SAN JOSE, Calif., December 17, 2003 - Cisco Systems® today announced the Ingersoll-Rand Company has successfully deployed a new Cisco Internet Protocol (IP) Communications system and declared it the "defined standard" for the company's communications needs.
"The Cisco IP Communications system is now the defined standard at Ingersoll-Rand," said Barry Libenson, executive director of information technology and chief information officer at the Ingersoll-Rand Company. "Cisco is providing cost-effective, state-of-the-art technology that allows our employees to be more productive."
Ingersoll-Rand is a leading innovation and solutions provider for the major global markets of security and safety, climate control, industrial solutions and infrastructure with more than 100 facilities and 45,000 employees worldwide. The global company selected the Cisco IP Communications system for five specific reasons: cost reduction; improved productivity from Cisco Unity™ unified messaging; ease of setting up their own conference calls with Cisco Conference Connection; ability to configure Cisco IP phones themselves with simple execution of moves, adds and changes; the ability to integrate the Cisco IP Contact Center Express product with their existing call center system; and having a single partner that will support their needs in both data communications and telephony.
A return-on-investment analysis was created by Ingersoll-Rand and determined that the new system will slash equipment costs by 38 percent, maintenance costs by 18 percent and conference call costs by 70 percent. Factoring in the one-time installation costs, the company estimates it will realize savings of $224,000 -- approximately 46 percent - after the first year of the new systems' operation.
Cisco IP Communications Delivers Increased Productivity
"The ability to administer your telecommunications system from anywhere within your enterprise via a Web browser is a huge advantage," said Damon Cahill, manager of infrastructure strategy for Ingersoll-Rand. "Remote users can have access to the system no matter where they are, as long as they have an IP address on our network. With a site-to-site VPN (Virtual Private Network), we are able to use a centralized Cisco CallManager call processing unit to connect all of our remote sites."
However, the productivity gains and business process improvements made possible by Cisco Unity™ unified messaging have yielded the most dramatic benefits for the user base. Employees are now able to quickly and easily access and sort through voice mail messages from their email in-box, which is a great time saver. Cisco recently surpassed the 2 million milestone for Cisco Unity seats shipped to customers.
"I think that's the biggest win that we've had in our Huntersville, North Carolina site," Cahill said, referring to the company's technology "nerve center." "If you asked users now if they could do their jobs if we took unified messaging away, a lot of them would say no."
Cisco Unity unified messaging integrates natively with IBM's Lotus Notes groupware, which is the standard e-mail system used at Ingersoll-Rand. The Unity deployment served as the first large-scale integration of Cisco Unity with Lotus Notes Domino messaging and collaboration platform and was the result of a coordinated effort between Cisco and IBM.
Cisco Increases Market Share in Business Communications
Successful customer deployments in the last calendar quarter, including Ingersoll-Rand, have led to a significant increase in business communications market share for Cisco. Cisco has more than 13,000 IP Communications customers worldwide and has increased its sales of IP telephones 58 percent in the third calendar quarter of 2003, according to industry analysts Dell'Oro and Synergy. With the accelerating adoption of Cisco IP telephony solutions, Cisco is the fastest growing vendor in the business communications market.
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 that take advantage of customers' existing Cisco IP infrastructure to deliver new converged applications. Enabled by Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data), Cisco IP Communications solutions dramatically improve operational efficiencies, increase organizational productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction to create an empowered, effective work environment. More information about Cisco IP Communications is available at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns110/ns163/ns165/ns230/networking_solutions_package.html
About Ingersoll-Rand Company
Ingersoll-Rand is a leading innovation and solutions provider for the major global markets of Security and Safety, Climate Control, Industrial Solutions and Infrastructure. The company's diverse product portfolio encompasses such leading industrial and commercial brands as Schlage locks and security solutions; Thermo King transport temperature control equipment; Hussmann commercial and refrigeration equipment; Bobcat compact equipment; Club Car golf cars and utility vehicles; PowerWorks microturbines; Ingersoll-Rand industrial and construction equipment; Dresser-Rand turbomachinery and Kryptonite portable security products. In addition, IR offers products and services under many more premium brands for customers in industrial and commercial markets. Further information on IR can be found on the company's web site at www.irco.com.
