staff at the Council and saved money on printing costs.
The customer was extremely pleased with the end result and has received positive comments from the public who are now able to stream Council meetings and experience both video and audio at a much higher quality.
The project quite notably has provided efficiencies as well as peace of mind for the Council staff. The GPA Australia Services team is there to test everything the day before any meeting and was able to attend and support during the meeting in case of any failures.
Prior to GPA’s engagement, multiple contractors and staff were required to manage meetings. Now GPA Australia is the sole contractor, leveraging the managed services while managing these meetings. Council staff is free to concentrate on their own tasks without any technology impediments.
