NTT Communications' Arcstar UCaaS to Enhance Communication Efficiency and Flexibility at All Nippon Airways

TOKYO, Dec. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

- Cloud-based Voice Service Will Generate Significant Cost Reductions in Global Operations -

NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within NTT (NYSE: NTT), announced on December 11 it will deliver a cloud-based unified voice-communication solution incorporating its "Arcstar UCaaS" (http://www.ntt.com/a_ucaas_e/) (unified communications as a service) and other technologies, which All Nippon Airways (ANA) Group employees will use for highly efficient and flexible communications at offices, airports and remote locations worldwide. Services will be introduced sequentially starting in 2014.

(Image: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201312106913/ )

Arcstar UCaaS is a unified communications service that can be utilized on a global seamless basis. It incorporates a comprehensive range of communication capabilities, including messaging for sending/receiving text messages, a presence function that shows a potential recipient's location and communication status for selecting the most suitable communication method, a BYOD (bring your own device) function to enable user-selected devices and conferencing methods, and much more.

NTT Com's solution for ANA will facilitate access to internal and external lines from office and remote IP phones, as well as smartphones and tablets. Cloud-based address books can be accessed securely from mobile devices. A MDM (mobile device management) function will provide remote device lock, remote data deletion and other security measures for lost or misplaced smartphones and tablets. Services will be provided via cloud infrastructure, which will ensure scalability and quick, flexible changes, such as the addition of new conferencing functions.

The ANA Group expects to use NTT Com's Arcstar UCaaS-based solution to strengthen its global operational efficiency. It envisions significant cost savings by converting private branch exchanges (PBX) in individual offices to a unified cloud system, and including audio data to its global closed network known as "Arcstar Universal One" (http://www.ntt.com/universalone_e/) and currently provided by NTT Com.

The ANA Group's global operations encompass, as of November 2013, 63 international passenger routes and 996 international passenger flights per week, 112 domestic-Japan passenger routes and 808 domestic-Japan passenger flights per day, and 33,000 pilots, cabin attendants, ground staff and engineers working in indoor and outdoor environments at airports worldwide. Aiming to raise productivity and increase service quality, ANA is introducing ICT infrastructure that supports these diverse environments, including smartphones and tablets.

ANA selected NTT Com's cloud-based unified voice-communication solution incorporating Arcstar UCaaS as an ICT infrastructure that will respond flexibly to the airline's expanding needs for communications that enhance operations with increased convenience and cost savings.

"ANA aims to become the world's leading airline group in terms of customer satisfaction and value creation, so our employees must have access to fast, reliable communications regardless of their location or environment," said Takanori Yukishige, Senior Vice President, Innovation and IT Strategy, ANA. "We highly evaluated NTT Com's track record with global infrastructure and its capabilities as a global unified communications provider. NTT Com's cloud services enable variable ICT costs and flexible upgrades, making them highly suitable as ICT infrastructure for enhancing operations on an accelerated basis."

Information on Arcstar UCaaS may be found at http://www.ntt.com/a_ucaas_e/
Information on Arcstar Universal One may be found at http://www.ntt.com/universalone_e/

About NTT Communications Corporation

NTT Communications provides consultancy, architecture, security and cloud services to optimize the information and communications technology (ICT) environments of enterprises. These offerings are backed by the company's worldwide infrastructure, including leading global tier-1 IP network, Arcstar Universal One (TM) VPN network reaching 160 countries/regions, and over 150 secure data centers.

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