Avaya to Provide a Unified Communications Solution for NBC Universal During the Beijing Olympic Games

IP Telephony infrastructure enables NBC with superior communications during the Beijing Olympics August 8-24

Avaya has been selected to provide a unified communications solution to NBC Universal in support of the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games from Beijing, China August 8-24. The announcement was made today by Bob Kiraly, director, Broadcast and Telecommunications Operations, NBC Olympics.

NBC Olympics operates under a unique set of IT circumstances: every two years the organization needs a complete, business communications network set up in a new location that is in use for little more than a month. Demands for high-availability, resiliency and cutting edge technology are weighed against cost, since once the Games are over the equipment goes into storage.

“Working with Avaya, we have our communications requirements and implementation down to a science,” said Bob Kiraly. “We don’t have time for complicated installations and we have zero tolerance for risk. What we do need are powerful, reliable communications that help manage costs and enable the NBC Olympics team to do their jobs most efficiently. Avaya understands that completely.”

NBC Olympics took its first leap to IP Telephony with Avaya Communication Manager running on a server - gateway architecture between the International Broadcast Center and NBC’s Field Shop for the 2004 Olympic Games. This step produced immediate benefits - including better, more consistent features for everyone on the network and an easier, faster implementation. Running its own communications network locally and using IP Trunking between Athens and its U.S. headquarters help cut operating costs. At the same time, integrating existing analog and digital phones allowed NBC Olympics control over the pace and price of implementing new technology. For peace of mind, however, the company elected to run communications and data along separate, parallel paths.

This year, IP Telephony hits full stride for NBC Olympics with Avaya Gigabit Ethernet phones landing on more than 500 desks accompanied by another 200 value sets elsewhere in the network. The power over Ethernet phones provide NBC Olympics with the highest quality audio and the lowest power consumption of any similar business class telephones on the market today.

Avaya Communication Manager helps NBC Olympics move forward with unified communications applications. The company is already enabling greater mobility by allowing calls made to an employee’s extension also ring their cellular phone. Now, the new Gigabit Ethernet phones also make it even easier for the team to switch active calls between the desk phone and cellular device: Employees who need to change locations while a call is in progress can simply hit a button on the phone to switch the call from the desktop extension to their cellular device and vice versa. These phones can also enable one employee to see the availability of others in his or her workgroup for live calls by displaying names and telephony presence on the back-lit screen.