A recent article in American Banker, “the ‘Branch of the Future’ Will Still Be a Branch” discusses how banks are upgrading network infrastructure to deliver new technologies and enhance their customer’s experience at the branch-level.
New Technology Deployments Depend on Upgraded Network Infrastructure
Adoption of new customer-centric technologies, such as in-branch Wi-Fi, Digital Signage, and digital POS displays, are all used to create an environment where customers can drop-in to do their work, as well as conduct transactions that they prefer to do face to face.
Due to the amount of energy that has been devoted to “digital channel customer engagement” in the Retail Financial sector over recent years, the following point may be surprising. A study by McKinsey actually shows something that seems counter-intuitive, the more that customers use digital channels, the more they want human interaction.
Because of this shift in customer behavior, banks are working to increase the value of those human interactions, for example by delivering “big data” driven applications that transform the function of branch staff by enabling them to make informed proactive recommendations to customers rather than passively responding to inquiries.
Upgrading to Metro Ethernet
These advances mandate that branch-level connectivity is transformed from the 20th century capacity-constrained model to one that offers high-availability, high-bandwidth network connectivity at every branch. Carrier, or Metro Ethernet, is the model of choice for network operators to deliver this connectivity.
Connecting branches to this new infrastructure is seldom simple. It takes coordination between multiple parties and may even require physical trenching to be dug between the branch and the local point of presence. Doing this at one location would be no small job, but managing this for a regional or nationwide portfolio is a massive undertaking.
Collaboration with network carriers and local exchange carriers (LECs) is critical to successfully planning and managing the deployment of next-generation network infrastructure. Proper procedures and methodology must be followed to ensure complex projects can be delivered on-time and on-budget.
For more information about building the right Technology Rollout System for any large, multi-site technology deployment, please read ‘IT Infrastructure Management Takes A Team.’
