Thanks to Avaya (News - Alert) Technology, young children will be able to track Santa as he makes his deliveries on Christmas Eve.

Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration solutions and services, along with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will once again provide a toll-free hotline for children to call in and track Santa’s progress throughout the night on Christmas Eve.

Last year alone, over 100,000 children phoned into the hotline, 1-877-HI-NORAD, to track Santa Claus’ progress through the night sky. Avaya and NORAD also offer an international number, (719-556-5211) for callers outside of the U.S. 


Image via Shutterstock

This tradition, which spans more than 50 years, all started after an advertisement company inadvertently printed the wrong phone number for children to reach Santa.

In 1955, the Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement, based out of Colorado Springs, Colo., mistakenly gave children the wrong phone number to reach Santa Claus. Instead of reaching Old Saint Nick, the children were shocked then the calls were instead connected to the Continental Air Defense Command’s (CONAD) hotline.

Not wanting to spoil the holiday enthusiasm of the young callers, Colonel Harry Shoup, director of Operations at the time, had his staff track Santa’s progress and give the children updates. The tradition has gotten so large that a group of 1,200 volunteers will donate their time to help track Santa’s progress.  

Avaya underwent extensive testing by the Department of Defense Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) to be sure its real-time collaboration solutions would be up to the task of handling the high volume of calls. The testing resulted in Avaya receiving the certification from JITC. Avaya Aura unified communications and contact center solutions will be used to connect the callers with members of the volunteer tracking team.

When children aren’t calling the hotline for updates, they can track Santa’s every move on the Internet.

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