Edmonton airport deploys IP telephony solution to tie in remote users

When we think of airports, we think of planes taking off and landing. Hopefully, ours.

Airports are more than just airplanes. They require a complex telecommunications infrastructure- calls from passengers inquiring about parking, inquiries about the status of aircraft undergoing minor maintenance, even the occasional medical emergency.

To enable smooth communications, Edmonton (Alberta) International Airport has decided to go VoIP.

Solution: the Avaya MultiVantage Communications Application suite, which includes Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony software and messaging applications. With the aid of MultiVantage, the facility has just consolidated and linked two mission-critical remote locations with their main communications infrastucture.

These locations are the Edmonton Airport Fire Station and the Air Operations Maintenance Centre. Hey, Canadians spell "centre" with an "re," so I need to be culturally sensitive.

Airport officials say that the solution has helped them converge more than 600 voice and data lines, as well as save some $200,000 a year on service fees for phone line moves, adds and changes.