Western Cape children depend on Childline for help in crisis. The important administrative work behind the counselling will now get better and faster, thanks to the upgrading of the Wynberg office`s technology infrastructure last month.
Until now, the small team of counsellors had to make use of six standalone computers, of which only one was connected to a printer and the Internet. With the donation of a small business server and a proper computer network from Cape Town IT companies Lightedge, EOH and SIMCC, they will now all be able to print, share information, use e-mails, store important documents in a centralised location, and back up vital data for off-site storage.
"Childline provides a vital service to the community. As such, it has been difficult for them to cope with such limited IT infrastructure for so long. One can only wonder how many other NGOs are in the same boat," says David Musikanth, Lightedge marketing and corporate sales director.
Childline does not charge for its services, and relies on funding - both from government and the private sector - to provide the work that it does. When trauma calls continued to increase to about 4 000 per month with support still relying on the same outdated IT system, Childline started contacting local IT companies for help.
EOH responded to the request immediately by arranging a three-way sponsorship between itself for the set-up of the new network, Lightedge, for the donation of the server, the operating systems and licences, and SIMCC for the network cabling. Michele Campbell, a director at EOH Western Cape, says: "We are very grateful that we have been given this opportunity to truly make a difference to people`s lives. We so often get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of everyday life, and being involved in something as special as this gives everyone an opportunity to reflect on what`s really important to us as individuals."
In addition, EOH will provide Childline with ongoing IT infrastructure maintenance services at a much-reduced rate for weekly on-site visits, saving Childline about R12 000 per year. EOH will also train counsellors on Microsoft Office to help them work as cleverly as possible and become self-reliant.
Laura Blake, Childline Manager, says: "The lack of a proper IT set up has been a source of great frustration for staff, making it difficult for them to be completely focused in their response to traumatised children. The new IT set-up will go a long way in helping us help more children."
Another benefit, says Blake, is that Childline can now more easily stay in touch with other organisations and developments in the field of child protection by networking with them via e-mail.
Plans for the future include establishing a network between the crisis line centre and Childline`s Wynberg offices where all the reports are processed and followed-up. At present, counsellors still have to enter all the details from a trauma call into the computer for statistical purposes and then duplicate the information on a separate form to fax through to the Wynberg offices. This robs them of valuable time to complete extra paperwork instead of taking another child`s call.
"Without our technical worries, Childline can now just focus 100% on the children again. This donation, which most IT companies may consider a modest gesture, has really made a tremendous difference to us," she concludes.
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Established in 1993, Lightedge Technology is a national IT distributor and hardware platform integration specialist, which provides a wide range of leading brand hardware and software products and peripherals. Headquartered in Cape Town, the company has a national footprint with regional offices and showrooms in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit and Windhoek. Through this national network it offers clients superior products and systems from recognised names such as Intel, Stratus, Rose, Canon, SMC Networks, MSI, QCA, Aten, Transcend, Microsoft, Datafab and others. For more information on Lightedge Technology and its products, please visit www.lightedge.co.za.
EOH
EOH is a business and technology solutions provider creating lifelong partnerships by developing business and IT strategies, supplying and implementing solutions and managing enterprise-wide business systems and processes for medium to large clients. EOH operates in the following three clusters of business units as a fully integrated business:
Consulting - Concentrated under the EOH Consulting brand are business units offering services ranging from strategic and business process consulting, project services, change management, supply chain optimisation and education. The EOH Consulting business unit is responsible for delivering IT solutions that make business sense. We focus on providing remarkable technology solutions using robust methodologies to perform along the following four dimensions of IT excellence:
* Business-alignment
* Quality
* Risk management
* Cost management
Technology - Through a number of subsidiary companies, EOH is able to sell, implement, and support a range of world-class business applications including enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, business intelligence, advanced planning and scheduling, e-commerce and manufacturing execution systems.
Outsourcing - EOH offers comprehensive maintenance and support of client`s IT infrastructure and applications through the rendering of full IT outsourcing, application hosting and managed services. In addition, EOH offers full business process outsourcing services.
EOH has a presence in all major centres in South Africa and Botswana, and operates in the rest of Africa.
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