Hertfordshire County Council is using conferencing systems and collaboration software to promote flexible working and meet carbon emissions targets.

Between April and August next year, the council is consolidating more than 50 offices into three main sites, which will be linked with telephone and videoconferencing, and secure instant messaging, for 20,000 staff.

The scheme is central to plans to cut staff travel time and introduce greener working practices, said Herts network manager Dave Mansfield.

“As people would have to drive further to get to one of the three sites, we wanted videoconferencing to allow them to work more flexibly,” he said.

“Staff will be able to have a conference without travelling to the meeting, which will reduce carbon emissions.”

The implementation uses the council’s 10G ethernet infrastructure and Alcatel-Lucent’s My Teamwork technology, rolled out by a&o systems + services UK.

“Nearly everything we implement is going in the direction of flexible working,” said Mansfield.

“Staff can also use laptops via a wireless VPN.”