Enterprise Voice Services offers IPC clients increased business continuity capabilities and operational efficiencies via IP telephony without forfeiting the performance and security features of traditional ring down services.

EVS is initially being offered to IPC clients in the New York metro area. Later this year, service will be available in other global financial centres. IPC is also introducing an IP interface for the trading system switch to extend IP from the network into the enterprise environment. IPC has further plans to interconnect the cities via IP transport, creating the first truly virtual trading community.

EVS is the first intelligent IP network service for the securities industry, delivering a level of service resiliency not previously available without considerable expense and increased administration. In the past, traders could not easily access their dedicated communications services at an alternate site, thereby limiting their ability to conduct business in an emergency situation without interrupted service. EVS removes this constraint by presenting dedicated connections to multiple locations simultaneously, allowing traders to reach their clients from multiple enterprise locations.

Global trading firms are required to implement resilient communications infrastructures that ensure business continuity. IPC’s Enterprise Voice Services forms part of a comprehensive business continuity strategy to provide securities firms with the assurance voice trading can continue without interruption. As a service provider, IPC extends this assurance with fully redundant network components housed in multiple central office locations and proactively monitored 24 x 7 by IPC Global Solutions Operations Centres (GSOC). Additionally, IPC clients can access a secure web portal to view services and performance metrics, report problems and request change orders, thereby improving operational efficiency and decreasing administrative overhead.

Firms do not have to replace their telecommunications infrastructure to realise incremental resiliency benefits with EVS, making it both cost effective and easy to implement. IPC is running Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as part of its core network fabric to route calls and collect real-time performance statistics. Future enhancements will enable IPC clients to take advantage of automated service provisioning to other clients connected to a global trader directory hosted on the SIP server.

"The enormous promise of IP for the trading floor is just now beginning to be realised. Advances such as IPC’s Enterprise Voice Services move us closer towards the goal of virtualised trading, where resources will be available as they are needed, where they are needed and will not require human intervention," says Octavio Marenzi, CEO of Celent Communications.

Lance Boxer, CEO of IPC says, "IPC isn't just a leader in technology - we also pioneer better ways for our clients to use that technology. The future is clearly IP, and Enterprise Voice Services is part of a series of services that we’re rolling out to help our clients do more. We're making concrete investments in the future, and our clients are realising the benefits."

Separately, IPC Information Systems, a leading provider of mission-critical trading floor communication solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced the introduction of the Enterprise SIP Server, a key building block in the IPC Enterprise Approach. As a leader in IP on the trading floor, IPC is the first trading systems provider to incorporate SIP technology, and the subsequent interoperability and business continuity benefits, into its customer solutions. Of the more than 100,000 traders who use IPC turrets on over 450 trading floors around the globe every day, 26,000 trade on an IPC-provided IP turret.

Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) is a standards-based, next generation IP communications protocol allowing seamless integration of rich media such as voice, video, text, instant messages and applications. 9SIP eliminates traditional silos of information which impede the ability of users to collaborate and limit access to mission-critical information.

Technically, IPC's SIP implementation allows companies to evolve using both SIP and non-SIP communication devices so that a firm’s technology investment is protected, and massive upgrade disruptions on the trading floor are avoided. With IPC's SIP implementation operational and cost efficiencies are made possible by eliminating the need for TDM-SIP gateways in an end-to-end IP architecture. IPC's Enterprise SIP Server provides performance management and line card redundancy yielding greater throughput and performance. In addition, SIP makes possible the ability for dual presentation of calls to two different destinations whether to another turret on the same IPC system or to a PBX-connected phone greatly facilitating Business Continuity Planning.

In an industry where traders are increasingly mobile, end user communication devices take the form of everything from a traditional trading turret to a PBX phone or a the trader's PC or even a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The IPC Enterprise SIP Server provides traders with the ultimate flexibility and ability to communicate by accommodating the trader’s device and location of choice. Additionally, the IPC SIP Server complements a company’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) by offering a robust, highly available platform which protects the firm’s investment in IT and communications infrastructure. Adoption of the IPC Enterprise SIP Server positions a company to take full advantage of these current and future capabilities as technology evolves.

"This is an exciting time for IPC as we roll out our solution roadmap for the future of the global trading floor, and the introduction of the SIP server a key component of this plan," says Lance Boxer, CEO of IPC. "IPC has a history as a technological innovator, having been first to introduce the IP trading turret to the global financial services marketplace in 2001. We remain committed to investing in critical technologies into the future in order to continue to bring compelling business benefits to our customers."

Furthermore, IPC Information Systems, a leading provider of mission-critical trading floor communication solutions for the global financial services industry, and NICE, the global provider of advanced solutions that enable organisations to extract insight from interactions, have partnered to offer Enterprise IP Recording to IPC clients.

IPC's Enterprise IP recording, which leverages NICE software applications, is the first completely trader-based recording solution. With recording resources allocated to traders at log-on, IPC’s Enterprise IP Recording ensures that traders are recorded regardless of which turret they choose to trade from. Traders gain the mobility they need without jeopardising their corporation’s need to adhere to compliance guidelines.

NICE's software applications capture and store company-to-customer or trader-to-investor phone calls to provide organisations with the complete audit trail of financial transactions required for corporate compliance. Moreover, capture of voice-based interactions facilitates advanced analysis and allows for the efficient search of phone calls according to the words or phrases that were mentioned during the conversation.

Enterprise IP Recording will also bring business continuity benefits to IPC clients. It allows clients to host recorders in a remotely located data centre, making it possible to physically separate the recording infrastructure from the trading floor. This flexibility of deployment is essential to robust business continuity planning.

IPC is also offering a unique application to enhance the use of Enterprise IP Recording. This application allows traders to playback their calls upon demand, once they obtain appropriate management approvals.

Lance Boxer, CEO of IPC says, "The joint offering of Enterprise IP Recording from IPC and NICE is another important step towards the virtual global trading floor of the future. It is one in a series of enhancements made possible only through VoIP that we continue to roll out in line with our Enterprise approach."

"Our joint offering with IPC expands the commitment the two companies have shown to meeting the evolving recording and compliance needs of the financial industry," said Shlomo Shamir, Ph.D., President, NICE Systems Ltd. "NICE's well-established IP Recording solution offers traders flexibility while ensuring that all calls will be recorded as required."