Allied First Bank selected CIC as a replacement for an existing Avaya system in order to simplify IT management and improve customer service, according to the bank's vice president of operations and marketing, Andy Hardin.

"We evaluated several vendors, but selected CIC because of its unique single-platform, all-in-one software architecture," Hardin said. "This architecture made CIC a clear winner because it gave us all the functionality we needed without having to add programmers or support staff to manage it."

CIC will give Allied First Bank functionality for IP PBX, unified messaging, voice mail, desktop faxing, interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call distribution (ACD), recording, and reporting.

"CIC's customizable IVR menu and skills-based routing will help us get callers to the right person faster for more effective customer service," Hardin said. "By reducing transfers, productivity will also increase."

The bank also anticipates greater insight into information about calls.

"Our old system typically required IT staff to generate reports, which took days to produce," Hardin said. "CIC gives us access to real-time information without IT involvement so we can make better informed decisions more quickly."

Allied First Bank purchased CIC through Interactive Intelligence reseller, Adapt Telephony Services, who is also managing the deployment.

"Adapt first identified our business needs then matched them with the right technology at a competitive price-point," Hardin said. "We're taking full advantage of Adapt's extensive experience deploying CIC, as well as its expertise working with banks and other financial institutions, to get maximum value from our purchase."