National Geographic, Encounter: Ocean Odyssey
Simple IT Infrastructure Provides Reliable Connectivity for Oceans of Fun and Exploration
The National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey is an immersive exploration of the oceans. Located in Times Square, the Encounter exhibit makes use of technology and reliable IT infrastructure to give visitors the virtual ocean experience. The exhibit was developed and produced by the creative minds at SPE Partners, and a team of Oscar, Emmy, Grammy award winning artists along with technical consulting provided by Diversified.
National Geographic engaged Diversified early in the construction phase and worked in collaboration with SPE Partners through the design, build, and manage methodology. Diversified subject matter experts, key SPE Partner stakeholders and vendor partners met with Ocean Odyssey retail, physical security, social media and show team representatives to fully understand all of the business and functional requirements for the network. Diversified designed a complete wired and wireless network architecture, UCaaS solution, and end-to-end cyber security platform, ensuring clear segmentation and coverage based on the client’s needs. This included coordination with service providers to deliver adequate bandwidth and redundancy to meet the client’s requirements.
In order to deliver the network infrastructure more quickly so that all applications and trades could be online and connected, Diversified built the network infrastructure well before the exhibit construction was completed. This included staging the equipment and creating the cloud configurations prior to implementation which allowed for a physical plug-n-play network installation. The Diversified team stayed involved to help on-board all vendors and ensure proper go-live execution for the client.
Given the scope and scale of this exhibit, all parties agreed it was essential to implement ongoing support so the client could concentrate on client satisfaction. As a result, Diversified partnered with SPE Partners to provide a remote managed service to proactively manage their UCaaS, network, and cyber security solutions. This has proven to drive increased reliability and free their associates to focus on running the attraction, taking comfort in knowing their guests will have a great experience both walking through the exhibit and leveraging connectivity around them.
