LIMA, Peru, March 28, 2012 – The Peru Credit Bank (BCP) announced today that it has chosen a Cisco® Unified Communications system to increase business flexibility and reduce costs through an easy-to-use IP telephony solution that will be able to integrate more applications in the future. The project is based on a private cloud model. The central system is located in the bank´s data centers, avoiding the need for a local system in each branch of the bank.

The bank identified the need to migrate from a traditional telephone system to an IP solution to align its data networks and support the business in its growth goals over the next three years, as the entity announced.  The BCP will have a unique corporate IP network that covers all its connectivity needs in both voice and data. This merging of communications on a same corporate network allows the bank to simplify the operation, thus reducing operating and maintenance costs.

Internal employees can benefit from the IP technology, as they can get extension portability and mobility through a virtual office, reducing the cost of long-distance calls costs by approximately 30 percent and achieving higher speeds in internal business processes without affecting customer service.  Any employee of the company can be available at the appointed extension and be connected all the time without being at the office.

Cisco IP telephony also solves the problems of missed communications and lost calls at the bank. Employees now have new services like message mailboxes, caller identification, simultaneous call capabilities and the monitoring of the telephony consumption and expenses. The new system also improves the communication among branches and the new system allows people to gain access to very relevant information about the network performance.

As of today, 80 percent of the telephony has been migrated, which represents 8,000 telephones at a national level, and it is expected to reach 100 percent (10000 telephones) by the end of 2012.

Highlights

• The Peru Credit Bank has implemented this collaboration architecture at a national level in almost all its branches and main offices as well as in its offices in Bolivia, Panama and the United States.
• The IP solution includes the Cisco Unified IP Phones 7911G, 7942G, 7962G, 9951; Cisco Unified IP Phone 6900 Series; Cisco Unified IP Conference Station 7937; and Cisco IP Communicator (a softphone application). Bank employees have also started to use the Cisco TelePresence EX90 desktop personal video systems. The Cisco Unified Communications Manager system is based on Cisco Unity Connection for messaging and presence solutions, which shows the employee status (busy, in a meeting, available). In the short term the bank will be implementing a TelePresence solution which is unique in the region because of the high levels of availability and high-definition video.
• This is the largest IP telephony implementation in Peru and in the Central America, Caribbean and the Andean region.

Supporting Quotes

Jose Ishikawa, telecommunications director, Peru Credit Bank

"We have chosen Cisco because we needed a strategic partner who could give us a flexible offer and the possibility of integrating the whole network. We have a big challenge to support the bank in its growth goals and with the IP telephony migration project and Cisco we will be able to accomplish it, while maintaining service quality."

Edgar Arana, collaboration architecture manager, Cisco Peru

"The complexity, high availability and speed of a network needed by the bank while it gives the best service possible to its customers led it to choose a communications partner that not only supplies applications and devices but also develops the collaboration architecture encompassing network services, collaboration services, and medianet-enabled services. This architecture allows the bank to increase its customer services and provide the same user experience."

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in emerging markets is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

# # #

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.