FORE's ATM Network Cuts Long Distance Costs by 30 Percent While Boosting
Productivity and Customer Service
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Physician Sales & Service/World Medical
Inc. (NASDAQ:PSSI), a $1 billion distributor of medical, diagnostic and
imaging equipment and products, is enjoying the best of both worlds -- a new
wide area network (WAN) that provides a quantum leap in performance while
yielding $100,000 a month in cost savings. The secret -- moving WAN data and
voice traffic via asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology with products
from FORE Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORE), a worldwide leader in high-performance
networking products based on ATM technology.
PSS/World Medical's new ATM WAN replaces a network that utilized analog
dial-up modems to transfer data between PSS/World Medical's headquarters and
its 87 branch locations. The new network improves the performance of a
variety of applications including consolidated reporting, remote ordering,
fulfillment and shipping. In addition, the use of voice over ATM will allow
the company to channel up to 30 percent of its voice traffic through the
network, and trim monthly long-distance costs by as much as 30 percent.
Future plans include distance learning multimedia applications for
employee training and teleconferencing for companywide meetings.
"Our ATM WAN gives us a true, distributed computing environment that
supports everything from rapid file transfers to wireless sales applications
that enable our sales team to take a supply order in Albany, New York and have
it automatically filled and shipped from our facility in Texas," says Brian
Finley, director of voice and data for PSS/World Medical. "With ATM, we also
can better support electronic data interchange (EDI) required by the major
manufacturers we represent and meet the service needs of our customers."
PSS/World Medical's network utilizes FORE's ForeRunner(R) ASX-1000 ATM
backbone switch to link the company's corporate data center and local-area
network (LAN) to an ATM wide-area backbone provided by AT&T. Corporate data
center and LAN operations are linked to a ForeRunner ASX-1000 via an OC-3 line
running at 155 Mbps, while FORE's VoicePlus(TM) circuit emulation services
(CES) module provides connectivity for the headquarters' Lucent PBX system.
The ASX-1000 connects to the AT&T ATM cloud over two DS3 lines, each running
at 45 Mbps. Each of the company's 87 branch locations is linked to the ATM
WAN backbone over a T-1 trunk line running at 1.5 Mbps through FORE's
CellPath(TM) 90 WAN multiplexer. Local LANs connect to the CellPath 90 via a
512 Kbps variable bit rate line, while each local PBX is attached over a 128
Kbps constant bit rate line.
According to Finley, cost was a leading factor in selecting ATM as the
company's WAN technology.
"We were spending around $50,000 per month just for the dial-up modems and
a total of about $300,000 for all communications, yet we were not efficient,"
Finley says. "We evaluated a number of WAN options including the Internet and
point-to-point private lines, but we didn't see significant return on
investment potential until we looked at ATM.
"Our new network will cost about $180,000 a month to operate, but the cost
drops to $80,000 per month when you factor in the $100,000 savings in monthly
long-distance phone charges," Finley adds. "Once we're at full
implementation, we think we can do even better. Also, we're only using about
half of the ASX-1000's capacity right now, which leaves us plenty of room for
expansion as our operations and network continue to grow."
Finley notes that the company expects a healthy return on its investment
in a number of other areas as well. "By moving our voice traffic over the ATM
network, we'll achieve payback on the entire investment in less than nine
months," Finley says. "These efficiencies also help our customers control
their costs while enabling them to provide the highest-quality health care
with our products and services.
"Along with the savings on long-distance phone costs, there are other cost
benefits that were not even factored into the ROI estimate," Finley says.
"For example, conducting remote training over the ATM WAN will cut travel
costs for sales personnel and eliminate travel time they can better utilize
serving customers. Our CEO also will benefit by using the network for 'face-
to-face' meetings with our branches, enabling him to spend more time at
headquarters without sacrificing personal contact with our field people.
"Finally, FORE's ATM solution provides us with a comfort level in addition
to significant cost benefits," Finley says. "Because they're a standards-
based hardware provider, the applications we deploy over the network today and
in the future have a much greater chance for success and strong payback. And
they're clearly the ATM technology leader, so we know we're getting the most
advanced solutions available."
"FORE's Intelligent Infrastructure solution, combined with the cost
savings of ATM, demonstrates a clear competitive advantage," says Ron
McKenzie, vice president, strategic marketing, FORE Systems. "We're pleased
that FORE Systems has been selected to help PSS/World Medical improve its
productivity, efficiency, customer service and cost-effectiveness." |
