Winning VoIP solutions; World Cup, U.S. enterprises opt for multifunction communications technology - Special focus: Voice over IP - Cover Story

Communications News, June, 2002

Consider Gerard Gouillou's position. The general manager and chief information officer of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Association wanted a network for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals, being held this month in Japan and Korea, that would give officials, reporters and volunteers instantaneous access to scores, statistics, player comments, real-time coverage of the games and a host of systems to manage games logistics.

The task for Gouillou was daunting--40,000 connections between 20 stadiums, international media centers and headquarters in both Korea and Japan; 10,000 data and communications devices online; 5,000 miles of structured cabling; more than 200 access point routers; 150 separate WAN connections; more than 100 data networking switches; and 25 communications servers with Internet protocol communications.

Not all communications projects are so large, of course. Experio Solutions IT Director Michael Shisko, for example, needed a system to connect 800 employees in 18 offices, after his company had been acquired by Hitachi. Experio Solutions needed to establish new offices across the U.S. with, of course, a new network and a new phone system.

Such challenges face many enterprises upgrading communications networks, integrating with other networks or considering new voice capabilities. How much will a project cost? What will the configuration of PBX, Key and Centrex systems look like as deployment plans are initiated? Should one of the new IP-PBXs be considered?

A growing number of those organizations, such as FIFA, Experio in Dallas and Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, are choosing voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions. Others, like Spokane School District 81 in Washington state, are opting for approaches like time-division multiplexing over IP (TDMoIP) gateways. Whatever the choice, flexibility and cost savings are at the top of the list of requirements.

GIVING SOCCER A BOOT

The converged network that was installed and turned up for the FIFA World Cup tournament marks the first time FIFA has used VoIP at an event. It was also the first time a communications network was required to support simultaneous FIFA World Cup matches in two countries. The network, designed and built by Avaya Inc., Basking Ridge, NJ, is among the world's largest.

The network was installed to handle FIFA World Cup systems for scheduling games and notifying teams, reviewing and accrediting participants, collating and reporting game results, tracking materials inventory, scheduling and confirming accommodations and transportation, and tracking and maintaining security systems.

"From the beginning of the project, every communication connection and computer hookup was a test of the team's expertise," says Gouillou. "Our objective was always to make the 2002 FIFA World Cup a technology benchmark for future world-class sporting events."

Avaya integrated its products and services with several other FIFA World Cup technology sponsors, including Toshiba computers and servers, and Fuji Xerox computer peripherals. NTT and Korea Telecomm provided network services and wide-area connectivity in Japan and Korea, respectively. Calls on the network within Japan will be VoIP, with traffic destined for Korea traveling over a 4.2-Mbps link. On the Korean side, traffic uses frame relay and is converted to the public switched network.

Given that the network had to serve several FIFA venues in two countries with significantly different communication standards and levels of service, connectivity between tournament sites was always a major challenge, says Gouillou. In addition to fiber-optic cabling between most sites and public network fiber rings, the World Cup network includes:

* all cabling in two media centers, one each in Korea and Japan, including the installation of Avaya's SYSTIMAX structured cabling with LazrSPEED and iPatch cable racks, and iPatch system-management software and alarming;

* installation and support of LAN cabling in each of 10 stadiums in Korea and Japan;

* installation of fully redundant Avaya DEFINITY G3 Enterprise Communications Servers to replace other-vendor voice systems in each of 10 stadiums, and in the Korean media center; and

* the provisioning of digital, analog and IP telephones for use around the World Cup site.

PRESS-FRIENDLY NETWORK

At the core of the network, Avaya specified its Enterprise Class Internet Protocol Solutions portfolio of IP telephony and multiservice networking products, applications and services. The systems allow the more than 15,000 reporters covering the events to dial into the FIFA network from anywhere around the game sites, and turn their laptop computers into virtual telephones. The writers are also able to use Avaya IP telephones provided on site to transmit their stories, manage their e-mail and faxes, and simultaneously talk to their editors--all over a single wired or wireless connection.

The solution was designed to break down traditional barriers between IP and circuit-switched communication, delivering a product that provided traditional phone features, while still lowering long-distance expenses.