Avaya Inc. reports that its Internet protocol telephony solutions are being used to facilitate branch renewal by helping community banks around the country build stronger customer relationships.
Among them are Florida Transportation Credit Union, Bank 10 and Truliant Federal Credit Union. All three use Avaya IP Office for their multi-site networks.
Internet Protocol (IP) telephony is a software-based technology that transmits voice as data over a computer network in a manner similar to email.
IP Office is a converged voice and data communication solution designed specifically for small- to mid-sized firms and branch offices of larger enterprises. Avaya has sold more than 38,000 IP Office systems to businesses worldwide.
Florida Transportation Credit Union, a member-owned financial institution serving the Florida Department of Transportation, Turnpike Enterprise and other state agencies, is using IP telephony to improve customer service by automating functions that previously required a staff member's intervention.
"We've been able to route customers directly to automated account information using the auto-attendant feature of IP Office, while still giving them the option of reaching a service representative or loan officer if they need personal attention," says Scott Meyer, Florida Transportation CEO.
Meyer says two-thirds of the daily incoming calls the organization receives, which fluctuate between 750 and 2,000, are now handled automatically.
In addition, Avaya IP Office has allowed the organization to establish 24-hour customer service capabilities. After hours, auto-attendant voice prompts automatically route callers to a Visa customer service representative to report a lost or stolen bankcard, without requiring the customer to hang up and redial.
IP Office delivers cost savings to Florida Transportation by eliminating long distance charges between the credit union's Miami and Ft. Lauderdale offices and by reducing the staff required to handle customer calls.
"The system paid for itself in the first six months," says Meyer.
The IP telephony solution for Florida Transportation was sold through Avaya BusinessPartner Communication Solutions USA.
For Bank 10, a Missouri-based community bank with five branch locations, IP Office is delivering eliminating the headaches once associated with daily organization-wide conference calls. Previously, each branch had its own individual phone system, making conferences cumbersome to initiate and often impossible to hear. With IP Office serving all five branches, a built-in 64-port audio conferencing bridge and a Web-based scheduling interface now make it easier to set up calls and to collaborate with customers and colleagues on demand.
Avaya Inc., based in Basking Ridge, N.J., designs, builds and manages communications networks for more than one million businesses worldwide. For more information visit www.avaya.com.
