Ask anyone who's witnessed a match; rugby is one of the toughest sports in the world. But, as the National Rugby League (NRL) of Australia recently found out: running a
rugby league without a robust wireless network infrastructure can be even tougher.

Recently the NRL, which is the top rugby league in Australia and New Zealand, moved its league offices to Sydney. With its new headquarters, the league felt this was the right time to update their network infrastructure to fit its evolving needs. The NRL wanted create a new outbound call center to drive club membership and the ability to support a rapidly growing mobile workforce.

With a third of their 600 employees being mobile, the NRL felt it was important that their new solution allowed people to work from any location and have the same user experience as if they were in the NRL offices. In addition, they wanted only one vendor to provide the unified data center and communication solution.

Cisco's solution included using Cisco Aironet 2600 and 3600 access points, wireless controllers and Cisco Catalyst 2960 and 3750 Series switches, among a handful of other Cisco products. This multi-product solution helped the NRL achieve their goals of an updated wireless network. The league:

• Allowed for employees to work remotely
• Provided high-quality videoconferencing
• Increased club membership by 40 percent
• Enriched the fan experience by letting customer check out their stadium seats using video prior to match time

The endeavor to update the league office was such a smashing success that the NRL administration is creating a roadmap for the league's 16 clubs to follow suit.

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