Insurer signs up for next-generation networking
Swinton agrees £1.3m contract with telecoms supplier Thus
Insurer Swinton Group has signed a contract worth over £1.3m for a next-generation network (NGN) to speed up online insurance quotes and transaction information for customers.
The high street insurance chain’s450 sites across the UK will be connected by the Thus NGN which will carry all Swinton’s data traffic and enable voice over IP communications, replacing the slower dial-up broadband service currently used to connect branches to its core network.
High-speed internet access will help streamline the transaction process and allow employees to supply quotations to customers in real-time, so improving customer service.
The network, which will connect office headquarters, branches, call centres, distribution facilities and data centres, will consist of two 100Mbps internet connections with resilient Ethernet access, allowing Swinton to run bandwidth-hungry services and applications.
Swinton will eventually be able to converge all its existing data and voice traffic onto one network, and support long-term company growth.
‘In this highly competitive insurance market it is crucial to our business to be able to respond to customers needs quickly and efficiently,’ said Rob Davidson, strategic development manager at Swinton Group.
‘We required a bespoke NGN solution that would provide resilient and assured connectivity across our offices.’
Davidson says that Thus has also been able to accommodate a further 95 sites to the company’s original rollout plan at short notice without massive upheaval.
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