Attch 5 - UCE Market Survey - Draft J-0 UCE Overview.docx

Federal Aviation Administration

Unified Communications Enterprise (UCE)

Attachment J-0 UCE Overview

DRAFT

October 18, 2024

Background Voice Telephony and Voice/Video Conferencing The FAA relies upon telephony services, voice and video conferencing, and collaboration tools to support the agency’s day-to-day business functions that require Unified Communications (UC). The services are often referred to as “administrative” voice and video to distinguish them from voice and video services that support Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations. With the award of the FAVES contract in 2011, the FAA migrated from approximately 700 standalone Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems to an integrated enterprise architecture based on two redundant cores. FAVES voice enterprise infrastructure is also deployed to the FAA call center that operates on a 24x7 basis. In addition, FAVES provides audio and video conferencing equipment for FAA office facilities including conference rooms and large auditoriums. Figure 1-1 provides a high-level depiction of the FAVES functional architecture.

Figure 1-1. FAVES Functional Architecture

Conference Control System (CCS) The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), also known as the Command Center, was established in May 1994 to balance air traffic demand with system capacity in real-time across the entire NAS. When significant events such as adverse weather, equipment failure, or national emergencies impact an airport or portion of airspace, the CCS quickly and efficiently establishs conference calls with Air Route Traffic Control Centers, Terminal Radar Approach Control Facilities, Airlines, and Weather Bureaus to manage the NAS efficiently and cohesively in real-time. The Traffic Management Specialists adjust traffic demands to meet system capacity. The Command Center Traffic Management Specialists at ATCSCC utilization of the CCS is vital to the planning and regulation of the air traffic flow to minimize delays and congestions. Figure 1-2 provides a high-level depiction of the CCS functional architecture.

Figure 1-2. CCS Functional Architecture

Users of UCE Services Voice Telephony and Voice/Video Conferencing There are over 76,000 users of the FAA’s administrative voice enterprise distributed across approximately 700 facilities. The range of facilities includes FAA headquarters, Service Area and legacy regional headquarters, campus environments—such as the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC), and other staffed facilities. Roughly 80% of the facilities are NAS operational facilities, with the remaining 20% of the facilities supporting only administrative function. In some cases, facilities that are not permanently staffed may require voice services to support technicians who visit the site. While the majority of facilities are located in the continental United States (CONUS), there are also facilities outside the CONUS including, but not limited to: Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, and Guam. FAA international offices in foreign locations such as Frankfurt, Brussels, and Singapore are also in scope.

Administrative telephone services include traditional “dial tone” services for voice calling, voice mail, facsimile, teleconferencing, and FAA-operated call centers. Depending on the source and destination, the services may involve intra-facility calling, on-network calling to other facilities that are part of the FAA administrative voice enterprise, and off-network calling to facilities that are not part of the FAA’s enterprise. Appendix A of Attachment J.1 provides a representative list of the types of calling features and functions currently used by the FAA.

Users of these administrative voice services include Government employees, contractor personnel, guests, and other individuals who work at or visit FAA facilities. There are approximately 64,000 dial ports in-service within the FAA administrative voice enterprise. The FAA operates a limited number of call centers. FAA call centers require automated call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), queue management, and other commercially-available functions that typically support call center operations.

Conference Control System The Conference Control System (CCS), currently located in Warrenton, VA is a high-capacity telecommunications conferencing system used by specialists at the ATCSCC to coordinate with national and international aviation and weather organizations. ATCSCC specialists use the CCS to establish and maintain pre-programmed telecommunications conferences to expedite the flow of air traffic and enhance the safety and integrity of the NAS. The system became operational in March 2011 and is currently configured to support up to 200 operator positions at the ATCSCC and facilitate more than 500 variations of pre-programmed voice conferences with up to 1,000 participants each. A Test-Bed (replica) configuration is maintained at the contractor’s facility in Columbia, MD to be used in resolving technical issues and testing engineering changes or required upgrades without disrupting the operational system.

UCE Programmatic Objectives The four main objectives of the UCE program are: (1) to ensure continuity of services as the FAA transitions from the FAVES contract to the UCE contract; (2) to more fully implement and leverage Unified Communications capabilities which enhance FAA and contractor workforce connectivity and productivity; (3) to upgrade the CCS and maintain it going forward; and (4) to provide Audio Visual (A/V) equipment and maintenance as required by the Government.

Secondary objectives for the UCE program include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Reducing operating costs;

Enhancing the cybersecurity posture of the FAA’s Unified Communication Enterprise;

Limiting the impact to the FAA of technology obsolescence;

Cost effectively supporting growth in the demand for voice and video communications services;

Providing resiliency to address unplanned events that require disaster recovery and continuity of operations; and Enhancing visibility into the use of network resources and the operational status of the FAA’s administrative voice and video enterprise.

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