Calyx signs €500k telephony deal with Permanent TSB


4 Aug 2004

Calyx’s voice division has signed a deal worth around €500,000 to replace the existing telephone system across Permanent TSB’s 113 branches throughout Ireland.

The deal will see the implementation of an NEC Aspire telephony solution at Permanent TSB, a division of Irish Life & Permanent. The solution will be initially configured to upgrade the branches to an ISDN platform to improve communications efficiency and improve on responses to customer queries.

The next phase of the project will be to network all the branches via internet protocol (IP). This will deliver better branch inter-connectivity, which in turn will deliver significant cost savings to the bank.

The emergence of IP means that companies are now choosing technology platforms that can be IP enabled in the future. At the moment not many companies fully understand the world of IP and the benefits it has to offer. This has led to hesitancy but it is very important that companies choose a telephony platform, such as the NEC Aspire, as it can be configured as a standard digital platform from day one and be IP enabled in the future without any significant cost. This gives companies like Permanent TSB more flexibility in deploying their IP network.

Gerry Ebbs, head of procurement at Irish Life & Permanent, said: “Calyx Voice were selected after a very detailed investigation of the various options available to us. The Aspire solution chosen demonstrated exceptional user friendliness, resilience and excellent future-proofing and offered us a compelling technical and commercial opportunity. Calyx have proven experience in large roll outs like this and their approach reflected a clear understanding of the logistics of branch networks like ours.”

By John Kennedy