Video communication for a railway company

CHALLENGE

An Italian railway company felt the need to improve its video communication infrastructure. The need arose from the fact that the company’s architecture had reached its maximum capacity; moreover, some components were no longer supported by suppliers, and for this reason it was not possible to make several features (which had been introduced with the latest developments) available.

The goal, therefore, was to renew the infrastructure with a new platform in order to optimize resources, reduce costs, and ensure that all company employees could operate the existing endpoints, from IP phones and video room systems to mobile and desktop clients.

Italtel has succeeded in meeting the specific needs of the railway company by designing and implementing a project that optimizes the available resources and by adopting tools that are both more powerful and easier to use by end users.

SOLUTION



The evolution of the railway company's video communication solution guarantees excellent performance, ensuring:
1
the interconnectivity of locations with different connection types (ADSL and ISDN)
2
interoperability according to international standards
3
high video quality (H264 standard)
4
modern design and ease of use

The new video communication system is based on Cisco components and ensures capacity scalability, flexibility of use, and interoperability with Microsoft (Skype for Business included).

The project renewed some key elements in the company’s architecture, including the management of Telepresence and multi-conference systems, and made it possible to schedule video conferences in three simple ways: via web through the main TMS system portal; from the web interface by using the personal portal of the ‘Smart Scheduler’ user; or by using the company’s Outlook.

Italtel has delivered:

  • the solution project, based on a study of the ‘state of the art’, proposing the renewal of hardware and software components
  • professional services for the solution’s implementation, configuration, and network integration engineering, as well as the training of company personnel
  • technical assistance and on-site maintenance services

BENEFITS

reduced business costs
time saving
greater productivity
collaboration among employees
faster decision-making processes

TECHNICAL DETAILS

These are some of the advantages that Video communication solutions offer to companies.In the specific case of the railway company, the renovation of the video communication platform has moved the system entirely to IP, maintaining ISDN connectivity only for users outside the group and without an internet connection. This decision will translate into a substantial reduction in connection costs.

Furthermore, the transition to the new videoconferencing platform has ensured operational continuity in terms of service, support and maintenance, defining the pathway for technological alignment with the latest developments. This made it possible to overcome the previous limitations, which didn’t allow the advantages of the new endpoint models introduced by Cisco to be exploited.

The components were upgraded by contextually switching to a virtualized architecture, which made it possible to optimize the necessary hardware resources. In fact, the new solution optimizes the use of available resources, based on licenses and no longer on ‘physical’ ports, thus significantly expanding the number of participants and calls supported by the individual server.

Other advantages of the new platform include:

  • the ability to manage a greater number of participants in a single session
  • integration with the Microsoft environment, included Skype for Business
  • the possibility of holding video conferences in dual-homing mode, which allows Microsoft users and Cisco users to share the same conference while having their own MCU. This feature allows for better management of MCU resources and allows participants to experience the same conference layout they are familiar with.

Italtel used a dialogic approach in its relationship with the railway company, adapting the detailed work plan and making itself available for some activities outside normal working hours in order to minimize any disruption caused by the transition of the videoconferencing services to the new platform.

The renovation of the video communication platform led to the replacement of the TelePresence component by the new Cisco Meeting Server (CMS) platform, the upgrading to the latest VCS and Cisco Telepresence Management Suite (TMS) components, and their migration to a virtualized environment.

More specifically, upgrading the VCS infrastructure component and switching to a virtualized architecture made it possible to optimize the necessary hardware resources, while the transition to the new TMS release paved the way for the introduction of several new features. The new features include a more powerful video conference scheduling portal (smart scheduler) which is easier to use by end users. The new configuration with two CMS in cluster has the ability to manage up to

  • 192 High Definition video calls
  • 384 Standard Definition video calls
  • 6000 audio calls.

Thanks to the new videoconferencing system, the number of participants in a videoconferencing session is no longer limited by licenses or ports, but only by the processing power of the CMS server.

The project was implemented in three stages. The goal of the first stage was to achieve optimal video platform integration at IP level and the integration with Microsoft Lync. The second stage ensured better scalability, redundancy and new features, while the third stage optimized the solution’s operating capacity by expanding the use of resources for new models (for instance, the Cisco Meeting Server).

Italtel carried out an inspection to check the installation requirements, the system design project, and the physical installation of the hardware to be delivered.

In order to ensure a professional service, the Italtel project team comprised two different kinds of professionals: engineers, who were responsible for the design and configuration of the equipment, and system managers, who were responsible for the installation, commissioning and testing of systems in the field. In particular, the engineering team included specialists in Cisco and Microsoft environments.

Italtel has also provided technical training to the staff in charge of the new platform’s operational management and support.

Finally, Italtel’s one-year-long technical assistance and on-site maintenance also include Helpdesk services, telephone support, and remote assistance over a secure connection.

CONCLUSION

Italtel offers innovative, reliable and secure video communication systems, as well as tailor-made solutions for all your needs.For further information, contact us

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