Shell Turns to Kell Systems to Reduce Office Noise Pollution

LONDON, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- State-of-the-Art Office Technology Improves Working Conditions and International Communication Across Shell Europe Offices

Kell Systems today announced that Global petrochemical group, Shell, has selected Kell server cabinets for its Virtual Reality communications suites in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Stavanger, Norway.

In typical usage, the Kell server cabinet can reduce server noise by a perceived 90%, CO2 emissions by up to 97%, and - compared to a Server Room - floor space by 90%, operating costs by 98%, and capital costs by up to 80%. Shell's implementation of this technology represents a move on the part of the Global energy giant to dramatically improve office energy efficiency and enhance employee working conditions.

Ranked by Forbes magazine as the 8th largest company in the World, Shell employs more than 100,000 workers across 90 Global territories. Effective global communication is critical to the company's international operations, and in the Shell Scotland and Norway offices a number of Virtual Reality suites have been installed to facilitate video conferencing between international offices.

The PSE24 ComputerVault Pro Kell Server Cabinet that was chosen by Shell has been installed within each of these seven rooms, providing 24 rack spaces per cabinet and enabling Shell to dramatically reduce the noise from the high-end PC workstations while providing an ergonomic solution to storing a large number of PCs and their peripherals.

"The cabinets mean that we can keep everything out of the way, and shutting the door blocks out the noise from the computer fans," said Simon Green, Virtual Reality Centre Coordinator at Shell. "Our users have been impressed that they can close the doors and it simply goes quiet."

Noise reduction was particularly important for Shell, as it enabled the video conferencing equipment in the rooms to be used without unnecessary distractions. Moving the PCs to outside the rooms was not a practical option, as users required access to the machines to log on, use USB drives and reboot.

Kell's server cabinets enable the deployment of servers and network hardware directly in the office workspace, removing the need for dedicated computer rooms and thus dramatically reducing costs, electricity consumption and CO2 emissions.

Shell Europe represents just one of the Global clients currently leveraging Kell server technology to dramatically reduce noise and energy levels within their office environments. The UK based manufacturing firm caters for hundreds of Global clients including Microsoft, Honda Formula 1, BP, NASA, the US Navy, ABN Amro, and Google to name just a small selection.

"The aesthetic and economic benefits of installing the Kell Server Cabinet into the existing office environment are unrivalled anywhere else in the Global marketplace," said David O'Coimin, Managing & Operations Director at Kell Systems. "Perhaps even more importantly however, with more and more legislation being introduced relating to office working standards and health and safety, and of course green energy efficiency, this technology is becoming increasingly important to the office environment."

Shell has reported numerous benefits to the installation of the Kell Server Cabinet since their introduction and a full case study including Shell Europe feedback was recently published in Computer Weekly magazine.

About Kell Systems

Kell Server Cabinets are Soundproofed Office Furniture for IT equipment which use super-quiet forced-air cooling. This replaces the need for a dedicated server room, which typically uses more energy than powering the servers themselves, and means that servers are quiet enough to run in an open office. For more information, see http://www.kellsystems.co.uk.