$1 million budget for police email upgrade

The police email system - made famous a few months ago for being a repository of pornography - is to get a major overhaul.

Auckland-based software company Convergence has won a six-figure contract to upgrade the Lotus Notes/Domino system which provides email, database and other services to about 10,000 Police Department users.

The department has what is believed to be the country's largest and most complex IBM Lotus platform.

Convergence chief executive Mark Presnell said the contract, worth between $500,000 and $1 million to Convergence, would involve upgrading the entire system.

The Lotus system includes a number of custom-designed "mission critical" applications used by police for "internal information management" tasks such as identifying staff members based on their role and function within the force.

The upgrade contract was put out to tender earlier this year.