Avaya 2 FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup™

As the Official Convergence Communication provider for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany,

Avaya provided a champion communications network for the world’s largest sporting event. The

converged network – combining voice and data on the same infrastructure – connected the 12 host

stadiums, the international media centers in Munich, Berlin and Dortmund, and the FIFA headquarters

in Berlin. Players, coaches, volunteers and fans alike benefited from the Avaya network that was

instrumental in player and journalist accreditation, results reporting, material tracking, accommodation

confirmations, transportation, and ticketing, among other critical functions. With an estimated 45,000

network connections, 30,000 network devices and over 15 terabytes (or 15,000,000,000,000 bytes)

of data, it is the largest converged communication network ever built for a sporting event. For more

information, visit www.FIFA.com.

Challenge

FIFA needed to manage a directory for 100,000 people from disparate organizations working on the

FIFA World Cup, and provide easy, quick access to contact information contained in that directory

across mutiple sites including stadia, headquarters, hotels and other venues. In addition, the

organization sought to provide real time score updates and venue information to the browsers of the IP

phones in the overall converged network provided by Avaya.

Solution

Citrix provided Avaya the Express Directory solution, part of the Avaya Phone Application Suite,

enabling LDAP directory integration to manage a very large and fluid directory of people from disparate

organizations. Using intelligent algorithms and pruning, users could use a few quick keystrokes and

access contact information right on the browsers of the Avaya IP Telephones. Approximately 4,500

Avaya IP Telephones were installed across several FIFA locations – including stadia, headquarters

offices and hotels where FIFA personnel were based.

The Avaya Phone Application Suite incorporates a new breed of converged applications, including

broadcast alerts, express directory, click-to-call from a PC, and text messaging for Avaya IP

Telephones. The product portfolio includes: the Avaya Application Gateway AG250, the only hardware

element of the portfolio, which enables users to run phone applications on the browsers of the Avaya

4600 IP Telephones; the Avaya Productivity Pack consisting of Broadcast Alerts, Text Messaging,

Express Directory, and Click-to-Call; Transformed Applications and Avaya Design Studio. The Avaya

Application Gateway AG250 enables applications to be reformatted or configured to deliver existing

web-based (HTML/XML) applications for easy, interactive access and use on the Avaya 4600 and 9600

Series IP Telephones.

Results

Speed and accuracy of communications. ▶ Individuals were easier to locate and real time updates of

scores were ubiquitous and useful.

Increased productivity. ▶

More intelligent processes. ▶

Cost savings. ▶ Extend converged infrastructure to decrease costs by offering telephony features on

the browsers of converged devices such as directory look-up.