RingCentral > Case Studies > AimBank's Transition to RingCentral's Unified Cloud Communications System

AimBank's Transition to RingCentral's Unified Cloud Communications System

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - 5G
Sensors - Camera / Video Systems

Applicable Industries

Finance & Insurance
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Human Resources
Maintenance

Use Cases

Personnel Tracking & Monitoring
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

AimBank was founded in Littlefield, Texas in 1925. Since then, it has expanded to include 27 locations across Texas and New Mexico with nearly $2 billion in assets under management. It offers commercial and consumer banking products like loans and deposit options. It also offers credit and debit cards, 24-hour telephone banking (enabled by the RingCentral system), and mobile banking. AimBank was using a custom-built private branch exchange (PBX) voice over IP (VoIP) telephony system to keep up communications between branches and to customers for telephone banking.

The Challenge

AimBank, a Texas-based bank with 27 locations across Texas and New Mexico, was facing challenges with its custom-built private branch exchange (PBX) voice over IP (VoIP) telephony system. The system was used for communications between branches and to customers for telephone banking. However, the physical PBX appliances were positioned across different market areas, causing certain locations to be dependent on systems for phone service from other markets. This resulted in a service that was not connected or resilient, leading to frequent disruptions that affected customer service. Additionally, AimBank was paying regular fees to multiple carriers servicing different towns. The bank also lacked a unified messaging or video conferencing system, with individual users communicating over Skype, which was inefficient and disconnected from other workflow tools like the telephony system.

The Solution

In early 2019, AimBank began considering other providers for its VoIP system to reduce or eliminate the PBX units and improve service quality. After considering several vendors, AimBank chose RingCentral for its cloud-based phone system in April 2019. One of the key factors in this decision was that all the phones were able to switch onto the new system without needing any new hardware. Moving to RingCentral allowed AimBank to unify its communications technology on one single back-end to simplify support and billing. RingCentral also offered team messaging and video conferencing capabilities that are integrated with the communications system. This enabled easier communication between branch locations and phased out the use of Skype for internal communications. AimBank partnered with Blue Layer IT Services to set up the system back-end and build custom dashboards during the initial deployment. All 27 locations were converted to the RingCentral system within one month, and all of the setup and user training was complete within three months.

Operational Impact

The transition to RingCentral's unified cloud communications system brought several operational benefits to AimBank. The bank was able to offer a wider communication window to reach customers and improve satisfaction, save user time and increase productivity, and retire legacy PBX hardware and supporting infrastructure while gaining team messaging and video conferencing. The new system also eliminated the need for multiple carriers, simplifying billing and reducing costs. The integrated team messaging and video conferencing capabilities improved internal communication and streamlined workflows. The deployment of the RingCentral system also highlighted the necessity of a unified communication and technology strategy for optimizing costs and service levels. The transition to RingCentral was smooth and cost-effective, preserving AimBank’s investment in handsets and maintaining their original phone numbers, making the transition seamless to customers who would only notice the improved service levels.

Quantitative Benefit

AimBank realized an ROI of 173 percent and recovered the cost of its investment within the first 5 months of deployment.
AimBank was able to retire PBX systems at each branch that cost between $3,000 and $4,000, annually per unit.
The users realized between 70 and 90 percent productivity improvements through using a messaging application on the system and from constantly available communication.