Our help desk will be available on 1800 248 999 for any urgent queries from the 29th to the 31st of December and the 2nd of January, outside these times, please leave a message and we will return your call during business hours.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

Samantha Gavel and David McGregor from the Private Health Insurance Ombudsmans Office attended the breakfast award ceremony on 12 March 2008 to collect the award.

Samantha Gavel and David McGregor with the Award

The NetGuide Australian Web Awards were awarded to sites in 20 categories including Google (best search site), Zazz (best online shopping site) and ninemsn Money (best finance site).

Websites are nominated by readers of the Australian NetGuide magazine, which is the country’s top selling Internet magazine. Over 7000 nominations were received for the 2007 Awards.

See the NetGuide website to find out which websites were successful in the other categories.

Matt Forsyth joined our Content Team as a Content Officer and James Cusick joined our Software Team this month.

Welcome to the HS Team!

Applicants should be interested in pursuing a career in web design and development, have excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a team-based environment.

Ideally, you will have:

The following would also be seen as an advantage:

An attractive salary package will be negotiated with the successful applicant based on qualifications and experience.

To apply, please email an application addressing the criteria along with a copy of your resume to jobs2008@hs.com.au by Friday, February 15.

Sarah D'Oyley-Carter joined our Content Team as a Content Officer in November and Sam Knight joined our Software Team as a Software Engineer in September.

Welcome to the HS Team!

Applicants should be interested in pursuing a career in software design and development, have excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a team-based environment.

Desirable criteria for this position are:

• Have attained or working towards a university degree in an IT related discipline.

The following would be seen as an advantage:

• Experience in Microsoft C# and ASP.NET.
• Experience with XML related technologies such as XSLT, XPATH and XSD.
• Experience with JavaScript and related technologies such as DOM and AJAX.
• Experience or knowledge of SQL Server 2005 or Oracle 10g databases.
• Knowledge of current web standards and accessibility guidelines.

You can download the duty statement for the position (Adobe PDF: 96K / 3 pages).

An attractive salary package will be negotiated with the selected applicant, based on their qualifications and experience.

To apply, email an application addressing the above requirements along with a copy of your resume to jobs2007@hs.com.au by COB Wednesday September 12.

Essential requirements:

• A university degree in an IT related discipline or at least 5 years experience with excellent references.
• At least 2 years post-university experience using Microsoft C# and ASP.NET.
• Experience with XML related technologies such as XSLT, XPATH and XSD.
• Experience with JavaScript and related technologies such as DOM and AJAX.
• Experience with Cascading Style Sheets.
• Experience developing ASP.NET Web Services.
• Experience with SQL Server 2005 or Oracle 10g databases.

Desirable requirements:

• Knowledge of best practices for current web standards and accessibility guidelines.

You can download the duty statement for the position (Adobe PDF: 61K / 3 pages).

An attractive salary package will be negotiated with the selected applicant, based on their qualifications and experience.

To apply, email an application addressing the above requirements along with a copy of your resume to jobs2007@hs.com.au.

Our help desk will be available on 1800 248 999 for any urgent queries from 27 to 29 December (outside these times, please leave a message and we will return your call during business hours).

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

Originally put in place in 2003 to support the Business Licence Information Service and a range of other products. In 2001 and 2004, we added additional servers to support the Resource Generator and National Public Toilet Map.

With the increase in hosting load, and the aging hardware and software, we decided to migrate to a new server in order to maintain and improve our hosting service. The new server will provide a common platform with our other servers, and ensure a significant performance boost for all of our products.

We expect that the migration process will be completed by the end of the year, with minimal impact on users through our comprehensive testing and out-of-hours migration.

Our hosting servers are provided through Networking Tasmania, and our warm backups are located off-site.

We have experimented with a range of spam filtering options, including extensive blacklists, but the volume of spam has still been overwhelming (more than 400 spam messages per day). We have also had some real emailed blocked, causing unnecessary confusion.

In order to resolve our spam issues, but prevent real email from being blocked, we have subscribed to the MessageLabs managed email service, which provides a high level of redundancy for email delivery and minimises spam.

In the first month of operation, this service has blocked more than 15,000 spam emails (or over 60 percent of attempted mail deliveries). In addition, all incoming and outgoing email at Human Solutions is scanned for viruses by a range of systems, protecting both us and our clients.

This approach allows us to focus on the emails that are most important - those from our clients and customers.

The site includes a range of new and updated features, including:

• Enhanced reports, featuring new layout and improved form integration;
• New report options, including a summary of compliance requirements;
• Performance improvements, especially with report generation; and
• Updated visual design, simplifying use of the site.

The BLIS, available in South Australia and the Northern Territory, continues to be maintained using eContent. For more than fifteen years, Human Solutions has been delivering business licence information in Australia.

The site is hosted on one of our servers located at Networking Tasmania.

Our help desk will be available on 1800 248 999 for any urgent queries from 28 to 30 December (outside these times, please leave a message and we will return your call during business hours).

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

Human Solutions undertook a significant number of tasks for the project, including consultation, expert site review, requirements analysis, information design, visual design, template development and integration support.

Visual design was outsourced to two graphic designers: Gataric & Freeman Design and Peta Riddell Design. Tony Holzner from H4 New Media developed functional HTML and CSS layouts for integration into the portal.

The project had an ambitious schedule, but despite this we were able to deliver a high quality result on time and within budget. Congratulations to all involved!

Lauren Bryan, the project manager, co-presented a paper with Bill Chapman, president of the Australian Toilet Association (ATA). The presentation covered a wide range of topics related to the redevelopment of the site. The issues raised were well received by delegates, who were keen to discuss our experience in more detail.

Lauren Bryan, Project Manager, speaking at the
inaugural World Toilet Forum in Shanghai, China

The World Toilet Forum aims to bring together industry and government to discuss world toilet development and management issues. The forum, organised by the World Toilet Organisation will be held in Thailand in 2006.

Bill Chapman, President of the Australian Toilet Association,
with his wife Barbara, joined Miles Rochford and Lauren Bryan from Human Solutions at the World Toilet Expo in Shanghai, China

Lauren Bryan, the project manager will be co-presenting with Bill Chapman, president of the Australian Toilet Association (ATA). The presentation will cover a wide range of topics related to the redevelopment of the site. Miles Rochford, web site designer on the project will be accompanying Lauren to the forum to assist with any technical questions.

The World Toilet Forum aims to bring together industry and government to discuss world toilet development and management issues. The forum, organised by the World Toilet Organisation is the first forum of its kind and will become an annual event.

The Content Officer will be responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and support of data in Human Solutions' information systems. The responsibilities include the collection, analysis and updating of data as well as assisting with client support.

Duties include:

• Analysing and cleaning complex data sets;
• Performing day-to-day content management tasks;
• Performing quality assurance procedures;
• Developing documentation;
• Assisting with Web site software testing; and
• Assisting with Help Desk queries.

You can download the full position description (Adobe PDF: 69K / 2 pages).

Applicants must have tertiary qualifications or equivalent work experience and be interested in a career in information management or content management.

To apply, email an application addressing the criteria in the position description and a copy of your resume to jobs2005@hs.com.au before COB on Friday 4 March 2005.

Update: Lucy Sprott has joined the Human Solutions content team.

Our help desk will be available on 1800 248 999 for any urgent queries from 29 to 31 December (outside these times, please leave a message and we will return your call during business hours).

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

Once again, some of our quiz gurus were unable to attend, but we had strength in numbers - with staff on three separate teams. In addition to a dedicated HS team, we also had staff on the YITT team and a mixed team from other organisations.

Some of the local IT industry attending the Quiz Night

With three teams in contention, competition was fierce, and we were outgunned by other teams in the early rounds. However, as the night wore on, our teams were able to win several categories and move to stronger positions. Surprisingly, our younger staff members found the quiz much more balanced this year, and were able to improve our score in the later rounds of Music and TV & Movies.

At the end of the night, our teams finished equal second, fourth and fifth - an outstanding performance from all involved, and a significant improvement on our performance last year.

The night was a fun and entertaining event, and the organisers from WIITT once again did an outstanding job running the proceedings (with somewhat fewer disputes than last year!). Congratulations to the winning teams!

The awarding of the tender to Human Solutions demonstrates our ability to effectively manage large-scale distributed data sets, and develop innovative ways of presenting information.

We will be working with two other Tasmanian companies on the project:

• Geometry - providing spatial technology for map generation and location-based services; and
• Leigh Carmichael Design - creating the visual presentation of the site.

Together, we will be providing a complete solution for the project, including content management, metadata compliance, information architecture, graphic design, software development, spatial infrastructure, usability testing, help desk support and Web site hosting.

Congratulations to everyone at Human Solutions! We look forward to working with the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing team.

He has written a short article describing his experience and summarising the highlights of the conference.

Human Solutions is a certified SoftwareMark Bronze company officially registered with Software Engineering Australia (S:E:A) as undertaking both software process and business capability improvement programs. S:E:A recognises this commitment to continuous improvement.

We are now working towards achieving SoftwareMark Silver, which includes CMMI Class B Level 2 evaluation.

More information about SoftwareMark can be found on our new SoftwareMark certification page.

Our new certification provides a greater focus on customer service and project management practices. This will allow us to better meet the needs of our clients whilst developing more efficient management procedures.

Congratulations and thank you to all the staff at Human Solutions. Your efforts in transitioning the system are greatly appreciated.

More details on our commitment to quality are available on our quality assurance page.

This means we now provide an end-to-end service for the Grants Register: collecting and maintaining the content on the site, hosting and maintaining the Web site front end, providing search functionality, delivering email notifications, and supporting end-users.

The migration was successfully performed in late 2003, providing both the Office of Regional Affairs and users of the site with greater reliability and higher quality services.

The Diploma focused on assessing project management competency and maintaining a level of IT technical competence. It was completed by distance education and assessed using case studies and practical workplace examples.

Christie also has a Bachelor of Information Systems, from the University of Tasmania, that she completed in November 2000.

Our help desk will be available for any urgent queries during the Christmas/New Year period - call us on 1800 248 999, leave a detailed message, and we will return your call during business hours.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

Teams from five states and territories presented their business plans to a panel of judges, and were assessed on their marketing, financials, presentation and overall performance.

Miles Rochford, from Human Solutions, attended the national finals as part of the Aus Property Search team.

Nick Bonner (Tas Land Search), Mark Nicholson (Aurora Energy), Miles Rochford (Human Solutions), and Leigh Carmichael (Leigh Carmichael Design) shortly before their presentation to the judging panel.

Aus Property Search were declared the winners of Best Financial Plan (sponsored by Achaeus). It was a convincing win, underlining the quality of the financial analysis and presentation produced for the business plan.

The Queensland team won the Best Marketing Plan and the Australian Capital Territory team won the Best Presentation (by only 1% over Aus Property Search).

At the end of the day, the Australian Capital Territory team held off close competition from Queensland and Tasmania to win the National Enterprise Workshop for 2003.

Jayde Taylor Godfrey was born early this evening, and mother and baby are doing well.

Best wishes to Nathan, Rachael and Jayde for their future together!

The Tasmanian Enterprise Workshop is a competitive program conducted over a five month period, focusing on helping participants learn how to develop a business idea and create a strong foundation for growth.

Miles Rochford, from Human Solutions, attended the workshop in association with Aus Property Search.

Mark Nicholson (Aurora Energy), Miles Rochford (Human Solutions), Nick Bonner (Tas Land Search) and Leigh Carmichael (Leigh Carmichael Design) at the awards announcement, held at Parliament House.

In addition to the overall win, the Aus Property Search team also won the prizes for Best Marketing Plan (sponsored by the Australian Marketing Institute) and Best Financial Plan (sponsored by CPA Australia).

The Aus Property Search team will fly to Brisbane to represent Tasmania in the national finals during November.

The directory will enable people who want to purchase ICT products and services to access concise, accurate and relevant information on the capabilities of the Tasmanian ICT industry.

Initiatives like the IntelligentIsland.com.au directory help to promote the state’s ICT capabilities and are an essential ingredient in any attempt to build a strong and vibrant IT sector.

Paul Lennon, Deputy Premier

The launch was attended by more than thirty representatives from the local industry, and included a demonstration of the new site.

Paul Lennon (Deputy Premier), Miles Rochford (Human Solutions), and John Hayton (Executive Director, Intelligent Island) at the launch.

As part of the project, Human Solutions is providing support services to the site for the next three years, including a 1800 telephone number.

We are also hosting the site on our latest server at Networking Tasmania, the first in their dedicated commercial hosting facility.

I heartily congratulate... Aus Property Search. They are producing technology and software that can only boost Tasmania's reputation as a place of high-tech excellence.

Senator Guy Barnett

Human Solutions is proud to be a member of the Aus Property Search consortium, along with Tas Land Search, Geometry and Leigh Carmichael Design.

We will be providing Web site development and hosting services, including overall project management for the duration of the development.

John McCann (CEO, TECC), Gerry Bonner (Chairman, Aus Property Search), Miles Rochford (Project Manager, Human Solutions), and Damon Rigby (Business Services Officer, TECC) at the announcement, held at Launceston's Telstra Broadband eLab.

The funded project focuses on developing a Web-based system to dynamically access data from existing spatial information sources, analyse and apply geo-technical expertise, and produce comprehensive reports for delivery to customers.

We are proud to support innovative companies using broadband to drive their ideas and products.

John McCann, CEO, TECC

Further information is available in these media releases:

• Aus Property Search
• Senator Guy Barnett
• Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre

The Business Development Fund is a $5 million commitment from the Commonwealth Government as part of the Launceston Broadband Project. The BDF is managed by the Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre (TECC) and is funded by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts (DOCITA).

The Parkside Foundation is a Hobart-based not-for-profit organisation providing services for people with disabilities, older people, and for their family and carers.

Brian Treanor (Parkside Foundation) and David Llewellyn (Minister for Health and Human Services) at the launch.

Human Solutions developed the Web site in conjunction with the Foundation, using eDevelop, our Web content management system. This provided a cost effective solution and enabled the site to be created relatively quickly.

The site is designed for a wide range of users, and incorporates accessible design elements including audio files, flexible design and W3C compliant layouts.

In addition, the site features staff discussion forums, an electronic timesheet and password protected sections.

The site is hosted on one of our servers at Networking Tasmania.

Originally put in place in 1998 to support the Business Licence Information Service, our current server has grown to provide Web hosting, replication and other services for a significant number of our products. In 2001, we added another server to support additional products and services.

With the increase in hosting load, and the aging hardware and software, we decided to migrate to a new server in order to maintain and improve our hosting service. The new server will provide a common platform with our other servers, and ensure a significant performance boost for all of our products.

We expect that the migration process will take several months, as we will try to minimise the impact on users through comprehensive testing and out-of-hours migration.

Our hosting servers are provided through Networking Tasmania, and our warm backups are located off-site.

Applicants must have a degree in Computer Science (or equivalent) and be experienced in a range of software development environments and languages, such as HTML, ASP, JavaScript, XML or Lotus Domino/Notes. Experience in Microsoft .NET is essential.

To work at Human Solutions, you must have excellent communication skills and enjoy working in a small innovative team-based environment.

For further information contact jobs2003@hs.com.au.

Update: Chris Page has joined the Human Solutions development team.

Human Solutions worked with Neal Costello, a graphic designer who has worked with other Antarctic organisations, to develop a new look for the site using HTML 4.0, CSS stylesheets and updated graphics.

In addition to the visual improvements, the COMNAP site was able to benefit from our ongoing experience in Lotus Domino. Reviewing some original design decisions and replacing inefficient code improved the speed of the site dramatically - with some pages loading more than 80 times faster.

More information about the project is available.

The awarding of the tender to Human Solutions demonstrates our commitment to the local ICT sector and capability to deliver competitive and innovative solutions for the local market.

Once again, we will be working with Leigh Carmichael Design to create a site that is both functional and attractive.

Intelligent Island have issued a detailed press release announcing the project. We look forward to working with the Intelligent Island team.

We were nervous at the outset, as some of our key quiz experts had other committments, but our initial rounds were positive, keeping us in contention.

A scavenger hunt broke up proceedings, and Human Solutions won this round, with three of the eight items required. We collected a bottle of Niagara, a bottle of Holm Oak 2002 Riesling, and a variety of alkaline batteries.

The Quiz Night drew a large crowd from the local IT industry.

Despite heavy competition, we were able to maintain our top 5 position for most of the evening, often the only team able to answer the difficult questions (reassuringly well in IT). However, due to our younger group, we performed poorly in the music and popular culture sections.

At the end of the night, though, we were satisfied with our 7th place (of 14 teams).

A great night was had by all, and we look forward to competing in next year's event. Thanks to the organisers for an excellent evening, and congratulations to the winning teams.

Tania Johns, a member of our Content team, married her partner Heath at a garden ceremony in Kingston, also on Saturday 10 May. Tania has recently become full-time at Human Solutions, allowing Heath to take care of their beautiful baby girl.

From all at Human Solutions, congratulations to both couples, and best wishes for a happy and healthy future together!

After extensive data clean-up by the Content team, over 1000 codes entries were imported into eContent, our Web content management and publishing system. These entries are also published for use by the Business Licence Information System.

The Codes of Practice Web site provides information about codes of practice, standards, design rules, etc referenced by legislation that may be required to operate a business.

More information about the project is available.

The course will build on Lauren's project and content management experience gained at Human Solutions, and will also provide her with formal qualifications in information management.

Lauren previously graduated from the University of Tasmania with Honours in Psychology in 1999.

Our help desk will be available for any urgent queries during the Christmas/New Year period - call us on 1800 248 999, leave a detailed message, and we will return your call during business hours.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from all at Human Solutions!

His Honours thesis assessed the role of usability in a large government software development project, with the goal of improving usability outcomes in future projects.

Miles also has a Bachelor of Science (with majors in Information Systems and Geography) from the University of Tasmania, awarded in 1999. He commenced Honours part time in 2000, and completed his dissertation in mid 2002.

From all at Human Solutions, congratulations Miles!

The guidelines, written by Lauren Bryan, were designed to provide an overview of the content management of the site, with a focus on encouraging countries to update their information regularly.

They also provided an opportunity to document the many different ways the site can be used by registered users. Additionally, the guidelines were designed to be used by those who read English as a second language, a particular challenge when drafting the document.

A number of other enhancements have been made to the site in 2002, including the addition of energy management information, reporting of environmental incidents, and the ability to search reference documents.

Both sites provide a significant amount of content from legacy Web sites, with additional information added in key areas. The sites also feature private sections for WorkCover Tasmania board members, insurers and other professional bodies. Additional content is being added over time.

Brian Marriott and Michael Rochford, getting into the swing
of things at the Hobart launch of Workplace Safe Week.
(photo courtesy WorkCover Tasmania)

A key feature of the WorkCover site is its subscription capability - users can subscribe to sections of the site that they are interested in, and receive daily, weekly or fortnightly emails about recent updates and additions.

Both sites were created using eDevelop, our Web content management and publishing system. More information about our involvement in the WorkCover Tasmania and Workplace Standards Tasmania projects is available.

Tas Land Search provides detailed land information to solicitors undertaking conveyancing on behalf of clients. The site allows them to submit searches online and receive customised reports within hours, including information on mining/exploration leases, geological issues and landslip zoning.

Nick Bonner (Managing Director, Tas Land Search),
Miles Rochford (Project Manager, Human Solutions), and
Gerry Bonner at the Launceston launch of the new Web site.

A key feature of the site is its eCommerce capability - online processing of credit card payments, using the Westpac Payments Gateway. A first for Human Solutions, the payment system builds on our extensive experience with non-financial transactions.

The site initially focuses on Launceston-based clients, but a Hobart launch is scheduled for later this year.

Human Solutions developed the site in conjunction with Leigh Carmichael Design, and host it through one of our servers at Networking Tasmania. More information about the project is available.

We are looking forward to both collaborating further with Chimo and developing the vision for the LGEP in the second part of the tendering process. Congratulations to the other shortlisted candidates.

Update: Human Solutions and Chimo were unsuccessful in the final round of the LOGONS tendering process. Congratulations and good luck to the successful consortium!

To coincide with the move to our new building, the Human Solutions Web site has been completely redeveloped to better reflect the nature of our business and relationship with clients.

Our old site (shown at right), was launched in 1997, and has remained virtually unchanged since. Our new site provides an opportunity to 'practice what we preach'.

Our new site features sections on the types of work we undertake and areas of expertise, staff profiles and past work. We hope to add additional content, particularly white papers, in the future.

Leigh Carmichael Design updated our corporate image to coincide with our move and the new Web site. Existing clients will have seen our move notification postcard, and we also have new letterhead and business cards.

A local photographer, Sarah McGregor, produced the staff portraits featured on the site. We hope to have some staff contributions in future.

Please let us know what you think of our new site.

Renovations to our new building, formerly the home of the Trust Bank computing centre, were completed in July 2002.

The move allows for future growth and improved staff facilities, whilst maintaining high security and quality technical infrastructure. Our telephone and Internet services were also upgraded as part of the move.

Our Contact page provides our updated postal address, telephone and facsimile numbers, along with directions and parking information.

We attended the main event (five keynote speakers), and day-long workshops on Content Writing for the Web and Information Architecture. The conference was an opportunity to discuss issues in person with key experts in different fields (both during question time and after each presentation), and meet other usability professionals from around Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Other faces from Tasmania included the State Library, DPIWE and LOGONS. There were a large number of government participants, although there were more academic participants than the 2001 conference.

The site, developed by Human Solutions, allows businesses throughout the state to register or update their contact details, should police need to gain access to their premises.

A television campaign has been launched to advise businesses of the need to keep their details up-to-date.