Starwood Network (LAN). Also a main computer upfront

Starwood Network (LAN). Also a main computer upfront

Starwood Hotel and Resorts Call Center Networking Starwood Hotels and resorts is one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies. The company owns thousands of Hotels and Resorts as well as seven call centers in which help keep everything running smoothly for the company. Of course this means there is an expansive network working to keep all this information flowing from every hotel and call center. This paper will focus on the network of the call center in Lancaster, California in which I used to work at as a customer service representative.

First the paper will give an overview of the company.Then, a depiction of the network that is being used by the call center will be explained. The Lancaster call center consisted of over 200 cubicles with a computer and a phone line in which connects to their main servers in the back of the building. Also there were QA offices in the back in which monitored random customer service representatives in order to maintain quality control and ensure that all representatives were following the guidelines given to them. The call center offered a separate training room in which also had its own software in which did not disrupt the live calls flowing through the center.I had to break down each section of the call center in order to get a full idea of how everything is connected in the network. First I will discuss the training area; there are about 50 computers in the training area in which are all connected to each other through a Local Area Network (LAN).

Also a main computer upfront in which can monitor how well the trainees are picking up on the training software through tests given to the trainees. The computers also have intranet access in which you can look up anything having to do with Starwood or any of its affiliates.There is no live material in which you look at in the training room.

So I would think that the training room may be sectioned off completely on its own LAN with its own server from the live system used by everyone else in the building. Now, we will discuss how the actual live system is networked. When helping guests find Hotels we are able to look up any hotel under the Starwood name anywhere in the world. So in order to maintain this connection the company has a LAN in each building as well as a Wide Area Network (WAN) the company would also include an Internetwork available in order to maintain communication.To connect with the call centers and hotels that are overseas the company would use an International Private Leased circuit (IPLC) which as stated by Tutorial-Reports. com (2007) website “When the outsourced call center is located in another country, the LDCs in the two regions are connected through the International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC), which is an agreement that provides connectivity through cable or satellite on lease.

” The network for the live system is a server based system.The call center building has a room in which holds all the servers that keep information on the bookings, cancellations, as well as the company’s loyalty program information. I believe there may be a separate server in which holds information for the Human Resources Department.

This information would be kept on a server in which only handles the LAN in the building. Keeping information on all the employees from their time sheets, to their daily statics on how many bookings they made as well as how many guest they were able to sign up for the loyalty system.Next, the topology as well as the wiring used for the call center will be discussed. The topology used for the call center network would be an extended star topology. The star topology allows for the network to be changed without completely shutting down communication throughout the network. The star topology allows each computer to be connected to a central hub by its own cable. With this topology all computers can hear the signals sent.

But a hub is used to direct the signal to the address of the computer it was meant for. Before the caller is actually connected to a representative they go through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR).The IVR technology used for the call centers specific needs is called Telephony Infrastructure as stated by the Voxeo (2009) website “Telephone lines for IVR can be standard analog lines, digital T1, or digital ISDN lines. These lines are connected on one side to the IVR platform and, on the other, to call switching equipment including Telco switches, Voice over IP gateways, and corporate PBX’s; or in some cases, directly to call centers via an ACD. ” I recall one day when none of the computers were working we had to write everything down manually then input the information in as soon as the network was live once again.This is how I narrowed down which kind of topology that the Lancaster call center was using.

The wiring of the call center is most likely wired with Fiber Optic cables. This is mainly due to the fact that the call center is located in a downtown area surrounded by many electrical devices that could cause interference with their network. The bandwidth is extremely high with heavy use of the network throughout the building so fiber optic cabling would be needed in order to provide the call center with exactly what is needed to maintain communication.In conclusion, this paper has given an overview of the network for Starwood Hotels and Resorts network at their Lancaster, CA location. First, an explanation of the network provided for the training station was given.

Then a depiction of the live network in which everyone outside of the training room uses in order to conduct business and connect with hotels and other call centers was given. Finally, the topology of the Lancaster call center was discussed as well as a look into what wiring would provide the best medium for the network was explained.The Starwood Lancaster call center location is only a portion of the network in which Starwood uses in order to maintain communication with all buildings under its brand, and I hope that I gave an accurate view of how extensive the call center network could be. References Tutorial-Reports. com. (2007). Call Center Infrastructure.

Retrieved from http://www. tutorial-reports. com/business/outsourcing/cso/infrastructure. php Voxeo. (2009). What is IVR?.

Retrieved from http://www. voxeo. com/library/ivr.

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