To manage communications during the event, the North Yorkshire County Council partnered with Azzurri, a cloud and managed communication service provider, and a recent report from Mobile Today indicates that the partnership was a success.

The event took place in Yorkshire over two days and persisted through two race stages, and during that time period, the County Council reportedly needed to assure high-quality communications for event participants and the public alike.

The first stage began in the town of Leeds and ended in Harrogate; it is considered a "flat" stage, and it stretched across 190.5 kilometers, according to the Tour de France website. The second stage began in York and ended in Sheffield; it is considered "hilly," and it stretched across 201 kilometers.

This is not the first time that the County Council and Azzurri have worked together. The County Council has been using Azzurri VoIP and contact center services since 2006 as part of a managed service plan. With the relationship obviously set firmly between the two groups, Azzurri helped create two command centers that acted as central communications and coordination hubs throughout the race.

Each command center utilized a Mitel (News - Alert) IP Telephony solution that included built-in disaster recovery capabilities. They each acted as failsafes for each other in case Tour officials were unable to access communications through either one.

In addition to providing official communications for Tour participants, the County Council established a call center so it could respond to visitors' questions about the event. The call center used an interactive voice response system to guide callers to the appropriate departments, and overall it reportedly handled a 20 percent increase in call volume over what the County Council usually experiences.

Gavin Booth, Service Manager at North Yorkshire County Council, commented on the partnership and the success each party had conducting the event.

"I'm glad to say it all work beautifully," Booth commented.