Olympic volunteers to use virtual communication

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Locog) is to deploy virtual meeting rooms to enable its 6,000 staff and volunteers to communicate during the Olympics.

Locog staff will be provided with 1,800 BT MeetMe WebEx licences immediately, increasing to 6,000 by the time of the Games as the organisation continues to grow. Volunteers and staff will use the software to make plans and preparations ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“As we reach the business end of the project, we need to ensure our teams are able to work flexibly and efficiently," said Gerry Pennell, CIO of Locog. "Having a tool like MeetMe WebEx will prove to be an invaluable asset for our staff. It is also rewarding to see two of our sponsors collaborating to provide services like this to help us on the road to London 2012.”

Transport minister Norman Baker recently called for more businesses in London to deploy collaborative technologies to prevent workers coming into the city during the Olympics.

“With the vast input of people coming into London next year with the Olympics, it simply isn’t possible to have everyone who works in London to travel the way we do. There aren’t enough spaces on the trains, buses and tubes. So it has to be something different,” he told Computer Weekly.