Download About Border Bank: Located in Baltimore Washington Metropolitan

I.
About Border Bank:
Located in Baltimore Washington Metropolitan area (BWMA), Border Bank is one of the
largest banks in the USA. It has braches around the country and numerous branches in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Border Bank is a full service bank, which
provides financial services from individual customers to large corporation.
II.
Reason for Upgrade:
The Border Bank’s communication network links over 300 branches, including in foreign
locations. Its most critical task is enabling seamless communication between the
branches and Borders’ customers. Because the fast pace of Border’s growing, the
Manager of Information System has found that the enormous demands of system has
begun to tax the system capacity and exposed the seams in its interconnections. For
example, the network’s voice component consisted of 20 different system purchased from
variety vendors. Some of these systems haven’t been upgraded in many years. Not only
they are difficult to integrate, but also parts are hard to find, and the systems were also
expensive to maintain. Beside the age of the system, the heterogeneous of the basic
communication is not included, such as voicemail, call transfer, 4-digit dialing, individual
direct dial, desktop faxing, caller ID, voice recognition, intelligent long distance dialing,
and fault-tolerant redundant solution.
Local Area Network (LAN) consisted of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) with
10 Mbps Ethernet connection to the desktops. It reaches its capacity; the excess is slow
and security risk is high. There is no interconnection between data and voice; all
information is transferred manually.
III.
The Desired Network:
The management has decided to upgrade the Network and Call Center in BWMA, and
they provide the following requirements:
a. Modular network based on open standards is used to enable them to grow and
avoid dependence on a single vendor.
b. The system should last for at least 30 years.
c. This is a financial organization; it must meet all requirements of banking
regulations. Redundant and fault-tolerant are required.
d. More bandwidth to support new applications
e. A robust system to prevent down time
f. A seamless convergence of voice and data networks
g. Maintenance to be in-house with skilled IS staff.
IV.
New Network:
A. Gigabit Ethernet:
The new network is redundant and fault-tolerant. It provides a seamless in integration of
voice, data, and video with high capacity and Quality of Service (QOS) from end to end.
For the bandwidth issues, an optical Gigabit Ethernet backbone will be installed in the
bank to replace the Coax lines.
Figure 1: OPTera Long Haul 4000
Supported optical networking functions include:
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Wavelength Translators at 10-Gbps that provide transparent open optical interfaces
allowing a wider range of services directly via the optical layer from multi-vendor
SONET/SDH to IP and ATM.
Wavelength Combiners that aggregate multiple 2.5-Gbps multi-vendor/multi-technology
services into a single 10-Gbps signal thus utilizing the available wavelengths at 10Gbps
rather than multiple lower bit rates, hence maximizing the capacity per fiber and
minimizing the cost/bit.
An OPTera Long Haul 4000 optical amplifier supports DWDM ultra long reach
applications employing up to 112 wavelengths at 10 Gbps per fiber pair with a total
capacity of 1.12 Tbps.
The OPTera Long Haul 4000 Optical Line System is specifically designed for applications
on all fiber types including dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF), non-dispersion shifted fiber
(NDSF), or non-zero dispersion fiber (NZ-DSF).
OADM building block that permits multiple wavelengths to be added/ dropped at an
intermediate line amplifier site. This minimizes network cost since only the required
wavelengths are terminated at the intermediate site while the others pass through.
The first open 10 Gbps backbone that breaks the 4000 km distance barrier without optoelectronic regeneration.
(http://www.nortelnetworks.com/products/01/optera/long_haul/4000/index.html#)
B. LAN and OSI Protocols:
LAN:
Three standard LAN protocols are Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5, and
Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) are existed in headquarter and other branches.
At headquarter, Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 will be adopted and this will transfer to other
branches in the future to centralize the network.
Figure 2: Three LAN implementations are used most commonly.
OSI:
Because of the existing different types of networks through out the buildings and other
braches, the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model will be adopted to networking and
internetworking functions and summarizing the general nature of addressing schemes
within the context of the OSI model. An inter-network is a collection of individual
networks, connected by intermediate networking devices, which function as a single large
network. Inter-networking will meet the standard of industry, products, and procedures,
but it will provide the challenge of creating and administering inter-networks. However,
this will reduce the time of integrating of network and reducing the initial cost of the
system. This network is represented in figure 3.
Figure 3: Different network technologies can be connected to create an internetwork.
Local area networks in each branch evolved around the PC revolution. LANs enabled
multiple users in a relatively small geographical area to exchange files and messages, as
well as access shared resources such as file servers. Wide- area networks (WANs)
interconnect LANs across T1, normal telephone lines, and other media; this will
interconnect geographically dispersed users. The high-speed LANs and switched internetworks will operate at high speeds and high-bandwidth applications as voice and
videoconferencing. This will be the solution to isolated LANs, duplication of resources,
and a lack of network management. Currently, isolated LANS have made electronic
communication between different branches, offices or departments impossible.
Furthermore, duplication of resources meant that the same hardware and software had to
be supplied to each office or department, as did a separate support staff. This lack of
network management meant that no centralized method of managing and troubleshooting
networks existed. OSI will solve these problems.
The seven layers of the OSI reference model can be divided into two categories: upper
layers and lower layers.
a. Upper layers: This layer of the OSI model deals with application issues and
generally is implemented only in software. The highest layer, application, is
closest to the end user. Both users and application-layer processes interact with
software applications that contain a communications component. The term upper
layer is sometimes used to refer to any layer above another layer in the OSI
model.
b. Lower layers: This layer of the OSI model handle data transport issues. The
physical layer and data link layer are implemented in hardware and software. The
other lower layers generally are implemented only in software. The lowest layer,
the physical layer, is closest to the physical network medium (the network
cabling, for example), and is responsible for actually placing information on the
medium.
Figure 4: Two sets of layers make up the OSI layers.
Layer 7—Application layer
Layer 6—Presentation layer
Layer 5—Session layer
Layer 4—Transport layer
Layer 3—Network layer
Layer 2—Data Link layer
Layer 1—Physical layer
OSI Protocols:
A wide variety of communication protocols will be used in the OSI model. They are
LAN protocols, WAN protocols, network protocols, and routing protocols. LAN
protocols operate at the network and data link layers of the OSI model and define
communication over the various LAN media. WAN protocols operate at the lowest three
layers of the OSI model and define communication over the various wide-area media.
Routing protocols are network-layer protocols that are responsible for path determination
and traffic switching. Finally, network protocols are the various upper-layer protocols
that exist in a given protocol suite.
a. OSI model in communication between systems:
“In the OSI model, all information is transferred from a software application in one
computer system to a software application in another must pass through each of the OSI
layers. For example, a software application in System A has information to transmit to a
software application in System B, the application program in System A will pass its
information to the application layer (Layer 7) of System A. The application layer then
passes the information to the presentation layer (Layer 6), which relays the data to the
session layer (Layer 5), and so on down to the physical layer (Layer 1). At the physical
layer, the information is placed on the physical network medium and is sent across the
medium to System B. The physical layer of System B removes the information from the
physical medium, and then its physical layer passes the information up to the data link
layer (Layer 2), which passes it to the network layer (Layer 3), and so on until it reaches
the application layer (Layer 7) of System B. Finally, the application layer of System B
passes the information to the recipient application program to complete the
communication process.”
b. Interaction Between OSI Model Layers:
A given layer in the OSI layers generally communicates with three other OSI layers: the
layer directly above it, the layer directly below it, and its peer layer in other networked
computer systems. This communication will keep the integrity of the information for
data, voice, and video.
Figure 5: OSI model layers communicate with other layers.
c. OSI Physical layer:
The physical layer defines the electrical, mechanical, procedural, and functional
specifications for activating, maintaining, and deactivating the physical link between
communicating network systems. Physical layer specifications define characteristics such
as voltage levels, timing of voltage changes, physical data rates, maximum transmission
distances, and physical connectors. Physical-layer implementations can be categorized as
either LAN or WAN specifications
Figure 6: Physical-layer implementations can be LAN or WAN specifications.
d. OSI data-link layer:
“The data link layer insures reliable transit of data across a physical network link.
Different data link layer specifications define different network and protocol
characteristics, including physical addressing, network topology, error notification,
sequencing of frames, and flow control. Physical addressing defines how devices are
addressed at the data link layer. Network topology consists of the data link layer
specifications that often define how devices are to be physically connected, such as in a
bus or a ring topology. Error notification alerts upper-layer protocols that a transmission
error has occurred, and the sequencing of data frames reorders frames that are transmitted
out of sequence. Finally, flow control moderates the transmission of data so that the
receiving device is not overwhelmed with more traffic than it can handle at one time.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has subdivided the data link
layer into two sub-layers: Logical Link Control (LLC) and Media Access Control
(MAC).
Figure 6: The data link layer contains two sub-layers.
The Logical Link Control (LLC) sub-layer of the data link layer manages
communications between devices over a single link of a network. LLC is defined in the
IEEE 802.2 specification and supports both connectionless and connection-oriented
services used by higher-layer protocols. IEEE 802.2 defines a number of fields in data
link layer frames that enable multiple higher-layer protocols to share a single physical
data link. The Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layer of the data link layer manages
protocol access to the physical network medium. The IEEE MAC specification defines
MAC addresses, which enable multiple devices to uniquely identify one another at the
data link layer.”
e. OSI Model Network Layer:
The network layer provides routing and related functions that enable multiple data links
to be combined into an inter-network. This is accomplished by the logical addressing (as
opposed to the physical addressing) of devices. The network layer supports both
connection-oriented and connectionless service from higher-layer protocols. Networklayer protocols typically are routing protocols, but other types of protocols are
implemented at the network layer as well. Some common routing protocols include
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), an Internet interdomain routing protocol; Open Shortest
Path First (OSPF), a link-state, interior gateway protocol developed for use in TCP/IP
networks; and Routing Information Protocol (RIP), an Internet routing protocol that uses
hop count as its metric.
f. OSI Model Transport Layer:
The transport layer implements reliable inter-network data transport services that are
transparent to upper layers. Transport-layer functions typically include flow control,
multiplexing, virtual circuit management, and error checking and recovery.
Flow control manages data transmission between devices so that the transmitting device
does not send more data than the receiving device can process. Multiplexing enables data
from several applications to be transmitted onto a single physical link. Virtual circuits are
established, maintained, and terminated by the transport layer. Error checking involves
creating various mechanisms for detecting transmission errors, while error recovery
involves taking an action, such as requesting that data be retransmitted, to resolve any
errors that occur.
Some transport-layer implementations include Transmission Control Protocol, Name
Binding Protocol, and OSI transport protocols. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is
the protocol in the TCP/IP suite that provides reliable transmission of data. Name
Binding Protocol (NBP) is the protocol that associates AppleTalk names with addresses.
OSI transport protocols are a series of transport protocols in the OSI protocol suite.
g. OSI Model Session Layer:
The session layer establishes, manages, and terminates communication sessions between
presentation layer entities. Communication sessions consist of service requests and
service responses that occur between applications located in different network devices.
These requests and responses are coordinated by protocols implemented at the session
layer. Some examples of session-layer implementations include Zone Information
Protocol (ZIP), the AppleTalk protocol that coordinates the name binding process; and
Session Control Protocol (SCP), the DECnet Phase IV session-layer protocol.
h. OSI Model Presentation Layer:
The presentation layer provides a variety of coding and conversion functions that are
applied to application layer data. These functions ensure that information sent from the
application layer of one system will be readable by the application layer of another
system. Some examples of presentation-layer coding and conversion schemes include
common data representation formats, conversion of character representation formats,
common data compression schemes, and common data encryption schemes.
Common data representation formats, or the use of standard image, sound, and video
formats, enable the interchange of application data between different types of computer
systems. Using different text and data representations, such as EBCDIC and ASCII, uses
conversion schemes to exchange information with systems. Standard data compression
schemes enable data that is compressed at the source device to be properly decompressed
at the destination. Standard data encryption schemes enable data encrypted at the source
device to be properly deciphered at the destination.
Presentation-layer implementations are not typically associated with a particular protocol
stack. Some well-known standards for video include QuickTime and Motion Picture
Experts Group (MPEG). QuickTime is an Apple Computer specification for video and
audio, and MPEG is a standard for video compression and coding.
Among the well-known graphic image formats are Graphics Interchange Format (GIF),
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). GIF is
a standard for compressing and coding graphic images. JPEG is another compression and
coding standard for graphic images, and TIFF is a standard coding format for graphic
images.
i. OSI Model Application Layer:
The application layer is the OSI layer closest to the end user, which means that both the
OSI application layer and the user interact directly with the software application.
This layer interacts with software applications that implement a communicating
component. Such application programs fall outside the scope of the OSI model.
Application-layer functions typically include identifying communication partners,
determining resource availability, and synchronizing communication.
When identifying communication partners, the application layer determines the identity
and availability of communication partners for an application with data to transmit. When
determining resource availability, the application layer must decide whether sufficient
network resources for the requested communication exist. In synchronizing
communication, all communication between applications requires cooperation that is
managed by the application layer.
Two key types of application-layer implementations are TCP/IP applications and OSI
applications. TCP/IP applications are protocols, such as Telnet, File Transfer Protocol
(FTP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) that exist in the Internet Protocol
suite. OSI applications are protocols, such as File Transfer, Access, and Management
(FTAM), Virtual Terminal Protocol (VTP), and Common Management Information
Protocol (CMIP) that exist in the OSI suite.
When connecting various systems is to support communication between disparate
technologies, there will have some difficulty in different areas, such as different types of
media, or they might operate at varying speeds in different building or braches. Because
of centralization, reliable service must be maintained in any inter-network. Individual
users and entire organizations depend on consistent, reliable access to network resources.
Cold Site and Hot Site are to be maintenance regularly. Furthermore, network
management must provide centralized support and troubleshooting in an inter-network.
Configuration, security, performance, and other issues are the main issues for the internetwork to function smoothly. Flexibility, the final concern, is necessary for network
expansion and new applications and services, among other factors.
(http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/introint.htm#26932)
C. Call center:
I. Historical background:
Initially, call centers of the Border bank were banks of operators who answered
telephone calls and manually routed them to the appropriate employees for action.
After adopting touch-tone dialing was adopted in 1970, call centers became
partially automated with voice mail and Automated Call Distributors (ACDs),
which presented menus of options to callers and allowed them to self-direct to the
appropriate department. As the integration of business data networks and desktop
PCs, The customer service representatives gained computer access to customer
records, automated bank processing systems, customer’s information, support
databases, and other external data information that helped them in serving their
customers. However, this is not sufficient in serving the customers. Customers
want the most current information on their accounts at their convience. That
means:
o Shorter in waiting time.
o Quicker in information accessing
o Quicker transaction
o Pleasant customer representatives
o At home account accessing
o Quicker resolution about their accounts
o Easier access to supervisors of the center to resolve difficult issues
o Security of the customers’ information
Therefore, the call center must provide a secured environment, but a pleasant
place to work for customer’s representatives with high technology to support the
needs of customers. This will speed customer interactions while lowering their
costs.
II. Call centers’ needs:
Modern call centers include the following features:
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An ACD, which allows callers to direct themselves to the proper
department or individual when the resource becomes available.
Skill-based routing, to send calls to the agent best equipped to handle
the call, based on criteria that is key to the calling individual.
Call queuing, which holds incoming callers while playing music or
informative messages until the agent best suited to take the call is
available.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR), which allows customers to use selfservice applications such as checking a bank balance or looking up a
record based on the customer’s user identification.
Real-time call statistics to alert supervisors and managers about the
state of the call queue.
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Screen pops, which automatically present the caller’s records, in
advance of answering the call, on the agent’s computer screen.
Call recording and silent monitoring, for quality control.
Real-time and historical reporting of call times, durations, abandoned
calls, and actions taken, so management can track caller traffic,
monitor Quality of Service (QoS), and better manage back-end
accounting and order processing.
Preview dialing, which allows the agent to look at a customer’s
information and initiate a standard voice call from the screen
presented.
Text chat, for real-time text interaction with customers using the Web.
Web page push, which allows agents to set a Web caller’s browser to
an appropriate page.
III. Call centers’ structures:
A call center normally has an ACD, PBX, voice mail server, IVR, computertelephony server, screen pop software, LAN hubs, and routers. These components
had to handle line termination at the company’s building, process voice and data
traffic to a telephone system and a computer network, and provide the automation
and integration that allows service agents to communicate easily using voice or
data methods. The structure can be shown in figure 7:
Figure 7: Network structure of a call center.
I.
Voice over IP (VoIP):
VoIP gives branch offices the same call center capabilities as headquarter and
other larger competitors. It allows for better customer retention, lower operating costs,
and higher revenues. The call-center-enabled makes a difference in many ways:
 Customers can self-direct to the representatives most able to help them, or
they can obtain spoken information about their account status, order status, or
other details from the IVR system.
 A representative can see a customer’s record on the screen prior to answering
a call, making service faster and more effective.
 The representative can use Web page push to guide potential customers to
interesting areas on the site, increasing the opportunity to transact or increase
business.
 A customer order can be automatically routed to the specific department from
the call center to reduce errors and speed delivery, improving customer
satisfaction.
 The call center can consolidate its entire communications access on one or
more T1 lines, eliminating multiple voice-grade lines and saving monthly
connection charges.
 Overall, customers obtain faster and better service with a wider choice of
communications options, which increase loyalty and immediate and repeat
business.
For the network the following criteria will be used on the IP to improve the call:
a. G.711 and G.729a standard: G.711will provide good quality at end-to-end
delay values of 200-300 ms, and packet loss levels of 2 - 3% this will be used
on LAN base calling. G.729a will allow remote caller over WAN, which has a
delay values of 100-200ms, and packet loss level of 3-5%.
b. 802.1P Standard: the wiring closets will have the ability to recognize the
802.1P protocol, for traffic prioritization at Layer 2. In addition, fast Ethernet
network with abundant bandwidth and Routing switches, which are Layer 3
aware, have the ability to recognize DSCP (diffserve code points). This will
help in clearing of traffic during heavy calling time.
The conversion will proceed within the following steps in figure 8:
a. Phase 1 - Specialized Infrastructures:
At the end of this phase, there will be separate client devices, separate networks,
separate platforms, separate applications within the bank. This will allow the
continuation of customer services without interruption. The new system will be
tested for all situations to discover the problems.
b. Phase2 – Inter-workable Infrastructures:
At the end of this phase, there will have common client device, common
platforms, and connected applications. However, networks are still separate to
keep the system to connect to other branches, and the old network is still available
to access the data from both old and new servers. In addition, the setting
networking is usually longer to have it work according to the requirements.
c. Phase 3 – Converged Infrastructures:
At the end this phase, common networks are set all system in the bank. All
workstation will have common client work point. All different platforms will be
able to work on the same network, and all applications will be integrated. The old
systems and network are still available as a backup system
Figure 8: Conversion from old system to new system.
II.
Voice over IP (VoIP) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN):
"Voice-over-IP" (VoIP) technology enables the real-time transmission of voice signals as
packetized data over "IP networks" that employ the Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP), Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and
Internet Protocol (IP) suite.
(http://www.innomedia.com/ip_telephony/voip/index.htm)
The Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data) telephony
solution offers multiple methods of connecting an IP telephony network to the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or legacy private branch exchange (PBX) and key
systems. Cisco AVVID gateway is dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) relay capabilities,
support for supplementary services, and the ability to handle clustered Cisco
CallManagers Cisco CallManager 3.0 supports three types of gateway protocols.
However, H.323 protocol will be used to communicate with Cisco CallManager. VoIP
gateways provide the bridge between the local PSTN and the IP network for both the
originating and terminating sides of a call. To originate a call, the calling party will
access the nearest gateway either by a direct connection or by placing a call over the local
PSTN and entering the desired destination phone number. The VoIP technology
translates the destination telephone number into the data network address or IP address
associated with a corresponding terminating gateway nearest to the destination number.
Using the appropriate protocol and packet transmission over the IP network, the
terminating gateway will then initiate a call to the destination phone number over the
local PSTN to completely establish end-to-end two-way communications. The H.323
supports standard telephony signaling. The gateways emulate the functions of the PSTN
in responding to the telephone's on-hook or off-hook state, receiving or generating DTMF
digits and receiving or generating call progress tones. The general network is shown in
figure 9.
Figure 9: Replacement PBX to a CISCO CallManager.
III.
The Cisco IP Contact Center (IPCC):
This includes customer interactions originating from multiple diverse contact channels
including IP voice, TDM voice, Web, e-mail, and fax. The Cisco IPCC architecture also
provides a seamless migration path from the legacy call-center infrastructure to the IPempowered, multimedia contact center. The figure 10 will represent the possibility of
expansion of overall structure:
Figure 10: Call centers and its network.
Technical advantages to the IPCC topology include:
 Intelligent contact management for personalized service and customer loyalty
 Enterprise-wide command and control
 Network-level customer queuing, customer segmentation, and contact distribution
 Consistent service standards across diverse media channels
 Proactive technical support with remote system monitoring
 Scalable applications—augment services by adding servers anywhere in the
network
 Seamless migration path to IP-based voice applications
 Easy and rapid deployment of remote agents
 Carrier-class, distributed fault tolerance
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/so/neso/vvda/iptl/avvid_wp.htm