Case Study: Raleigh-Durham International Airport achieves unified, interoperable mass notification with BlackBerry AtHoc Connect

Airport Overcomes Complex Communications in Their Unique Environment with Networked Crisis Communication

Raleigh‑Durham International Airport (RDU) upgraded to an all‑IP network and needed a mass‑notification solution that could integrate 700 Cisco IP phones, digital displays, ticketing terminals and external partners. Their legacy pager system was siloed, required manual maintenance of external contact lists, and made it difficult to ensure alerts reached the right people or to coordinate with regional first responders and on‑site vendors.

RDU implemented BlackBerry AtHoc (AtHoc Connect) in a two‑phase rollout to unify communications across IP phones, displays, email, SMS and mobile apps, add acknowledgements and delivery reporting, and create a permissioned interoperable network for external organizations. The result is single‑pane message distribution with real‑time receipt tracking, reduced contact‑list overhead, improved situational awareness and redundancy across devices—maximizing ROI on existing Cisco investments and simplifying emergency coordination.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Joan Dowdy

Program Manager of Information Services