Business Services Industry

3Com Voice and Data Network Pays Dividends for MountainBank

Business Wire, April 2, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 2, 2003

Fast-Growing North Carolina Bank Upgrades Customer Service; Expects to

Save Thousands Annually on Communications and IT Costs

MountainBank, Hendersonville, N.C., is providing personalized service and growing its nearly $1 billion in assets with a voice and data network from 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS). Using a 3Com(R) SuperStack(R) 3 NBX(R) Networked Telephony Solution and 3Com LAN switches, MountainBank delivers outstanding service to small businesses and consumers while saving significant communications and IT costs. The converged 3Com solution currently links 20 branch locations and will extend to 20 new offices the bank plans to open over the next two to three years.

"Our investment in 3Com has paid substantial dividends for our business," said Greg Gibson, chief financial officer, MountainBank. "The 3Com solution allows us to save $3,000 in intra-company long distance charges and thousands of dollars in IT management costs, while helping us sustain the quality of our customer service as we add branch locations."

MountainBank is using the SuperStack 3 NBX Networked Telephony Solution at its Hendersonville facility and a 3Com NBX 100 Communications System at each of its branch offices. Using the NBX solution, staff members can call colleagues at any branch and transfer calls toll-free over the bank's wide area network via simple four-digit extensions. The solution's browser-based NBX NetSet(TM) administration utility lets the bank effortlessly manage its 225 NBX phones without using the $75 per hour contractors they needed to contract in the past. The IT staff also use 3Com Network Supervisor to proactively monitor and manage all network devices, including the bank's 200-PC branch networks without incurring hefty software licensing fees.

Most importantly, the NBX solution lets MountainBank customers quickly contact loan and account specialists using direct inward dialing numbers instead of calling branch switchboards. The bank's president even uses the NBX system's call forwarding feature while away from his office to instantly receive calls on his cell phone.

The 3Com Switch 4005 carries the bank headquarters' voice traffic and distributes Gigabit Ethernet over copper connections to servers equipped with 3Com Gigabit Server NICs to accelerate key back-office applications. Chief among these is ITI Premier, which tracks deposit and loan account balances and all associated transactions, and Microsoft desktop programs. The bank uses a 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 switch to deliver 10/100 desktop connections at its headquarters. At branch offices, SuperStack 3 Switch 3300 switches provide 10/100 links to NBX handsets and PCs outfitted with 3Com 10/100 NICs.

Previously, MountainBank relied on a Nitsuko PBX system. Adding a phone extension typically cost a minimum of $150 to contract an outside service technician. Because the phone system could not cost-effectively link MountainBank's branches, the bank was unable to redistribute overflow calls to other branches. This resulted in the bank hiring additional personnel at some offices.

To remedy this situation, MountainBank sought to link its branches using a reliable, scalable voice and data solution that would enable it to provide superior customer service at reduced costs. After consulting with 3Com value-added reseller Banksys Management, MountainBank chose the integrated 3Com voice and data solution over a Nortel offering because of its superior value, performance and ease of management. The bank also values the 3Com NBX system's plug-and-play features, which enable in house IT staff to easily and affordably move, add and change phones.

"3Com's way of linking our branches was a much better fit than other options we evaluated for a fast-growing business like ours," concluded Gibson. "Their voice and data systems have proven to be a good investment that we expect to pay even more dividends as we grow."

About 3Com

3Com is a tier-one provider of innovative, practical and high-value networking products for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organizations. 3Com is also a leader in providing Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for network service providers. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.> 3Com, the 3Com logo, NBX and SuperStack are registered trademarks and NBX NetSet is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.