QC Communications on the rise

Negotiations for an ambitious and much-needed upgrade to Australia’s internet infrastructure began in parliament as early as 2006. However, it wasn’t until 2011, after a successful test rollout in Tasmania, that the National Broadband Network evolved, in earnest, into the largest infrastructure project in Australia’s history. As tenders for large scale works appeared in the market, an opportunity arose for the country’s telecommunications infrastructure businesses to put their best foot forward and have a hand in the transition to a digital future for the benefit of all Australians.

QC Communications has been providing high-quality telecommunications services nationally since 1997. Based in Sydney and boasting a driven and innovative team, QC Communications are well placed to make their mark on this new initiative and deploy the infrastructure required for households and business across the country.

In addition to working closely with Telstra to complete their LAN refresh project for Qantas, installing optical fibre cables at major airports across Australia, QC Communications have provided essential major and minor works for NBN since 2012, as well as on-going engagements with Optus, Vocus, TPG, and Visionstream, to name but a few.

QC Communications stand out from the pack in regards to the mix of internal and external field service experts to support their many clients within the industry.

In 2017, after years of high quality works for NBN, QC Communications engaged ConSol as their subcontractor and work management platform with the goal of improving service delivery quality, time and cost.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Colley, Company Director, and discuss the role of systems and technology in the successful expansion of QC Communications’ operation and to hear about his goals for their future.

“WE’RE A PROUD FAMILY COMPANY”

Despite a long legacy, this family company hasn’t shied away from trying new things and harnessing an innovative and entrepreneurial attitude towards change and growth. Meeting with the QC Communications team in Sydney, you can’t help but feel their passion and enthusiasm.

Steve and the team radiate with optimism and a keenness to see their business succeed. Service delivery and providing world-class outcomes for their work are always at the forefront of any strategy or change – and it’s working.

“Since the start of 2019, we have completed around 6,000 work orders in over 1,500 discrete projects for 11 different clients,” Steve recalls. They’re not stopping there: stronger growth is forecast on the back of recent success and their reputation.

It’s in the spirit of innovation that QC Communications engaged ConSol to optimise process, increase the visibility of works in progress, and a central conduit for engaging subcontractors and field crews.

“We’ve built a reputation for quality and efficiency. Even so, three years ago, our processes had been very manual and slow. There was no consistency across our different departments, and we had limited visibility and change control.”

“We engaged ConSol because of the increase in work we were experiencing. We wanted an IT solution to handle all contractor work, so we went to market to see what was available.”

With many moving parts and works being completed at different speeds, in different specialities, their focus was on reducing administration time and building simplicity into processes.

“We recognised that the controls and checks supported by ConSol would improve our processes”.

Working with QC Communications to assess their needs, it was clear early on that the successful solution would assist QC Communications to scale with speed and accuracy. Introducing a new platform involved reflection and analysis, but the team understood that focus and attention at the start of the implementation would pay dividends in future. “We recognised that you have to spend money to make money, and ultimately decided that putting the best solutions in place for QC Communications was worth the investment.”

Now, just over two years later, QC Communications continues to thrive.

“Our systems control our processes, ensuring all employees are doing things the same way and we have audit trails of who did what and when.” Steve explains, “We’ve hired more employees, bringing more technical expertise into the company, both in the field and in our systems.”

And the most impactful change?

“ConSol’s biggest benefit to date has been our improved ability to manage contractors’ claims.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE…

In conjunction with ConSol’s roadmap for continual innovation, Steve and the team will continue to drive amazing service, strong internal processes and fast completion of works to ensure their reputation for quality, efficiency and innovation advances.

“We’re expecting the next 12 months to continue to be very busy as we complete the major NBN rollout and transition into other project work for our clients.”