Liberty Science Center Integrates Avaya Speech Technology

By Susan J. Campbell

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Jersey City’s Liberty Science Center is slated to open next week after a 22-month, $109 million upgrade. Upon its opening, visitors will be able to experience the benefits of new intelligent communications capabilities from Avaya (News - Alert) Inc. Avaya Speech technology will be used to help expand learning beyond the museum’s walls as part of the Center’s new “Science Now, Science Everywhere” initiative.

Interaction with exhibits to promote learn anywhere, at any time will be facilitated through cell phones, PDAs and other personal communication devices. Visitors will be able to retrieve and download supplementary information and commentary, vote in museum polls and even contribute additional information of their own.

"We're looking for ways to extend the learning experience," said Barbara Macecsko, CIO, Liberty Science Center, in a Monday statement. "Studies show that nearly nine out of 10 visitors to our facility have a cell phone or other communication device. Now, we're able to use those phones to deliver science content both inside and outside the museum over cellular, Wi-Fi or land-based networks."

The museum’s new interactive capabilities are built on the Avaya Voice Portal, a software platform used to speech-enable applications across an enterprise. Gold Systems, Avaya DeveloperConnection (News - Alert) member, created a speech recognition interface for the Portal that enables museum guests to use spoken commands to access additional levels of information. The interface incorporates speech recognition software from Avaya DeveloperConnection member, Nuance (News - Alert) Communications.

The Liberty Science Center can use the Avaya Dialog Designer, a standards-based development tool, to quickly and easily program the Avaya Voice Portal with the addition or change of exhibits. A variety of tasks can be accomplished with the Web Services wizards, from integrating applications and databases to recording phrases and building new prompts.

An upgrade to the Avaya communications infrastructure supporting the museum’s staff is also part of the expansion project for Liberty Science Center. Empire Technologies, an Avaya Platinum BusinessPartner, designed an expanded solution using the latest version of Avaya Communication Manager IP telephony software and Avaya media servers.

The underlying converged network is based on secure, high-capacity switches from Extreme Networks (News - Alert). Exhibit staff and the museum’s technical team will use wireless Avaya IP phones so they can stay in touch with colleagues and guests from anywhere in the facility.

"With new interactive communications capabilities for our exhibits and mobile communications capabilities for our staff, we hope to redefine the service we deliver to the thousands of guests who visit our facility each year," Macecsko said. "The investments we've made also give us a great foundation for the future -- allowing us to explore automated ticketing and other capabilities that can further streamline our operations and improve service."

The Liberty Science Center has done well to identify the most compelling use of communication among its visitors and implement that into the exhibit and interaction process. As a result, the museum will likely find its visitors more engaged, whether they are in the Center or not.

Such processes can also streamline business practices for the museum, making communication among employees much more effective, while also facilitating the quick and easy change or addition of exhibits. Such a move not only brings the Center up-to-date, but also equips its visitors and staff with the latest information technology portal for better interaction and communication.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.