In keeping with the radical design of Bullring, its owners, Birmingham Alliance, wanted an innovative communications system that would allow the shopping complex to work closely with its tenants and help improve their efficiency and profitability.

Network manager Ben Darji says that in any retail environment, especially one the size of Bullring, the amount of information to be communicated between management and retailers is significant.

“We wanted to enable advanced and beneficial communications with our tenants and their customers by integrating technology into the shopping experience,” he says.

“To do this we needed an IP infrastructure that was robust, flexible and capable of delivering integrated voice, video and data communications. Having this environment means we can develop our unified communications strategy and implement new technologies.”

With the benefit of a new build, Bullring installed 350 kilometres of multi-gigabit cable infrastructure to link every part of the building, and then implemented a Cisco wireless network to cover the entire complex.
“Communication is a key element of Bullring,” says Darji. “We have 31 giant plasma screens strategically positioned to provide information for shoppers, 28 self-help kiosks and 30 WiFi access nodes, as well as web terminals installed in every one of the 140-plus retail units.” One of the key aspects of the centre was to create two-way channels of communication between the tenants, the management team and the shoppers. A captive audience of thousands of shoppers is reached every day by posting multimedia advertising, sales promotions, job vacancies and other information on the numerous interactive touchscreens and passive plasma displays around the malls. “If there are any incidents, emergencies or even standard messages we need to communicate quickly, they can be flashed on screens around the building,” says Darji.

Already using wireless PDAs to communicate with building engineers and a BlackBerry information server for mobile communication with staff, Darji and his team are now looking at radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and wireless access points to enhance presence information around the complex.

“Losing a young child in a large centre with a high number of people is every parent’s nightmare,” he says. “An RFID tagging service triangulated into our wireless access points would provide an excellent tracking system to locate a lost child or member of staff on the move.”

With an infrastructure that supports multiple communications channels and experience of using diverse means of communication, Bullring is ideally placed to continue developing and implementing its long-term unified communications strategy.