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This
Week's News
September
20, 2004 |
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Hardware
News
Cisco just announced a complete refresh of its enterprise WAN access routers, hoping to fend off competition from rivals Juniper Networks and 3Com. Cisco's new 1800, 2800 and 3800 wide area network access routers feature embedded security tools and support voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Cisco says its routers now run embedded processing for VoIP and IPSec VPN (virtual private network) encryption, as well as IOS firewall packet inspection and IDS (intrusion detection system) functions. These routers will replace current 1700, 2600 and 3700 offerings. The 1800 costs $1395, the 2800 is $1995, and both are available this month. The 3800, about $9500, starts selling in upcoming.
For banks looking to upgrade their tape backup units, Hewlett-Packard has some nice solutions. For example, the HP StorageWorks SSL1016 Tape Autoloader combines tape-library features and capacity in the compact form and lower price of a tape autoloader. The product's Web-based management features let you centrally support multiple sites. With a native capacity of as much as 3.2TB, the SSL1016 can replace a small tape library for many applications. It comes ready to rack mount, but it includes a tabletop installation kit for banks that choose not to rack the autoloader. Modular in construction, the SSL1016 has easily replaceable components, minimizing the time and cost to repair the unit. Other HP offerings include the StorageWorks MSL6030 tape libraries and HP StorageWorks ESL E-Series 712e and 630e enterprise tape libraries.
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Software
Updates
A company called xStarter Solutions has released xStarter, a program that lets you automate tasks such as copying, renaming, moving, deleting, or synchronizing files; checking email; compressing or creating backups; launching and terminating applications and Windows NT services; executing macros and shortcuts; rebooting and shutting down; ejecting and closing DVDs or CD-ROMs; logging off; and clearing memory. You can specify when you want xStarter to perform tasks, and tasks can be triggered by events such as a keystroke, idle time, or launching xStarter. xStarter costs $39.50 for a single-user license.
Fortunately for both small and large banks, backup options are improving. Good tools that make files easy to protect, back up, restore and move offsite are becoming more affordable. We will tell you about two options in the upcoming issue of BANK
tech-trends - subscribe today.
Storage software vendor XOsoft recently introduced data protection software that they say lets users instantly recover from application failures. Enterprise Rewinder is designed for data centers that need to ensure availability. With Rewinder, if an application server fails, the firm claims that systems administrators can quickly and easily return them to a consistent state. The data protection software consists of agents that reside on application and file servers and a management interface that lets administrators monitor processes running on those servers and manage the data recovery if necessary. Enterprise Rewinder is similar to software from Revivio, InMage, Troika Networks and Mendocino Software. While Revivio, InMage and Troika focus on data recovery, XOsoft and Mendocino specialize in application recovery.
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ATMs/Kiosks
VoiceTMS is a phone-based system that its maker, Switch Commerce, says can provide real-time ATM management capabilities with no Internet access required. VoiceTMS offers the ability to add new terminals, bind master keys, check a terminal's status and receive terminal alerts, including low-cash and offline ATMs, via a phone call. The firm has integrated the new voice-driven system with their Web-based terminal management system.
NCR has unveiled Cash4all, a wireless cash machine, in Europe. The unit is housed in a fiberglass pod, which has been designed for use at outdoor locations and temporary events. NCR says the ATM's wireless communications removes the need for a fixed line, enabling quick and easy installation in a wide variety of locations. The ATM includes ink-staining technology developed by NCR subsidiary Fluiditi. When a physical attack is detected by sensors in the ATM, indelible ink is released under high pressure. The technology also protects cash while the machine is being refilled.
Elan Financial Services, a part of U.S. Bancorp, has introduced two new electronic services, ATM software distribution and electronic journal delivery. The new software distribution capability enables financial institutions to upgrade software, add and update .Wav files that support voice-guidance and change graphics files that supply ongoing marketing messages. As far as journal data is concerned, each time a client's ATM is balanced, the data on the electronic journal file will be saved to the hard drive of the ATM and uploaded to a secure website where it will be available to the client the next day. Surprisingly, the company says that their electronic software distribution is supported on some OS/2 terminals, as well as Microsoft Windows-based ATMs from major manufacturers.
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Cell phone users in Korea for the first time can now use fingerprint biometrics to protect their phones and conduct wireless banking services securely. LG Telecom, one of the largest wireless network operators in Korea, recently launched its first biometric cell phone - the LP3800 - which features the newest fingerprint sensor from AuthenTec. AuthenTec's tiny AES2510 sensor identifies and enables authorized users to access the phone's full capabilities - while locking out intruders and stopping others from accessing the phones important files. AuthenTec's TruePrint technology allows fingerprints to be read below the surface of the skin to the live layer - or true fingerprint. As such, AuthenTec claims that TruePrint is not affected by common skin surface conditions including dry, worn, calloused, dirty or oily skin.
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Wireless
World
Iomega will soon ship its first network-attached storage (NAS) device based on wireless networking technology. The NAS 100d will come in 160GB and 250GB configurations and will have built-in support for the 802.11g wireless networking standard. They are designed for small offices looking for an inexpensive storage device to put on their networks. They feature a simple user interface that will allow users to do automatic backups and "drag-and-drop" file restoration, and will also come with two USB 2.0 ports so that additional storage can be added to the appliance.
The recent DEMOmobile Conference in San Diego highlighted new mobile and wireless products, covering applications, client devices and infrastructure. A company called Orative believes that cell phones have become one of the most critical tools for employees, not only in the field but also in the office. Their client/server software creates a list of your calls, visible on the phone's screen. You can see which ones are important and call back with the press of a button, or press another button to send an alert that you've seen the message and will call back in a given number of minutes. They plan to offer versions that link with Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino to access calendar, contacts and directories.
The credit card associations are rolling out radio-frequency identification (RFID) programs left and right - witness AmEx's ExpressPay system and MasterCard's PayPass product. These are credit card based solutions, but what about prepaid debit via RFID? Find out how this works and the current status of the technology in North America in the upcoming issue of BANK
tech-trends. connect end-users' homes or offices with a WiMax-based broadband network.
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Security
Section
Symantec is rolling out a new service designed to help organizations combat the ongoing epidemic of online identity theft, or phishing, scams. The Online Fraud Management Solution is a package of services that Symantec will market to financial services companies. As part of the service, Symantec will use a global network of probes and decoy e-mail accounts to collect, analyze and identify new phishing scams targeted at Online Fraud Management customers.
Meanwhile, McAfee has launched their Managed Mail Protection, an integrated antispam, antivirus and content filtering service for inbound and outbound e-mail. The new service is targeted at companies with between one and 1,000 employees that lack the internal expertise or resources to manage antivirus and antispam products. Customers that sign on to McAfee Managed Mail Protection will be asked to modify their mail exchange record, redirecting incoming and outgoing mail to servers hosted at McAfee's network operations center.
Chief Security Officer Magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers have conducted their annual security study of more than 8,000 CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CSOs, vice presidents, and directors of IT and information security from 62 countries on six continents. Find out the results of this interesting research and what the six secrets of highly secure organizations are in the upcoming issue of BANK
tech-trends - subscribe now.
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Technology
and Marketing
iPhrase Technologies Inc.'s OneStep has been described as a "beefed up a search engine with CRM tools." OneStep consists of a search server, integration hooks and management tools. An adaptive learning engine is a key component according to the vendor - OneStep can interpret users' natural-language queries to bring answers rather than a list of links. The company has quite a few financial service firms as clients and claims that their system delivers accurate answers and better targeted offers to customers.
***
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Online
Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
MasterCard International is making a major push to get SecureCode into more widespread use by the holiday season. SecureCode is a program by which consumers can authenticate transactions by entering a PIN/password on a screen during the checkout process. MasterCard's strategy has been to directly approach large retailers, along with their acquiring FIs, while also working with payment gateways and platforms (companies that provide hosting and gateway packages) in a concerted effort to bring large numbers of merchants onboard at a time. Currently, nearly 3000 online American merchants have adopted SecureCode.
According to a new report by ATM&Debit News, PIN-based debit purchases grew by more than 25% between March 2003 and March 2004. MasterCard International said that its online debit activity, which includes MasterCard's online debit program, Maestro, and MasterCard's ATM-only brand, Cirrus, continued to show year-on-year growth for the three month period ending June 30. In the United States, Maestro-processed purchase and transaction volumes surpassed all-time second quarter highs, with transactions growing 92 percent during the first six months of 2004. The card giant said that their Maestro brand mark appeared on more than 545 million cards worldwide, a 10.2% increase over the same quarter in 2003.
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Internet
Access
The Internet suffers from serious problems of capacity, security and reliability, according to Intel Chief Technology Officer Pat Gelsinger. Vint Cerf, who helped invent the Internet more than 30 years ago, agrees: "I still think it's pretty primitive - we're still in the Stone Age, when it comes to serious networking." They believe that PlanetLab, an experimental network that sits on top of the Internet, is a step in the right direction. Servers embedded in the network provide PlanetLab with the new layer of services, such as event processing to monitor what is happening; network mapping to arrange connections between computers; content distribution to optimize where information is stored; and Webcasting to make broadcasting efficient.
Harris Interactive reported that in the past eight months, the percentage of adults online has grown to 73 percent from 69 percent. Perhaps as a result of people having faster access, they are spending less time online. The average time spent online each week fell from 9 hours to
8 according to their survey conducted this summer.
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Call
Centers
"One and done" has long been a goal of many call centers. Therefore, it seems only natural to assume that a declining first-call resolution rate signifies a drop in service quality. However, some experts believe that a declining first-call resolution rate can actually be a tangible sign that your efforts to make fundamental improvements in your call center are working. Find out some common scenarios that drive first-call resolution up in the upcoming issue of BANK
tech-trends - subscribe today and stay on top of contact center trends.
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