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Pre-game prep
- Teamwork: In late 2016, preparations began. A primary focus for us from the outset was ramping up existing and new partnerships, including with local officials and federal agencies for ongoing coordination.
- Drills: We implemented and conducted a number of equipment testing, configuration verifications and alarm monitoring for the channels carrying the game, including:
- Testing direct connections to off-air antenna fail-overs
- transitioning all NBC TV network services to redundant digital content manager’s and test signal paths
- point searching antennas to NBC’s over-the-air feed
- performing fail-overs of all over-the-air encoders and encryptors
- and validating all alarming systems in our key switching centers.
- Redundancy: Our network is built for resiliency and reliability, and was ready for heightened traffic. A big focus of network preparation for us is ensuring we have the right backups and redundancies in place. Your plan is only as strong as your safety net. Redundant systems are a key component of our network reliability.
The Big Game
- Play-by-plays: Leading up to and during the Super Bowl, we actively monitored the network and had resources on standby to respond to and resolve any issues.
- Communication and Customer Focus: Our Global Event Management Center served as our command center before, during and after the game. We had a team of engineers dedicated solely to Super Bowl viewers. We implemented an instant response system for any issues or trouble-shooting, and had periodic checkpoints before the game, and at the beginning of every quarter of the game.
- Public Safety: We were on the ground in Minneapolis in a public-access control center, and closely connected to our wireless network peers and the public sector.
Kevin Service is the senior vice president of wireline field operations for Verizon.