Credit Union Cashes in with 3Com Voice and Data Network

Business Wire, April 8, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2003

SRP Federal Credit Union Saves Thousands of Dollars in Monthly Communications Costs, Bolsters Customer Service With New Enterprise Call Center

When customers call SRP Federal Credit Union, the North Augusta, S.C., financial institution, SRP must act quickly to support member needs and inquiries. From providing up-to-date account information to quoting its latest mortgage rates or issuing a loan decision, SRP needs a reliable communications platform to serve its 70,000 members. Now, with a converged voice and data network from 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS), SRP is accelerating its responses to member inquiries and increasing customer satisfaction, while saving thousands of dollars in monthly long-distance and IT service costs.

Today, using a 3Com(R) SuperStack(R) 3 NBX(R) Networked Telephony Solution at its headquarters supported by the NBX 100 Communications System and high-speed 3Com LAN switches at each branch office, SRP links its 13 sites in a customer-focused enterprise network. The voice and data solution supports a new, 11-person customer service call center that quickly handles all credit union member calls. It eliminates expensive, off-premise extension numbers and provides every credit union employee with a personal phone and voice mail account for the first time. 3Com's intuitive, graphical administrative applications further enable SRP to manage its entire network from a single desktop, dramatically lowering the credit union's IT costs.

"We're saving $6,800 per month using our 3Com IP-based voice and data network," said Clifford Rushton, SRP vice president of IT. "The feature-rich solution speeds our service to members, and its exceptional low total cost of ownership will enable us to recoup our $200,000 investment in just 30 months."

Using the 3Com NBX system's hunt groups, the new SRP call center directs every caller to the appropriate department for fast, attentive service. Automated attendants help SRP deliver pre-recorded loan and member services information to callers, giving them instant access to key information without speaking to an SRP employee. SRP managers use the 3Com call detail reporting feature to make informed call center staffing decisions, while account codes track the length of specific calls to monitor the call center's efficiency. In addition, the 3Com system now immediately notifies managers of important phone calls directly through their pagers to ensure rapid responses to important voice mail messages.

Credit union employees use the 3Com NBX system's unified messaging capability to retrieve and manage both email and voice mail from Microsoft Outlook. Employees dial outgoing calls directly from their Outlook contact records using the 3Com system's computer telephony integration (CTI). Additionally, they rely on advanced telephony features, such as phone conferencing, call forwarding, speed dial and redial, to further streamline their communications. Using 3Com SuperStack 3 switches, employees also enjoy fast access to SRP's proprietary banking application, Manager Gold, and the Internet.

Previously, SRP Federal Credit Union used an outdated Lucent Definity GS3 PBX in its headquarters and older-generation shared Ethernet local area networks (LANs) at its 13 branch sites. The voice system was expensive to maintain and could not be expanded.

To remedy this situation, SRP sought an IP-based voice and data network that would provide all employees with individual phones, four-digit extensions, voice mail accounts and faster network access. SRP wanted toll-free calling between North Augusta and its most remote office in Barnwell, S.C. It also wanted a system that could be managed by its IT department and reduce its total cost of ownership.

After consulting with 3Com value-added reseller, Summit Systems, SRP chose 3Com over a competitive offering from Cisco due to the 3Com voice and data solution's superior price/performance and ease of management.

Today, a SuperStack 3 NBX chassis at North Augusta anchors SRP's 240-phone system. An NBX 100 chassis at the Barnwell office, 45 miles away, enables toll-free calling between the two cities using 3Com's least-cost routing feature. Virtual tie lines (VTLs) enable four-digit dialing and call transfer enterprise-wide. SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 switches at each site, with built-in multi-layer capabilities, automatically identify and prioritize voice traffic, and deliver 10/100 megabits per second (Mbps) desktop connections.

3Com Ethernet Power Source units deliver power to SRP's NBX phones over Ethernet cable, reducing its electrical wiring costs. SRP manages its voice systems using 3Com's browser-based NBX NetSet(TM) administration utility, which allows it to quickly move, add and change phones without the costs of an outside contractor. The NBX NetSet administration tool also enables individual users to easily customize their own phones features using a Web-based interface for more efficient call handling.