Parks Victoria, Microsoft launch ParkConnect

Parks Victoria has collaborated with Microsoft to launch ParkConnect, an interactive online system for managing parks and waterways.

The new platform helps support the frontline management provided by the state’s 400 park rangers and roughly 20,000 volunteers, as well as liaisons with businesses that conduct activity in the parks.

The cloud-based tool is designed to provide a secure, publicly accessible portal for external stakeholders like volunteers, tenants, researchers and licensed tour operators, as well as an internal system for Parks Victoria staff.

It uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 as its core customer relationship technology and can be integrated into Parks Victoria’s existing Microsoft Office 365 solution.

Parks Victoria COO Simon Talbot said the platform has helped the organisation decrease its reliance on paper and Excel spreadsheets for process management.

The platform has also helped the agency upgrade its ageing Access database and solve problems associated with the lack of interoperability with the previously disparate systems used to manage commercial leases, tour operator licensing and financial transactions.

“Managing parks and waterways is a mammoth effort, and with nature-based tourism on the rise it was growing increasingly challenging to manage our vast array of stakeholders effectively.

“Important data wasn’t being distilled down into a central hub so effective coordination and planning was suffering as a result,” he said.

“The [new] platform is used to manage everything from volunteer events and permits to research permits and leases, giving users rich insights so we can make informed business decisions. ParkConnect ensures our managers have clear transparency into what’s happening across the parks, giving them a dashboard that shows what’s pertinent in their area at any given moment, highlighting any safety risk and advising how best to manage it.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Roxana

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