Organization

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina, USA

Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is the only Indian tribe in North Carolina that is federally recognized by the United States government. Located in western North Carolina in their traditional homelands, the tribe consists of 15,000 enrolled members across 56,000 acres. Headed by Principal Chief Michell Hicks, EBCI runs its own government with a legislative branch and supreme court, as well as 400 unique programs including educational and recreational services, housing, finance, healthcare, public safety and sanitation, just to name a few.

LifeSize ResultsCherokee Indian Tribe Relies on HD Video Conferencing Solutions to Help Their Community Thrive

A Customer Success Story

Challenge Solution Results

Because the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is spread out across 56,000 acres of

land and has over 400 programs throughout the community, the tribe needed an effective way to collaborate across distance.

After a rigorous evaluation process, the tribe turned to LifeSize video conferencing solutions

for its firewall traversal, scalability and mobile support. EBCI purchased LifeSize Room 220 for the chiefs conference room and LifeSize UVC ClearSea for members of the chiefs leadership team.

The tribe has begun utilizing HD video conferencing extensively and it has served

a key role in solving some of EBCIs most challenging issues. Browns goal is to equip every member of the tribe with a LifeSize ClearSea account to facilitate even more collaboration across divisions.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks

2Challenge

Because the tribe is spread across a vast 56,000 acres in a mountainous region, all of the various division headquarters are dispersed among the

land. In some cases, traveling to a building only half a mile away can take an exorbitant amount of time due to the rocky terrain. Additionally, only seven deputies under the tribes chief oversee all 400 programs. For the deputies to manage their individual programs (and communicate with the chief on a weekly basis), a robust communications ecosystem was needed for the tribe and its many divisions to function seamlessly.

LifeSize is, and will continue to be, instrumental in the vitality of our community.- Jeremy Brown, audio and video administrator for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

EBCIs chief continually seeks new ways to improve communications throughout the community.

3Solution

In order for the tribe leaders to communicate as efficiently as possible, the IT team of EBCI turned to HD video communications rather than audio or web

conferencing. However, finding the right vendor proved to be a challenging task. After a long evaluation process, including countless meetings with Polycom and Cisco, EBCI eventually chose LifeSize and purchased LifeSize Room 220 for the chiefs conference room, as well as LifeSize ClearSea to share with leaders in the tribe.

The number one feature that we were looking for was a solution that could easily connect inside and outside of network. Since we have a medical division, confidentiality and security are of the utmost concern and we have nicknamed our network, Fort Knox, said Jeremy Brown, audio and video administrator for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In fact, LifeSize was the only vendor that could even do a demo without us having to open our firewalls. Cisco couldnt even do that, even after opening a couple of ports. LifeSize was truly the only vendor that could provide us the peace of mind we needed and allowed us to traverse firewalls with ease.

Brown also felt that scalability was a key factor in the decision making process. We were blown away by the fact that we could start small with our purchase and buy more as needed. LifeSize UVC Platforms ability to buy a single port at a time was a huge selling point for me. Its hard to say exactly how many licenses we need at any given time, and LifeSize gives us the flexibility to let us buy only what we need and keep the costs low.

Finally, Brown knew that in order for the tribes leaders to communicate as effectively as possible the solution needed a robust mobile component. I especially liked the fact that LifeSize UVC ClearSea supports so many different mobile devices. When someone calls, all of your enabled devices ring at the same time. Whether Chief or one of his deputies is on their phone, tablet or laptop, they will never miss a critical call, said Brown. Every building tribe-wide is equipped with its own WiFi network. That, along with LifeSize UVC ClearSea, ensures that connectivity is never an issue and Chief can connect with his colleagues at a moments notice.

Delivering the Ultimate Communication Experience

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Results

After implementing LifeSize Room 220 and LifeSize UVC ClearSea across the Cherokee

community, the tribe is using video communications extensively. For example, the attorney general uses her LifeSize UVC ClearSea solution almost every day and believes the technology is critical for maintaining the success of the tribe. Recently, EBCI was involved in a legal matter that required an extensive amount of lobbying to the state government. Through the use of video conferencing (rather than traveling to and from Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington D.C. for meetings), EBCI believes they saved nearly $15,000 in that single case alone.

Additionally when a rock slide blocked the citys main thoroughfare, its casino (the communitys lifeline) was blocked and visitors were unable to attend. Because the casino accounts for nearly 85 percent of the tribes collective income (and funds medical care, public safety and sanitation, among other programs), the rock slide made it nearly impossible for the community to function. For this reason, the chief and his leadership team called FEMA for federal aid. They were able to speak to the national agency over HD video conferencing to get the necessary support the community needed.

LifeSize is, and will continue to be, instrumental in the vitality of our community. Our plan for the future is to provide a LifeSize UVC ClearSea account to as many tribal employees as possible, said Brown. We are believers in HD video conferencing and we recommend it to anyone who is looking for a natural, reliable way to connect and build relationships across distances.

When a rock slide blocked the tribes main thoroughfare, EBCI was able to work with FEMA using LifeSize video conferencing technology to gain federal aid.

2013