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Case Study - The Members Group

Financial Services Company saves over $60,000 annually with IP Communications

Company Profile
The Members Group supports credit unions nationwide
with credit card processing, reporting solutions, Automated
Clearing House, Asset Liability Management, and mortgage
services. This growing financial services company employs
150 in its Des Moines, Iowa headquarters and sales offices
in California, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania.

Situation
The Members Group (TMG) made its mark by serving credit
unions with highly reliable financial services, which means
continuing success rides on deploying the best technologies
available. So as TMG planned for a new facility, management
re-examined existing capabilities.

What caught their eye—and ear—was a traditional PBX
system that was expensive to maintain and incompatible with
newer technologies that could position them for growth. To
stay ahead, TMG had to bring on a leading-edge solution
that would dovetail with plans for expansion.

As Brad Lones, Manager of Business Development at TMG
explains, “The solution had to be flexible, integrate well with
our call center application, and be managed by our network
staff.” Lones also looked to save money, add functionality, and
help users quickly adapt to a new system with minimal transition.

Solution
“Several vendors made a solution pitch,” says Lones, “but
based on knowledge and professionalism, we went with
Vital Support Systems.”

Vital designed and implemented an IP Communications
solution that integrates with existing systems—Interactive
Voice Response, Call Center, e-mail, and fax—for maximum
flexibility and minimal support costs.

Each employee and every conference room is equipped with
an IP phone, and all PCs plug into phones for access to the
network. The Unity system makes it simple for employees
to receive voice messages via e-mail. Gateways allow users
to connect to analog devices such as fax and modems to
leverage every new opportunity afforded by IP Communications.

The new system includes:

• Cisco IP phones (178)
• Cisco IP Communicators (50)
• Cisco Catalyst switches (10)
• Cisco CallManager software
• Cisco Unity with Microsoft Exchange
• Cisco analog device gateways (2)
• CallRex recording
• PIX firewall

Results
”The impact has been dramatic,” says Lones, “We’re saving
money in a lot of ways.” And it didn’t take long to quantify.
“Right away we cut 30% off wiring costs,” he says. “And
we save over $60,000 a year on support expenses because
our networking and help desk staff now handle it with minimal
effort.”

The IP solution delivers additional advantages as well.
Remote employees use a VPN to access network information
they need, just as if they were using a phone onsite. Lones also
gives an A+ to recording capabilities, “Call recording is critical
and our new flexibility is terrific.”

For quality of service and security, phone and PC data are
separated onto different VLANS and a firewall ensures added
security for connections with business partners. “It’s difficult
to the quantify these gains, but we’re confident security is
now rock solid,” he says.

Everyone is thrilled with ease of use. Says Lones, “A
display on my phone has a menu and everything is spelled out,
no cryptic codes. I pick up my phone, plug it in anywhere in the
building, and it works just like on my desk. We love it.”
What’s next? Lones has a good idea: “Vital is helping us further
secure our environment and virtualize our servers. But after
just one project, Vital already seems like family—which is
exactly the type of partnership we strive for.”