What Mobile Trends Mean to the Financial Services Industry

There is no question that mobile usage within the financial services industry is growing exponentially. Improved networks, increased applications and deployment of multiple smartphone technologies have encouraged quicker adoption by consumers and industry professionals alike. As in many other industries, these technologies have helped blur the lines between personal and professional use.

Banking and financial services business leaders who understand the changing wireless landscape will have an easier time leveraging their web presence and gaining a strategic advantage by deploying applications that support a mobile workforce. Here are a few trends related to mobile deployment and usage to get you started in that analysis:

• Global mobile users are expected to surpass desktop internet users by 2014.
• On average there will be one mobile phone for every person on earth by 2015.
• 41% of U.S. online consumers own a smartphone.
• Sales of tablet PCs are expected to reach 500 million by 2014.
• More than 2 billion people have mobile phones but no bank account (expansion opportunity) 
• M2M generated revenue will triple for businesses by 2015.
• In the past year mobile searches have grown four fold.
• Half of all mobile searches lead to a purchase.

It is critical to optimize your company’s online presence to support the increased number of users browsing and accessing information, possibly on your organization and its services, on their phones. 

You may want to begin by testing your website on multiple mobile devices or with a simulator. Most users now expect their online mobile experience to be on a par with their desktop experience. According to Google about two thirds of mobile users will not re-visit a site if it doesn’t load after two tries. If you find that the site isn’t loading correctly or easy to navigate have your team build out a mobile version of the site or optimize the existing site for mobile viewing.

It is equally as important to provide your employees with secure, remote, mobile access. The number of companies working virtually continues to grow as they interact with customers, conduct business transactions and attract new prospects while away from the office. Employees today want to use their own mobile devices to increase their own productivity. One of our partners, Cisco, has embraced this Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) vision and continues to build solutions to help IT departments who are receiving an increased number of requests to support a wide variety of these technologies. 

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Solutions is a great place to start for providing secure access to your enterprise. Their Mobility Client now supports the more popular devices used by your organization’s mobile workforce including phones and tablets running on the Android, iOS (Apple), Nokia Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms. To learn more about how these solutions offer a common, predictable user experience while also addressing productivity and security concerns please give us a call and we’ll be happy to provide you with more information.  Our team of consultants and solutions experts is ready to help assist you and your team with gaining insight and developing a roadmap to a more competitive future for your organization.

Building an Environment to Support Scalability and Rapid Deployment

There are three primary factors that define the security of your organization’s applications and information while also enabling quick and reliable transmission of that data over a converged network; the hardware that makes up your technology infrastructure, the network that your data is transmitted over and the people who support it. Having the right balance of these elements will contribute to sales, customer service and innovation. It will also make your business more agile by establishing an environment that supports scalability and rapid deployment.

Here are a few of the other benefits associated with creating this type of ecosystem:

• Provides both employees and customers with the information and support they need when they need and on their preferred devices
• Strengthens connections with customers to increase loyalty and satisfaction
• Connects people in less time and with contextual relevance
• Personalizes the customer experience with voice, web, email, video and social media
• Accelerates time to resolution by using an integrated communications network to identify and resolve customer issues

One of our partners, Cisco, offers a suite of Unified Communications resources to make sure that your data is secure and your apps run effectively over a single converged network. Products like their Virtualization Experience Client, UC Gateway and Business Edition 6000 contribute to an improved customer experience. Their products also help enable collaboration by offering reliable communications support for delivering multiple applications like voice, video and presence services to various types of devices and IP endpoints. Embracing Cisco’s technology allows your IT team to support business-critical apps and data while also providing your organization with interoperable connectivity to your communications provider. 

The right communications partner will allow businesses to access information, strengthen relationships and enable success. They can also provide you with the correct mix of connectivity to match your needs and budget. Find a service provider who can deliver voice and data networking at the best cost per service. This might mean that your information runs on the networks of multiple providers. But companies like IPLogic, who offer carrier solutions, can serve as a single source for billing, customer support and help managing multiple communications services and providers.

Your IT team will appreciate the functionality of the Cisco equipment and management interface. And you will benefit from the purchasing and admin assistance that a third-party communications provider can offer. Engaging a partner allows you to augment your existing team with additional technical expertise and support. Adopting this model can also deliver access to immediate assistance with upgrades and hardware maintenance.

Taking a look at each of these critical components is the first step to improving the experience for both your employees and external stakeholders. Let us know how we can help you identify the right hardware, technology and communications configuration to support your organization’s growth and continued success.

Reduce Telecommunications Costs Without Sacrificing Service

Reduce Telecommunications Costs Without Sacrificing Service

Businesses rely on telecommunications to access information, strengthen relationships and enable success. Voice services, internet connectivity and data networking are critical components for connecting with both internal and external stakeholders. It isn’t a secret that these services normally account for a healthy percentage of a company’s expenses.

There are, however, a few cost-saving strategies that can be performed relatively easily. Here are a few tips savvy companies have used to increase the quality of their communications while also saving money:

• Perform an Audit - An audit of your existing services and expenses can help quickly identify opportunities for savings. There may be rates that have been in place for a few years that can be renegotiated to better reflect market rates. It may also make sense to consider utilizing an external firm to assist with the audit. The right partner can bring expertise from similar projects that can add to your savings.
• Embrace Technology - You may already have existing networking infrastructure in place that can be upgraded to take advantage of Voice Over IP (VoIP) or other emerging technologies. Some of the newer technologies can provide a higher quality of service and cost savings if rolled out strategically.
• Maintain an Accurate Inventory - It is critical to understand which voice, data and internet services your company is actually using. If you take the time to establish then maintain a complete inventory of your lines it will be easier to eliminate underused resources or consolidate services. In addition, this snapshot will help as you renegotiate contracts with your provider.
• Merge Accounts - If you have voice services from one provider and data from another consider moving one of these services to the other provider. Just from a billing perspective using the same carrier will make it easier for your to understand what you’re paying for. In addition, purchasing more services from an existing provider may qualify you for different levels of customer support or discounts.
• Tap Into Buying Power - The more services you use and the more locations you represent the easier it will be to negotiate better rates. Don’t let remote sites or branch offices purchase their telecommunications directly. Centralize the purchasing with a single provider. Having multiple locations use different carriers increases your expenses and is more difficult to manage. This consolidation will also help you eliminate expenses associated with unused resources.
• Consolidate It - This is a little different from the concept of merging accounts mentioned above. Consider instead working with a partner who can offer the best cost per service on the networks of multiple providers. IPLogic’s carrier solutions provides companies with the right mix of data, audio and video connectivity to match their needs and budget. Even if those services are run on the networks of multiple providers you benefit from working with a single vendor for billing, customer support and telecommunications services.

Contact us if you would like to learn more about how to optimize your telecommunications. IPLogic’s team of experts can perform an assessment of your existing service and determine your business needs. We’ll then present a full evaluation consisting of a set of solutions with the carriers to cater to your connectivity and budget needs. No more working with multiple vendors to provide different functions on different physical networks.