ING Direct, the Internet and phone banking arm of Dutch bank ING, has implemented an IP telephony system supplied by Avaya at its call centre in Cardiff.
The system was implemented by UK firm Call Centre Technology (CCT), which the bank selected to design and implement the infrastructure for its Cardiff call centre facility and to upgrade existing systems at ING Direct's UK headquarters in Reading.
The contact centre design include a pair of dual processor Avaya S8700 Media Servers at the new Cardiff site, with Avaya Media Gateways attached. The Cardiff facility is linked by a high-speed Wide Area Network to ING's Reading headquarters where the original Avaya Definity Communications Server has been replaced by S8700 Media Servers.
CCT says the system integrates IP telephony applications with skills-based routing and management software, which is used to "intelligently" connect callers to the most appropriate agent. The network also links to the bank's in-house existing CRM application, providing staff with quick access to customer information.
The IP network is also integrated with the bank's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which authenticates telephone banking customers.
Russell Attwood, CEO at CCT, says: "A distributed IP architecture, such as ING's, can provide both the essential resiliency and flexibility to deliver great service."