Subject:  Telstra connects wireless (LAN) office Maisch).
Date:     Mon, 06 Nov 2000 182019 -0600
From:     Roy Beavers 
To:       guru 
--------------------------------------------------


.........From EMF-L........

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Telstra connects wireless office
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 10:05:58 +1100 (EST)
From: Don Maisch 
To: roy@emfguru.com

Hi Roy & All

I am seeking any information available on the below mentioned  "mobile
voice and wireless local area network (LAN) workspace". Frequency used,
power levels, technical details, any health complaints, is this system
already in operation in other countries? etc.

Most importantly will this require employees to wear headsets that  have an
in-built transmitting antenna?

It would seem that, as there is little or no research yet conducted (in the
West at least) on the long term-low level exposures to humans to the
frequencies used by this system, the 1000+ employees may, in effect, be
serving as laboratory rats for any study into their future health status.
Notice below where a senior manages states"We're using ourselves to trial
various wireless applications [in the corporate environment]"

A brave new world!

Don Maisch

Telstra connects wireless office
By Rachel Lebihan, ZDNet Australia News
03 November 2000  

For more than one thousand Telstra employees, an 11-storey office block in
Melbourne will soon become their wireless headquarters.

"It's a showcase work environment," Susan Kehoe, the venture's senior
project manager told ZDNet. "We're using ourselves to trial various
wireless applications [in the corporate environment]," she added.

Spearheading a mobile voice and wireless local area network (LAN)
workspace, Telstra has dished out around 500 WAP-enabled Siemens 35si
handsets to staff as well as Siemens/Plantronics headsets.

This week has seen the first application of the wireless LAN, currently
installed on two floors.

There hasn't been much feedback yet "other than it is good fun," Kehoe said.

The wireless LAN, which currently provides up to 60 LAN PC cards for laptop
users, will be monitored over the next couple of months to see "how this
helps us move people around and reduce costs," Kehoe said.

"One potential benefit for using wireless technology is that normally for
companies a significant proportion of cost is [that] of moving people
around, " Kehoe said.

LAN and cabling issues also effect office design, Kehoe said. "The more you
can do away with cables, the more freedom you have to design a workplace,"
she added.

Being able to access information on a LAN without having to cable up would
prove more efficient for the likes of boardroom meetings and data
conferencing, enabling staff to use laptops away from their workstations.

"It's all about creating a different style of working environment with
easier access to information and easier sharing of data," Kehoe said.

Telstra has been working on the project since the beginning of the year and
would not disclose the cost of the venture.

"[We've been] working on a very tight budget," Kehoe said. "It had to be a
viable business proposition. It was a very competitive office fit-out
cost," she added.

Telstra's wireless office coincides with its launch of Mobile Office for
WAP-enabled mobile phones, which allows real-time wireless access to
corporate clients' MS Outlook and Exchange server information, including
email, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes.



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