Customer Wins

On June 11, 1978, by virtue of PD No. 1530, the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-Ibig Fund was created. It was to address two of our nation's concerns: generation of savings and provision of shelter for the workers. This decree further provided that the SSS would be the administering agency for employees of the private sector, and the GSIS for public employees.

Then, on March 1979, administration of the FUND was transferred to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation. NHMFC is one of the operating agencies of then Ministry of Human Settlements. This transfer was covered by Executive Order No. 527.

On December 14, 1980, Presidential Decree 1530 was amended by PD 1752, making Pag-Ibig Fund a corporation independent from NHMFC. The Fund's rule-making power was vested on its own Board of Trustee. PD 1752 likewise made Pag-Ibig membership mandatory for all SSS and GSIS member-employees.

Through the years, Pag-Ibig saw an exponential growth in the number of its members. From a mere hundred during its debut back in 1978, to a whooping near 5 million today, with assets totaling to 120 billion. The Cebu Regional Office alone has an average monthly collection of Php 100 million from its membership of more than 320,000. It has around 200 employees.

The Situation
With this membership growth along comes a need for a system enhancement to provide for a better, updated and more appropriate service. Everyday, thousand of members visit the Cebu Regional Office (CRO). But a much greater number floods its phone lines, each with different concerns requiring unique service.

The Cebu Regional Office's old PABX system has reached its saturation point as far as providing customer services is concerned. It is then that the CRO management decided to upgrade the existing facilities along with the construction of its new office building. The new telephone facility will feature structured cabling set-up to minimize unsightly cables and wires crisscrossing the work areas.

With the plan in place, CRO was faced with the task of finding a partner that is capable of meeting their requirements. Simplify the infrastructure so that voice and data can be carried in one facility only. Expand LAN to include the extension office in Tagbilaran and Dumaguete Cities using wireless technology for voice and data. Prepare for Wide Area Network (WAN) to further improve services to clients.

Why Cisco's IP Telephony Solution?
Cisco's IP Telephony solution addresses not only the features found in PABX, but also eliminates the need for separate voice and data wiring while managing only one cable infrastructure. CROs drive for LAN integration was to save cost by avoiding duplicate infrastructures and simplifying network management. IP Telephony not only cuts cost for extra hardware/infrastructures, it also cuts down on CROs budget for its inter-island correspondence.

Furthermore, CRO is preparing to implement a Wide Area Network (WAN). CRO is optimistic that WAN using IP Telephony will allow a more efficient use of costly network bandwidth and reduce tariffs costs by carrying voice calls "on-net".

Other features of Cisco's IP Telephony solution like the integrated voice, data and video on demand on the desktop PC are still to be utilized. Hopefully, allowing CRO to participate in multimedia meetings from their desktops. There is a constant need to communicate with Head Office in the National Capital Region (and other PAG-IBIG Branches), video conferencing will be a very significant tool, cutting cost on travel expenses.

Although IP Telephony's maximum potentials are yet to be tapped, the future benefits are truly well its worth. Primarily, Scalability. The system is capable of handling a maximum of 2,500 lines. Software can also be uploaded to the server to activate features that can make office work easier a far cry compared to PABX wherein upgrading is done through additional hardware components.