Carlson Wagonlit Travel Turns to MCK Communications for Remote Voice Over IP Solution; Travel Agency Finds Converging Voice With Data Enhances Efficiency and Functionality.Business/Technology EditorsNEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2001 MCK MCK McKinsey & Company (consulting firm) MCK Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (Quebec) MCK Mon Colle Knights (children's TV show) MCK Mirror Classes Kit MCK Maintenance Check Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : MCKC McKC McKinsey Knowledge Center, India MCKC Maury County Kennel Club (Tennessee) MCKC Metropolitan Canoe and Kayak Club (New York) MCKC Michigan Council of Korean Churches ), a leading provider of solutions to enable the delivery of business-quality voice over existing and next-generation networks, today announced that Carlson Wagonlit Carlson Travel Network Carlson Travel Network can trace its origin back to a travel agency that was founded by Ward Forster in the United States in 1888 and named Ask Mr. Foster. Travel has successfully integrated MCK's remote voice over IP solution into its network of three branch offices. As a result, Carlson Wagonlit Travel can now provide a single centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. phone number to its customers, and allocate agents depending on seasonal travel demands. MCK's IP-capable remote voice solutions enable corporations to extend their voice systems and applications to branch offices and remote workers over any packet-based or circuit switched network. Carlson Wagonlit Travel integrated two EXTender See Media Center Extender, bus extender and DOS extender. 6000s for branch offices as well as MCK's latest PBXgateway II. The IP-enabled EXTender 6000s are specifically designed to support remote offices with 24 employees or less. The PBXgateway II is a 24-port switch solution that terminates the EXTender 6000. Residing on the corporate network, it provides an interface to the enterprise PBX (Private Branch eXchange) An inhouse telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other as well as to the outside telephone network (PSTN). and all of its supported applications. With MCK's IP-enabled solutions, Carlson Wagonlit Travel was able to deploy a digital voice solution for their branch office employees at a fraction of the cost of adding another Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system at each location. Choosing MCK's IP-enabled solution allowed Carlson Wagonlit Travel to realize an initial savings of $15,000 and an annual savings of $15,000 in monthly costs. Additional benefits included the ability to increase staff by more than 50% without increasing the number of phone lines, and a 20% staff savings through more effective call distribution. "We looked for a number of months for a way to deploy an IP-enabled solution and eliminate our reliance on ISDN ISDN in full Integrated Services Digital Network Digital telecommunications network that operates over standard copper telephone wires or other media. lines," said Duncan MacIntosh, telecom manager at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. "We had long been able to link our agents and branch offices on the data end, but wanted to complete the package with a voice solution. The issue was how can we take advantage of the latest technologies such as Voice-over-IP, without losing the investment and reliability we had from our existing PBX. MCK's solution allowed us to make the leap without any significant hardware or network upgrades." Carlson Wagonlit Travel relies on a public broadband service See broadband and broadband service provider. offered by FibreWired, a branch of Hamilton Hydro Electric Commission, to connect its three offices over a fiber optic network. Corporations and municipalities can deploy MCK's IP-enabled products over public and private networks and by broadband service providers An ISP, telephone company, cable company or other carrier that offers high-speed communications to homes and businesses, typically for Internet access. Cable modems, DSL and T1 lines are the common technologies. See broadband, cable modem, DSL and T1. . For Carlson Wagonlit Travel, they were able to deploy MCK's solution in a matter of hours. "As a leading provider of remote voice IP products, MCK delivers solutions that work over any network," said Al Brisard, MCK's vice president of marketing. "In the case of broadband networks  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. , PBX extension is a natural value-add application to be implemented by enterprises or sold by service providers as a turnkey solution." Building on the integration of the PBXgateway II, Carlson Wagonlit Travel soon plans to take advantage of MCK's latest software feature, the Mobile EXTender. The Mobile EXTender feature will allow Carlson Wagonlit Travel agents access to the most commonly used PBX features via their cellular or any touchtone phones from anywhere. Agents using their cellular or home office phones as Mobile EXTenders will be able to transfer, conference and place calls on hold as if they were in their office, allowing them to conduct business from wherever they are located. About MCK Communications MCK Communications, Inc. develops and markets a comprehensive portfolio of business voice applications and solutions for branch offices, call centers and telecommuters over traditional voice, data or next-generation networks. The company, which is ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001-certified, has earned a reputation for excellence and innovation by building leading-edge communications products that enhance customers' networked voice systems. Headquartered in Needham, Mass., the Company has an R&D facility in Calgary, Alberta and an Applications Business Unit in Allen, Texas Allen is a city in Collin County and a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas (USA). As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 43,554. As of April 2007, the city's population is estimated at 77,465. . For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.mck.com. For Investor Relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. information, call our toll free number at 888-454-7979 or contact us via e-mail at IR@mck.com. About Carlson Wagonlit Travel Carlson Wagonlit Travel is a world leader in travel management with locations in 150 countries and over $12 billion in annual sales. Carlson Wagonlit Travel is a join venture between Paris-based Accor group and Minneapolis-based Carlson Companies Carlson Companies (sometimes referred to as Carlson) is a privately held international corporation in the marketing, service, travel, and hospitality industries. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States, as of 2005 Carlson Companies owned 5,300 travel , Inc. The three Carlson Wagonlit Travel locations in Hamilton, Ontario, form one of the largest and top performing franchises in the Canadian Region. For general information visit www.carlsonwagonlit.ca or for more specific details about the operations and use of cutting edge technology to increase productivity, call 877-wagonlit ext 231 or email at dmacintosh@travelneeds.com Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: the timing and replacement of legacy PBX systems with network-hosted PBX systems, the adoption of IP networks as a medium to transport voice, market acceptance of our products including the MCK Branch product and our new IP products, our ability to keep pace with rapidly changing product requirements and factors affecting the demand for remote voice technologies, our reliance on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues, and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. SUBJECT TO CHANGE |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion