NEC Provides Complete Communications Solution To World Renowned Ballet Conservatory
January 17, 2006
Canada's National Ballet School Chooses NEC to Enhance its Network, Provide Interconnectivity between Faculty, Students and Families
CALGARY, Alberta, Canada, January 17, 2006 -- NEC Unified Solutions, Inc. (NEC), a leader in converged voice and data communications for the enterprise, today announced that it has been selected by Canada’s National Ballet School, Toronto’s world-renowned conservatory, to provide a state-of-the-art communications infrastructure to support the institution’s growing needs.
As part of Project Grand Jeté, a joint government and privately-funded initiative to develop technologically advanced facilities for training and educating tomorrow’s dance artists, the National Ballet School’s new IP communications solution enables faculty and students to stay connected across the campus, the broader dance community and with their families.
NEC’s customized IP solution will support 270 full and part-time staff members; 34 ‘teachers-in-training’ worldwide; nearly 650 part-time dance students; and a full-time student population consisting of approximately 175 professional ballet students from age 11 to 20.
NEC collaborated with the National Ballet School in designing a system to provide the school’s community with an extensive range of communication options and services, such as the functionality to instantly contact maintenance or emergency services during a crisis, simultaneously broadcast upcoming events across campus, and provide voicemail notification for students by utilizing digital signage technology.
Addressing the needs of international students, which comprise 27 percent of the school’s total population, NEC further designed a solution enabling them to stay connected with the campus community and with families and friends around the world despite cellular phone restrictions on campus for educational reasons.
To achieve this, NEC has installed its UNIVERGE® NEAX® 2000 IPS hybrid IP communications solution, CCIS campus networking, complete with INASET® and SP-30 Soft Phone IP terminals. Messaging is provided by the NEAXMail® AD-64 unified messaging system and NEC’s BlueFire® VC digital signage solution. Additionally, in order to provide its employees greater access to administration and emergency services, the National Ballet School has chosen to implement NEC’s Dterm® PSIII wireless phone mobility solution for campus wide seamless roaming, and NEC’s UNIVERGE wireless LAN with BlueFire Ethernet switches for its data infrastructure.
“The decision to partner with NEC was solidified by their capability to build a customized solution for our organization,” said Larry Beevers, head of property and operations for the National Ballet School. “We are in the process of a campus-wide renovation project and the need for a reliable voice and data communications network is critical to our success. NEC’s commitment to customer service, their flexibility in adapting to our needs, and their unparalleled products and services made them the optimal communications partner for us.”
“Our goal was to provide a customized, next-generation solution to meet the unique communication needs of Canada’s most prestigious National Ballet School,” said Don Stewart, vice president, NEC Unified Solutions, Canada. “We are proud to be a partner in providing a cost-effective and more efficient way for students and administration to stay connected.”
About Canada’s National Ballet School
Now celebrating its 46th year, Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) is recognized as a world leader in the training of professional dancers and teachers. Its graduates can be found as dancers, choreographers, artistic directors, teachers, and administrators in over 50 dance companies world-wide and even more schools around the globe. Dedicated to advancing the art of ballet, NBS develops dance professionals in a student-centered environment by weaving innovation and evolving practice with the finest teaching traditions.
