Abbey
The selection by the UK’s Abbey to deploy an internet protocol (IP) telephony solution from Cisco and BT across its entire infrastructure represents an innovative and ambitious move that is expected to bring massive cost savings and efficiencies. BT and Cisco created and installed a new converged corporate infrastructure, bringing the bank’s multiple voice and data networks together into a single converged network and therefore providing Abbey with the best multi-channel strategy award. The typical branch office structure of the high street banks makes for a disparate network of technologies. In such a competitive market sector, fast, reliable and secure access to key data is vital to delivering superior customer service. However, the applications that facilitate those advantages demand more capacious networks, while also making the stability of the infrastructure ever more critical to the survival of the business. Convergence also reduces telephony charges. Previously, millions of calls each month between branches and head offices incurred call charges. In addition to an immediate cost benefit, consolidating a complex catalogue of networks into a single, converged network positions banks to offer new and innovative services; such as person-to-person video between anyone in the company, video booths in branches, or enhanced contact centres. A Cisco-based IP Telephony platform allows customers to benefit from increased productivity, greater business flexibility, and reduced operational costs.
