Cable & Wireless’ infrastructure group Allnet has signed a key deal with life assurance giant Canada Life to implement an integrated voice and data network that will link more than 1,000 staff between Ireland and Germany.
The deal will enable employees between Dublin, Cologne and Frankfurt to interact with information demands from 1,500 brokers and more than 300,000 policy holders.
The new system allows the harmonisation of business processes and secure financial information flows between the three offices.
Canada Life recently acquired Prudential International’s Germany business SALI, a move that led to the subsequent expansion of systems at its centralised IT hub in Dublin.
The converged data network and contact centre will enable faster and more efficient customer service and information request handling through a combination of common databases and skills-based routing of inbound calls to the most appropriate contact centre agents, ensuring that brokers and customers get their information faster.
The Allnet portion of the overall solution included an IP contact centre, voice over IP (VoIP), local and wide area networks, wireless connectivity and IT security.
Cable & Wireless was responsible for connecting the core sites in Dublin, Cologne and Frankfurt on its high-speed managed services network.
To meet the advanced telephony requirements of Canada Life, Allnet designed a cost-effective and flexible infrastructure using Nortel Networks’ IP convergence technology. At the Dublin headquarters, Allnet installed the Succession system to provide IP telephony for 150 users. This integrated seamlessly with Canada Life’s legacy systems. A Symposium IP Contact Centre was then installed for the call centre agents, allowing improved call management and handling. A Nortel local area network provides a fast and reliable backbone for all Canada Life’s converged voice and data needs.
By John Kennedy
