Societe Generale Expands IDNX Backbone To Enable VOCALIA Network for
Banking-By-Phone Services
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 11, 1997 - N.E.T. today announced that Societe Generale, a leading financial institution in France, has created a sub-network from its existing N.E.T.(tm) IDNX(r) multiservice backbone to provide additional voice transmission capabilities for a new 24-hour bank-by-phone service called VOCALIA. The new IDNX sub-network will benefit from the efficiencies of voice compression technology to serve up to four times as many customers over the existing telephone lines. The implementation saves Societe Generale money while improving customer service.
The network expansion, valued at almost $1 million, is part of a contract awarded to France Telecom, a prime N.E.T. distribution partner in France. N.E.T. worked with France Telecom to implement a solution that would satisfy Societe Generale's needs for a reliable, secure network for the new service. The entire Societe Generale IDNX network is now valued at $2 million.
Societe Generale created the VOCALIA service to enable faster and more convenient access to customers' accounts. Customers can call from anywhere to perform a number of automated banking transactions, such as balance inquiries, money transfers or bill payments, or be transferred to a financial
advisor.
"We are very familiar with Societe Generale's requirements," said Philippe Blanquart, France Sales Director, N.E.T. "The IDNX platform integrates voice and data in a highly reliable and efficient manner. The addition of N.E.T. voice compression capabilities allows for further cost-efficiencies, without sacrificing voice quality."
The sub-network consists of IDNX Micro/20 systems at Societe Generale officesthroughout France. N.E.T voice compression capabilities were added to the extension, allowing more efficient bandwidth utilization, at 16kb/s, to
provide for up to four times as much traffic on a single line. The IDNX Micro/20 systems allow the bank to connect 10 2mb/s circuits at each site. With the help of voice compression, this means that up to 300 calls can be handled simultaneously at each site.
The original backbone network includes IDNX/90 and IDNX/20 systems, and was implemented in 1994. Legacy data traffic, such as SNA and X.25 traffic from the main computer center, is consolidated by the larger IDNX nodes and transmitted at E/3 speeds for more efficient voice and data transport over the wide area.
The N.E.T. family of multiservice bandwidth managers consists of five models with sophisticated networking functions that combine efficient multiplexing, intelligent call-routing, LAN internetworking and routing, ATM, frame relay switching, ISDN signaling and network management.
Societe Generale is the leading private-sector bank in France, with 2,000 branches in France and 500 offices in more than 70 countries. Societe Generale ranks ninth in Europe and 18 in the world in assets. Principal activities are retail banking, business banking, investment banking and financial markets. The Group has 350,000 share holders, six million private and corporate customers, and 46,000 employees worldwide. Societe Generale offers financial services on a 24-hour basis throughout the world.
N.E.T., headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., is a leading worldwide
supplier of multiservice backbone networks used by enterprises and global carriers in more than 50 countries. N.E.T. multiservice WANs integrate voice, data, and video traffic with ATM, frame relay, LAN internetworking and ISDN capabilities for today's mission-critical applications. The company is certified to the worldwide ISO 9001 standard for design, manufacturing and servicing. Join us at our
worldwide web site: net.com for further information.
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