Banco do Brasil needs to stay competitive since the banking industry is very fierce. "To remain competitive, Banco do Brasil started looking for ways to deliver innovative banking services and increase customer satisfaction while reducing costs." (Laudon, 274). To do this, Banco do Brasil has introduced a multiservice network called WAN.
" The bank selected Cisci System's IGX 8400 services wide-area switch with Voice Network Switching (VNS) to provide speed and intelligence to integrate voice, data and video." (274). The system uses switches connected using E3 ATM trunks to link the three data centers. Banco do Brasil can leverage its data network to provide voice services to every location saving money on telephone calls and expenditures for additional voice channels between cities. The bank is using a new Internet home banking and call-center and now 60% of the branches manage transactions electronically compared to 20% in the past. With this new service the number of customers in waiting lines at the braches have been reduced and customer service costs decreased from $1.50 U.S. to $0.10 per transaction. The transaction time has been reduced which has now enhanced reliability.
When deciding whether to use a multiservice network, there are some issues in management that nee to be looked at. Managers need to look at carefully at planning to see if a multiservice network is needed they should look carefully at network costs. Managers need to be aware of any hidden costs that may result extra labour and time required for annual operating costs from hardware- acquisition savings. Hidden costs also need to be looked at for staff performing operations such as problem solving, updates, installations, maintenance and backup. Managers need to make sure to eliminate downtime, which can be quite costly.
Another issue that needs to be looked at when deciding to use a multiservice network is organization.
