THE CHALLENGE
An easy to use, cost-effective communication solution that is flexible and can accommodate a fast changing organization and location landscape.
There were several driving factors for British Airways to commence this project. Firstly, BA needed to relocate operations from its facility in the Compass Centre to its Waterside headquarters and Terminal 5. Secondly, the airline needed to reduce the total cost of ownership of voice, video and data services in use. Finally, British Airways wanted a way to manage communication services with ease.
In support of its technology strategy to embrace IP, British Airways had already deployed a CCCM IP telephony solution operating on a converged IP network. With IP convergence enabling voice and data packets to be transported on a single network infrastructure, British Airways was now in a position to also transfer its ground-to- air communications onto its IP network.
THE SOLUTION
Secure, real-time communications from any IP enabled position on the network and from a number of industry standard smartphone devices.
To improve its communications services, British Airways selected an on-premise, fully managed and maintained solution. The solution features WAVE operating on British Airways’ existing converged IP network. Comprised of a number of elements, the WAVE solution deployed included clients on standard desktop PCs, and bespoke server infrastructure.
WAVE was recommended for and deployed to British Airways because it provides secure, real-time communications from any IP enabled position on the network and from a number of industry standard smartphone devices. This capability means that all British Airways end users, whether mobile or in the office, can effectively communicate and collaborate through voice, text and data. Using WAVE, British Airways now has the opportunity to operate a mixed estate of devices without impairing functionality.
Deployed to more than 75 operational positions serving in excess of 1,000 users, the WAVE Desktop Communicator application allows British Airways’ operators to communicate to smartphones, radios and carrier push-to-talk (PTT) networks from any WAVE-enabled PC, across a secure network infrastructure. This capability not only removes the need to deploy radio handsets to desktop workers who don’t
need them, but also allows users to participate in communications between multiple radio channels. In addition, the Desktop Communicator provides activity displays, audio recording and instant replay to give users a complete communications history.
As a communications platform, WAVE is unrivalled. One of the key benefits to British Airways is the capability to cost effectively globalize radio communications. Using WAVE, British Airways now has the ability to replicate its U.K. control center anywhere in the world. Furthermore, British Airways’ ground-to-air communications now benefit from the inherent resilience of its fully redundant IP network infrastructure.
THE RESULT
An easy to use, cost-effective communication solution that is flexible and can accommodate a fast changing organization and location landscape.
The implementation of WAVE has delivered a number of benefits to British Airways. WAVE operates on a single IP network infrastructure, making it accessible from any location and from a range of devices. This provides British Airways with a flexible and scalable ground-to-air communications capability that can be extended to any location in the world. By supporting communications to a wider community of interest, WAVE also helps optimize aircraft operations and leverage investments in existing assets around the airport. WAVE was also specifically deployed to ensure a seamless transition from legacy infrastructure. Its ease of deployment reduces the risk of downtime often associated with major infrastructure upgrades, and offered minimal disruption to British Airways users. This elimination of downtime and lack of significant hardware upgrades allowed the airline to save on costs.
With radio communications distributed over an IP network to application-enabled wired and wireless devices, British Airways operations personnel have the flexibility to adapt to an ever-changing airport environment. The solution can be scaled to allow future expansion with ease, giving the airline the option to explore new or additional applications to support future interoperability.
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