BellSouth Internet Services Network Operation Center (NOC) Relocation and Expansion Project, Atlanta, GA

As the industry leader in systems integration and design, Hoffman has partnered with organizations worldwide to create a new generation of "mission critical" facilities. The project at BellSouth Internet Services was another unique design challenge for the HVS Control Room Group. BellSouth partnered with HVS to expand and re-design an existing Network Operating Center (NOC) and an adjacent Conference Room. In addition to the logistics involved in incorporating the existing technology systems into the expanded NOC, matters were complicated by the fact that both the NOC and Conference Room were to be relocated to an entirely new building that was currently under construction.

The BellSouth Internet Services NOC was intended to serve as a functional monitoring and diagnostics center for all BellSouth data services. It also had a secondary function as a marketing tool -- a showcase technology asset. The adjacent Conference Room was to function as a working room for the supervisors at the BellSouth Internet Services Network Operations Center (NOC).

"Because the space was originally designed with office space in mind, it became a complicated design process to fit all the requirements into that space," said Brian Dusho, President of the HVS Control Room Group. "Further, the Conference Room needed to maintain all the existing functionality of the room with added aesthetics and a friendlier user interface."

The new room design at BellSouth included a full A/V presentation system with overflow from the NOC for use by the Supervisors, a full video conferencing system and a broadcast camera in the NOC to show operations to other BellSouth sites and to display the system to clients.

"The NOC has been designed to incorporate the existing 12 rear projection screens, four new projection screens in this phase and the ability to add four more projection screens in a future phase. The room also accommodates the existing 55 consoles plus 35 new consoles in this phase and an additional 30 consoles in a future phase," said Dusho. "Workstation layout and design had the added challenge of having to maintain and reuse the existing original 55 positions while creating an exciting and functional design based on a different set of functional criteria."

The decided upon design created the most open environment in the NOC and created a space for the Conference Room that bridged the NOC and the Atrium. Design elements from the rest of the building were incorporated into these spaces to give a continuous flow from one floor to another.

The next phase of the design process included providing information to the engineers. This information included the heat loads for all the equipment, both new and old, power loads and circuit locations, core drill locations for power and data (located under the consoles in the NOC), low voltage conduit design for the A/V systems and acoustic and lighting recommendations.

The acoustical recommendations in the NOC included wall and ceiling treatments, as well as Mechanical Guidelines provided to the Mechanical Engineer to help reduce the ambient noise in the room. In the Conference Room, which was to be used for a video teleconferencing room in addition to a variety of other functions, the ceiling needed to be treated with a highly absorptive treatment that maintains the look of Gypsum board. Decoustics Cielencio Ceiling with a Claro finish was used in the final project.

The lighting recommendations for both spaces included considerations for a 24/7 operation such as in the NOC and video conferencing. Pendent lights were chosen in both spaces. Additional lighting features included adding a control system to have preset scenes, this was also connected to the A/V control system and added a wall washer on the SNAP glass that is located between the Conference Room and the NOC to increase the opacity and create an even illuminated background for video conferencing. Hoffman also worked with the interior designers to create the millwork in the conference room that houses all the A/V equipment. This included incorporating an equipment rack and access to the rack, a video conferencing camera and a rear projection system.

The scheduling process for this project was one of the most difficult components, but also proved to be the most successful. Design on the rooms began in early 2002 and the rooms were to be ready to use before Thanksgiving. The existing facility was a 24/7 operation it was not going to shut down for the move.

"HVS created a migration plan and approach that would allow parts of the system to be moved while the other part was still functioning thereby creating a situation that had no down time for the operators," said Dusho. "All of the work in this phase was completed on time and BellSouth had a smooth transition from the existing site to the new site with zero down time. The project was completed slightly below the initial budget."

In both spaces the A/V systems were designed to be incorporated into the architecture of the space. The large display walls in the NOC are rear projection systems with the projector located below the screen on a track. This track allows the user to open a door below the screen to access and/or remove the projector. The curve of the display walls was matched by the curve of the ceiling, the curve of the consoles, as well as an inlayed pattern on the carpet. The room was to be used by multiple groups, which enabled the designers to split the room into three distinct units but leave the NOC as one open space. This is not only reflected in the furniture and technology but also in the lighting and the ceiling layout.

The equipment racks in the NOC were placed to the sides of the main display as they contained equipment that the user will need to access on a regular basis. These racks were built into the wall with user access from the front and technical access to the rear (located in the rear projection room). The rear projection room was also used to locate the equipment racks that only the technicians need to access.

In the Conference Room all the technology was chosen to blend in with the interior design of the room. The speakers were chosen to integrate with the ceiling tile. The equipment rack was located in the millwork, with user access behind a cabinet door and technical access to the rack via a door located in a room behind the Conference Room. The rear projection system that was used in the NOC was also used in the Conference Room, allowing a shallow depth and easy front access to the projector. To incorporate the video camera for the rear projection system and maintain the high-end feel of the room, the camera was located on a sliding shelf that resides behind a cabinet door in the millwork. When the camera is needed the cabinet doors are opened and the shelf slides out, giving the camera a clear view of the entire room.

The existing Conference Room table was re-used with cable management added to it. This was done to reduce the spaghetti of cables that were under the table at the existing site. Microphone, a touchpanel and computer interfaces were all located at the table. Also, two dedicated computers are used in the system accessed via a wireless keyboard, mouse and video switcher. Finally, nine full height panels of SNAP glass were used. This SNAP glass incorporates LCD technology that is a normally milky white opaque panel that clears when a voltage is applied. This SNAP glass separates the Conference Room and the NOC.

The systems in the NOC re-used as much of the existing technology as possible. The display wall processor from the existing site was used to power the main display wall in the new system. The side display walls were powered directly from individual computers. This allowed additional functionality for these walls without added cost to the system. On the side wall displays, different groups use different screens, and each has control over their own screens. This allows the information on these screens to be tailored to their needs. To incorporate video into the side wall functions, 42-inch plasma screens from the existing site were located next to the wall to give the operators the ability to see video such as the Weather Channel and CNN. The center display wall gives a greater amount of functionality including the ability to show live video and external computers on the wall. Different images can be stretched across the entire wall or multiple images can be shown on single screens.

The conference room also re-used much of the existing technology. The speakers in the system were changed to improve the aesthetic of the room. Instead of purchasing a new codec, the system was upgraded to work with the BellSouth H.323 network. The display system in the Conference Room incorporates the ability to view what is being displayed on the main wall in the NOC. In order to see more information on the Conference Room screen a Quad View box was installed. This gives the ability to view four images on the screen at a time.

Client and Architect Comments

"Working with Hoffman Video Systems was great for us. There was a real appreciation and respect for our role as the project designer and vice versa for Hoffman's role as the systems consultant. The best part of partnering with Hoffman, though, was their precision. The nerve center that they created was easily and comfortably coordinated into the construction at BellSouth. It was seamless integration - with no major issues with which to contend."

- Chris Heard, Project Director, Hendricks & Associates