Cistera Networks®, a leading provider of enterprise application platforms and engines for unified communications, announces the delivery of a comprehensive unified communications disaster recovery and business continuity solution for a global financial services group, provided in conjunction with UC security solutions vendor Sipera Systems.

With call center agents and traders distributed throughout North and South America, the financial services group identified a critical business need around operational continuity and disaster recovery. The unified communications solution needed to be fully recoverable in the event of a disaster such as adverse weather conditions. While the customer had a backup data center connected using metropolitan fiber to duplicate computer capacity in the event of an emergency, the solution also required that agents be able to work from various locations including from home when circumstances require.  Furthermore, the customer needed to ensure that all of the unified communications traffic could be monitored for quality, recorded as needed, and properly encrypted as required for compliance with privacy laws and retention rules.

Cistera delivered two CCS 2540 high availability servers running the latest version of Cistera Quality Assurance and Management software, one at each data center. The CCS integrated with the award-winning Sipera UC-Sec security appliances to provide secure access from any location through secure connections, and to send communications traffic to CCS for quality assurance and compliance purposes. Each agent is able to access all unified communications functions regardless of location and services required.  The combined solution ensures that these communications are monitored and archived to meet quality targets and compliance rules, while at the same time being encrypted and fully private to traverse external networks to reach agents.

“Cistera and Sipera are among the few vendors capable of delivering secure and highly available unified communications regardless of distance and security requirements” says Cistera CEO Greg Royal. “Previously, capability was lost when a disaster plan was implemented. Today with Cistera and Sipera that is no longer the case. Call Centers can be back up and running without loss of customer service and capability.”

“Communications continuity is an essential part of maintaining smooth operations when the unexpected hits,” said John Lochow, CEO of Sipera Systems. “With Sipera and Cistera, an enterprise can maintain mission-critical communications while also ensuring these communications meet all quality, privacy and retention requirements.”

With Sipera’s solutions, firms are adopting enterprise-wide encrypted UC, safe SIP trunks, teleworker programs, IM archiving and monitoring, secure remote offices, and compliant UC. Sipera’s groundbreaking “Borderless UC” architecture enables all communications to be encrypted and compliant on any device in any location inside or outside the enterprise, vital for delivering a truly comprehensive business continuity solution.

The award-wining Cistera ConvergenceServer is the industry’s most comprehensive delivery platform for a robust and scalable solution that adds features and functionality to a communications environment. Each Cistera ConvergenceServer comes equipped with the full range of Cistera application engines, making installation and expansion a simple, straightforward process. The platform’s broad portfolio of virtualized application services enables users to improve satisfaction, increase productivity and collaboration as well as provide a safer environment. Based on open standards and a proven server technology foundation, the Cistera ConvergenceServer’s single unified administration lowers the total cost of ownership of a full-featured communications solution.