Sahara Force India

The communication challenges faced in Formula 1 and the benefits which can be achieved are the same as for many other businesses. Every pound saved is an extra pound that can be spent on car development, equalling better results on the track.

Sahara Force India F1

When determining how to take their communications infrastructure forward, Silverstone based Force India Formula 1 Grand Prix team’s goals were to improve reliabilty, manageability and security whilst also increasing speed and reducing costs wherever possible. STL and Samsung worked together to bring them the perfect solution.

Remote communications

There are few types of organisation whose voice and data communication requirements are more complex than a Formula 1 team. Force India needed to have constant communications capability between their main head office at Silverstone and their wind tunnel, just a few miles away in Brackley. In addition, over 50 Force India staff travel to each race and their ability to communicate via telephone and email with head office and with other remote locations is vital.

Virtual office across sites

STL installed a Samsung OfficeServ 500L telephone system at Force India’s head office at Silverstone and a Samsung OfficeServ 7200 at the wind tunnel in Brackley, creating one virtual office across the two sites. With centralised call management and centralised voicemail capability, everything can be managed from one location, making administration of the system far simpler.

Using IP handsets, remote staff who are setting up virtual offices at track-side locations can simply attach themselves via VoIP to the main office communic- ations network. Once logged on, remote users can use their usual telephone extensions, pick up voicemail, make calls, access their normal preferences and generally work in exactly the same way as they would if they were in the head office at Silverstone, even though they might be 1,000’s of miles away.

Home-based staff and those who travel frequently can also use the same technology when working remotely, either using IP handsets at their home offices or IP softphones when staying in hotels, which also generates a significant cost- saving over having to pay hotel call charges. Wi-Fi handsets have also been deployed at head office, giving staff the ability to be contacted at all times, wherever they are located in the building.