Cost reductions and customer service improvements have been reported by the West Texas National Bank. These benefits have come as the result of the deployment of enterprise IP telephony software by Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert) Inc.


Nine different traditional TDM-based phone systems across distributed branch offices were replaced with Enterprise Interaction Center (EIC), IP-based software. The deployment and move to voice over IP resulted in a 93 percent reduction in long distance phone charges, as well as the elimination of over 70 phone lines, which equaled savings of roughly 37 percent. The bank was also able to reduce costs associated with repairs and support.

Through the centralization and automation of the bank’s call center, the EIC deployment not only improved customer service, it also reduced staffing requirements for processing calls by the equivalent of three full-time employees.

“Before EIC we were spending about $20,000 per month for long distance charges and $6,000 per month on our data network,” said West Texas National Bank executive VP and COO, Jerry Rogers, in a Tuesday statement. “In addition, we had three voice response systems and no automated call distribution capabilities, which not only hampered communications between branches, but made them very expensive.”

“By reducing long distance charges, converging our voice and data networks, eliminating duplicate systems across sites, and centralizing our contact center, we've not only cut costs and improved customer service, our employees now feel part of a single bank regardless of their branch location,” Rogers added.

The EIC currently supports the bank’s entire employee base composed of 157 people, including a centralized contact center that services calls for its nine branch offices located throughout West Texas. It provides the bank with SIP-based VoIP switching, voice mail, fax services, unified messaging, auto attendant, interaction voice response, automatic call distribution and reporting.

In late 2004, West Texas National Bank was first prompted to look for a new communications system as multiple mergers left the bank with disparate phone systems and isolated branch offices. After reviewing multiple systems, the bank ultimately selected Interactive Intelligence software based on its features and ease-of-maintenance.

“The selection process wasn't easy since nearly all the vendors we reviewed called their solutions ‘complete’ and ‘unified,’” Rogers said. “As a former technology consultant, however, I knew we had to delve deeper to ensure we didn’t end up purchasing a ‘single’ solution that, in reality, was just a bunch of cobbled together systems requiring five different screens to set up users, and making upgrades to one system crash the other four.

“We selected EIC because it had all the features we wanted, plus it really did have a unique single-platform ‘unified’ architecture, which meant fewer boxes to manage and fewer interfaces to learn,” he added. “In fact, part of our due diligence involved checking references, and the Interactive Intelligence customers were not only happy with the software’s functionality, but they stressed its ease-of-maintenance.”

The bank fully expects to extend EIC's benefits further by creating additional applications, such as using the software to enable customers to call and record wire transfers 24x7, which, according to Rogers, employees can then process during normal business hours.

A complete integration of the phone systems that has produced so much success is a significant testimony of the capability that Interactive Intelligence can bring to the contact center and the enterprise. The company did well to identify the needs that were most important for the West Texas National Bank and addressed them head on to produce a solution that not only met the bank’s specific needs, but also reduced costs.

Such a success story will better position Interactive Intelligence in competitive situations where they are not the major player. Intuitive and innovative companies will delve deeper into their own needs and identify how a solution will work over the long term. In such situations, Interactive Intelligence is better positioned to come out on top and gain greater market share overall.

Want to learn more about call centers? Then be sure to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.

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Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.