National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) will use Avaya solutions to link its more than 100 branches across the UAE and abroad.

Avaya, a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, will link NBAD’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi with all the branches through an IP Telephony-based network designed to standardise and streamline communications within the organisation, the bank said in a statement.

“As a leading regional bank and a large financial institution, voice quality and security were of paramount importance when we selected our communications solution,” said NBAD chief information officer (CIO) Srood A. Sherif.

“With our plans for expansion, it’s important to have a converged communications network that is secure, reliable and that seamlessly links our branches to the head office, allowing employees access to the communication tools they need from wherever they are,” he said.

Avaya’s IP telephony platform at the bank’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi extends to all branches, while a modular messaging system enables employees to access messages any time, anywhere from a wide array of access devices including telephones, fax machines, or PC graphical user interfaces. This improves a user’s ability to respond quickly, while Avaya’s Meeting Exchange provides reliable and cost effective conferencing capabilities.

“Not being able to communicate effectively with our disparate systems across our bank branches has affected employee productivity, which impacts operating costs, and produces delays in meeting business needs,” said Sherif.

“We wanted to extend a single dial plan to over 3000 employees and provide them with flexible communication tools to enhance productivity and allow them faster access to information. The depth of Avaya’s unified communication applications reduces complexity, and offer exceptional software tools that improve work processes and save time. The Avaya solution met our selection criteria from all angles in terms of technology and added-value to our business,” he added.

Within six months of implementation, six sites have gone live and 50 per cent of NBAD employees are currently using and benefiting from Avaya’s IP Telephony solution.

“Changing the way employees in financial institutions communicate is a challenging task. A bank’s performance can be hampered by the lack of various communication tools, and banks can’t afford to ignore the many benefits available today from transforming their business with real-time collaborative communications,” said Nidal Abou-Ltaif, managing director of Avaya in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“NBAD is the most recent addition to Avaya’s growing portfolio of customers within the financial services industry. We understand the level of security required for maintaining and supporting real-time accessibility across all communications channels, and our Intelligent Communications solution will help NBAD improve performance by adding speed and agility to their business processes.

“By having met the bank’s current expansion and flexibility requirements, NBAD is planning to use Avaya solutions for its future call centre integration projects,” said Abou-Ltaif.
In addition to supplying a universal dial plan across the NBAD network, Avaya also provided design consultancy, project and programme management, implementation services, and onsite training and knowledge transfer across all sites. NBAD has also signed a five-year Service Level Agreement with Avaya, the company said. – TradeArabia News Service