Düsseldorf -
It's the same every year: New Year's Eve, at midnight, everyone wants his friends and loved ones reach via SMS or phone call. The acid test for the telephone network.
EXPRESS looked so once around in the network center of Vodafone. Here you fight with the millions of messages.
Every New Year's wish of 35 million Vodafone mobile phone customers comes from Düsseldorf. In high-rise of the mobile giant also sits on the banks of the giant central Netzzen. From there, all calls and short messages are managed. On New Year's Eve is a mammoth task.
"Today we have 150 engineers at our headquarters," said Vodafone spokesman Sebastian Galle. Every man is required from midnight, as more and on 31 December by 0 clock is going on in the huge room to hell! The Vodafone-Hochhaus then becomes, "Good-slip center" of the country.
"In the past year we have processed 18 000 SMS every second," says Galle. In barely half an hour after midnight, came as 87 million together this flash, this once again millions of phone calls. Second-best day of the year is Christmas Eve at 58.5 million SMS messages - but during the day.
"The SMS is: first come is first passed," says Galle. He therefore advised to send the message shortly before midnight. "Good is also sent to an SMS to a whole list of recipients, it is quicker."
About the Internet portal "MyVodafone" is also the opportunity to compose a message and to send it automatically. "That costs extra," says Galle. Waiting times can be avoided but probably not. If you're unlucky, you have to try it again and again - died down to 0.30 against the clock largest SMS storm.
