Rental car at the ready, our Connect-D team drove 500 miles across Germany in 7 hours to Wilhelmshaven, northern Germany, to install welfare services on-board Joint-Support-Ship, EGV Berlin, in time for its deployment. Due to the current COVID-19 travel regulations and halt to public transport across Germany, the team decided to travel to the Navy ports themselves and uphold their high levels of customer service.
Florian Herold, Head of IT Services Bundeswehr at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “We wanted to keep our promise to the customer and realised that with the current restrictions in place, we needed to be more creative in our method. We found one of the last remaining rental cars in the area and decided that we would drive across the country ourselves. Being part of this team makes me proud. We are fully motivated to ensure the same quality and excellent user experience, even with all the necessary limitations we have to deal with right now”.
Rendel Rieckmann, Head of Airbus Secure Communications Business in Germany, said: “During these difficult times, we understand that it is more important than ever for those on military deployment to keep in touch with their family and friends. Whether that’s over the telephone, email or video, we are proud to be able to create that bond between those deployed and their loved ones back home. Over and over again this small team demonstrates what is possible with a solution driven mind-set. It’s in moments like these that teams pull together to make the impossible, possible”.
Connect-D is a welfare communication service that provides seamless connectivity to the Bundeswehr military in the most remote places on Earth. Currently delivered to 15 permanent camps and 4 Navy vessels worldwide, the digital end-to-end service enables those connected to keep in touch with loved ones, listen to live radio and watch movies, just as they would at home.
About Connect-D
Connect-D is a digital end-to-end hybrid network service with highly innovative rate of evolution in terms of digital data and media distribution. Since 2011, Airbus has been delivering Connect-D Land and Sea welfare and secure communications services to the Bundeswehr, allowing soldiers access to communication and media services anywhere in the world just as they would at home.. The Connect-D welfare services include:
- Internet
- Telephony (VoIP-technology)
- Media Server (Offline-access to movies, e-papers, and broadcasting station Radio Andernach)
- Mobile equipment
- Internet cafés and / or WLAN-areas
- German-speaking 24/7 support desk
- German-language web portal
All Federal Armed Forces members benefit from access to Connect-D for life. Once initially registered, Connect-D can be used in all future deployments, allowing a faultless connection to family and friends regardless of time and place. This provides a seamless deployment transition for the user and operational efficiencies for the customer.
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