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Deutsche to Install Internet Telephones
Deutsche Bank AG plans to install 1,000 Internet telephones at its U.S. offices over the next six to nine months as the likely first step toward a conversion from conventionally switched phones.
The Frankfurt banking company bought the phones and other Internet equipment from the San Jose, Calif., vendor Cisco Systems Inc., which announced the sale Tuesday. It also said Deutsche Bank bought the 8 millionth phone it has shipped that uses Internet protocol.
Reiner Bayard, a managing director and the global head of networking services of Deutsche Bank, expects Voice Over Internet Protocol to eventually replace conventional private branch exchange systems.
The first phones will be installed in the third quarter at the Boston office of Berkshire Mortgage, a multifamily lender that Deutsche Bank acquired in 2004. Two other equipment replacement projects are planned for later this year or early next year, he said.
However, Mr. Bayard said his company has no particular schedule for converting the rest of its internal voice network. "The path we have chosen is really opportunistic."
The phones will be part of its first pure IP phone system, though Deutsche Bank already uses the protocol on the trunk lines that connect its hubs, Mr. Bayard said.
Deutsche Bank has about 12,000 employees and 27,000 telephones in more than 50 offices across the country, he said.
CashEdge to Use Information from Quova
The New York financial technology provider CashEdge Inc. has agreed to use geolocation data from Quova Inc. in its risk management services.
CashEdge provides the services for many of the online account opening and funding applications it provides to its financial customers.
Quova, of Mountain View, Calif., which announced the deal with CashEdge last week, provides data gleaned from consumer Internet protocol addresses. CashEdge will use the data to assess the fraud risk of online transactions.
Just as the digits in a phone number can be used to determine the origin of a phone call, the digits in an IP address can be used to identify the location of the user's computer, or whether someone is trying to mask that location. This information can be used to spot fraud by comparing it to the user's online habits as well as the patterns of fraudsters.
"We understand the importance of geolocation in preventing fraud and are determined to offer our clients the most reliable information available," Amir Sunderji, CashEdge's vice president of risk management and payment services, said in a press release.
