How PCYC Queensland transformed its network to better serve its communities

Challenge

Stronger networks to help build stronger communities

The technology team at PCYC Queensland was used to meeting the challenge of vast distances. With 160 locations across a range of  inner city areas, remote regional locations and coastal islands.

However, regular network outages and equipment failures from an unreliable provider were becoming major issues with things like entry scanners and safety cameras in their 24/7 gyms. The not-for-profit generates over 80% of its revenue through its commercial services across out of school care programs and gym memberships, with success relying on ensuring these businesses serve paying customers effectively.

“We don’t take a hardline approach to contracts or joining fees like some of our competitors,” says Mitch Ryder, PCYC Queensland’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are solely reliant on member experience for retention. There is no barrier to exit. If they’re unhappy, they can just go join another gym or do something else.” 

Looking for a more robust and reliable service, PCYC Queensland chose Telstra and specialist partner Entag to transform their operations for the future.

Solution

Rapid rollout, reliable connectivity

Facing a tight four-month deadline to transition from its existing contract and avoid significant costs, PCYC Queensland needed a rapid and reliable technology overhaul.

Telstra and partner Entag worked closely with PCYC to understand the unique needs of its diverse locations, from urban centres with nbn access to remote areas reliant on wireless connectivity. The solution had to accommodate varying infrastructure while ensuring consistent reliability.  

The team designed a new Software-Defined Wide Area Network or SD-WAN, tailored to PCYC’s operational needs. This included transitioning phone services from traditional PABX systems to Microsoft Teams-based calling, alongside upgraded network hardware. The new setup allowed each local venue to adapt to its available broadband.

The rollout took place during the COVID pandemic, and the shift to Microsoft Teams enabled hybrid work for office staff, and kept the organisation running smoothly. To ease the transition, we included Teams-compatible handsets to accommodate an easier cultural adjustment for PCYC volunteers. It was important to the PCYC technology team to make the transition as smooth as possible given years of poor experience under their previous supplier. 

Each location received individual attention, reinforcing trust in the new network. The improved network resilience also reduced the need for costly technical trips to remote sites.

Approach

Strategic partnerships ensured on-time delivery

Telstra and our partner Entag planned the rollout based on Cisco Meraki hardware to deliver the SD-WAN solution to all PCYC Queensland clubs. Given the short timeframe for the entire installation and the extremely high demand on new technology hardware during 2021, this was only possible through Telstra’s relationship with Cisco. 

“The estimated lead time on some hardware was longer than the whole project needed to be,” says Ryder. “With Telstra and Entag as Diamond Partners of Cisco, they were able to get priority access to deliver the job on time.” 

The new PCYC Telstra broadband network operates on the best available connectivity at each location. For well-connected areas this means nbn fibre connections, while in more remote areas 4G and 5G provide the backbone. All connections are backed by redundancy options to ensure network reliability for 24/7 operations. 

“One of the key strengths of Entag was that they were local. They understood the geography, they understood the issues, they had the resources to throw at it,” says Ryder. “It was really running three concurrent projects at the one time. But for us it really was seamless.” 

The transformation project extended to two further projects for PCYC Queensland. The organisation quickly progressed a cloud migration that became easier thanks to the SD-WAN rollout, which in turn enabled the shutdown of its head office in favour of moving to satellite office arrangements across seven office locations. 

The new Microsoft services layer has also enhanced a range of PCYC technology operations. Microsoft Teams calling was integrated with a new Telstra IP Telephony (TIPT) system that offered PCYC a hybrid calling service. The new Microsoft Azure cloud data environment also enabled centralising payment systems for easier management as well as enhancing data and network security for the whole organisation. 

“We now have a number of feeds come into our platform to give us real-time reporting and alerting on any network and security events so our team can act on them straight away,” says Ross Bloomfield, Operations Manager, Digital Solutions, PCYC Queensland.

Impact

New innovation and commercial growth

Since their new network went live in 2021, the PCYC Queensland team reports the resilience of the new service has been near perfect and staff found the transition to be as seamless as they had hoped.

“We saw massive improvements in terms of the speeds that we were providing,” says Bloomfield. “The bandwidth that we're providing to our remote sites is a huge boost in productivity.” 

“When there’s an issue at a site now we’re not getting frantic calls from staff, we’re contacting them to say that they’re on failover while we’re working on a solution,” says Ryder. “They don’t even know anything is wrong because the redundancy is working so well.” 

Most importantly for PCYC revenue, the organisation says that since the new SD-WAN rollout, it has quickly grown to serve more gym customers than ever. 

“We bounced back from COVID faster than the industry average,” says Ryder. “The new network has given us confidence to truly sell the product as a go-anywhere membership because we know the system will work the way customers expect it to now.”