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Nortel (News - Alert) Agile Communication Environment Extends Global Communications Integration, Collaboration at London HQ

 

HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, reportedly has selected a Nortel unified communications solution for its global pilot within the HSBC London Headquarters at Canary Wharf.

 

Nortel’s unified communications solution is designed to support HSBC’s global collaboration by enhancing the speed and efficiency of the bank’s business. Initially, the solution was meant for some 1,000 executive staff in London – and later for more than 50,000 users across HSBC’s global operating areas in North America, Europe and Latin America.

 

Nortel will help HSBC’s existing application systems through its cross-platform voice and video integration, with its ability to introduce unified communications capabilities. Its unified communications products enhance HSBC business and support processes with dial-by-name, click to video, click to conference and other functionality accessible from desktops, laptops, Blackberry devices and mobile phones.

 

The unified communications environment will enable HSBC to allow its global management teams to work together more quickly, efficiently and effectively, anywhere, anytime. Further, with the flexible Nortel Agile (News - Alert) Communication Environment which leverages Service Oriented Architecture and web-services, Nortel will be able to provide communications environment to support HSBC executive mobility including “hot-desking.”

 

“It’s increasingly important to be able to use the skills and talents of a corporation’s worldwide management team as a single, united resource,” said Tim Cureton, group head of telecommunications, HSBC. “Our unified communications solution is aimed at joining-up the decision-makers within our company globally and placing the control and convenience of their personalized communications environment in their hands.

 

Orientating voice, video and text communications around the user - and not as it was with the user around the technology - is key to operating as one HSBC and increasing our competitive advantage on a transnational scale. By working with Nortel we’ve been able to start realizing our goal of an integrated single executive communications infrastructure.”

 

“HSBC’s global deployment of unified communications is designed to provide competitive differentiation by enhancing existing methods of communication and preserving existing investment,” said Joel Hackney (News - Alert), president enterprise solutions at Nortel. “The advantage of unified communications is that it embeds instant communications into the familiar desktop environment. For HSBC, its real power is that it enables communications to be fully integrated into HSBC’s business processes driving enhanced order and efficiency.”

 

“Because the HSBC unified communications solution enables presence capabilities, users can see immediately if a person they need to contact is available and be able to click-to-call from the desktop,” said Richard Tworek, general manager of SOA at Nortel. “The solution enables these capabilities directly from business applications, so that a person can determine, for example, who provided information on a spreadsheet, find out if that person is available and be able to contact them instantly via a mouse click. The solution also determines how best to reach that person, be it via IM, telephone, videoconference or e-mail.”