It's scheduled to make its maiden voyage by year's end
Story by Bob
Brewin
DECEMBER 05, 2003
(COMPUTERWORLD) - Computer
support on Cunard Line Ltd.'snew $780 million Queen Mary 2
-- the largest passenger vessel ever constructed -- gives
new meaning to the term offshore help, since the luxury
liner will cruise with its own onboard technical support
center.
The Queen Mary 2,
which is scheduled to make its maiden voyage before the end
of 2003, has roughly150 computers to help manage shipboard
systems, process credit card transactions and provide
Internet connections for passengers and crew. Since these
systems are vital to the ship and passenger satisfaction,
Cunard, a division of Carnival Corp. in Miami, decided to
install its own onboard help desk. The desk will be manned
by three computer systems officers, according to Geoffrey
Battad, supervisor of network operations at Cunard.
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Though the Queen Mary
2 boasts satellite communications systems capable of
connecting it to any offshore help desk in the world, Battad
said the possibility of communications outages necessitated
onboard support. Cunard uses HelpStar software from Help
Desk Technology Corp. in Toronto to run an internal help
desk at corporate headquarters in Miami, and the line
decided to use the same technology at sea.
Battad said the
HelpStar software -- which includes modules to track IT
assets and tools to expedite and measure first-call
resolution -- helps Cunard provide support for shipboard
applications as well as the Windows 2000 operating system
and Novell Inc. GroupWise software. That package includes
e-mail; instant messaging; and task, contact and document
management services.
Battad said that the
onboard help desk on the 150,000-ton Queen Mary 2 is the
first in the entire Carnival family of cruise lines and, as
far as he knows, the first onboard help desk in the cruise
industry.
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