Birmingham contact centre supports BMX World Championships

Service Birmingham, the partnership between Capita plc and Birmingham City Council, saddled up to provide vital IT support to this year’s BMX World Championships.

The event, held at the city’s National Indoor Arena, has the biggest annual prize in BMX racing, with the world’s best riders also competing to secure qualification points for a place at the Olympic Games.  During the four days of the Championships, over 20,000 spectators saw 2,000 riders from 40 countries compete.

A team of Service Birmingham experts provided a range of equipment and internet-based solutions, including wired and wireless networks, printers, VOIP phones, audio visual equipment, large projector screens and Wi-Fi spots across the site. Service Birmingham also provided multi-channel two way walkie talkies to allow officials, event organisers, vendors and volunteers to stay in touch. Other vital support included a barcode system to monitor riders and bikes entering and leaving the track and a range of technology to equip the international media centre.

The Service Birmingham team took four days to set up and test the technology but due to a tight schedule only had eight hours to remove all of the cabling and equipment. This allowed for 18,000 tonnes of limestone dust and 14,000 wooden pallets to be removed in time for the next event at the arena.

Service Birmingham’s chief executive, Stewart Wren, said: “Providing virtually every IT-related product and network for the  championships was a huge challenge that involved wiring multiple internet connections, configuring networks and laying cables both underneath the arena floor and outside. Our team put in a fantastic shift and helped make this a successful event for Birmingham and the City Council.”

British Cycling’s event director, Jonny Clay, said: “More than ever in the world of events, our communication needs reliable and consistent IT. Service Birmingham did a great job throughout this event.”