Tokyo, 28th September, 2006 – NEC Corporation (NEC)
and The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, the owner and
operator of five-star luxury hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, in Asia
and North America, today announced the deployment of an integrated
voice and data VoIP(1) network system linking The Peninsula Hotels’
fourteen hotels and offices worldwide. This globally-connected VoIP
network is the first ever built in the hotel industry(2).
The Peninsula Hotels’ global VoIP network was mainly built by
upgrading software, which incorporates NEC’s IP Networking
functionalities into NEC’s IP-PBX. The IP connectivity is used in
the hotel’s fourteen locations including the hotels in Hong Kong,
Manila, Bangkok, Beijing, New York, Chicago and Beverly Hills. This
network system was designed and built with a minimal initial
investment and completed in a short time.
With the new VoIP network, The Peninsula Hotels has an lower
initial investment as compared with a global VoIP network using a
conventional method that requires VoIP gateway in each PBX
locations, a significant decrease of cost from the cheaper
international communication costs , and a Global Customer Service
Centre located in Hong Kong which handles the global reservations
of Peninsula customers.
“The Peninsula Hotels has been working to curb the cost of
international calls since the communication among its hotels
worldwide has become more frequent as a result of global
expansion. The new network system was built in response to
this, and it will expand along with the establishment of new
hotels.” says Mr. Shane Izaks, General Manager, Information
Technology of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited.
“NEC is one of our preferred vendors of PBX systems to The
Peninsula Hotels. Building of the new network system signifies the
hotel’s recognition of NEC’s technological capabilities to
integrate voice and data, its ability to make a system proposal
that efficiently utilizes the hotel’s already existing IP-PBX
assets, in addition to its proven track record.” says Mr. Shane
Izaks.
Main characteristics of The Peninsula Hotels’ VoIP network
system include the following.
1. Minimum investment and speedy construction of VoIP
network system with backward compatibility, using NEC’s IP
networking technology
- Building a VoIP network system in general is costly because of
the necessity to set up a VoIP gateway per PBX in order to connect
existing PBX to the IP network. The newly-built system was
easily created by upgrading software, which provides IP Networking
functionalities, to NEC’s IP-PBX, UNIVERGE NEAX 2400IPX.
For the locations that use other vendors’ PBXs, NEC’s compact
gateway systems, IPS-DM(3), were installed.
- The VoIP network system linking fourteen locations worldwide
enabled reduction of initial investment cost. Cost of international
business calls was reduced by connecting worldwide locations with
internal lines.
2. Realizing improvement in employee productivity through
advanced telephone features by employing NEC’s IP communication
protocol
- Communications among employees are improved by standardizing
telephone numbering plans of all locations and assigning an
individual phone number to every employee.
- The use of NEC’s IP networking protocol, CCIS over IP(4), enables
advanced telephone features such as Caller number display from
global locations, QoS control for voice in the IP-VPN environment
and Centralized Call Center in Hong Kong that calls can be
transferred 24 hours from worldwide hotel operators.
“NEC has a major market share for PBX in Hospitality, especially
in Japan and Asia Pacific. NEC is now proposing the new UNIVERGE
series of IP-PBX and IP Telephony server for the hotel industry.
This implementation of VoIP network for The Peninsula Hotels has
shown NEC’s migration path from TDM(5) PBX to IP capabilities.”
said Kazuo Tsuzuki, Associate Senior Vice President of NEC
Corporation.
NEC is offering solutions that enhance customer competitiveness
in the forthcoming Next-Generation Network (NGN) era. NEC will
continue to support management innovation by reinforcing
development and sales of broadband solutions for the hospitality
industry.
****
Notes
1.VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
A protocol that realizes voice calls through the
transmission of voice data over IP networks such as the Internet
and intranet.
2.Source: NEC
3.IPS-DM : Distributed Model box that provide NEC IP gateway
feature with connection to traditional PBX
4.CCIS over IP : Common Channel Interoffice Signaling over IP is
NEC proprietary network protocol to provide telephony service
feature across the IP network
5.TDM : Time Division Multiplexing , a digital switching method for
most of the digital PBX systems
All company and product names appearing in this press release
are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.
About NEC Corporation NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) is
one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network
and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the
specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. NEC
delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer,
networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical
strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced
semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The
NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and had net
sales of approximately 4,825 billion yen (approx. $41.2 billion) in
the fiscal year ended March 2006.
For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at:
http://www.nec.com/
* Newsroom: http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/
About The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels,
Limited
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited (HSH) is an investment
holding company based in Hong Kong whose subsidiary companies are
engaged in the ownership and management of prestigious hotel,
commercial and residential properties in Asia and the
USA.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited was originally
incorporated as The Hongkong Hotel Company, Limited in 1866 and was
one of the first companies in Hong Kong to be granted a listing on
the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The delivery of high-quality products and services in each of its
businesses remains the cornerstone of HSH's philosophy. This
has translated into continuing growth and the very valuable
Peninsula hotel brand name.
The Peninsula Hotels operates seven award-winning hotels in Hong
Kong, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Bangkok, Beijing and
Manila, with The Peninsula Tokyo opening in 2007.
Peninsula Hotels Media Contact:
Sian Griffiths
Director Communications – Peninsula Hotels
Siangriffiths@peninsula.com
NEC Media Contact:
In Japan
Hiroe Okajima
NEC Corporation
h-okajima@ax.jp.nec.com
+81-3-3798-6511
In the US
Amy Dittman
NEC Unified Solutions
amy.dittman@necam.com
+1-214-262-6384
In Hong Kong
Candy Leung
NEC Hong Kong Ltd.
candy_leung@nechk.nec.com.hk
+852- 2733-5543
In Singapore
Masako Hirano
NEC Business Coordination Center Pte.Ltd
m-hirano@bccs.nec.com.sg
+65-64169-570
In Europe
Chris Shimizu
NEC Europe Ltd.
chris.shimizu@uk.neceur.com
+44-20-8752-2794
Robert van Amerongen
NEC Philips Unified Solutions
robert.van.amerongen@nec-philips.com
+ 31-35-689-1521