Bankernes EDB Central (BEC), a provider of IT software and services for financial institutions operating in Denmark, has contracted with Cisco Systems for the supply of 6000 IP phones, which it will distribute to its 78 client banks over the next three years as part of the single largest IP telephony project in the country to date.
The project involves the migration of all 78 of BEC's client banks to IP telephony by 2007.
A new system, developed by Cisco and Danish IT and telephony systems integrator NetDesign, will enable BEC to provide its banking clients with hosted IP telephony services.
Cisco and NetDesign will also provide an IP contact centre, designed for 500 agents, which BEC will use to provide hosted call centre services. BEC says the operation will enable it to deliver IP-enabled systems and services, data centres, PCs and routers to its clients.
Roll out of the IP phones will begin in early October with the initial deployment of 700 predominantly Cisco 7940G IP phones at BEC's offices, as well as 800 IP phones to two customer locations - Diba and Forstaedernes Bank.
Leo Svendsen, director, BEC, says: "Cisco technology will help our customers to improve processes whilst reducing process costs.
"The merging of telephony and IT opens up a whole new way of serving banking customers, for example through offering video conferencing and the ability to document telephone conversations."
Cisco says the shipment of the 6000 phones to BEC contains the millionth IP telephone it has distributed in EMEA.