SAN JOSE, Calif., October 28, 2003 - Cisco Systems® today announced three new IP Communications customers, fueling the company's continued momentum in the financial services market. VirtualBank, Cole Taylor Bank and Fairbanks Capital Corp. are all deriving significant productivity benefits and return on investment from their converged data, voice and video systems.
For Fairbanks Capital Corp., a leading residential mortgage loan servicer, the Cisco IP Communications system is a strategic enabler of its rapid growth and business process enhancements. The company has grown through acquisitions and expanded its geographic presence. As part of managing this growth, Fairbanks Capital has deployed the Cisco IP/VC Videoconferencing system, resulting in reduced travel costs, instant and effective face-to-face communication, and flexibility—at a lower cost than its legacy ISDN videoconferencing network. The videoconference system is one element of Fairbanks Capital's new single, integrated voice, data, and video WAN (wide area network) environment based on Internet Protocol (IP) and Cisco IP Communications solutions. Overall, the new network is delivering both superior communications capabilities and cost efficiency.
At Cole Taylor Bank, Chicago's largest independent bank serving small to mid-size businesses, Cisco's IP Communications system was chosen to provide improved functionality with lower operational costs compared to its previous separate data and voice networks. Cole Taylor's new converged voice and data network comprises 900 IP phones across 12 facilities. The new network provides greater scalability, improved conferencing and calling features, flexible deployment options and web-based management—all at a lower cost of ownership than traditional circuit-switched or IP-enabled systems.
"Cisco's IP Communications system provides numerous advantages including flexible deployment options with its centralized Cisco CallManager software, a scalable, open architecture, and a much lower cost of ownership," said Manny Montejano, CIO at Cole Taylor Bank. "We expect to dramatically increase our operational efficiency and reduce costs of managing two separate networks."
VirtualBank, a subsidiary of Lydian Trust Company, a leading provider of wealth management, banking, lending and data processing services, selected a Cisco IP Communications system for their eight sites across Florida and Maryland. VirtualBank's adoption of a single IP-based network for its voice and data requirements was part of the company's effort to lower costs and drive employee productivity, while preserving their existing technology investment. VirtualBank has more than 300 IP telephony users with Cisco Unified Messaging across the company. In addition, Cisco's IP Contact Center is performing call routing, computer telephony integration and reporting as an integrated part of VirtualBank's existing Interactive Voice Response system from Edify.
While VirtualBank is deriving tangible business benefits today with a single, Cisco IP Communications system, the company is also planning to use Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications on Cisco IP phones to deliver real-time loan and interest rate information to its loan officers.
Momentum in Financial Services
Cisco continues to see adoption for its IP Communications systems from financial services companies worldwide. Additional recent wins include the Cottonport Bank, Dah Sing Financial Holdings, First Commercial Bank, Southtrust Bank and State Street Corporation.
IP Telephony Market Leader
Cisco continues its leadership in the IP telephony market, according to Synergy Research Group and Dell'Oro Research. Cisco has more than 10,000 IP communications customers worldwide and has shipped in excess of two million IP phones to customers -- more than all other vendors' IP phone sales combined. Today Cisco IP phones are displacing approximately 5,000 circuit-based, traditional phones each business day -- compared with 2,000 per business day a year ago.
About Cisco IP Communications
Cisco IP Communications is a comprehensive system of enterprise-class solutions including IP telephony, unified communications, IP audio and videoconferencing, IP video broadcasting, and customer contact solutions. Enabled by the Cisco Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID), Cisco IP Communications solutions dramatically improve operational efficiencies, increase organizational productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction to create an empowered, effective work environment.
