The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York (Guardian), a mutual life insurance company in the US, has deployed an open, unified communications solution from Siemens Enterprise Communications Group (SEN Group).
Reportedly, this deployment is part of the company’s effort to update its legacy network equipment.
The OpenScape Unified Communications Server and OpenScape Voice Application is designed to enable Guardian to deliver advanced features, centralise and streamline their network and protect their existing technology investment, claims the company.
Guardian and its subsidiaries protect individuals, small business owners and their employees with life, disability, health, long-term care and dental insurance products. Guardian also has a network of telephony systems at its various sites.
Bryan Agate, AVP of Corporate Network Services for Guardian, said: We had over 70 Siemens solutions in place, and we didn’t want the expense and challenge of having to replace our entire system at once. The OpenScape Voice Application proved to be an ideal solution, since it allows us to move to IP gradually and at our own pace, while giving us the immediate benefits of greater centralization and advanced unified communications features.
Another key benefit for Guardian is the openness of the OpenScape Voice Application. While other solutions they’d considered locked them into proprietary solutions, the OpenScape Voice Application leverages the SEN Group’s OpenSOA architecture and is designed to integrate easily with solutions from any vendor.
As part of its initial deployment, Guardian has implemented an abbreviated dialing plan and calling party display, as well as routing internal calls over the network. This has made it easier and efficient for employees to collaborate with one another while helping to reduce long-distance telephony charges. Guardian also monitors network traffic in order to plan network maintenance, ensure network availability and minimise disruption to employees.
