CenturyLink Solutions Featuring:CenturyLink IQ™ Private Port Service CenturyLink™ Long Distance Service and CenturyLink™ Control Center Application

Case Study: Isabella Bank

Customer:Isabella Bank www.isabellabank.com

Business Challenge:IT managers resolved to migrate their aging Frame Relay system over to an IP-base network. The switch would allow them to implement a cost-saving VoIP project as well as quality of service (QoS) capabilities. Moreover, by consolidating onto a single provider, managers would reduce the administrative burden of managing 70 monthly phone bills.

Solution:Isabella IT staffers worked with CenturyLink specialists to install the CenturyLink IQ Private Port service at 22 bank locations. As long-distance contracts came up for renewal, executives migrated to the CenturyLink Long Distance service. Managers use the CenturyLink Control Center application to efficiently manage consolidated phone bills.

Benefits and Results: Migration to the CenturyLink IQ Private •Port service cut some location expenses by up to 66 percent over previous solution with another vendor

Cut long distance per-minute costs •by transferring to CenturyLink Long Distance service

Reduced phone system help desk calls •to 2 percent of total

CenturyLink IQ Private Port solution •significantly increased the reliability of the network

CenturyLink IP-based network allowed •the bank to implement QoS to support a cost-saving VoIP deployment

Control Center application consolidated •long distance bills to significantly simplify administration

Isabella Bank

With 1.4 billion in assets , Isabella Bank has become a recognized financial services provider in Michigan. Based in Mount Pleasant, the firm supports customers through 24 state-wide locations. These services include 24-hour banking locally and nationally via ATMs. A corporate Website provides customers access to 24-hour on-line banking applications. On the loan side of the business, employees originate and process residential and commercial real estate loans along with student loans and credit card accounts among other offerings.

The “always-on” expectations of banking customers today requires IT managers to maintain high availability to applications, data and voice communications across the firm’s network.

FACING THE CHALLENGESManagers recognized that it was time to retire their aging Frame Relay system. “We wanted to get away from our fairly risky Frame Relay network,” said Vern Houin, network manager for Isabella Bank.

The President of Financial Group Information Services, (a wholly owned subsidiary of Isabella Bank Corporation) Jon Wainwright agreed, saying, “We’d taken Frame Relay about as far as we could go with it and we were concerned about its limitations going forward. That’s when we started looking seriously at MPLS technologies.”

Beyond his concerns, Houin was excited about the opportunities that MPLS solutions offered. “We were looking to expand into voice over IP services and to leverage quality of service capabilities along with other initiatives. We knew that only new MPLS technology could bring that to us.”

Budget considerations also weighed on managers’ minds. “Our long-distance contracts were coming up for renewal, so we used that opportunity to evaluate alternatives,” said Houin. “We wanted to install

*These results are unique to this entity and should not be considered an indication of the amount of savings or improvements, if any, that may be realized by any other entity subscribing to comparable services.

“The consultation, advice and proactive support we’ve received from the folks at Qwest have shifted the way we

think about them—to us they’re a partner, not a vendor. Our network is now based on modern MPLS technology which gives us the flexibility to adapt to future business needs.”

— Jon Wainwright, President, Financial Group Information Services, (a wholly owned subsidiary of Isabella Bank Corporation)

a contiguous solution from a single provider so that we didn’t have 70 phone bills to administer every month from different companies.”

PROVIDING A SUCCESSFUL SOLUTIONManagers worked with CenturyLink specialists to install the CenturyLink IQ Private Port service at 22 bank locations. Once deployed, Isabella IT managers implemented a VoIP system at these sites. The combined circuits provide employees with voice and data services to support their customers.

Executives have phased in the CenturyLink Long Distance service at sites as their existing contracts with other vendors run out. Employees use the Web-based CenturyLink Control Center application to effectively administer the bank’s consolidated phone bills.

DELIVERING RESULTSTo date, the CenturyLink solutions and account team have performed as advertised. “We’re very happy to have them as our business partner,” said Wainwright. “The migration to the Qwest iQ Private Port and long-distance services have reduced our expenses while giving us the reliability that we wanted.”

CENTURYLINK SOLUTIONS REDUCED EXPENSES

The migration of Frame Relay contracts to CenturyLink IQ Private Port circuits have provided significant savings in some locations. “We’re literally looking at costs that are one-third the size (66 percent savings) that we had with our prior vendor,” said Wainwright.

Executives also reached their goal of reducing long-distance expenses. “The Qwest long-distance service achieved a lower per-minute rate than what we paid to our previous supplier, so we feel those savings are something we can hang our hats on,” said Wainwright.

ENHANCED FLEXIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE

The CenturyLink IQ Private Port service delivered the functionality managers sought. “The MPLS circuits allowed us to implement the QoS we needed to roll out voice over IP service to our employees,” said Houin. “That has made the phone system much more stable and it’s also given us the savings that come with an internal VoIP system.”

Additionally, Control Center delivered the phone bill administrative relief that Houin desired. “The application allows us to consolidate our long-distance bills. Control Center also gives us the granularity to give different roles to different people. Those two things have allowed us to handle electronic billing more efficiently.”

HIGH RELIABILITY

The reliability of the CenturyLink IQ Private Port service has met managers’ expectations. “We’ve been able to depend on the Qwest network services,” said Houin. “We don’t have the outages that we had previously, and that gives us peace of mind.”

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*These results are unique to this entity and should not be considered an indication of the amount of savings or improvements, if any, that may be realized by any other entity subscribing to comparable services.

The consistent performance of the CenturyLink Long Distance circuits has had a direct effect on the bank’s help desk staff. “The calls we get related to the phone system or voice over IP issues have dropped to two percent,” said Wainwright. That works out to be around 10 calls per month in an organization that serves over 350 people. So as far as our phone system is concerned, it takes care of itself.”

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