LAS VEGAS — Nov. 14, 2006 — Today at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, the largest event targeting the retail banking industry, Microsoft Corp. made its case to banks on the virtues of the Windows Vista™ operating system and the 2007 Microsoft® Office system, releasing a white paper that showcases how the offerings can help banking employees collaborate better.
The white paper, titled “Unified Communications and Collaboration for the Banking Industry,” outlines how Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system create a platform allowing banks to unify their business communications, empower teams through workspaces, connect people, processes and information, and enable work on the go. The white paper will be distributed in the Microsoft Meeting Room No. 11 and is also available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/architecture/industry/finservs/banking.
“Banks of all sizes can gain tremendous business benefits by adopting Microsoft’s collaboration platform,” said Greg Haislip, managing director for the banking industry in the U.S. Financial Services Group at Microsoft. “Designed to utilize the technical knowledge and expertise of Microsoft Active Directory® service, the Microsoft platform enables banks to build upon their existing IT investments and deploy these offerings at a low cost. Our vision is to empower employees within retail banks to share information, communicate with the right people at the right time, and help them take advantage of the full range of mobile devices, Internet and the 2007 Office system.”
Microsoft’s vision of unified communications and collaboration is built upon the 2007 Office system, Exchange Server 2007 and Live Communications Server 2005, which are designed to deliver seamless access to information, no matter what the channel. The platform provides several benefits to help banks improve their profitability and technology return on investment by unifying voice mail, e-mail, contact, calendar, instant messaging and presence data. From bank personnel to customers to third-party service providers, integrated collaborative communications devices are driving a new connected world in today’s competitive banking marketplace.
Putting the principles of the white paper into action at the BAI event, Microsoft will demo the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista alongside the company’s branch teller/seller scenario, which highlights how bank branch employees can leverage Microsoft technology to provide more efficient customer service. Microsoft will sponsor breakfasts at BAI on Tuesday and Wednesday morning that are open to all conference attendees.
In a related announcement, Microsoft today also unveiled the Banking Integration Factory initiative that will utilize the latest advances in the Microsoft platform, Microsoft .NET and technology solutions from ARGO Data Resource Corp., Corillian Corp., Getronics, Harland Financial Solutions Inc., Jack Henry & Associates Inc. Other partners supporting the initiative include AdviceAmerica Inc., Fair Isaac Corp., Fiserv CBS Worldwide and Portrait Software PLC. The Banking Integration Factory seeks to integrate Microsoft and partner technologies at the services level, and introduce interoperability via composite line-of-business applications.
About Microsoft in Financial Services
Microsoft’s Financial Services Group provides software that helps financial firms transform the customer, employee and operations experience so they can maximize opportunities for increased market share and profitability. Microsoft software helps empower people and IT staff within financial firms — and across key focus areas such as advisor platforms, channel renewal, insurance value chain, enterprise risk management and compliance, and payments. Through a combination of Microsoft- and partner-provided solutions, customers enable their employees to turn data into insight, transform ideas into action and turn change into opportunity.
More information about Microsoft’s Financial Services Group can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/financialservices.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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