Con Michael believes his portable, video conferencing technology can help save lives, and is calling on the state government to do more to help him realise this vision.
Con Michael believes his portable, video conferencing technology can help save lives, and is calling on the state government to do more to help him realise this vision.
When Balconi Telecommunications managing director Con Michael was put in contact with a United Nations team in Kenya by a mutual connection, he had no idea it would lead to his company winning one of Australia’s most prestigious engineering awards.
“While out on assignment the UN workers could only communicate by phone, so they’d have to get on the satellite phone to explain the dynamics of an area or complex situation happening in front of them right now,” Mr Michael told Business News.
“That just didn’t work.”
However, faced with poor cell network infrastructure, videoconference platforms such as Skype and FaceTime would be impossible to use.
“Those platforms are not designed to work over satellite, they are designed to work over cell networks that are in pretty good shape,” Mr Michael said.
“Cell networks in less-developed countries or in the bush are not the same quality as they are here (in an Australian city).
“If you’re looking at global coverage, the only way is via satellite.”
The UN workers would have to send and receive visual communication via a satellite truck of the type usually used by broadcast television networks.
These units are expensive to acquire and maintain, and are difficult to transport.
So in 2017, the UN asked Mr Michael, who has a design engineering background in broadcast television, to create a more cost-effective and space-efficient method of obtaining visuals.
“I was shocked; they wanted me to take something from a truck and fit it in a carry-on case in an aircraft,” Mr Michael told Business News.
Accepting the challenge, Mr Michael and his Cockburn-based Balconi team managed to meet the UN’s lofty demands with the creation of Smart Torch Global Live.
Even more impressive, the satellite terminals they designed were closer to the size of a hand than a suitcase.
They were also about a fifth the cost of the larger alternative, and were powered by solar panels installed on the device.
Mr Michael and his team also managed to find an engineering solution to overcome the issue of small bandwith usually associated with terminals of that size.
After success in Kenya, Mr Michael wanted to bring the portable, two-way video conferencing technology closer to home.
An introduction by Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinis to Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt was the next door to open for Mr Michael, and the two met to discuss how the technology could be used in remote communities.
“I was told stories by Ken about the lengths indigenous Australians in remote communities have to travel just for a consultation with a doctor,” Mr Michael said.
“It was incredibly saddening.”
The Balconi team then tweaked Smart Torch to provide a portable, telehealth service for remote Australian communities.
Mr Michael said Smart Torch eliminated the need for vulnerable people to travel, find accommodation, and undergo physical stress and mental trauma, and resulted in considerable cost savings.
Still in its trial stages, the technology has been successfully tested near Jarrahdale in a dead zone for cell coverage.
The company has also done testing with the NSW Justice Department.
“They said they couldn’t believe how good the quality of the image was,” Mr Michael said.
The successful development of the Smart Torch technology has earned the small company a plethora of accolades, culminating in the company receiving the 2019 Neville Thiele National Award, which recognises eminence in information, telecommunications and electronics engineering.
It’s the first time a Western Australian company has won the prestigious award from the ITEE College of Engineers Australia.
Despite the recognition from its industry peers, Balconi has struggled to make headway with the WA government.
Mr Michael noted, however, that the state government’s recent health review prioritised the need to increase the outcomes of those in remote indigenous communities.
“But when something really needs to happen (to help indigenous people) they say ‘let’s form a committee first’,” he said.
“It’s the bureaucracy in-between the politicians that doesn’t seem to move very fast, it’s frustrating.
“Innovation is confronting to many people, it seems.”
Mr Michael said the state government should show more leadership to enable Smart Torch to effectively reach those in remote communities.
“It’s hard for a little company like us to connect all the dots, because there is very little support,” he said.
“It’s difficult for us to even get our product to the right people in government to demonstrate it.
“But the product is proven to work and it will save lives and money, it’s a win-win situation.”
