Drilling exploration wells in deep water or other frontier environments is an inherently expensive process. The effects of nonproductive time caused by bad or less-informed decisions are magnified in such costly and difficult environments. A major operator used communications, presentation software, and other real-time technologies to build a more effective collaborative team to support its deepwater exploration program in the Gulf of Mexico. Technology to monitor drilling operations remotely is not new. The goal of this real-time operations center (RTOC) was to move beyond mere monitoring to participation in the drilling operation. The shift from a reactive team gathering to sort out existing problems to a proactive team focusing on problem prevention had a major effect on drilling operations.