Cisco & NVT Phybridge Help Cruise Line Deploy IP Communication

Save the Waves^®

Save the Waves is the philosophy by which the cruise line operates as it corresponds to environmental stewardship. Starting as a company-wide recycling program, Save the Waves has become a holistic approach to environmental responsibility guided by four key principles: reduce/reuse/recycle wherever possible, pollution prevention, go above and beyond compliance, and continuous improvement through innovation. As a global leader in the hospitality industry, the cruise line recognizes the tremendous responsibility they have to the communities they visit and the oceans they sail in, which are at the very essence of their business. When it came time to modernize their fleet to IP phones, environmental impact was top of mind as the cruise line was concerned with the potential amount of e-waste that the project would produce.

Aligning with the Four Key Principles

Additionally, the customer was concerned with the high costs, long deployment times, and business disruption associated with the traditional “rip-and-replace” approach to IP modernization. Given the infrastructure challenges, the customer required an innovative approach to overcome their concerns and modernize to IP. The customer discovered the award-winning NVT Phybridge PoLRE Switch. Cisco was confident that the long-reach PoLRE PoE switch was the perfect solution for the customer. Cisco assisted the customer in organizing a no-obligation proof of concept to test the PoLRE switch in their live environment.

The cruise line tested the PoLRE solution in one of their cruise ships with great success. The customer was astonished at the simplicity of the installation, as it transformed the existing voice infrastructure into a secure and robust IP/PoE backbone. Thanks to the Cisco team, the customer avoided the traditional rip-and-replace approach and achieved incredible results:

The customer deployed over 6,000 Cisco IP phones across two cruise ships without installing a single IDF closet
The simplified solution reduced infrastructure costs by over $3 million across the two ships
The new Cisco IP communication platform, along with the supporting infrastructure, was deployed within the originally scheduled one-month dry dock period, an accomplishment that the customer never thought was possible
The cruise line was able to 100% reuse their existing voice infrastructure, preventing over 15 tons of e-waste while upgrading the two luxury liners. Leveraging the existing cables will also reduce ongoing fuel consumption with every trip, as the proposed replacement wiring was approximately 3Xs the weight – equivalent to the weight of about 400 passengers

A Better Return on Investment

The cruise line took a proactive approach to find new and better ways to support its digital transformation objectives in a financially and socially responsible manner. Cisco and NVT Phybridge helped the customer leverage Power over Ethernet switch innovations to:

Reduce infrastructure costs by over $3 million
Eliminate risk and disruption
Reduce the project’s impact on the environment by preventing over 15 tons of e-waste
Deploy over 3,000 new IP phones in each of the two ships within the originally scheduled one-month dry dock period
Build a secure and robust PoE platform for the enhanced IP communications solution

Congratulations to Cisco’s Rob Collins for winning the IoT Pioneer Award for helping this global cruise line use Modern LAN principles to overcome their barriers to IP communication.

If you have an upcoming IP/IoT modernization project, we would love to help! Click below to book a one-on-one meeting with one of our Digital Transformation Consultants.

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