Creating a New Network Operations Center

The Background: A Long History of Service

Since the mid-1980s, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) has relied on Black Box for its telephony and data infrastructure. Traditional services included voice communications, installation and maintenance of PBX switches, telephones, IT services, data network equipment, cabling, and moves/adds/changes (MACs).

In 1992, to better serve the staff and tenants of Miami International Airport (MIA), the MDAD wanted to establish a Shared Tenant Services (STS) program. The goal was to offer one-call, seamless voice and data network services and support to MDAD employees and airport tenants. To achieve that goal, the MDAD relied on us, Black Box, to design, operate, and maintain the voice and enterprise network and to provide ongoing network management. Black Box installed and still maintains a high-capacity communications system and offers a suite of telecommunications and data services ranging from providing a single telephone port to a complex voice, video, and data network, including broadband and Wi-Fi access.

A New Challenge: Network Operations Center

In 2004, to keep up with current best practices, the MDAD decided to establish a first-class Network Operations Center (NOC) and 24/7 Help Desk supporting the Miami International, Kendall-Tamiami Executive, Opa-Locka, and Homestead airports. The challenge was multifaceted. The MDAD wanted a completely new level of service and operations, which included upgrading existing operations, centralizing call center operations, replacing equipment, improving efficiency, and establishing best practice protocols and procedures. The existing center hadn’t been upgraded and was not as efficient as envisioned in terms of answering calls and servicing clients. Black Box has worked closely with MDAD to redesign the NOC and Help Desk to incorporate the latest technologies and procedures using industry best practices.

The End Result

Black Box now provides Tier 1 service at MIA and operates the 24/7 NOC with a staff of more than 50 on-site technicians and engineers. Black Box also dispatches on-site 24/7 2nd and 3rd Tier support. When a request comes in, the NOC staff assesses and attempts to resolve the problem. If the problem can’t be resolved quickly, it’s escalated to one of three Black Box departments: voice, data, or cable. The voice department maintains more than 10,000 ports. The data department supports 7000+ ports, as well as video applications. The cable department manages the copper and fiber cabling infrastructure.

ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005 Certification—Two Firsts

Working with MDAD, Black Box went further in establishing a higher level of service. In February 2009, Black Box achieved ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005 certification for its IT services at the Miami International Airport. To be certified, Black Box implemented and documented an integrated set of management processes for the effective delivery of IT services to the staff, businesses, and customers at the Miami International Airport. This marks the first time Black Box has received this certification. More importantly, under Black Box’s IT management, the airport is the first in the United States to follow the IT Infrastructure Library^® of best practices