Commerzbank AG is using Siemens Enterprise Communications’ Open Communication solution HiPath 8000, a SIP-based communication system for open IP communications.

The system will enable Commerzbank to roll out innovative new applications more quickly and flexibly as well as leverage the centralized administration and centralized applications to reduce costs.

Siemens (News - Alert) Enterprise Communications (News - Alert) and Commerzbank reportedly signed an “Innovation Contract” in 2003, according to which Siemens assumed responsibility for the entire telecommunications infrastructure of Commerzbank AG.

While Siemens maintains and develops the entire telecommunications infrastructure, management remains in the hands of Commerzbank.

The new agreement is an extension of this contract that requires Siemens to equip a total of 200 branches with Optipoint 420 phones, SIP proxies and gateways based on the HiPath 8000 IP communications platform.

Commerzbank’s customers will experience no change since all phone numbers will be retained. Phone calls can be placed and fielded even if the wide area network malfunctions. In this rare event, an intelligent proxy server routes calls over a gateway to ISDN.

Users in all the branches of Commerzbank can access the relevant functions for their ongoing business operations, voice mail and computer telephony integration functionality based on the HiPath Xpressions and HiPath ComAssistant applications, provided centrally from the HiPath 8000 system.

The bank’s voice switching will migrate from ATM to IP with the HiPath 8000 solution. The call admission control and re-routing functions prevent calls from being lost even if capacity bottlenecks or malfunctions arise.

Additionally, with re-routing a call that cannot be completed over the IP network is automatically carried over an ISDN line.

The new solution will provide the bank interconnectivity between the branches and regional and corporate headquarters as well as help achieve greater availability with the HiPath 8000’s flexible architecture.

“For us the important thing is that the technical equipment in the branches dovetails seamlessly with Commerzbank’s “Branch of the Future” strategy,” said Roland Schneider, in charge of network services at Commerzbank’s IT Production unit in a press release.

He continued: “Our goal is to take the quality of the bank’s financial services to an even higher level. And when you are working toward that kind of goal, it is good to have Siemens at your side as a powerful partner.”

The components of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) from Siemens Enterprise Communications have recently been certified “Powered by SAP NetWeaver”.

SAP (News - Alert) certification attests to full compatibility and interoperability between the Siemens Communication SOA, SAP NetWeaver Portal and SAP NetWeaver Application Server.

For more information, visit Siemens Enterprise Communications or Commerzbank AG.

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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing writer for TMCnet covering call centers, CRM and information technology.