The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. From blood drives to disaster relief, the American Red Cross is one of the most visible, recognizable, and respected organizations in the nation.

Managing those functions and coordinating responses and initiatives requires dependable communications. In 2010, the foundation’s Blood Services location in Murray, Utah, needed an in-house video conferencing solution, and knew bandwidth would be a primary issue. They also knew UTOPIA could address that issue.

“The UTOPIA network definitely has the bandwidth and reliability we need for video conferencing,” says Travis Weaver, Technical Support Analyst at the American Red Cross. “UTOPIA has made in-house video conferencing possible for us. This switch saves us money because doing it in-house is cheaper than paying for the service and it allows for long distance, face-to-face meetings without the cost of travel.”

He also praises the open-access nature of the network and the flexibility of choosing providers. “We are able to get service from a vendor that already provides a separate integral service. This allows simplicity in billing and contract renewal. We are able to negotiate pricing due to account volume,” he says.

Weaver feels the infrastructure UTOPIA provides is critical. “I believe in the need to continually invest in the communications infrastructure of our municipalities,” he says. “Failure to do so will not let us keep pace with the rapidly accelerating network communications global community. Having access to UTOPIA in Murray City has certainly opened up our capacity to meet the communication needs of our organization by using leading-edge technology.”