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eircom and AIB have announced the launch of Ireland's largest and most advanced VoIP network based on innovative technology deployed by eircom on behalf of AIB. The scope of the One Network IP Telephony Project is to deploy 5000 Cisco IP phones across the Bankcentre 1 and the new Bankcentre 2 campus and a new IP telephony IT infrastructure. Subsequent phases of the project will provide IP-based contact centre functions to AIB call centre agents serving AIB customers. By March 2008 AIB will have the largest installation of VoIP phones in the state.

The business benefits include measurable quality of service, reduced call transmission costs, and reduced ownership costs thanks to a centralised telephone network, centralised management of call costs and billing, and enhanced Disaster Recovery capability. Other business benefits of moving to an IP-centric approach include the ability to centralise banking functions in large data centres, the capacity to scale the service and numbers as an operation grows, greater flexibility in moving or adding phone users and the cost efficiencies of merging phone and data networks.

The project is the first phase of a Next Generation Network that merges phone and data into a single infrastructure. The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service includes support for sophisticated call centre functions such as hunt groups and automated call routing. The project commenced in November 2006 and over the next 7 months the eircom and AIB teams implemented the core IT infrastructure which delivered dial-tone and voice mail services. The project went live on June 23rd 2007. Further stages will include advanced IP telephony features such as call recording, call centre call routing technology and announcement functionality.

In addition to the core Cisco IPT servers and routers, the eircom team integrated a wide range of third party solutions: gateways to existing analogue phone networks, call tracking and a quality of service ensuring different types of data traffic are all given the bandwidth they need to work properly.

Commenting on the announcement, Colm Hoban, Director of Enterprise and Government Solutions, at eircom said, "we are delighted to have been selected by AIB for this mission-critical project. One Network is an excellent example of innovation in using next generation networking to deliver business benefits and innovative financial services. As a Cisco Gold Partner, our technical team at Lan Communications played an integral part in the success of the project."

According to Paul Williams, IT Executive, AIB, "the AIB and eircom teams benefited from structured programme management to deliver the new network on time and on budget, while meeting demanding test criteria for quality, performance, reliability and resilience."

For more information:

Dearbhaill Rossiter
Senior Press Officer
eircom
Direct Line: 01 701 5483
Mobile: 085 174 5284
Email:drossiter@eircom.ie