CHICAGO, July 16, 2009 - The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere was renamed Willis Tower today in a changing of the guard that underscores Chicago's increasing importance as a major global financial and business center. Joseph J. Plumeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley officially introduced the new name together at a ceremony at Willis Tower attended by Chicago business, community and government leaders, the building's owners and management, and Willis' Chicago-area Associates.

Opened in 1973 as Sears Tower, the 110-story glass and steel structure remains the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,450 feet (442 meters). Willis Tower will be one of Willis' three largest branch locations, alongside New York and London. The company will occupy more than 150,000 square feet.

TRITECH’S OneSource business model was an enabling factor in completing the Willis Tower project on budget and on schedule. The project team was led by Kevin Tosca, Director of National Accounts at TRITECH who oversaw an ambitious project schedule. Commented Mr. Tosca, “TRITECH OneSource allows our clients to benefit from the synergy and economies of scale that result when working with one single systems integrator capable of integrating all three disciplines—communications, audio visual, and security. This delivers a seamless integration of components, ultimately resulting in a smoother installation of highly complex technology interfaces.”

Carmine Bilardello, Willis Senior VP and Director of Global Real Estate stated, “We were extremely pleased with TRITECH’s expertise and commitment. TRIECH’s ability to do projects nationwide allows us to maintain our standards around the country and their customer focus make them an extension of Willis project team.”

Willis Tower Project Brief:

Communications cabling design solution consists of 450,000 ft. of Belden CAT6 copper cable, Corning fiber optic cable including an armored plug and play fiber system. Each floor consists of approximately 56,000 sq ft. with two IDF rooms and the main MDF room residing on the 19th floor. Panduit cabinets and Chatsworth racks were installed throughout the MDF and IDF rooms with a Chatsworth ladder rack mounted over head that supports cable from multiple points of entry into each room. All three floors three are connected via copper and fiber riser infrastructure which are all tied back to the main MDF room on the 19th floor. CATV is supported with RG-6 and RG-11 coax cable for both horizontal and vertical signal.

Security System element of the project included TRITECH furnishing and installing complete primary security interface access control system, capable of communicating with the building management systems to create a fully integrated Security Management System. The system selected is a multi-tiered client server architecture utilizing Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL as the database engine. TRITECH chose and installed the AMAG Symmetry access control security management system with 24 HID RP40 multiCLASS card readers for all three floors along with Fargo DTC550 Direct to Card Badge Printer/Encoder for ID cards to all 500 employees.

Audio Visual Systems were installed throughout with equipment ranging from a wide variety of manufacturers including Creston, Middle Atlantic, Chief Mounts, Sony, Polycom, Extron, NEC, Draper and Daylite. Two Training Room systems consisting of a front projection system with a ceiling hung projector and a flush ceiling motorized drop-down 4:3 screen (84” diagonal and 100” diagonal). Installed in sixteen ( 16 ) Conference Rooms were Panasonic 50” and 65” Widescreen Plasma Displays and supporting equipment. The Boardroom system consisted of: Three front projection systems, comprising of a ceiling hung projector in a flush motorized housing, and a flush ceiling motorized drop-down 16:9 100”diagonal screen

“The Willis Tower project was a significant challenge in terms of schedule, deployment of leading edge technologies and environment. It is a testament to the strong working relationships displayed by the entire project team that this project was executed on budget and on schedule. We are very honored to have been part of this team and want to thank Willis project managers for their onsite direction and involvement...Willis worked with TRITECH, Structure Tone Inc. and Executive Construction Inc. as a true building team” said Kevin Tosca.

New construction of the 18, 19 and 20th floors was completed in July, with moves scheduled for August and September 2009.

Willis Tower Project Team:

TRITECH Senior Vice President Jack O'Connor with Joseph J. Plumeri,
Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings Ltd., congratulating Jack and the TRITECH team on a job well done.


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