Success Story - Unify

3 downloads 198 Views 505KB Size Report
installing a single telephone line to managing LAN-to-LAN connections. • On-site team/help desk for 24/7 support. •
Success Story Managed Services enhance key organizational activities and logistics at Brussels Airport

Thanks to a five-year, single-provider Managed Services contract with Unify, The Brussels Airport Company and its commercial partners are now enjoying the advantages of proven, best-in-class communications technology.

The Task Serving 78 passenger airlines and 16 freight airlines at one of Europe’s busiest airports, The Brussels Airport Company sought to provide best-inclass telecom support for the primary activities of the airport. To achieve this goal, the organization decided to outsource the management of the airport‘s telecom infrastructure. They looked for a partner that could provide the best technology guarantees, the best communication options for passengers and commercial partners, and the most attractive financial offer.

The Solution • Enterasys IP backbone for voice, data and multimedia applications. • Solid and reliable network infrastructure • OpenScape platform for Unified Communications • HiPath wireless network. • Managed Services portfolio including messaging, conferencing, call ticketing and voice over Wi-Fi • Extensive services portfolio, installing a single telephone line to managing LAN-to-LAN connections • On-site team/help desk for 24/7 support • A five-year single-provider Managed Services framework.

The Benefits The ICT architecture, built on Enterasys, a Unify company backbone, supports the most critical real-time and multimedia applications, such as VoIP, video, camera monitoring, IP TV and additional security services. Airport staff, commercial partners and travelers can use Unified Communications over the company’s OpenScape platform. Ongoing technology updates, along with numerous Managed Services, enables The Brussels Airport Company to provide best-in-class telecom support to its entire airport community.

Innovative solution keeps pace with changing IT As one of Europe’s most active airports, management looked to a progressive managed services contract to close the gap between long-term investment and emerging new technology.

Europe’s skies are among the worlds’ busiest. The EU Commission anticipates that air traffic in Europe will increase to 17 million flights per year by 2020, up from 10.5 million flights in 2006. According to the Airports Council International, global air traffic will grow to more than nine billion passengers per year by 2025. As a result, many airports have turned to technology to maximize resources and optimize passenger experience.

“One of the challenges we face on an ongoing basis is the gap between longterm investment cycles and rapidly-evolving technology. Sometimes, by the time a new technology is deployed, the technology has moved on.” – Jan Van der Cruysse, Media Relations and Corporate Communications Manager, The Brussels Airport Company

Striking a balance between growth and profitability Brussels Airport is one of Europe’s largest airports, handling almost 19 million passengers and 450,000 tons of freight each year. Some 260 companies with a combined workforce of 21,000 employees operate out of Brussels Airport, providing a full range of services and shops catering to passengers travelling to and from 218 airports around the globe. Managed by The Brussels Airport Company, the airport serves 78 passenger airlines and 16 freight airlines, and is owned by a consortium of private investors along with the Belgian state. A key focus for airport management is to achieve the right balance between growth and profitability. This can pose a challenge in the airport industry, where cost reductions must always be balanced with security, safety and reliability priorities. “While we operate within a rigid framework of international regulations and initiatives, we are also focused on providing the best possible experience to airport users,” says Jan Van der Cruysse, Media Relations and Corporate Communications Manager at The Brussels Airport Company. “One of the challenges we face on an ongoing basis is the gap between longterm investment cycles and rapidlyevolving technology.

A soft spot for proven technologies “The importance of wireless IP for data and voice is growing fast,” says Pierre Gehrenbeck, CUTE & Telecommunications Service Manager at The Brussels Airport Company. “In fact, we’ve turned Brussels Airport into one of Europe’s largest single hotspots, with full WLAN coverage of the premises including the tarmac. Seven years ago we moved from a make-or-buy strategy

“We began outsourcing telecom operations seven years ago, resulting in a more strategic, flexible way to introduce technology changes with a total cost of ownership that was considerably more attractive.” – Pierre Gehrenbeck, CUTE & Telecommunications Service Manager, The Brussels Airport Company

2

“With Unify’s Wi-Fi network, we can use PDAs to communicate on the airport premises, which is far more reliable and much less expensive.” – Christophe Rubbrecht, Assistant General Manager, Axxicom Airport Caddy

and started outsourcing our telecom operations. This gave us a more strategic and flexible way to handle technology changes, with a total cost of ownership that was considerably more attractive to the airport.” Comprehensive telecom support for key airport activities Brussels Airport opted in 2005 to go with the commercial agreement model, outsourcing its telecom infrastructure management for the airport companies, to the supplier that offered the best technology

“We appreciate the support from Unify. The services portfolio is extensive, ranging from connecting a single telephone to managing LANto-LAN connections. Our key connections are covered 24/7, 365 days a year.” – Koen De Souter, ICT Manager, Flightcare

guarantees along with the most attractive financial offer, and chose Unify. In 2006, the airport also decided to launch a commercial agreement for the airport’s WLANB2B services. The partnership was a success, and in 2010 was extended for a five-year period to incorporate the entire airport telecom infrastructure including telephony, data and wireless communications. The Brussels Airport Company also plans to enhance the comfort for the passengers with a new connector towards Pier A by 2014 and with a concourse extension by 2015. “With a strong presence on our premises, Unify had built a solid relationship within our airport community,” says Gehrenbeck. “Plus, ongoing technology updates, and the wide range of Managed Services included in the contract, tie in with our aim to provide best-in-class telecom support to the primary activities of the airport.” Koen De Souter is ICT Manager for Flightcare, which has approximately 1,700 employees on the airport premises, responsible for passenger and cargo handling. Most are mobile workers, who handle terminal activities such as passenger check-in and boarding, or tarmac activities, such as the de-icing of planes.

“We handle about 65% of all passenger flights and almost 35% of cargo flights. We need to be in contact with all of our teams at all times, to react quickly and efficiently to changing circumstances,” says De Souter. Scheduling and other changes are frequent, making access to real-time information critical. “Our employee kiosk application keeps staff up-to-date on changes in parking positions within seconds. We rely on information that’s provided to us from many sources at the airport: airport authorities, departure control systems, fuel companies, and caterers. Without a solid and reliable network infrastructure to collect this information, we’d be operating blind.” A single wireless network for data and voice across the airport premises To manage that real-time information flow most efficiently, Flightcare requires a single wired and wireless network, says De Souter. A single network also provides maximum security and reliability. “We appreciate the level of support we receive from Unify. The services portfolio is extensive, ranging from connecting a single telephone to managing LAN-to-LAN connections. Our key connections are covered by a premium service that’s available

3

24/7, 365 days a year. Over the past few years, Unify has implemented a campus-wide IP communications platform with Wi-Fi coverage and Unified Communications, providing us with the reliable information flows that are so crucial to our business.” Axxicom Airport Caddy, a division of Facilicom, provider of facility services, provides cleaning, trolley services and PRM/UM management (Persons with Reduced Mobility and Under age Minors traveling alone) services at Brussels Airport. “In peak months we help some 12,000 to 13,000 PRM passengers navigate comfortably and safely through the airport,” says Christophe Rubbrecht, Assistant General Manager at Axxicom Airport Caddy. “In those peak months, our staff count of 160 increases to 220 employees. They all need to be routed as efficiently as

possible to pick up passengers, guide them through the airport and see to it that they get to their departure gate or any other destination in the airport.” In the past, Airport Caddy desk operators used the public mobile telecom network to stay in touch with their staff, which was expensive and not always reliable. “With Unify’s Wi-Fi network, we can use PDAs to communicate on the airport premises, which is far more reliable and much less expensive. We really appreciate that Unify provides the most up-to-date communication platform and assists us with tools that enhance our efficiency,” says Rubbrecht.

critical real-time and multimedia applications, such as VoIP, video, camera monitoring, IP TV, and additional security services. Airport staff, commercial partners and travelers will be able to use Unified Communications over Unify’s OpenScape platform, a proven technology that features a host of benefits: it’s reliable, robust, open to standards such as SIP and SOA, easily expandable to future services and transparent to manage. At Brussels Airport, thanks to the partnership with Unify, the sky’s now the limit for travelers and commercial partners when it comes to communications.

The Unify architecture is built on Enterasys, a Unify company backbone which allows for a network that supports the most

About Unify Unify is one of the world’s leading communications software and services firms, providing integrated communications solutions for approximately 75 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Our solutions unify multiple networks, devices and applications into one easy-to-use platform that allows teams to engage in rich and meaningful conversations. The result is a transformation of how the enterprise communicates and collaborates that amplifies collective effort, energizes the business, and enhances business performance. Unify has a strong heritage of product reliability, innovation, open standards and security.

unify.com

Copyright © Unify Software and Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, 2016 Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strasse 6, 80807 Munich, Germany All rights reserved.

The information provided in this document contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in case of actual use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract. Availability and technical specifications are subject to change without notice. Unify, OpenScape, OpenStage and HiPath are registered trademarks of Unify Software and Solutions GmbH & Co. KG. All other company, brand, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.