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NEW OTTAWA CONVENTION CENTRE TO HAVE MOST SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY IN CANADA

It will also have state-of-the-art onsite supply and servicing for the most modern, complex multi-media presentations and communications network. Online interactive presentations, virtual backdrops and videoconferences are important marketing tools for our clients, and we must be able to accommodate these requests”, said Pat Kelly, president of the OCC. “The new OCC will have unprecedented capability in terms of staging, multi-media production, and seamlessly integrated Information Communication Technology.”

Thanks to the opportunity provided by the Internet, the entire OCC facility will be run by an invisible network that eliminates the need for rooms full of power-hungry equipment and miles of customized cables and wires of the past.  Instead, one data centre will service all media types (voice, audio/visual, data and other multi-media services) and integrate controls for lighting, heating and cooling, and, security. These services will respond electronically to interactive ‘touch pad’ monitors in each of the meeting rooms and main areas of the OCC.

The OCC utilized the tremendous high technology expertise available in Ottawa with Mitel Networks and Combat Networks providing the hardware, software and integration solutions for the OCC.   The result is a data centre the size of a small narrow book shelf capable of running all technology aspects of the OCC.  The solution is both performance and energy efficient.

The OCC has entered into a partnership with AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions, whose expert on-site team will service the OCC’s sophisticated system 24/7. This arrangement will allow OCC clients immediate access to audiovisual equipment and expertise at any time, and will greatly augment client capability in terms of marketing communications while onsite at the OCC.

The convention of the future will integrate more and more video, interactivity, social networking and virtual participation to create a much more sophisticated learning environment. The OCC’s network backbone was specifically designed to support all of these “next generation” technologies – from digital signage throughout the building, to built-in widescreen projection in meeting rooms, to the most advanced wired and wireless network in Canada.

“AVW-TELAV has a long history with the OCC as their supplier of audiovisual services.” said Steve Bury, Vice President of Sales (Canadian Division) of AVW-TELAV. “We are proud to have participated in the design of this “next generation” convention centre, and look forward to providing event planners with all the technical services they need to support their events, from traditional AV and simultaneous interpretation, to the Information Communications Technology of the future.”

The OCC, an agency of the Government of Ontario, will open in April 2011.