Avaya completes key phase of testing to ensure 99.99 per cent reliability of converged communications network for 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

The tests are a key part of the process to ensure the network is available 99.99% of the time. The converged network - combining voice and data on the same infrastructure - will be used by teams, referees, journalists plus FIFA and Organizing Committee officials for a variety of tasks, including accreditation, reporting results, logistics and transportation.

'Customers across the Middle East are looking at the World Cup as an example of what can be achieved with Avaya expertise and technology, driving home the capabilities of communications technology and how it can be relevant to businesses in Dubai, or Riyadh,'

commented Nidal Abou Ltaif, managing director, Avaya Middle East & North Africa. 'Across the region, we will be hosting informal viewings of world cup matches, to allow our customers to appreciate the Avaya-World Cup affiliation and have fun at the same time.'

In addition to conducting more than 400 tests at the company's FIFA World Cup lab in Frankfurt, Avaya, a leading global provider of communications networks and services for businesses, commissioned Netconsult Online Limited, an independent company specializing in quality control and assurance, to validate network testing results. Exhaustive testing of failover scenarios, back-up power, firmware and software compatibility, and the resiliency of the various IP applications was conducted.

Following the independent validation, FIFA also just completed its own integration testing in which it examined performance of applications across the network. The FIFA integration testing was again successful. All the components of the network have been extensively tested, labeled and made ready for deployment to various stadia and other venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ so the excitement can commence with kick-off of the opening match in less than 50 days.

The stage is now set for installation of the network in the twelve FIFA World Cup stadia beginning with Munich and Berlin. The IT Command Center for the entire network is currently up and running in Munich and the accreditations centers will be open over the next weeks, beginning with Berlin on May 1.

'Logistics and transportation are among the many critical functions that rely on our converged communications network, 'said Doug Gardner, managing director for Avaya's FIFA World Cup Technical program. 'It is vital to extensively test the network and all the individual devices to be deployed to avoid delays for the thousands of people involved in producing this event, the 80,000 spectators at each game and to get teams to the stadia on time and match statistics to broadcasters promptly.'